THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1620 – Posted on: 14-February-2022
Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our famous BLACKBERRY MEAD is still available in our offsale but is no longer available on tap. Our seasonal UPENDI PINEAPPLE PASSIONFRUIT ALE is now on tap and in our offsale. It is also available for growler fills. In addition to taking our beer home in glass bottles and 2 litre jugs direct from our pub, you can find a varying selection of 650 ml bottles of Bushwakker beer in a number of REGINA SLGA stores.
Our GUEST TAP is currently pouring the ESTER-HAZY IPA from Regina’s Warehouse Brewing. Next up is PINEAPPLE WHEAT BURST from Swift Current’s Black Bridge Brewing.
FEBRUARY PREMIUM WINE FEATURES. This month’s featured wines are from South Africa. The red is Inception Deep Layered Red (Shiraz, Petit Verdot and Mourvedre) and the white is The Beachhouse (Sauvignon Blanc Semillon.) Both are $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.
Our Special Weekend Dining Feature this February 11th & 12th is a PORK NOODLE BOWL for $19.95. Our Saturday CLASSIC STEAK & A PINT SPECIAL will also be available. Our Monday and Wednesday WINGS & A PINT SPECIAL and Tuesday PIZZA & A PINT SPECIAL are also great value deals.
Our February 14th Special Valentine’s Dinner will be BUSHWAKKER STEAK OSCAR. A juicy eight ounce AAA New York Steak topped with black tiger shrimp, grilled asparagus and béarnaise sauce. Served with stuffed potato and chef’s vegetables for $29.95. Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake will also be available that day. Enjoy live romantic jazz music from talented acoustic duo, RESONANCE presented from 7:30 – 9:00 PM. Call 306-359-7276 to reserve your table.
Last chance to take in the brand new FROST Winter Festival this weekend. It takes place at four hubs in the city February 4 – 13. The Warehouse District has transformed the former railyard space into an illuminated Winter Wonderland featuring signature art installations, an ice bar, snow sculptures, Gummy Bear picnic art, disc golf, free hot cocoa & artisan fire pits, BBQ, DJs, dance and video performances. Feel free to stop by The Bushwakker if you need a warm meal and refreshing pint!
The Bushwakker LOCAL ARTIST WALL for the month of February features the works of SUSANA DOMARCHI. Her artist biography is as follows:
Susana was born in Santiago, Chile and has spent most of her life in Canada. She earned a degree in International Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Her passion for the arts comes from her mother’s side, Ana Dormarchi, and other members of her family who have been internationally recognized. Most of her work is abstract and is influenced by Chilean, Latin American and Canadian culture. She is happy to share her work with this wonderful community.
Enjoy Susana’s colourful and detailed work all this month!
Best of Food Regina 2022 has begun! Now is your chance to nominate your favourite restaurants, cafes, pubs and shops. Just head on over to prairiedogmag.com or visit https://prairiedogmag.com/best-of-food-2022/#// Nominations will be accepted until March 14, so don’t delay.
Feb. 14: Special Valentine’s edition of Monday Night Jazz & Blues. RESONANCE. A special Valentine’s Day performance featuring powerful vocalist, Christie-Anne Blondeau and upright bassist, Fred Foerster. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Feb. 16: Wednesday Folk Night. NEIL CHILD WINTER SINGER/SONGWRITER SHOWCASE. Trent Leggott, Nathan Davis, Cori Knelson, John Forowsky, William Stewart, Albert Strangeman, Yianni Pantelopolous AND Neil Child. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
BUSHWAKKER “NEW NORMAL” NOTES
New Hours! We are open Monday – Thursday from 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM. The kitchen closes at 8:30 PM and last call is at 9:15 PM. Fridays and Saturdays we are open from 11:00 AM until 11:00 PM. The kitchen is open until 9:30 PM and last call is at 10:15 PM.
New Government Announcement. The government of Saskatchewan announced on February 8, 2022 that the Mandatory Masking for all pubs and restaurants would remain in place until the end of February. Please be sure you are wearing a mask upon entering and leaving Bushwakker and even if you just need to get up to use the washroom. Masks are not required when you are seated and are eating or drinking. If you forget to bring a mask, we can provide you with a new one. Proof of Vaccination is required for in-house dining and offsale beer purchases until February 14th.
Reservations are accepted and encouraged. We accept a limited number of reservations as late as 6:00 PM every day except Fridays. Fridays we accept reservations as late as 3:00 PM. Call us at 306-359-7276 to secure your table. We are now also able to accommodate larger groups. Our two banquet rooms are also available for private parties. Call Kelly at 306-359-7276 to book either our main floor Arizona Room or basement Clubroom.
Please continue to practice safe health measures. Remain connected to one another and to us! In addition to this weekly newsletter, we are very active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Check-in with us often as we navigate these continually evolving times together. Try to support local businesses whenever possible. Be vigilant in your resolve to protect yourselves which in turn will protect others.
COVID-19: Sask. Businesses Want Choice as Vaccine Passport Set to End
Sask. Chamber of Commerce interim CEO believes most businesses support ending vaccine passports, but many want an option to keep them.
Zak Vescera Feb 07, 2022
Restaurants and bars await details on Premier Scott Moe’s promise to scrap Saskatchewan’s public health restrictions as the province pivots its approach to the virus.
Chambers of commerce say most members support ending the proof of vaccination or negative test passport system, but some want to keep it, and few are certain when business will return to normal.
“If it happened today, I really, truly think it would be a month,” said Amigos Cantina co-owner Jim Clarke, whose venue requested proof of vaccination for live concerts weeks before the province made it a requirement for a whole host of venues and businesses in October.
Clarke said he thinks customer comfort will decide when crowds come back.
“If they lift the restriction and things get worse, we really will not have any business,” he said.
Moe announced on social media in late January that he would end the proof of vaccination system, saying it’s not effective due to the Omicron variant’s spread. He has since said he hopes to do so before the end of February, but has yet to set a date. He is expected to offer more details at a Tuesday press conference.
Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce interim CEO Elissa LaLiberte said she believes most members support that move. The chamber polled 600 members and found 60 per cent of respondents support the change.
The chamber was unable to say how many firms responded by its deadline because it was still corroborating data.
Thirty-two per cent of respondents said the system should not be removed and six per cent said more restrictions should be added. A separate poll among Saskatoon businesses found 61 per cent felt businesses should retain the option of requesting proof of vaccination if they so choose; 46 per cent of respondents said they would do so.
LaLiberte said the results indicate a need for a new policy approach while giving businesses flexibility.
“I think our members have got it right. I’m not an epidemiologist and I‘m definitely not the premier, but I think it’s time that we learn to live with COVID. What that looks like exactly, I don’t know,” LaLiberte said.
Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce CEO Jason Aebig said he suspects many members won’t end masking and social distancing. Whether proof of vaccination continues rides on whether the province keeps a public health order provision letting businesses do so on a voluntary basis, protecting those businesses from legal action, he noted.
“The masking requirement and distancing requirement — those are all along the lines of ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service,’ ” Aebig said.
“A business has the prerogative to implement policies that they feel are in the best interests of the business and the safety and comfort of the people who frequent it. In the case of vaccine verification, it’s a completely different animal.”
Dr. Cory Neudorf, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s interim senior medical health officer, said in an interview last week that the passport should be strengthened to require a third “booster” dose, a crucial protection against the Omicron variant.
Clarke said he is torn. Without the passport, he suspects some vaccinated customers may stay away for a few weeks out of caution. But he also worries that enforcing it will be impossible if it’s no longer a legal requirement.
Bushwakker bar manager Grant Frew said he’s optimistic business will get better at the Regina brewpub. The key will be knowing which measures end and when, he said, adding that staff will keep wearing masks for some time to come.
Grant Frew, bar manager of Bushwakker, is optimistic business will gradually pick up as restrictions are relaxed. PHOTO BY KAYLE NEIS /Regina Leader-Post
“I could be wrong, because my crystal ball isn’t always crystal clear. But I don’t think they will drop all the restrictions at once,” Frew said.
Whatever the government does, Aebig said he hopes it’s done right, and for good.
“We don’t want to be in a point where the mandates are lifted and then two weeks later, there’s a reason to reinstate them.”
TIME OUT
A guy walks into a bar, sits at a table and orders a beer.
He then proceeds to pull out hundreds of pink Valentine’s day cards, write inside them and stamp them with “Love” stamps. He then pulls out a bottle of expensive perfume and spritzes each envelope.
The bartender finally can’t contain his curiosity and approaches the man. “You must have 500 or more cards there,” the bartender says. “I’ve got to admit I’m curious what you’re doing.”
“Oh, every year at Valentine’s Day I send out 500 cards, each one signed ‘Guess Who?'” the guy says.
“But why?” the bartender asks.
“I’m a divorce lawyer,” the guy replies.
