On Thursday night, the Hoot Owl hosted a DJ night for St. Lawrence’s’ 21 and up population to raise money for the Canton Bearpacks Program. The event was a spinoff of an annual event at the Hoot called Golden Bears Night. Danny Fay, the owner of the Hoot, hosts the DJ event yearly to raise money for the Golden Bears. Nate Brown ’17, who bartends at the Hoot, came up with the idea to do a similar event for SLU students and raise money for the local charity, the Canton Bearpacks Program, of which Danny Fay’s daughter is the director.
According to their website, the Backpack Program in St. Lawrence Country provides nutritious meals and snacks for students who otherwise would not have food to eat over the weekend, so they can return to school ready to learn. Money from the fundraiser will be used to buy the backpacks for students, which contain two breakfasts, two lunches, and snacks to last students through the weekend. They include food like granola bars, canned soup, applesauce, and fruit. The backpacks are discretely given to students each Friday.
The Hoot provided equipment for the DJ, as well as lights and lasers. DJ BOC, or Bryan O’Connor, was taking song requests, turning the normally sporty bar, into a dance floor until the doors closed at 2 a.m.
The event had a $3.00 cover charge at the door, and Fay agreed to cover the cost of attendees’ first drinks. Raffle tickets were also on sale. The raffle prizes included five $10 gift certificates to the Hoot. Over 320 people came to the event, raising $1,200 for the Canton Bearpack Program.
With many students hoping for more events like this, Brown ’17 said that there are talks of possible Karaoke nights on Wednesdays or Thursdays, “but as of now, there is no plan to host another DJ event.” He suggested that if students are interested in more events like this, they can reach out to Paul Charleston, the manager of the Hoot Owl. He also said that campus organizations can reach out to Fay and Charleston to host a similar fundraiser at the Hoot. Brown wanted to thank everyone who donated to the fund and hopes “you had a Hoot of a time!”