Location: Lincoln Park Zoo
Date: Saturday, June 15, 2013; 6:00-11:00 pm
I took a cab from the Daley Plaza
to Lincoln Park Zoo to participate in this One Brick event where we would be
pouring beer. There was a mandatory
training session the previous Thursday where we were required to dial into a
conference call with the organizers. We
learned what our roles and responsibilities were going to be and it really was
just pouring beer up to the pour line and checking off the visitor’s card. Once they had reached their limit of 13
pours, we were to refuse them additional pours.
It seemed straightforward enough.
I asked Wilson who we were benefiting through this event and he said it
was the Lincoln Park Zoo. According to
The One Brick website, “A diversity of
wildlife, scenic gardens and daily education programs draws millions of
visitors annually to Lincoln Park Zoo. For more than a century, the zoo has
remained open and free every day of the year. Located on 35 acres along
Chicago's lakefront, Lincoln Park Zoo is more than a recreational resource, is
an international leader in wildlife conservation and education.” I could live with that.
I arrived at the zoo and met up
with Wilson and Polly as well as some of the other that I knew like Heather and
Rich. There were a few newcomers and
Polly said that I should practice my EC skills by giving them the One Brick
spiel. There were approximately 56
vendors participating and spread over 4 zones.
I was assigned Zone 4 and the ‘Blue
Moon’ booth. Now, let’s face
it. There were several unique
micro-brewers here. If the entry ticket
allowed you only 13 samples, I would hate to use on something I can get at my
local gas station. Besides One Brick,
there were other volunteers as well, including a couple who had been assigned
to Zone 4. Unfortunately for
them, while she had been assigned to ‘Blue
Moon’ booth with me, he was going to be with ‘Angry Orchard’. They asked
if he could exchange with me so that they could be together. I did not mind either ways, and so exchanged
my assignment with him.
 |
| View from my booth |
I was directed to my location, which
was inside an enclosed area, with a view of a pond and a musical stage. I met Frank, who was the representative of ‘Boston Brewing Company’, who owns the
‘Angry Orchard’ brand besides their
most popular one, ‘Sam Adams’. Next to us was another ‘Boston Brewing Company’ brand, ‘Tenacious
Traveler’ and on point there was Lindsey.
I joked that we three were perhaps the only people in the park rooting
for ‘Bruins’ that night against the ‘Blackhawks’. I asked Frank how the evening would go and he
said that unlike most of the vendors there, we did not have draught
option. We would be pouring straight
from the bottle and for tonight, there were two options – ‘Apple Crisp’ and ‘Apple
Ginger’. Once the folks came with
their glass, I was to ask which one they wanted and then pour up to the
mark. There were plenty of bottles in
the cooler and several cases in the back.
However, since the organizers had told us that there were only 13 pours,
I wasn’t sure if anyone would want to waste that on a cider. I mean come-on. It’s a cider.
Boy was I mistaken!
 |
| Angry Orchard options |
The initial wave wasn’t that bad
and I was glad to have Frank with me.
People would look at the two offerings and ask for a recommendation,
which I was unable to provide since I have never tasted this cider and was not
allowed to drink during my shift. Frank
told them that while the ‘Apple Crisp’
was the number 1 selling cider in the US, the ‘Apple Ginger’ one was their new offering which was gaining
popularity. That was indeed true, since
many people were requesting that. While
Frank had me for company, Lindsey was by herself and so when the crowd started
gathering at her station, I told Frank that I would move over to help her for a
bit. The ‘Tenacious Traveler’ had two offerings as well, ‘Lime Lemon’ and ‘Honey Ginger’. It was the
same routine as before, with people asking for recommendations and Lindsey
helping them out. Soon, the people were
coming in droves and we were working non-stop.
It was open-pour-discard empty bottle-restock-repeat. With there being no respite, I started
appreciating the amount of work bartenders put in every day.
 |
| We made a serious dent in the cooler |
I saw some familiar faces such as
Lisa, with whom I have done some Chicago Cares projects and my buddy Jason and
his girlfriend Amy. I also saw Sonia
from Chicago Cares, whom I had met just a few hours earlier at ‘Serve-A-Thon’ after party. She was so excited to see me that she wanted
to take a picture together. But it was
not just the people that I knew who were chatting, there were others as
well. One guy kept coming back for the
ginger cider and after his tenth visit – the organizers had asked us to stop
marking off the pours - he kept saying that we had become like family! Many said “Surprise
Me”, when I asked for their choice and this was followed by some joke. It was like this for the next few hours and I
lost track of how many pours I had done.
Under normal circumstances it would have been exhausting work, but
having been out since 7 am meant that every inch of my resolve was being
tested. Finally, at 10:30 pm the
organizers called it quits and I was just about ready to fall down.
Heather, who was in my Zone, and
I started walking towards the entrance just as it started raining. We waited for everyone to gather and Wilson
asked us about our experience. I said
that it was the hardest I had worked and even though it had been tough, I could
see myself coming back. Polly, who was
the EM, wasn’t very impressed with the organizers and complained that the
volunteers had not been treated well - there being no water and no breaks. She said that the organizers would hear from
her about some of these issues and they better get some things changed in case
we were to return back next year. Even
though it was late, a few of us went to get something to eat and then Wilson
dropped me home. It had been a long day,
but a satisfying one. It had been about
leadership and camaraderie and also how there is no substitute for hard work. And I had learned a lot; not least that cider
is popular! There are only a handful of
days in a year which you look back upon as a highlight. This was most certainly one of those. There were several instances during the day
and the evening which caused me to experience simultaneous feelings of
nervousness and excitement. But none
like an email that I received towards the end of my shift at the Beer
Festival. I had been assigned my first
Wish Child.
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