Downtown Frederick celebrated Halloween with the annual Breast Cancer Bar Crawl.

The Frederick Social Sports club normally does activities like kickball, but it sponsored the event that brought in $1,200 in donations. The Pirates versus Ninjas Breast Cancer Pub Crawl and Scavenger Hunt moved around to different bars throughout the night.  

The Pirates versus Ninja were just some of the participants and the Scavenger Hunt was designed to get the people to move from bar to bar by hiding items.

The Olde Town Tavern, Cacique restaurant, Canal bar & Grill, Magoo's Pub & Eatery, Jojo's Restaurant & Tap House, and Olive Lounge participated in the pub crawl. “Having the event in downtown Frederick was the most convenient for the bar crawl due to the walkable distance from location to location,” said Michelle Salaum, the event coordinator of the Frederick Sports Club.

“The locations decide whether or not they want to participate in supporting the cause,” Salaum added.  “We usually limit the number of locations to six.”

Being that this was a Pirates versus Ninjas fight against breast cancer theme, the Frederick Sports Club hid weapons in each participating bar.  On the back would be a prize provided by local businesses who donated gift cards, gift packages, and services in support of the cause.  “This was a big cross marketing tool as well for local businesses in Frederick,” Salaum said.
The pub crawl was made to accomplish excitement but also a good cause in Frederick.  “The purpose of the crawl is to promote breast cancer awareness, so we feel that bringing young professionals together for a night out on the town has been the most effective way to bring this awareness to their attention,” Salaum said.

The event was designed to bring attention to a small town.

The pub crawl is a big- city attraction that has helped rejuvenate a small- town environment.  "The past 10 years we have got people coming from Gaithersburg and all other parts of Maryland because of these bars; Carroll Creek helped revitalize and transform the area as well," Brewer's Alley manager Brian Carmody said.

This year’s Breast Cancer Bar Crawl brought out around 85 people.  The bar crawl averages anywhere from 80-130 each year for the October Bar Crawl. 

“We feel that with Halloween landing on a Friday this year that it was harder for people to come out due to taking kids out trick or treating as well as a number of home parties and restaurant events taking place on this night,” Salaum said.  “Last year Halloween landed during the week so we scheduled the crawl the weekend prior.”

This year it was supposed to be different because Halloween fell on a Friday, so it would be a whole weekend of festivities.  "A couple years ago, it was cold and there was even ice," Joanna Button, the owner of Jojo’s, said.

For the most part these businesses are trying to get every kind of age group through the doors.
Frederick is still a central place to meet and reunite for young adults. 

“I liked it.” former Hood College student Jordan Acton said.  Saw a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a while and had a lot of fun,”

“It was my second year going and I will probably continue to go as it is a good way to keep in contact with other alum,” Acton said.  It showed the great atmosphere that Frederick brings to the community.

Olives was a part of the pub crawl and had a DJ after 10 p.m.  “I've been here since 1986 Frederick is much bigger now, one of the only bars then was Bushwallers," said Jeff Reinhard, the chef at Olives Italian Ristorante and lounge. "I don’t want to pack it like the other places until at least after 9."

Frederick dealt with modern issues as well; because of these bars, drinking and driving was a factor.  "Before it was just local, but now it is more of a Georgetown or Baltimore Inner Harbor feel," Reinhard said.  Olives is a smaller restaurant part of the pub crawl, but was still doing similar types of deals, such as happy hour at 9 p.m. instead of ending at 7 p.m.

Jojo’s had a Black Light Halloween Party with a local band playing called the Broken Rocker.  They were serving $7 caramel apple martini's $4 Longtrail Brews Harvest Brown Ale's & Pumpkin Ale's. 

The reason that Frederick seen a growth in night life is because of the housing boom, Button went on to say.  "There are more bars condensed for a destination spot, the past 7-10 years younger people have since moved downtown," Button said.

Brewer's Alley had different intentions; it saw Halloween as more of a regular Friday or Saturday night that would be filled either way.  "The only thing real special are the drinks in the bar Draculas Kiss, which is a cherry vodka Pilsner glass to make it look like fangs and the Jack-O-Latern, with bourbon, orange juice," said General Manager of Brewer's Alley Travis Vaughan. 

“The last 10 years, quality of restaurants, for four or five blocks has different varieties, mostly mom and pop shops, local businesses not big chains," Carmody said.  Brewer's Alley is one of the high volume restaurants that tries to get everyone through the doors.

Pretzel & Pizza Creations was doing some of the more traditional methods of Halloween by passing out candy to people. The front window was decorated and late night staff was dressed in costumes.  

"It's more people out than normal, dressed up, and in high spirits, we want to encourage that," General Manager Carlo Serio said. 

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