vip in the city

“Young” alums

Our high school’s alumnae/i association organized a “Young Alums Happy Hour” for graduates in their early 20s through early 30s. Although I’d never attended these events in the past, I sensed that my window of opportunity to do so as a “young” alum was rapidly closing. The next age bracket up would encompass alumni in their 30s and 40s, and I knew without being told these events probably would be a whole lot less fun.

Which is worse: being the youngest people in the room, or the oldest?

I met SYB, JL and HYB (who was crashing) for dinner near the event. Despite the impending threat of rain, Blockheads already had a crowd spilling onto the sidewalk outside — $3 margaritas may have had something to do with it; we opted for quick and cheap Chinese food instead.

Tonight’s happy hour was hosted by Local, a bar/cafe (but mostly a bar), part owned by a member of the Class of ’98. After identifying our school affiliation, we were each tagged with a snap-on green vinyl wristband, of the kind usually seen at clubs, rock concerts or music festivals. My, these are  young alums. (They didn’t look so young to fellow classmate PL, whose intended joke fell flat when he directed it to a couple of the bar’s regular [non-alum] customers.)

Local had Blue Moon on tap, which I’ve noticed cropping up in bars around town more recently, though the Belgian-Style “white beer” — so called due to the suspended yeast and wheat proteins which cause the beer to look hazy, or white — has been around for more than a decade. Some wheat beers are served with a slice of lemon, which, according to some, accentuates the tart, refreshing character of the beer. (Others think that “fruiting” the beer actually kills the taste and the head.) Blue Moon’s creator, Keith Villa, came up with the ingenious marketing strategy of suggesting that bars serve their beer with an orange slice, to accentuate its coriander and orange peel notes. More importantly, the unusual garnish would pique interest among bar patrons, looking to try something a little different.

Worked for me.

There's 1 comment so far ... “Young” alums

Qsoz
June 17, 2007

The Blue Moon is so much better with the orange slices.

Go for it ...