Community turns out for Beer, Bites, Benches
Farragut residents turned out to enjoy food and beer while raising money for benches for the Town’s greenways during Bites, Brews and Benches.
The event, held jointly by First Watch and The Casual Pint of Farragut, took place Tuesday at The Casual Pint, 143 Brooklawn St., on March 29.
Lynne Mayer said she heard the event benefited the Farragut greenways.
“We use [the greenways] a lot — we walk our Golden Retriever — so we are very pro greenway,” Mayer said.
“I know First Watch. I eat there a lot, and I come to The Casual Pint,” Tracey Quillin said. “The owners of First Watch invited me to come out, and I like to ride my bike along the trails.”
”My wife brought me,” Dave Giles, a Hardin Valley resident, said. “It’s very interesting.
“They’ve got good food and different beers.”
“I think it’s wonderful,” Sue Stuhl, Farragut Parks and Leisure Services director, said. “It’s a great idea. We’re very grateful for this.
“It’s great for the Town and its great for their business.”
“We’re excited about this,” Nadim Jubran, owner and partner in charge of business development and marketing at First Watch in Turkey Creek, said. “Any time we can partner with another business to support the community that’s supported us, it’s a win-win for all.”
Jubran said when a business supports the community there is a lasting relationship between the two.
“We saw the event advertised at Campbell Station Park,” Kim McCullough of Farragut said. “We thought it looked interesting.”
“Farragut Business Alliance is one of the co-sponsors the event,” David Purvis, FBA president, said. “It’s good to have events like this to help the community and the parks. It helps bring the community together and it helps support local businesses.”
Participants had four stations they could visit. As people entered, the first station featured Bold Rock IPA cider combined with Dayglow juice while the next station offered muffins paired with Boulder State Chocolate Porter.
At another station, Jubran served waffles and a berry compote with Black Abbey-The Rose while chickichangas were paired with Blue Pants hop-bursed IPA beer.
Jubran said the idea for the event was inspired by a partnership between The Casual Pint in downtown Knoxville and Pete’s Coffee Shop’s breakfast for dinner.
“It was one of those things we just sat down and had a brainstorming idea of how we could help the town of Farragut,” Barbara O’Brien said. “So we came up with this idea to pair some foods from First Watch with some of our beers. “Hopefully, we will raise some money to pay for a bench.”
“We wanted to do something similar but we wanted to tie the community into it,” Jubran said. So he and Pat and Barbara O’Brien, owners of The Casual Pint, asked town of Farragut staff if there was something the Town needed in its greenways and parks. The staff suggested benches. Stuhl said a bench runs between $1,400 and $1,500.
The Casual Pint of Farragut and First Watch also had the support of Echelon Bikes and Fleet Feet on the event.
