THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1682

Kristen Welisch Wakker Weekly Archives

THE WAKKER WEEKLY

Issue #1682 – Posted on: 24-April-2023

BREWERY “HOPP”ENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports that our seasonally available TWO SONS MILK STOUT, ARCTIC DARK MUNICH DUNKEL 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. Lots of Bushwakker seasonal brews are on the horizon! Batches of CHOCOLATE MILK STOUT, FLEK’S CZECH DARK LAGER, BOMBAY IPA, GRANNY’S BITTER, BARON BOCK and SASKADIAN BLACK IPA are currently working their way through the brewery.

 


Our Bushwakker brewers have been busy brewing up some fine Bushwakker seasonal beers. Great delicious variety is coming your way!

 


This Saturday! SOLD OUT! After a four-year hiatus, we are very excited to bring back our signature Bushwakker event which showcases the talents of both the kitchen and the brewery! Each course utilizes beer as an ingredient and is paired with a half pint of beer to accentuate the flavours of the food. Our most decadent dining experience of the entire year!

 

This Weekend’s Special Dining Feature for April 21st & 22nd is a MOROCCAN LAMB BURGER for $21.95Our 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 a CHERRY APPLE CIDER from Saskatoon’s Crossmount Cidery. Next up is the MODERN IPA from Nokomis Craft Ales. This will be followed by a NEW ENGLAND IPA from Swift Current’s Black Bridge Brewery.

APRIL PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: Our April Wine features pay tribute to the iconic rock band and proudly hail from Canada! The red wine is HENRY OF PELHAM BACO NOIR VQA and the white wine is GRAY MONK PINOT GRIS. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.


ONLY ONE WEEK REMAINS! The 2023 “Best of Food Regina” nominees have now been selected. There were a number of category changes made this year which should make things interesting.  Thank you for nominating your Bushwakker in 11 categories including BESTLocal Beer Maker, Pub, Warehouse District Restaurant, Warehouse District Pub, Pub Food, Burgers, Veggie Burger, Fries, Wings, Beer Selection and Pub For a Date! Be sure to turn those nominations into wins by voting in the easy and fun multiple-choice ballot. Just head over to prairiedogmag.com or click the link below. Voting is open only until May 1st, so don’t delay.

Best of Food 2023 | Best Restaurant | Best of Food 2023 | Prairie Dog (prairiedogmag.com)

 


We haven’t presented a PREMIUM TEQUILA TASTING EVENT in 15 years! This time around six one-ounce servings of premium small Mexican distillery delights will be discussed and evaluated including three unique 100% blue agave tequilas, a raicilla, a mezcal and even a mezquila! Learn about tequila history, production methods, renowned producing regions, 100% blue agave vs. mixto tequila and why premium sipping tequila does not require salt and citrus! The tasting will take place in our Arizona Room. Only 50 tickets available at $49.95 each. Hosted by Chris Mooney from Set The Bar.



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.


Upgrades will mean downtown Yards won’t look like Regina’s ‘dust bowl’: Warehouse BID director

The former CP Railyard has not been upgraded or developed since it was purchased by the city in 2012

Alexander Quon  CBC NEWS


The former CP Rail Yards in Regina were sold to Regina in 2012. More than a decade later, very little work has been carried out on the Yards. (CBC)

An undeveloped piece of real estate in downtown Regina that is owned by the city is set to be transformed into a space that will draw people into the downtown core.

The Yards, a piece of land located between Casino Regina and Dewdney Avenue, has sat empty since CP Rail decided to move its rail yard out Regina’s downtown in 2012.

A unanimous vote by Regina city council’s executive committee on Wednesday has started the process of changing that.

A pedestrian bridge connecting the Warehouse District to downtown – a park space – may be a new, attractive site for businesses. These are just some of the possibilities being kicked around for the former railyards site that the city’s owned for more than a decade. Right now, Warehouse businesses say the vacant land is just a dust bowl and an eyesore. But we’ll hear what new movement is happening to kick development into gear.

The committee voted on a proposal that would see Regina Warehouse Business Improvement District provided with $100,000 in city funding to help upgrade the site.

“We’ve seen the ‘dust bowl,’ as we like to call it, sit since about 2012,” said Leasa Gibbons, the organization’s executive director.

“As I’ve heard folks say, ‘no one buys a dirty car,’ and so we’re here to take the Yards from gritty to pretty.”

The initial phase of upgrades will bring water, electricity and other infrastructure to the seven-hectare (17-acre) area in the city’s downtown core.


An artist’s rendering of the Yards, according to the interim use plan for the area put forward by the Regina Warehouse Business Improvement District. The idea is to make the space more welcoming for Regina residents. (City of Regina/Regina Warehouse Business Improvement District)

The space is being built “from nothing,” and the initial infrastructure will open up the opportunities available to users, Gibbons said.


Regina’s railyards may soon breathe new life after more than a decade of sitting empty

 It has been more than a decade since CP Rail moved its railyard out of Regina’s downtown. The space that was left behind came to be known as The Yards. It was pegged as critical to the city’s revitalization and yet, nothing has been done with the land.

The introduction of infrastructure to the Yards will be followed by a series of upgrades over a 10-year period.

That means residents shouldn’t expect the space to immediately look like the artist renderings of the space.

“We’re going to take a small area and do something that I would refer to as tactical urbanism, where we try things that can be mobile and nimble,” Gibbons said.

That means something like modified shipping containers could be used to help create a more vibrant area, rather than the empty field it is right now.


An artist’s rendering of modified shipping containers in The Yards. The interim use plan will be implemented over a 10-year period. (City of Regina/Regina Warehouse Business Improvement District)

The interim use plan for the Yards proposed by the Warehouse Business Improvement District is meant to build on use of the area during Regina’s Frost Festival as well as compliment upgrades planned for Dewdney Avenue this summer.

The upgrades will help to draw people into an area that was not recommended as a location for one of the city’s upcoming mega projects, such as a new arena.

The plan has gotten a good reception from business owners in the warehouse district, Gibbons said.

One those businesses, Bushwakker Brewpub, told CBC News in an email that they believe the revitalization of the Yards could be a potential boost for tourism in Regina.

“To finally see some tangible forward movement is almost unbelievable,” said Grant Frew, Bushwakker’s bar manager.

Frew believes the Yards could serve as Regina’s version of The Forks, a national historic site and green space that is a popular attraction in Winnipeg, albeit on a smaller scale.

Regina Mayor Sandra Masters also said she’s excited for the opportunity presented by the Yards.

“I think anything where you can have community gathering together or provide space for them to enjoy the outdoors or to promote different events going on in the city … all of that is positive for business,” Masters told media after the executive committee meeting on Wednesday.

The interim nature of the plan also means that commercial or residential development could still find a home in the Yards.

Gibbons said the Warehouse BID will look to adapt as there’s more feedback.

“This is our chance to really revitalize our city centre and invite people to come out and have a say in how they want to see that developed,” she said.

The $100,000 in funding must still be supported by Regina city council in a vote set for next week.


TIME OUT

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 100 km per hour, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife’s back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, “The weather out there is terrible.” My loving wife of 5 years replied, “And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?”

And that’s how the fight started…

 


Has spring finally sprung in Saskatchewan? It’s all a matter of perspective.