I would like to thank all of you who came out in the rain to support our charity effort. The event was a success, and we will begin working on next years Beer Tasting soon to make sure it is even bigger & better.

  I was hoping that the event would be well received. I put a lot of hours of work, including what amounted to 100's of phone calls to secure the beer and the raffle prizes. I was pleased, though not overwhelmed by the response. This is what drives me to make it bigger & better next year! I want the attendees to be impressed, and the tickets sales to WOW me.
 
  After a slightly disorganized start to the set up, (nothing I do is well organized ) Our friend Andy Calimano of Starfish Junction productions www.starfishjunction.com stepped in, and helped us set up. The tasting was well handled, and everything flowed smoothly. I was impressed by the smiles on the faces of our volunteers, and the smooth way all who came were served. The crowd was basically a happy, polite bunch, who asked some pretty good questions, and really seemed interested in learning a little about beer. 
 
  The chuck-a-buck raffle was a success, and was a lot of fun for me. After the PA system went down, I found myself standing on a chair to call out the names of the winners! I have to admit, that was way more fun than using the PA system! The winners were having a good time to begin with, so winning stuff just made it an even better time. 
 
  At the end of the evening everyone filed out of the place without incident, which makes the closing/cleaning up a bit less painful. I presented some of the volunteers with some goodies from Dogfish Head, and a man named Russ kindly purchased all of the left over beer for more than it was worth in the name of charity!!!!

I would like to take a moment to thank the following people for their contribution of beer/ time/ money

First, the contributors of the beer.....

Flying Dog Brewery- Chris Rippe- Thank You for the Largest variety of beers from any one brewer!
Dogfish Head- Elizabeth Lyons- Thank You for the extreme "Strongest Beers" People were thrilled to try these!
Left Hand Brewery- Chris Lennert- Thank you for a wonderful selection, and chance to show people that they can find a stout that they enjoy!
Brooklyn Brewery- Joe Mollura-Thank you for the mixed selection
Butternuts Brewery - Freddy C!!!! Who doesn't have fun with this guy? Thanks for the beer & the humor!
Legacy----
Slyfox-----         All represented By our Friend Ryan Niebhur of Manhattan Beverage. He brought other stuff too,
Ithaca-----         but my lame memory fails me! He did his usual great job! Thank you again!
Blue Point Brewery - Mark Silvestro -Thank You for an awesome selection! You included every 12oz offering you have out!
Samuel Adams - Josh Harvey -an extra big THANKS! Josh was awesome in supplying a large variety of beers as well as numerous items for the chuck-a-buck raffle!
Sixpoint - Thanks to Jeff for the delicious keg of Righteous Rye Ale
Union Beer Distributors- Alex & Dave -Thanks for the Glasses, coozies, and other item for the raffle!
Global Distributors - Dean Palmer - At the North Fork Beer fest, he gave me some Northcoast Old Rasputin & a few other Beers for the tasting
Boeing Bros. Distributors -Sue-  Also at the North Fork fest, gave us a mix of Magic Hat & Orlio Organic

The Volunteers.......................

Chris Kelley - Beer guy - Member of the LIBME  www.beermalt.org
http://groups.google.com/group/beermalt Chris a.k.a. Bigness, did a great job manning the Flying Dog/ Northcoast table. He arrived early & left late. He suffered through the primitive jockey box cleaning like a champ! I could not ask for more from a volunteer! It was his first time volunteering at this kind of event, and he handled it like a pro! Thank you Chris!

Mike Napolitano -Beer Guy - Awesome home brewer -Member of many beer groups. Mike handled the Dogfish Head and Sixpoint Beer duties. Funny guy to listen to. He was just to my left the whole night, and I caught some barbs coming out of his mouth. He also did a great job, was able to explain the beers to people, and I will certainly ask him back for the next event! Thank You Mike!

Donavan Hall - Beer Guy - Leader or member of many beer groups - Author of The Beer Hall Guide To Long Island - Out of respect for his efforts to advance Craft Beer knowledge on Long Island, I secured a table for him to promote all of the beer groups and his book. Having Donavan along helps our effort out, and gives us a go to guy for information on all questions about beer. Check out his site & links to other great beer sites at http://beer.donavanhall.net/

Rich Thatcher - Beer Guy - Member of many beer groups - Manager at Bellport Beer - Although Rich purchased a ticket as a contribution, he spent most of the evening assisting whoever needed help and doing some relief pouring. Stuck around after it was over to help close up & pack the van. Thank You Rich!

Andy Calimano - Beer show promoter - Craft beer advocate -  all around great guy! www.starfishjunction.com Andy has been instrumental in getting the word out about craft beer on Long Island, and has been generous in giving tables for free to the non-profit groups who promote the growth & education of Craft Beer. Andy arrived early to help with set up and stayed late to help with the breakdown. His experience as a show promoter came in handy, and was much appreciated! Thank You again Andy!

Geof Marschall - Bellport Rotary President - Geof drafted me to help with this tasting. He made me feel welcome with his group of Rotarians, and must have thanked me for my help 100 times! Was right there with me for the whole process of putting together the tasting. Did everything I asked of him and more. Kept in close contact with me throughout the process, which helped me very much, as I did not have to feel like I was doing this event myself. Very accommodating to all my requests, and helpful with all aspects of the tasting. He did a great job keeping things in check, and helping in all aspects on the night of the tasting. He never stopped moving the whole night.
Thank You Geof, for the help, your enthusiasm, and for entrusting this effort to me!

George Marschall - Bellport Rotarian - Geof's Dad - As was Geof, was constantly on the move the night of the tasting. Helped from start to finish, manning various tables, and relieving others so they could eat or just stray and have a couple of samples.

Gene Tarver - Bellport Rotarian - Was also very much present while trying to get this show together. Made sure he was easy to contact if & when I needed him. Worked side by side with Geof in getting this event off the ground. Like George, he helped from start to finish, manning various tables, mostly Blue Point (a busy table!) and relieving others.

Bellport Rotarians - While I still do not know all their names, Wes, Sal, Ed, and the others helped to set up the tables, and work the door, taking tickets and selling tickets at the door. While I was busy with the upstairs, I did not see who did what downstairs. But I thank you all!

The Food.........

Meritage - Bellport - Sushi Table - http://www.restaurant.com/microsite.asp?rid=329257&prti=4252&raid=1730 Paul supplied us with a sushi table & an authentic sushi chef. I do not eat sushi, but I was told by many that it was awesome! Thank you for the great sushi Paul!

Sunset Harbor - Taco's with the works, amongst other dishes. Messy, but delicious! thank you to the Staff,and the management.

Porters on the lane - Bellport -Thanks for coming & helping to feed the throngs of hungry Beer samplers!

This is Rich's post on the LIBME about the event.
http://groups.google.com/group/beermalt/browse_thread/thread/5462d028750fb3?hl=en

I arrived just minutes ahead of the rain to be a volunteer at the
Bellport Rotary Club benefit for Camp Pa Qua Tuck/Bellport HS Scholarships
last night, which went over very well. The setting of the benefit was
outside of the Sunset Harbor catering hall under three levels of tents
and the tables of beer and food were mingled in two sections. With the
harbor within a 100 yards of the site and a picturesque pool in back
of us, the party wheeled into action amid calm waters.

As a comfortable crowd in casually neat summer attire descended upon
the area with their little tasting glasses, I noted the familiar faces
of many customers of Bellport Beer and a few people whom I had seen at
the magnificent Jamesport Craft Beer show on Saturday. My station was
was to serve from the Sam Adams group of generous donations, which was
positioned right after the busiest food line for tacos and burritos. I
saw every patron at least twice and I'm thankful for the polished
positioning of the beer at every table, complete with Bellport Beer
blue keg buckets filled with an iced down assortment of every
donation. I served every Sam Summer and Sam Cream Ale that I could
find in the cold depths of the moment and fading light.

While I had a little time to walk around and see the other volunteers
to test my theory on a local beer project in Bellport (more on that in
a later post), I beheld an interesting sight: an authentic Japanese
sushi chef in full costume, courtesy of Meritage restaurant of
Bellport. I watched the guy work with thorough professionalism as
no time was wasted and every movement moved forward to producing a
beautiful array of cut fish. I could only bow with a generous show of
respect for this master as he acknowledged the nod too.

Aside from the sushi and tacos, the other donations of food would have
made the Spartans happy on their way to Thermopylae: very little and
you will like it too. I hope that section of the show improves, if
there is to be a future benefit, as the overwhelming generosity of the
brewers can only can carry a show so far.

On the upper level of the three tents, the other volunteers eagerly
manned the tables ranging from Freddy at The Buttnernuts, Mike N. at
the Sixpoint tap, Chris at Flying Dog, Ryan at Ithaca Brewing, and
Donavan & Dave at the book/gift and contest tables to Andy filling in
at various tables. Most of the interesting beer was served up there
and I had my first taste of the Dogfish Head Fort on that level.

Amid quite a few Bellport regulars, I could see Dave was having a great
time and in his element while leading the procession with amplified
announcements and giving away prizes (missed career path as game show
host?).

While I am sure the others will have interesting stories to tell of
the moment, there was one guy who must have been parked at the Dogfish
Head table all night or been to every table at least twice. At the end
of the show he bought the entire stock of remaining beer with an
overly generous donation that will make the kids happy in the end.