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SPOTLIGHT – JULY/AUGUST 2009


spotlight: tour

Crawl for a Cause

Ghent's Annual Summer Bar Tour Benefits the Hope House Foundation

By Alisa Crider

You know you can't resist a cool and refreshing adult beverage every once in a while during the summer heat. So this year, travel down Colley Avenue, 21st Street, and the surrounding locale in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood on July 25 for the annual Summer Bar Tour event and down a cold one for a good cause. Thirteen of Ghent's popular restaurants and bars will be participating in this charity pub crawl, with all proceeds benefiting the Hope House Foundation.

"There are 500-plus people out on the streets and in the bars of Ghent, all just hanging out and having a great time," says Scott Guirlinger, Ghent Bar Tours event coordinator, "The event allows people to sample the food and drinks (and atmosphere) and numerous places in Ghent all in one night and all at discounted prices they normally would not get on a Saturday in the summertime.

The Hope House Foundation is the only agency in the state of Virginia that supports adults with developmental disabilities exclusively in their own homes. With three teams in Ghent, the foundation is actively fundraising in order to provide such services.

"The Ghent Bar Tour will open new doors for the foundation not only by the funds raised through the event, but the community awareness it will generate to a demographic that is a lot younger and proactive, and for that we are thrilled," says Elena Berry, marketing and events director for the Hope House Foundation. Register online for the Ghent Bar Tour at a discounted price or at the door the day of for$25. Registration includes a wristband good for specials at each establishment, a T-shirt, an abundance of souvenirs, a guide map and other promotional items. If you stick around, the tour concludes in a big tent with a live band. To continue crawling, check out the annual Olde Towne Fall Crawl in the fall, on Oct. 10 in Portsmouth.

The 2009 Ghent Summer Bar Tour, $15–$ 25, July 25, 4–9 p.m. Ghent, Norfolk, 757-353-4660. More information: www.GhentBarTour.com.