THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1668 – Posted on: 16-January-2023
BREWERY “HOPP”ENINGS: Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports that our seasonally available ARCTIC DARK LAGER, BLACKBERRY MEAD, “MISSILE”TOW CHRISTMAS ALE, CHERRY PASSION FRUIT ALE, and PICKARD’S OATMEAL CREAM STOUT are currently available.
This Weekend’s Special Dining Feature for January 13th and 14thth is BBQ PORK RIBS for $24.95. Our Saturday CLASSIC STEAK & A PINT SPECIAL as well as our Monday and Wednesday WINGS & A PINT SPECIAL and Tuesday PIZZA & A PINT SPECIAL are also great value deals.
Our SASK CRAFT GUEST TAP is currently pouring the LIFT OFF BANANA STOUT from Malty National Brewing. This will be followed by a special Saskatchewan Craft Brewers Association AMERICAN PALE ALE brewed by Saskatoon’s 9 Mile Legacy Brewing.
JANUARY PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: This month’s wine features are the LES JAMELLES wines from southern France. The white wine is their SAUVIGNON BLANC and the red is their MERLOT. Both are $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.
Thank you to the many folks who attended the Farewell Event Bushwakker floor manager, Cheryl Tovey! She was very pleased to share her favourite foods and beer and local live bands with you. Most of all Cheryl was delighted to have the opportunity to connect with so many customers who she considers to be part of her extended family as well as her friends. CBC Saskatchewan conducted an interview with Cheryl and her time at Bushwakker earlier this week. Click here to watch her three decades at Bushwakker story!
The Bushwakker LOCAL ARTS WALL January featured artist is TRACY BJORGAN who is an abstract and floral painter from Regina. Her paintings are in numerous private collections and were used on the movie set “Welcome to Nowhere” filmed in Regina in 2017. Her paintings have been featured at the yearly Alzheimer’s Society Fall Gala. Tracy’s original works of art are available at Ripplinger Fine Art Gallery, 2175 Smith Street in Regina. Tracy can be reached through email tbjorgan@sasktel.net Enjoy Tracy’s big, colourful works all this month!
WE ARE HIRING! The busy winter season is here! We need full and part-time cooks. Stop by with your resume today or email it to kelly@bushwakker.com
UPCOMING BUSHWAKKER EVENTS
Jan. 16: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. CALL ME MILDY. Great melodic blues rock with a dash of reggae. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Jan. 18: Wednesday Folk Night. TOMMY JOHN EHMAN. Country/Alt-Country/Roots/Canadiana and a little Folk music too from this talented act. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Jan. 19: SCIENCE PUB. BANDED IRON FORMATIONS (BIFS). Bookending the first permanent rise of oxygen in earth’s atmosphere. Our wildly popular Science Pub Series has returned for a 11th incredible season. Enjoy lectures on scientific topics of general interest in our Arizona Room over fine craft beer and award-winning pub cuisine. The room opens at 5:00 PM. Avoid disappointment and come down early for dinner and a pint before the presentation which begins at 7:00 PM. This month’s lecture will be presented by Dr. Leslie Robbins from the University of Regina’s Department of Geology. Ever wondered where oxygen came from? Or if bacteria could form a rock? Banded iron formations, a type of rock that only formed in Earth’s ancient oceans, can help to answer both these questions. These unique rocks help us figure out how the Earth became oxygenated and what early life on Earth was like.
Jan. 21: BUSHWAKKER & ROBBIE BURNS COMBINED BIRTHDAY BASH. After a three-year hiatus, we are excited to bring back one of our biggest parties of the year. Come celebrate 32 years of fine pub cuisine and fine Bushwakker beers along with the 264th birthday of Scotland’s favourite son, Robbie Burns! (Psst! He’s the guy who wrote Auld Lang Syne.) Enjoy a special firkin of Scottish brew infused with oak and Robert Burns Single Malt Scottish Whisky, a performance from The Regina Police Services Pipes & Drums and The Regina Highland Dance Association as well as huge acoustic Celtic act, Billarney. Witness the Address To a Haggis from Dana Nairn complete with complimentary haggis, neeps and birthday cake! $5 cover charge in effect. Plan to arrive early to get a seat. 6:00 PM.
CURRENT HOURS OF OPERATION AND RESERVATIONS NOTES
We are open Monday – Thursday from 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM. The kitchen closes at 9:00 PM and last call is at 9:15 PM. Fridays and Saturdays we are open from 11:00 AM until midnight. The kitchen is open until 11:00 PM and last call is at 11:15 PM. Closed Sundays.
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. Our two banquet rooms are also available for private party rentals. Call Kelly at 306-359-7276 to book either our main floor Arizona Room or basement Clubroom.
‘I just have loved it’: Regina server says goodbye to Bushwakker Brewpub after 3 decades
Longtime Bushwakker server Cheryl Tovey worked her last shift at the Regina brewpub on Dec. 31. (Kirk Fraser/CBC)
A Regina woman who has spent 30 years working at Bushwakker Brewpub has passed on her serving tray.
Cheryl Tovey’s familiar face is a staple at the brewpub on par with its blackberry mead or Firkin Fridays.
The longtime server hung up her apron for the brewpub on Dec. 31.
Tovey said the best part of the job was the connections she made over the years with coworkers and customers.
“I could be myself,” said Tovey.
“You got to know all the people you were serving … people are coming here because they’re driving out of their way to come here. That’s how much they enjoy it here.”
Tovey said that if she hadn’t started working at the brewpub, she might have moved away from Regina.
“This place just drew me in and I just have loved it,” said Tovey.
Love at first rush
Tovey has worked at the brewpub almost as long as it has been open, with her first day on job in 1992.
It was the Thursday before Good Friday, one of the busiest days of the year, and she was thrown in without training.
Tovey started taking food and drinks out to customers without understanding how orders were entered into the till, having to be corrected on which tables the items were for.
“I remember her running around, but I also remember her being fairly calm and cool and collected, like she seemed to know what she was doing,” said Grant Frew, bar and marketing manager for Bushwakker Brewpub.
“Given the fact that she had worked at the Plains Hotel before, which was a wild and crazy place, I really didn’t have too many concerns about her ability to do the job.”
Bar and marketing manager Grant Frew and Cheryl Tovey share a pint at Bushwakker Brewpub. (Kirk Fraser/CBC News)
Tovey went on to become the brewpub’s floor manager, training new staff, making schedules and watching over all the tables.
Frew said staff came to know Tovey as a mother hen, a listening ear who they were comfortable going to with problems, whether personal or work-related.
“She wants to serve and treat people the way that she wants to be served and treated and that goes a long way, a huge way,” said Frew.
Legacy of friendship and ale
Tovey’s legacy will live on at Bushwakker Brewpub. Her lists and protocols to train staff are still in use, and people can still see her face on Cheryl’s Blonde Ale.
It was Tovey’s idea to add a blonde ale to the beer list in the mid-2000s and she worked with the head brewer at the time, David Rudge, to create it for the pub.
Cheryl Tovey receives a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal at the Government House in Regina in recognition of her outstanding public service contributions for volunteerism and community service. (Bushwakker Brewing Company/Facebook)
Frew said Tovey’s connections with her customers go beyond the workplace. She has attended weddings and funerals of customers who have become part of her life.
“Many people call her the most popular woman in Regina because she has her finger on the pulse,” said Frew.
Outside of the brewpub, Tovey’s contribution to the community was recognized with a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
A farewell party will be held on Jan. 12, with live musical performances, a tapping of a black raspberry porter, and all of Tovey’s favourite menu items like wings and Pop’s pizza.
TIME OUT – Actual Dry January Tweets
Dry January means nothing to me. I don’t need alcohol to make bad decisions. I’ve made some of my worst life choices on Tazo green tea.
Instead of Dry January I’m doing Why January. It’s where I stand in the middle of the street and scream, WHY GOD WHY???
I’m doing Dry January! I’ll still be drinking, but more of my jokes will be delivered without any emotion.
It’s always Dry January when you have eczema.
Dry lips, dry skin, dry phone, dry bank account and dry sex life. Dry January is in full swing!
