Early Weather Article (Beer Gardens)

By Andrew Pantzlaff

As the first week of classes wrapped up at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, many local college students were hoping to bid farewell to their summer in much the same way they had ushered it in: partying at Beer Gardens. Beer Gardens, a no-cover-charge tent party located directly across the college campus at Kelly’s Bar, has, for some, become an annually attended tradition. However, as clouds loomed overhead, this year’s garden party was dampened by weather showing little or no resemblance to the summer it laid to rest.
Students initially returned to campus with sunny skies and comfortable temperatures. However, temperatures dropped quickly from the high of 80 degrees on Wednesday, the first day of classes, to a chilly average of 56 degrees on Saturday. Unfortunately for Kelly’s Bar, not only did temperatures drop, so did attendance for their annual tent event. One bartender working at Kelly’s, Brandan Hish, 25, thought there were significantly less people at Beer Gardens this year as opposed to last spring’s end-of-the-year version. Predictably, the poor weather was blamed for the unwelcome change. “Friday wasn’t that bad,” Hish said. “The weather didn’t kick in till later. I mean, Saturday and Sunday were pretty crappy out. It discouraged people from being in the tent by the band.”
“Discouraged” may be a good word for it. Ryan Steffel, a 22-year-old senior at UW-Oshkosh, said that he had been looking forward to a stop at Beer Gardens since he moved back in late August. However, when the weather cooled off, so did his excitement for making the trip to the tent Kelly’s Bar had set up on Wisconsin Street. “I wanted to go, but after it started pouring out, I decided just to find a party indoors,” Steffel said. “I like a cold beer as much as the next guy, but I don’t want to go swimming just to get my hands on one.”
The cold air and heavy rain didn’t discourage everyone who wanted to attend, however; as many Beer Gardens faithful still huddled under the tent with their beers in hand. Michelle Laabs, 21, said “it wasn’t that big of a deal because we were under a tent.” “There was still quite a few people there; enough to make it fun,” Laabs said.
Regardless of student attendance being affected by the weather, safety has always been priority at events like Beer Gardens. However, Lieutenant Dennis Nasci reported that the University Police made no changes to the way they had originally planned on monitoring the event. “Weather is a guess,” Nasci said. “We didn’t add anything more or less.” Nasci then explained that the wet conditions didn’t have much affect at all on the night from a law enforcement point of view, saying only that it might have helped deter people from running around on the street.
Despite the unpredictable weather of late, Winger’s Bar at 120 Wisconsin Ave. will be throwing a fall Beer Garden party of its own on Saturday, September 16. In addition, Kelly’s Bar, the self-proclaimed “home of the original Beer Gardens,” will once again be having their end-of-the-year version of Beer Gardens despite this year’s cold, rainy and forgettable celebration of the end the summer.

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