Mt. Pleasant Main Street hosts 5th annual beer walk

MT. PLEASANT - Despite some unexpected rain, Mt. Pleasant community members came out Thursday evening to enjoy the 5th annual Saving of the Green Beer Walk.

18 downtown businesses participated in the Mt. Pleasant Main Street event, offering samples of craft beer to participants who dropped into their stores.

Lisa Oetken, director of Main Street, said about 100 to 150 people tend to show up for the event. Like Main Street's other social events, the beer walk aims to bring new customers into businesses by the square.

'Anytime we can get exposure to people about what we have downtown, it helps with the retailers. We always hope it brings new people to the area. Our events bring different demographics, usually this one brings a younger crowd than the wine events. It also brings more men, usually. It brings different groups of people,” Oetken said.

Barbara Leydens, manager of Lillian Grace Boutique, said the clothing store still gets new people who come in because of the event. Generally crowds are a mix of regulars and first-timers.

'We get our people who come in every year. Then we also get new people who have never gotten a chance to come into the store, they say, ‘oh I've driven by.' It's a great opportunity to come downtown,” she said.

Dale Beckman, co-owner of Breadeaux Pizzas, who has participated in the beer walk every year since it began, said even as a business that has been in the area for two decades, events put on by Main Street still helps people discover the pie shop.

'We just want to make sure people remember the downtown is here. There's people who come in and discover the shop. Some people come in and ask us, ‘how long have you been here?' Well, twenty years,” Beckman said.

Beckman added that he likes to take part in Main Street events because he feels it's important to show the business is 'invested” in the community.