Is this the ever-popular Punta Gorda Pub Crawl’s last hurrah?

Nick Berry and Mike Colgan lead the charge from the Ice House Pub to start Punta Gorda Pub Crawl. MIKE COLGAN / COURTESY PHOTO

Yes, this year’s Punta Gorda Pub Crawl is sold out — and, yes, you should stop by anyway.

Why? For two reasons.

First of all, you might actually get in.

“There will be tickets available on the day of,” said Mike Colgan, co-founder of the event, along with Nick Berry. “People always turn in tickets, and I hate to see them not get sold.”

For ticket availability, look for the Pub Crawl tent in the staging area outside the IceHouse Pub.

Second, at the heart of the event — and one of the primary reasons it was created — is the food drive to benefit the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida (as well as assisting other charities, such as The Homeless Coalition and the local branch of The Salvation Army).

There have been 12 Pub Crawls over the past 14 years — the pandemic and Hurricane Ian knocked out two of them — but the food drive still continued during the off years.

The Pub Crawl had previously been promoted solely by posters and word of mouth. In 2020, Colgan decided to invest in advertising the event in Florida Weekly. The result: The Pub Crawl broke its previous record by 2,000 pounds.

Mike Colgan and Nick Berry are the organizers of the Punta Gorda Pub Crawl and food drive. MIKE COLGAN / COURTESY PHOTOS

That year, the food drive collected 7,800 pounds — nearly 4 tons — of food in three hours, all donated to the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, Colgan said. That record still stands.

“We’ve come close to it, but we haven’t beaten that mark,” Colgan added. “We’re hoping to beat that this year.”

The total collected over the 14 years is 33,000 pounds of donated food — and thousands of dollars given to charities.

The public is invited to the food drive at no charge; you don’t need a Pub Crawl ticket to participate in the food donation. And there are perks for doing so.

“Anybody giving food will get a raffle ticket — one per can, up to 24 cans — for a chance to win a seven-day cruise for two, leaving out of Miami with two stops in Mexico, one stop in Honduras, and a stop in the Bahamas. It is transferable, you can update the cabin, update the sailing dates,” Colgan said.

Workers load food donated to the Harry Chapin Food Bank, one of three local charities that benefit from the Punta Gorda Pub Crawl.

A raffle ticket also pays your admission to live music. Perennial favorite Brigid’s Cross, which hails from Cleveland, Ohio, will perform from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

At 1:30 p.m., all Pub Crawl participants will line up into six color-coded groups, each with a leader. As the whistled strains of the iconic “Colonel Bogey March” begin playing, Colgan and Berry will lead the parade of revelers, setting them off to their respective participating bars and restaurants.

“They will be playing Follow the Leader for six hours,” Colgan said.

To promote safety, designated drivers will be given free soft drinks at all venues.

“We encourage everyone to visit the website, www.puntagordapubcrawl.com ,” Colgan said. “You’ll find a tip sheet, information, pictures and videos from years past, and a flyer for the food drive that people can post in different establishments.

“We’re expecting great weather. We’ve been very blessed in this event over the years. One year it was predicted we’d have a 70% chance of rain — and the Lord didn’t allow it to rain until 7 o’clock that night. Everybody brought umbrellas and the rain stayed away.”

The final stop — where everyone will meet — is the Sunloft Center, 201 W. Marion Ave., which houses Leroy’s Southern Kitchen & Bar — and which, coincidentally, will be providing bar services at the terminus. At 8:30 p.m., the winning ticket will be draw for the raffle, and the Pub Crawl will come to an end.

Will there be another Pub Crawl next year? Maybe, maybe not.

As difficult as it is to imagine Punta Gorda without its annual signature Pub Crawl — some participants come from out of state and even plan their vacations around the event, Colgan noted — this year is the last hurrah for Colgan and Berry.

They hope someone will take up the reins and purchase the event from them.

“It is a legitimate not-for-profit corporation in the state, and it is priced to sell,” Colgan said. “A buyer could recoup their investment within five years, by our calculations.”

In short, they would eventually make money — and also make a lot of people happy while doing it.

Any takers? ¦

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