Gear Garden opens at Blowing Springs
The Gear Garden at Blowing Springs Park proved to be one of the more popular outdoor attractions in Bella Vista last year.
Officials are hoping the second year for the watering hole, designed to go hand-in-hand with the city’s system of trails, will be even better.
“We’re super excited,” said Scott Redington, who is the manager for the Property Owners Association’s food and beverage operations. “This has been the most anticipated addition to food and beverage of the POA. The success of last year was incredible. Everybody is coming off the trails and they’re excited to have a beer and to be drinking outside on a nice day like today.”
Redington’s comments came on Friday, April 1, just minutes before the Gear Garden opened for its second season. Customers had already arrived and waited patiently in the shade of the park’s trees under a cloudless sky for the sales window to open.
The Gear Garden is once again partnering with Bentonville Brewing Company and will sell beer and wines in a can as well as non-alcoholic drinks.
“We’ve paired with Bentonville Brewing Company and they have great beers. Fantastic,” Redington said. “Plus we have some non-alcoholic items — Powerade, water, vitamin water — things for the kids or for someone who doesn’t want an alcoholic drink.”
He added, “We approached Bentonville Brewing Company and said, ‘Can you brew a beer that’s specifically for the POA?’ After some trial and error they came up with Trailhead Lager for us and it’s been a hit. Everybody loves it.”
Redington described Trailhead Lager as a beer that is “light, refreshing, not too heavy,” adding, “Some beers you drink and it’s like you just drank a loaf of bread. You can drink this one all day long. It’s great.”
Non-glass mugs will also be sold at the Gear Garden this year. And if last year is any indication, officials will need to keep plenty in stock.
“Last year we were selling the pioneer mugs and those sold out the first day that we introduced them,” Redington said. “They were in such demand we had to bring them back a second time and again sold out the first day. When we announced that we had more, there was a line and people were buying like four and six at a time. It was nuts.”
This year a wooden rail fence has been added at the Gear Garden location. Last year, patrons weren’t allowed to take open containers of alcohol to the picnic tables across the creek (between the creek and parking lot) due to restrictions implemented by the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Board. Adding the fence has allowed the Gear Garden to expand the area in which customers can take their open containers.
“The yellow signs will be moved out to the fence,” Redington said of the signs that limited areas where customers could carry beverages. “Until then we’ll have to let everyone know it’s OK to take the beer (across the creek) over to the other benches, but not outside the fence.”
Plans are already in the works to bring live entertainment to the Gear Garden.
“We do Last Day Live for Highlands Pub. For the summer we’re going to move that from out there to here,” Redington said. “We already have a gentleman slated to play here. His name is Rick Atha and he’s a popular guy around the Highlands Pub area.”
For now, the Gear Garden will be open from 2 p.m. to dusk Wednesday through Sunday.
“We are planning to get some lights strung up so we can stay open longer and have a definitive shutoff time,” Redington said. “Last year we were open to around 8:30 or 9, but as the year went on we were closing earlier and earlier because it started getting dark. But usually by 9 o’clock we’re done.”
He said customers can bring growlers (32- or 64-ounce beer vessels made of glass) to be filled at the Gear Garden, which is ideal for those using the camping facilities at the park.
“It’s perfect for the people hanging out in RVs and tents,” he said. “When we get closer to quitting time they can come over and fill a growler.”
Leora Devitt has been hired to be the beertender at the Gear Garden.