THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1677 – Posted on: 20-March-2023
BREWERY “HOPP”ENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports that our seasonally available ARCTIC DARK MUNICH DUNKEL, “MISSILE”TOW ENGLISH BARLEYWINE and brand new 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 Party 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, Green Shamrock Ale, a brand new Irish Single Malt Whiskey, Five Farms Irish Cream Mocha Cheesecake, The Highlanders Celtic trio and amazing headlining act, WEST OF MABOU! $10 cover charge. Plan to arrive early in order to get a seat!
This Weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day-inspired Special Dining Features for March 17th & 18th (while quantities last): CORNED BEEF ALE SLAW SANDWICH, SHEPHERD’S PIE, DUBLINER BURGER and FIVE FARMS IRISH CREAM MOCHA CHEESECAKE. 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. 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 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.
Mar. 20: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. A STORRY WITH HUGHES. Talented acoustic blues duo featuring guitar masters, Jeff Storry and Billy Hughes. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Mar. 22: Wednesday Folk Night. BRAD PAPP & MELISSA MANNETT. Two veteran musicians come together for a great night of acoustic folk rock and more. 7:30 PM – 9:00 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.
Why We Drink Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day
By: Livia Gershon
Unlike shamrock pins and green beer, Guinness drinking really is a longstanding tradition in Ireland.
Even if you’re the kind of person who scorns tasteless green beer, you might enjoy a Guinness for Saint Patrick’s Day. And why not? Unlike shamrock pins and wild partying sure to take place on March 17th, Guinness drinking really is a longstanding tradition in Ireland, as well as the Irish diaspora. But it’s a folk tradition that’s inextricably tied up with almost a century of commercial advertising, according to Brenda Murphy, a gender studies professor at the University of Malta.
Murphy visited pubs in Dublin and Waterford, Ireland and in London and New York, speaking with Irish citizens and first-generation Irish immigrants. She also showed them Guinness ads from 1928 on and asked their opinions on them. Murphy found that pub patrons were more than happy to talk about Guinness at great length. Many waxed eloquent about the effort to find the “perfect pint.” That meant trying out different pubs, looking to see how the product was stored, and checking how many people in a given bar were drinking Guinness and whether the pints in front of them had the right amount of head.
In a 2003 study, Guinness drinkers associated the brand with all kinds of positive values.
Another frequently repeated statement was that it’s nearly impossible to enjoy the first Guinness you ever drink. Acquiring a taste for the stout meant being part of a community (usually an all-male one) that insisted on the brand as a symbol of belonging. One Irish man described having his first Guinness with family members who insisted that he wasn’t allowed to drink “jungle juice”—any foreign beer—in their company.
Guinness drinkers also associated the brand with all kinds of positive values. They cited the company as a great employer that offered a solid career and a good pension and bragged that it was the biggest brewery in Ireland “as if someone in the family was responsible for this fact,” Murphy writes. Many also recalled the company’s old advertising slogan “Guinness is good for you” and cited its use as a tonic for sick children and nursing mothers.
Bottom of Form
More modern advertisements had also become part of Irish identity. One man described returning to Ireland after traveling abroad and seeing references to a 1994 TV advertisement everywhere. The commercial, titled “Anticipation,” shows an actor dancing to the song “Guaglione” while a barman slowly fills a giant pint. The ad formed the basis for screen savers, internet jokes, and actual dancing at nightclubs and barbecues.
While the drinkers in Ireland and abroad shared many of the same associations and memories around the Guinness brand, Murphy did find one distinct difference. When asked to free-associate words connected the stout, those in Ireland rarely referenced its connection with the Irish nation. But Irish immigrants in London and New York often came up with words like “Ireland,” “Dublin,” and “shamrock.” Which explains why so many of us in the U.S. choose to drink this challenging beer on the day we celebrate Irish identity.
TIME OUT – Two Leprechauns
Early one morning in Ireland two leprechauns knocked on the door of a convent and asked for the Mother Superior.
The Mother Superior comes out and the older of the two leprechauns asks, “Mother Superior, are there any wee little leprechaun nuns in this convent?”
Rather startled and bemused the Mother Superior says, “No, there aren’t any wee little leprechaun nuns in this convent.”
“Well then,” asks the older leprechaun, “Are there any wee little leprechaun nuns at any convent in this county?”
Even more confused than bemused the Mother Superior says, “No, there aren’t any wee little leprechaun nuns in any convent in this county.”
“Well let me ask you one more question then,” says the older leprechaun. “Do you know of any wee little leprechaun nuns at any convent in any county in all of Ireland?”
Now confused and a little bewildered Mother Superior says, “No, I know of no wee little leprechaun nuns at any convent in any county in all of Ireland.”
The younger of the two leprechauns is now looking very downcast, staring at his shoes.
Then the older leprechaun puts his hands on his hips and turns to the younger one and says, “There you go, you heard her, I told you that you were screwing a penguin!”
