SWAMPSCOTT — The town’s third annual ‘Bent Water at the Beach’ beer garden at Fisherman’s Beach Saturday served as a fundraiser for maintenance on the historic Fish House.
“We are able to gather as a community and celebrate life and raise money for the fish house,” said David Grishman, the founder of Swampscott Beer Garden, an organization that seeks to “build a greater sense of community amongst adults.” “Bent Water has a large and rich partnership that we are enjoying, and we are looking for many more days on the beach.”
He said that the 125-year-old Fish House requires a historical restoration that needs to happen in collaboration between the town and the historical commission.
“They have just had a new roof, fixed some of the fish lockets, and there are also some electrical issues that need to be addressed,” said Grishman.
He explained that Beer Garden helped with the logistics of the event, and although this was an adult only fundraiser, other events they have helped organize were family friendly, and all of them were aimed at building the sense of comradery and enjoying the music and beer.
Krista McConomy, taproom and events manager at Bent Water Brewing Company, said that two of the company’s founders live in Swampscott, and they love the town and want to be part of the community while also promoting craft beer.
“We missed 2020, and then we did it last year and this year,” said McConomy.
Aaron Reames, president and co-founder of Bent Water, said that the festival was one of the opportunities for the company to give back to the surrounding communities. He noted that the Parent Teacher Organization was holding a raffle at the event, and that My Brother’s Table was present too.
He also noted that Bent Water gave to funds they raised from other events to 50-70 charities. Jason Barker from My Brother’s Table said that they were doing a calendar raffle and a sign up for new volunteers at Saturday’s event.
“This is the second year that we are here, and the bent water people are very good to us. We mostly rely on volunteer help to do our mission,” said Barker.
Secretary for the PTO Sierra Munoz, said that this year they were having a 50/50 raffle for Hadley Elementary School. Christina Colella, a PTO member, said that with this fundraiser they would be able to finance teachers supplies, enrichment activities, cultural and academic events, books for the library and classrooms, teachers appreciation, and after school programs.
Munoz said that last year they did a similar fundraiser at the Bent Water beer party for Clarke School. She said that the raffle was called a 50/50 raffle because the winner received half of the collected funds, and half of them went to the proceeds.
The audience enjoyed the event.
“I belong to the Swampscott Yacht Club; they are doing all the food,” said Lorraine Maguire. “It’s a nice event for the town.”
Andy St. Piere said his father learned about the event, and they then “biked over to get a beer.”
“Just seemed like a fun thing to do on a summer afternoon,” said Dean Healey.
