Solar Bear

 Although I have not seen much publicity for it (granted I am not the target market either) but the annual Solar Bear event takes place this Friday and Saturday. It looks as if Levels has taken over from Pinch Penny as the main bar hosting Solar Bear drinking but there typically a lot of people congregate along West College between University and Poplar, with fraternities sponsoring a lot of house parties.  From what I have heard, last night was no busier than normal, though there were two stabbings on N. Washington near Washington and Main last night.

Update:  West College between S. University and S. Poplar is currently blocked off for Solar Bear partying.

Solar Bear

 Solar Bear snuck up on me this year but apparently started about 11 a.m. this morning with the focal point the section of West College between University and Poplar. Although I saw very little foot traffic while driving on Walnut this afternoon, there are about 500 drunk college students blocking the streets in that section of town.

Solar Bear

 Solar Bear still is lumbering along, even without the support of Pinch Penny Pub. I saw one group of students on West Mill at 10 a.m. with a "U Honk We Drink" sign out in front of their house and reports are there are over 1000 people congregating on West College, with red Solo cups abounding and even an inflatable water slide.

Solar Bear 2

 Good crowd for a Solar Bear party on West College yesterday afternoon and there was another one in the 500 block of S. University last night. No major problems for the police from what I have heard. They did have to break up the S. Univeristy house party and use pepper spray on the crowd over at Levels.

When I drove through the area about 9:30 p.m., things were comparatively quiet. No crowds on College or Univeristy or over on Grand, though lots of cars in the Levels parking lot. People walking around on S. Illinois and lots of cars parked but no lines waiting to get into bars. Of course, that may have changed later in the evening.

Solar Bear

 Solar Bear takes place today. Most of the activity should concentrate around the Levels' nightclub over on East Grand behind the old Pinch Penny Pub location. I have not seen much activity today as I have in past years but I have heard Carbondale police are anticipating a busy night.

Solar Bear

 From what I have heard, Solar Bear will return to Carbondale this Saturday, August 26, now sponsored by Levels, the bar back behind what used to be Copper Dragon. 

For those not familiar with Solar Bear, it is a day long booze fest with drink specials at local bars, primarily Pinch Penney in the past, with house parties throughout the town. A few times it got so bad that SIUC set up hydration stations and medical check up points near the intersection of Grand and Wall.

Given the 96 F/ 35 C temperatures expected this weekend, I worry we will see some students suffering from heatstroke unless they are very careful.

Pinch Penny Pub closing

The owner of Pinch Penny Pub announced that, assuming the sale goes through, Pinch Penny Pub and the Copper Dragon will close at the end of the year. The bar has been quietly up for sale for the past 2 and a half years, rather like Pagliai's Pizza and Thai Taste but a couple of former SIUC students appear to have made a serious offer.

From the article, it sounds as if the new owners do not plan to continue operating the bar but rather will demolish it for more housing (which Carbondale really does not need) or a hotel, which would help attracting more large multi-day events to town, as well as providing close to campus lodging for parents visiting SIUC students.

Of course, this means that one of the other bars in town will likely start hosting the annual Solar Bear and Polar Bear events as 'twould be a pity to let revenue generators like them die.

Solar Bear

In case you missed it, the annual Solar Bear celebration, consisting primary of college students drinking as much as possible, usually at Pinch Penny Pub. PKs had a Friday night event tied into Solar Bear but the house parties seemed fewer in number. Only one house along West Main and a second along West Cherry hosted parties with any significant number of attendees during the day. The number may ramp up tonight though.

Solar Bear Weekend

couple of good sized House parties on West Walnut on Saturday celebrating Solar Bear. Couple of hundred students floating around the two houses on Saturday afternoon. Someone had considerately strung up Caution tape running from the house to the street, indicating to the party goers just how far west they should venture during the festivities. Saw a couple of girls out cleaning up trash as well.

Another house at 505 West Main had orange caution fence circling its property, again to indicate to attendees where the boundaries were.

Solar Bear

Just a heads up that the Solar Bear celebration is this weekend. According to my postal worker, West Maple is already pretty much impassible due to the number of cars parked along it. From the looks of it, a couple of houses in the 500 and 800 blocks of West Main expect a lot of visitors as well, since they have orange security fence set up around their yards.

Musical and Boozy Weekend

Looks like 'twil be a weekend of music and alcohol.  PK's, Carbondale's oldest bar, celebrates 60 years this Saturday, Wanda Jackson performs at Turley Park with 11 other bands opening for her and the DuQuoin State Fair opens its gates.

Oh, and Solar Bear takes place at Pinch Penny Pub. Haven't heard as much about it as January's Polar Bear but a lot of students look forward to the event as a kick off to the fall semester.