This year’s Celebrate! was a success, as it has been in the past, despite the terrible change that was brought about three years ago. Everyone I talked to had a good time, but stated that the change is still affecting people for the worst. Something crucial is missing. Yes, I am talking about the elimination of alcohol. This was supposedly done to make Celebrate! more of a family event. Well, I am sorry but drinking is a family event in Wisconsin. State officials tried to fight lowering the legal blood alcohol content from .10 to .08, even when threatened with the loss of federal highway funding, because they didn’t want to upset the general public. They lost that battle in the end but they did their best.
This is the state that you can go to the bar with your parents at almost any age and get a drink. Not because it’s legal, but because it is socially accepted. The general public wished that alcohol had been served.
The key to having a good time at a Wisconsin party/event is alcohol. If everyone knows that alcohol is being served the crowd is guaranteed to be much larger than it would be without. I know this first hand because I have lived here my entire life. It is tradition, and just like cheese, is expected to be at every event. Many Wisconsin natives try to steer clear of “dry” events – what would they do if they (gasp!) couldn’t drink!
Hopefully, next year Celebrate! will reincorporate serving alcohol. It can only enhance the event and bring in more people. I mean, this is Wisconsin – what else do we have to offer, besides cheap liqueurs and countless varieties of beer? Not that you really need anything besides cheap liqueurs and countless varieties of beer.