THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1676 – Posted on: 13-March-2023
BREWERY “HOPP”ENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports that our seasonally available ARCTIC DARK MUNICH DUNKEL, “MISSILE”TOW ENGLISH BARLEYWINE and CHERRY LIME ALE are currently available. There are still some bottles of the amazing THREE-DOWN BOHEMIAN PILSNER in our offsale cooler. A batch of TWO SONS MILK STOUT, BARON BOCK and SASKADIAN BLACK IPA are also currently working their way through the brewery.
The biggest Bushwakker St. Patrick’s Day Bash in our 32 year history is coming up on Friday, March 17! Entertainment kicks off early with a 4:00 PM start. Irish dancers, pipes & drums, an Irish Coffee Milk Stout firkin tapping, a Celtic trio and amazing headlining act, WEST OF MABOU! $10 cover charge. Plan to arrive early in order to get a seat!
The Bushwakker Local Arts Wall March Featured Artist is HALEY NICOLSON. Her artist biography is as follows:
Love the skin you’re in. As an expecting mother of a baby girl this spring, my body positive views have shifted. My body is growing and changing rapidly to create every gorgeous inch of her, it’s been hard to look at myself in the mirror with the same confidence I had before. Yes, the female body is amazing, but I still get caught up in stretch marks, spots, and weight gain instead of reveling in the process of creating life. The deep-rooted cultural behaviour of being self-deprecating is hard to shake as an adult but what about our baby girl? How can I change this narrative to help her navigate our society’s opinions and values? Is change even possible?
My work this month reflects on these questions and the process of changing the narrative on what a beautiful body is. My hope is that when she comes into the world, I will feel liberated from my body ideals and embrace my figure. As her mother I will love her boldly and confidently, the cycle will end with me. I hope that anyone who finds beauty in my work can start to adjust their body expectations so that in the next generation this isn’t even a conversation.
Enjoy Haley’s works all this month!
The annual Prairie Dog Magazine’s “Best of Food” Regina Awards reader’s poll event is now underway! The first step is the call for nominations. Please visit Best Restaurant | Restaurants (Local) | Best of Food 2023 | Prairie Dog (prairiedogmag.com) to view the various categories, pubs and restaurants and start your delicious journey by selecting your favourites. Then the voting will begin! Celebrate the varied and vibrant Queen City cuisine and culture!
This Weekend’s Special Dining Feature for March 10th and 11th is a DELUXE PRIME RIB BURGER for $21.95. 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 DAS ROGGENBIER from Saskatoon’s High Key Brewing. Next up is the CACTUS JOOSE New England IPA from Regina’s Malty National Brewing. This will be followed by a DOUBLE IPA from Swift Current’s Black Bridge Brewing.
MARCH PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: This month’s wine features are from California. The red wine is PROPHECY PINOT NOIR. $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre. The white is SMOKING LOON PINOT GRIGIO. $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.
UPCOMING BUSHWAKKER EVENTS
Mar. 13: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE UNIVERSITY OF REGINA JAZZ BAND. Come see Regina’s talented future jazz stars! 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Mar. 15: Wednesday Folk Night. MITCHELL MAKOONS DUO. Great American songwriter tradition mixed with Metis influences. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Mar. 16: SCIENCE PUB – REDUCING THE STIGMA OF DEMENTIA: LESSONS FROM RURAL SASKATCHEWAN. 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 Nuelle Novik who is an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Social Work at The University of Regina. For the past three years the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU) at the University of Regina has been working with community-based organizations in Yorkton and the surrounding rural communities to develop and implement a series of interventions to provide support for people living with dementia and their care partners. The Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan initiative has been working to increase awareness, reduce stigma and increase social inclusion using a variety of methods from one-to-one supports, broad-based informational campaigns to helping businesses and local governments become more dementia-friendly.
Mar. 17: THE BIGGEST BUSHWAKKER ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARTY – EVER! This particular event is of symbolic importance. It was around this time three years ago when the pandemic first arrived and our St. Patrick’s Day Party was the first event to fall. Thus began a very dark period for the entire hospitality sector. But people are now feeling comfortable gathering again and we are going to celebrate with the biggest St. Patrick’s Party in our 32 year history! Enjoy delicious Irish cuisine, a firkin of Irish Coffee Milk Stout, a dram of the brand new Busker’s Irish Single Malt Whiskey, a slab of Five Farms Irish Cream Mocha Cheesecake, Green Shamrock Ale, two Irish stouts, Irish cider, two performances from The Prairie Gael School of Irish Dance, a performance from The Highlanders Celtic Trio, a performance from The Regina Police Services Pipes & Drums as well as three sets of great Celtic music from West of Mabou. It all starts at 4:00 PM so plan to leave work early this St. Patrick’s Friday afternoon in order to get a good seat. $10 cover charge in effect.
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.
The History of Saint Patrick’s Day (And Why We Drink)
By Jeff Flowers
Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of St. Patrick’s Day is aware of the fact that the celebration is inexorably tied to the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. While some may believe that this is just another example of lively individuals taking advantage of a celebration, there is actually a solid reason why alcohol has long been a part of the holiday that is now celebrated worldwide.
While there is a justifiable reason for drinking somewhat excessively in celebration of St. Patrick, there are plenty of misconceptions that surround the history of the holiday and the man in whose honor the celebration occurs.
Who Was Saint Patrick?
Saint Patrick is considered the most recognizable of all of the patron saints of Ireland, though he was not of Irish descent himself. St. Patrick was born in Great Britain, and was first brought to Ireland as a slave after having been captured and taken from his home.
He eventually escaped from his captors, and returned home to Great Britain where he became a cleric. St. Patrick declared that it was a vision that served as the impetus for his return to Ireland, saying that the people of Ireland, as though speaking through one voice, called out to him, “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.” Of course, St. Patrick would return, bringing Christianity to the Irish people, who had been polytheistic to that point.
Perhaps the most well-known story about St. Patrick is also the most inaccurate tale about the patron saint of Ireland. According to legend, St. Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland.
This would have been quite a feat, except for the fact that there were no snakes in Ireland to begin with. The frigid waters that surround the emerald isle are too cold for snakes to migrate through, making it impossible that snakes could have ever existed in Ireland.
The story is more likely a parable for how St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland while also largely eradicating paganism, which often used serpents as a symbol. By eliminating paganism, St. Patrick symbolically drove the snakes out of Ireland.
Why People Drink on Saint Patrick’s Day
The St. Patrick’s Day tradition began as a feast day held in honor of St. Patrick on the anniversary of the day he died. Christians are allowed to put aside their Lenten restrictions on food and alcohol consumption on this day, which is why excessive drinking has become so permanently linked to the celebration.
Eventually, the feast day evolved into a greater celebration including not only St. Patrick, but also Irish culture, history, and traditions. Though the feast day began in Ireland, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade began in America. The parade tradition became exceptionally popular in the 1840s, when hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants came to America to escape the potato famine.
The Symbol of the Shamrock
The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day involves many symbols. On March 17, revelers worldwide will wear shamrocks on their clothing as part of the celebration.
The reason that the shamrock has become linked to St. Patrick is because, according to legend, he used the three leaves of the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people.
In order to display their Irish-Christian pride and to honor St. Patrick, Irish people began to wear a shamrock on their clothing. Eventually, this practice evolved into wearing green clothes on the holiday.
A Constantly Evolving Tradition
Though there are many misconceptions that surround this holiday, any tradition that celebrates the proud history of a culture is worthwhile. Yes, St. Patrick’s Day may just be an excuse for some to drink excessively on a weekday, but to others, it is an opportunity to honor a Christian missionary and the culture and tradition he helped to create.
It also provides a welcome respite from the many restrictions that many Catholics place upon themselves during Lent, which is the main reason why the celebration includes an overabundance of many delicious foods and alcoholic drinks.
It is also the day in which the old Irish saying rings particularly true: “There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.”
TIME OUT – St. Patrick’s Pearly Gates
O’Malley was leaving his favourite bar when he was run over by a bus. He gets to the gates of heaven and St. Peter tells him he cannot enter unless he passes a test. What choice did he have, O’Malley agrees to try as he never was the brightest bulb in the box.
St. Peter decides to go easy on him, ‘What has 5 fingers and is made of black leather?’ he asks. O’Malley scratches his head, thinks hard and finally gives up. ‘It’s a glove says St. Peter.’
Let’s try again. ‘What has 10 fingers and is made of black leather?’ asks St. Peter. O’Malley is clearly stumped. After a few minutes of pacing in a circle and scratching his head, O’Malley gives up. ‘Why it’s 2 gloves – don’t you see 10 fingers, black leather, says St. Peter amazed.’ Being in a generous mood, St. Peter decides to give O’Malley yet another chance but thinking of an even easier question.
‘Who is the patron Saint of Ireland?’ asks St. Peter, thinking he can’t miss this.
‘It wouldn’t be 3-gloves, would it?’ says O’Malley.
Plenty of Irish drink choices will be available at our huge St. Patrick’s Day Party including: a firkin of Irish Coffee Milk Stout, Green Shamrock Ale, Dungarvon Irish Red Ale, Busker Single Malt Irish Whiskey, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Magner’s Irish Cider, Guinness Dry Irish Stout and a Nitro Stout too!
