Portage Parks & Rec hosts successful first Boos & Brews Brewfest at Oakwood Hall

With a costume contest, alcohol sampling, food vendors, music, and more, Portage Parks & Rec’s first Boos & Brews Brewfest was a hit. Oakwood Hall at Woodland Park was decked out with apparitions gliding across sheets strung from the ceiling, spooky monster-infested photo ops, a cemetery inspired by “Hocus Pocus,” and even cheeky ghosts hovering over the bathroom entrances. 

“My events coordinator decided to plan this after the Haunted Hayride as a follow-up event, so adults in the community could do something together. They got to dress up and enjoy some beer sampling. What was really neat was that we actually used Oakwood Hall this year as an entryway to the hayride, so it was already decorated,” said Portage Parks & Recreation Superintendent Kelly Smith.

To deliver on the name of the Boos & Brews Brewfest, Portage Parks & Recreation Events Coordinator Emily SeDoris immediately reached out to Indiana Beverage to secure a variety of beers, wines, and spirits from different brands and companies. The lineup included Upland, Vander Mill, Revolution, Jameson, Malibu, Absolut RTD Cocktails, Carbliss, Good Boy Vodka, Sun King, New Oberpfalz, White Claw, Dillon’s Gin Cocktails, Cayman Jack, and Surfside.

“Indiana Beverage is amazing. I reached out to Jade at Indiana Beverage and said, ‘We want to have this Halloween-themed event. What can Indiana Beverage do?’ They are so wonderful to work with. She lined up all of the different distributors, the promo servers, and got everything together,” SeDoris said.

Beyond the ample alcohol sampling stations, just outside the open doors of Oakwood Hall—complete with patio heaters to keep out the cold—were food options for attendees to select and pair with their beverages. One such food vendor was Melanie Curtis of Gene Catering & Desserts, who just recently moved to the area.

“I used to live in Chicago up until about a month ago, and I’ve been doing events in Indiana for two years. Portage Parks and Recreation is one of the event organizers that I discovered, and I have done some of their Friday events in the summer. I was surfing the internet, and the Boos & Brews Brewfest came up. I decided to give it a try and see what happened.”

Part of the way through the night, SeDoris, with some help from the event DJ, awarded trophies to a few of the best-dressed duos and groups. For one couple, Dan and Jamie Hullings, receiving an award for their costumes was the cherry on top of an already momentous occasion: their 10th anniversary.

“I saw the event on Facebook, and I love Halloween,” Jamie Hullings said. “I love the whole Victorian thing and thought, ‘How am I gonna make that work like a queen? What can we even do for his costume to vibe with that?’ Then, we thought it’d be funny if he were George Washington.”

As the couple is still new to the area, this was the perfect way to celebrate Halloween and get to know other people in the Portage community.

“We throw a big Halloween party at home, so we thought, ‘Let’s do something, because we just moved here.’ We decided to go out and see what everything’s about,” Dan Hullings said.

To ensure everyone made it home safely, representatives of Portage Firefighters Local 3151 were there to serve as designated drivers and shuttle people home from the event.

“We’re borrowing the YMCA’s van. They’re donating it for the night so that we can transport people to and from the event, so they get home safely,” said Firefighter Jordan Bucy. “Obviously, we meet all sorts of people throughout the community, in good and bad ways. This is just one way for us to meet them in a good way, where we’re just hanging out.”

With a successful first event, SeDoris, Smith, and the rest of the Portage Parks & Recreation crew hope to host another Boos & Brews Brewfest in the future.

For more information about the City of Portage and its upcoming Halloween-themed events, visit portagein.gov.