Leprechauns to fill Spa City downtown for benefit
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> All are invited to continue the St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Saturday, March 18 with the first-ever Saratoga LepraCON. Saratoga LepraCON aims to bring the luck on many leprechauns together this weekend for a fun day to raise money for the fight against cancer.
Similar to SantaCON in December, “We’re trying to get people to dress up in green and dress up as leprechauns,” said event founder Brian Miller of The Reserve. “Dress up in your favorite St. Patrick’s Day attire.”
Attendees are encouraged to put on their best leprechaun gear and join hundreds of others in continuing the St. Patrick’s Day party with a bar crawl on Caroline Street to help make a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer.
Event-goers can pre-register online by making a donation of $20 or more, or register the day of for at least $25 per person at Caroline Street Pub, which is the first stop on the crawl. Check in for all participants will be at this location from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Here, LepraCONers will get a key, to keep with them as they follow the rainbow to the locked pot of gold.
Then, the Saratoga LepraCON crew will travel to Spa City Tap & Barrel, Saratoga City Tavern, Gaffney’s and Desperate Annie’s throughout the afternoon and early evening.
At the end of the rainbow, Saratoga LepraCON will finish at The Reserve nightclub, where crawlers will have the opportunity to win a pot of gold with a grand prize of $500 cash. Everyone will have a chance to test their luck and see if their key, obtained at check-in/registration, will open the treasure chest.
Along the way, the bars will feature St. Patrick’s festivities as well as $3 Bud Light and $5 Jameson Irish whiskey or Absolut Lime cocktails.
The best part, and the reason behind this inaugural event, is that the money raised at LepraCON will be donated to the American Cancer Society.
In addition to celebrating the holiday, Saturday’s LepraCONs will be crawling to finish the fight against cancer.
The money raised at LepraCON will help the American Cancer Society to further its mission of “saving lives, celebrating lives and leading the fight for a world without cancer,” said Elizabeth Hunter, development manager of distinguished events for the local American Cancer Society office.
The organization does this by funding patient services in the Capital Region and researching to find a cure, she added.
Miller and The Reserve have worked with the American Cancer Society on previous fundraising events, too.
Hunter is appreciative of Miller’s vision in partnering with a cause that many people can relate to, in hosting a fun holiday event like LepraCON. “I think it’s really great, not only for the American Cancer Society, but for our community to be a part of something like that,” she said.
In the days leading up to Saturday’s crawl, LepraCON had already raised more than half of its $7,000 fundraising goal and secured more than 100 preregistrants.
“So, we’re really thinking it will make a big impact on the community,” Hunter said, “not only the money raised but the awareness of just having it out there.”
Miller hopes to make Saratoga LepraCON an annual event to raise money for charity in many years to come.
For more information on Saratoga LepraCON visit www.facebook.com/SaratogaLepracon. To register in advance visit main.acsevents.org/goto/TogaLepracon.