Any candidate for mayor of Milwaukee must possess certain basic skills, and perhaps tapping a barrel of beer ought to be among them.
With that in mind, Lakefront Brewery and Black Husky Brewing have invited all seven candidates for Milwaukee mayor to a special beer firkin tapping Saturday, Jan. 29 at Black Husky Brewing, 909 E. Locust St.
All the candidates – Marina Dimitrijevic, Bob Donovan, Ieshuh Griffin, Cavalier Johnson, Earnell Lucas, Michael Sampson and Lena Taylor – have accepted the invitation, according to Lakefront Brewery's Michael Stodola.
“Only in the City of Milwaukee would seven mayoral candidates come together to celebrate the beer culture that is Milwaukee. This speaks to the community that is Milwaukee and we thank each of the candidates for their good-natured participation in what we hope will become another great Milwaukee tradition.” said Toni Eichinger, co-owner of Black Husky Brewing.
Each candidate will get a cask to tap outside the Riverwest brewery at 4 p.m.
All proceeds from the $5 firkin pours will benefit the upkeep of the River Revitalization Foundation’s Turtle Park.
“Being a great brewing center, it will be nice to have a Milwaukee Mayor who can perform ceremonial tappings at openings of festivals and events," said Russ Klisch, president of Lakefront Brewery.
"But most importantly, our event shows that these candidates are all willing to come out, meet the people, and have some fun.”
Black Husky will close Bremen Street, west of the brewery, for the socially distanced outdoor event
The Inaugural Milwaukee Mayoral Firkin Tapping takes place the same day as the Lakefront My Turn Tyler Grand Cru release party, which begins at noon at Black Husky.
“This is great fun but it also speaks to the legacy that breweries built this city, and the source of fresh water brought those breweries here. Hosting here at Black Husky in the heart of Riverwest, which is also the center of craft brewing in Milwaukee, is a great honor.” added Tim Eichinger, co-owner of Black Husky Brewing.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
