On January 6th, 2019, we experienced a catastrophic fire that destroyed our downtown Walker facility. Thanks to the thirty some volunteer firefighters in the area, the loss was limited to our property and no one was injured. For now, Portage is closed for buisiness, but we will be back and we will #rebuildportage.
Efforts have already begun to take shape, as we begin the early stages of rebuilding. A community event was held on Friday, January 11th, to celebrate our wonderful community. We thank Chase On The Lake Resort, Corey Medina & Brothers, Paul Nye, Jeff Menten, Keith Thunem, Lucky Moose Bar and Grill, Bensons Eating and Drinking Emporium, and Piggy BBQ for throwing us one heckuva party. We were able to pour our last few kegs of beer, including the Butte County Resilence IPA, which is an international brewing project to help fun the suffering losses of the Camp Fire in California. $700 were raised for that project, from the event.
We'd also like to thank Northern Namaste Yoga, Lynn Mineer, Steve Reiter, and all of the silent auction donors for a donation based yoga session. It was wonderful to take a break from the madness and enjoy a night of reflection.
We'd also like to thank the many Minnesota breweries, like Modist Brewing, Bemidji Brewing, Bent Paddle Brewing, and Aegir Brewing, that have stepped forward with ideas to help out. In coming months, we'll be gypsy brewing and collaborating with many of these great community members.
We've also decided to approve a GoFundMe to Rebuild Portage. Coming from the Friends of Portage, comprised of locals, employees, and fans afar, this fund is designed to help us with our redesign efforts specifically. Extraneous design costs beyond what insurance is likely to cover, like architectural plans and further investments into the spaces of our dream facility, are areas they've offered to focus. Thank you Simon Whitehead, Scott Hoefler, and Randall Morrison for heading this project up. Please visit the link below if you're interested in helping out with that. We're also taking suggestions for additions and other ideas in the comment box of that page. Let the ideas begin.
On ahead,
Portage Brewing Company