The explosive growth that the Crawl has experienced means that we have scores of new people showing up every year. It’s worth taking a few moments to understand what the Crawl is all about, so here’s my list of hints for newbies to the Crawl.
1. Embrace the holiday spirit.
The Crawl started out as just five guys looking for a fun evening on the town. Just because we’re now 500+ instead of 5, doesn’t mean anything has to change. While you are enjoying yourself, take extra care to make sure others around you are doing the same. Welcome all, make new friends or reunite with old; just make sure to keep your spirits high.
2. Dress for the occasion
Go whole hog, you won’t regret it. I assure you that you can not over dress. The people who feel self-conscious on this evening are the ones who just show up in a hat. Even at this late date, it’s not too late to get costumed. Party City, located in the WalMart Plaza, across the Benner Pike from the Nittany Mall, has tons of very reasonably priced Santa (and associates) outfits..Stop out and get one.
3. Buy a wristband
Remember the holidays are a time for giving. Make sure you purchase one of our wristbands to support our charity partner, the Pat Boland Memorial Scholarship Fund. All this week, wristbands are available from the Hotel State College, the Tavern Restaurant, Primanti’s, the Brewery, Doggie’s Pub, the Federal Taphouse, Cafe 210 or the Chrome Liquor Lounge. During the event, you can purchase wristbands at all of the above plus the Basement Nightspot (you should never be more than a few steps from a wristband)
4. Pace yourself
Just because there are 22 pubs participating doesn’t mean you have to go to every one. Pick your favorites and work out your own personal schedule. Don’t rush around town. Relax and enjoy the evening with friends, new and old
5. Behave yourself
In the 16 years that we have been doing this, we have never once (at least to my knowledge) had an alcohol related incident involving the authorities. We would like to keep it that way. We don’t want our Crawl to turn into another State Patty’s Day. Be a responsible adult.
6. Take pictures/videos (and share)
Half the fun of the Crawl is sharing our experience with others. Nothing does that better than pictures and video being passed around the social media sites. So fire away with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Vimeo, Snapchat, Pinterest, Swarm, Yik Yak, YouTube, Google+, etc, etc. Spread the word. I’ve decided to tweak Penn State basketball’s hashtag and am suggesting you tag your photos with #CrawlWithUs #crawlin or the old standby #SantaCrawl.
7. Be a recruiter
When a “civilian” asks you what the heck is going on, give him the whole recruiting pitch. Make sure they understand this isn’t a bunch of drunk Santas. Let them know that we are raising thousands of dollars for charity. Get them to consider joining in next year (the date will be Saturday Dec 12th, 2020 in case they really want to plan ahead).
8. Respect the participating establishments
Remember the wristband only allows you to skip paying cover. The pubs will continue to enforce their normal rules. That means, everyone, and I can’t reinforce this too much, EVERYONE must have an ID. This is a college town, they card everyone and will refuse service to anyone who can’t produce an ID. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It also means that they will refuse service to anyone who appears overly intoxicated – so see hint 4 and pace yourself. Fire regulations also must be obeyed. That means you are expected to abide by the capacity lines – and the wristband does not give you the right to jump the line. If the bar you are headed to is overcrowded, skip it and pick another one. The proprietors of each spot have been told to expect Crawlers earlier than normal this year.
9. Eat something
Don’t try to do this on an empty stomach. Grab something to eat before hand. Or start out attending our happy hours at the Prinanti’s and try one of their world famous sandwiches. Also many of these places will have food service during the Crawl (some will actually be running Crawl specials). Grab something to eat. I’m going to chow down at the Federal Taphouse before I start.
10. Have fun
The most important thing of course is to just have fun. For the last fifteen years, this has been my favorite holiday event. I want it to become yours too. So make every effort to enjoy yourselves while still respecting others.
Thanks. Ho Ho Ho. See you all Saturday night.