. . . That was the message on a bottle cap on Magic Hat #9 that Niles found while he and I picked up garbage yesterday! We went up Highland Ave through the college, and then down a bit on Highland Ave, where all the college students have apartments. That’s the college behind the trash in the picture. Niles wanted the college to be in the shot.

That afternoon, I went out to the store, and saw Hydrox.  That’s right, Hydrox cookies.  They make them again!!!!!  I know that I googled Hydrox a year or two ago, and they had been discontinued.  But they’re back!!  When I was a little kid, my mom would buy Oreos, she would buy Hydrox. Oreos had lard in them, but Hydrox didn’t, so that’s what she got.  I don’t think there really was a difference in taste, but this is what we had at my house, and we all loved them!!!!  Now, I most definitely wouldn’t buy them today (If I’m going to eat cookies, they’re going to be homemade), but I thought it was nice that they were back.  My sister will appreciate this picture.

Then, late last night, I had a meeting at the Fitchburg Armory to discuss the Brew Years Eve party we are planning for this New Year’s Eve. It’s a fundraiser to purchase books for the Fitchburg Public Library. The library had their budget cut by 65%, and they currently have no money for new books.  We’re throwing a kick ass New Year’s Party with great craft winter beers, live music (featuring New Pond Fondle and the Allstonians), and delicious appetizers to go with the beer (really good cheeses, a nice soup, kielbasa skewers).  Last night, we got to see the draft copy of the poster.  Liz’s husband, Jordan, is a graphic designer and does all of our artwork.  This design is on a piece of 11×17 paper, and we’re going to put two bottles on one piece of paper, and then cut it in the middle.  Then the poster will be very long and slim, just like a beer bottle.  We need to get the graphic completed because we need to get a “save the date” e-mail out!  It’s November already, so people are probably already thinking about their New Years plans.  We also want to get a website up and running, so people can have a place to find information on the event (and about the library).  This is the second event that we’ve planned (Trevor, Liz, my dad, and myself), and Liz thinks we should get a production company name and have that be the website.  That way, people know “Ohhh… this is put on by the same people who did the beer fest this summer!  That was awesome, we’ll definitely go to their New Year’s party.”  Liz suggested “River City Productions” and I like it!  But we NEED to get something together so people can start learning about the event, and can start mark their calendars! We also need volunteers to help set up (decorate), help out the night of the event (if you’re TIPS trained, we could use you to pour beer!), and also cleaning up on New Years day. We’re going to all bring brunch food that morning while we clean up, so we can have a celebratory brunch together. If you’re interested in helping, let me know. It’s a guaranteed great time.

So here are some questions:

Would you like to volunteer your time to help out?  (Emiliano, you can volunteer to do our site design!)
Do you have any other ideas for food items that will go great with winter (dark) beers?  (We’re meeting next week to go over the menu)
Do you have a name for our production company? (They’re all Fitchburg based events, and Fitchburg is “The city by the river”)