WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7 2016: South Sound events + craft beer …
Polar Plaza + Peaks and Pints = animal planet
Dillinger’s Cocktails & Kitchen + Northwest Beerwerks = Olympia night
University of Puget Sound + Scotty’s Grub and Pub = theater and sweaters
HOLIDAY CHEER
How do you escape the pressures of the holidays, like, really quickly? Bundle up, drop your packages in the trunk, pinch your cheeks until they glow and strap on a pair of silver skates, Hans Brinker, for a glide across the frozen expanse at Tollefson Plaza. The Franciscan Polar Plaza, located at the Plaza on the corner of Pacific Avenue and South 17th Street is a covered outdoor ice rink with skate rentals and hot chocolate. From 5-8 p.m., the Tacoma Nature Center will lace them up, complete with critters. You haven’t seen anything until you see a deer waltz jump.
PREFUNK: Vista, California brewery Belching Beaver scored a silver medal at the 2014 World Beer Championships for its Peanut Butter Milk Stout. Totally. It’s irresistible. It’s like dark chocolate Reese’s in a glass. Rolled oats and lactose add to the creamy body of this beer while heavenly aromas of roasted buttery peanuts and chocolate greet you with every sip. Peaks and Pints has this tasty Beaver in our cooler, beginning at 11 a.m.
VINCE AND COCKTAILS
Vince Brown is no stranger to string swing fans in the Northwest. He plays western swing style take-off guitar with Red Brown & the Tune Stranglers; strums guitar and tenor banjo with the gypsy swing band Hot Club Sandwich; he’s half of Red and Ruby — a swing duo project with vocalist LaVon Hardison; performs mandolin and tenor banjoist with the old timey outfit Deaf Lester; and the guitarist with the modern jazz/lounge group The Greta Jane Quartet. Brown’s nimble fingers have delighted audiences for more than 35 years. Catch his solo jazz guitarist 6-8 p.m. in swanky Dillinger’s Cocktails & Kitchen in downtown Olympia.
PREFUNK: They should rename themselves Northwest Beerkindness. Northwest Beerwerks is collecting clothing for adults and youth, household appliances, toys, toiletries, diapers and shoes for Thurston County nonprofit Community Youth Services through Dec. 21. That’s awesome. At 6 p.m., sales executive Mike Lay and his No-Li Brewhouse represent will tap five kegs, including two run through Randalls, hand out swag and sit on Santa’s lap. Yup, Santa will be in the Werks.
FESTIVAL OF SCENES
Maybe you’re one of those fiction writers that wondered what the hell you’re doing in fiction — that you should be in theater. Maybe you’re one of those playwrights in embryo that have never written a play but always knew you had it in you. Maybe you’re one of those people who hate plays and want to write a play giving full expression to that hatred. Maybe you just want to give up writing and boss people around. At 5 and 7:30 p.m. University of Puget Sound students will direct scenes from plays, each scene performed twice in one night. Check it out in the university’s Norton Clapp Theatre in Jones Hall. This could be the inspiration you need.
PREFUNK: An ugly Christmas sweater can be a thing of beauty. Just ask any of the increasing number of people who have donned the charmingly atrocious knitted creations adorned with felt, jingling bells, or tinsel during the holidays for the kitsch or irony value. And as the popularity of ugly Christmas sweaters has grown, so have theme parties inspired by the trend. That’s true here in the South Sound, where a variety of sweater-related shindigs will occur in the coming weeks, including Puyallup River Brewing’s first Ugly Sweater Tap Takeover at Scotty’s Grub and Pub in Puyallup. From 6-9 p.m., sip on tasty PRB brew, possible win some sweet swag and maybe even win the grand prize for the ugliest sweater.
