Milwaukee has long been a city famous for beer. Now with The Great Sprecher Root Beer Floatilla, the area could be the subject of a Guinness World Record involving sweet non-alcoholic suds in tandem with scoops of Cedar Crest vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and maraschino cherries as well.
Coinciding with National Root Beer Float Day on Thursday August 6, Glendale’s Sprecher Brewing Company will offer free—that’s right, free—root beer floats from noon to 8 p.m. at its home base on 701 Glendale Avenue on a drive-thru basis. The goal of the event is to not only celebrate a classic treat, but to make up some for the loss of other fun events in the currently pandemic-stricken times.
Says Sprecher CEO Sharad Chadha of the Floatilla’s origin, “Sprecher employee Doug Cullaz had the idea of the drive-thru event as a way to safely bring the community together after so many of Milwaukee's favorite summer events and festivals were cancelled or postponed.” And the company isn’t blowing smoke from its gas-fired brew kettles when it comes to setting a world record with this tasty gesture of good will either. Though the record keepers at Guinness don’t yet acknowledge attendance for such an event as a drive-thru root beer float giveaway, Sprecher will submit the results for consideration. Since this is a first for the company, Chadha clarifies, “This will be Sprecher's first-ever Guinness World Record attempt. The company does not hold any other Guinness World Records.”
And though Sprecher should receive positive publicity for the enormity of the Floatilla promotion, the company wants to pay its generosity forward. With that in mind, Chadha declares, “Sprecher is excited to partner with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin on this event and hopes to raise thousands of dollars via online donations during the event. All funds raised from the event will support hunger-relief programs across Eastern Wisconsin.” Float imbibers and anyone else so inclined can make a donation by texting FLOAT to 41444.
Since root beer floats may especially be for kids, a group of youngsters from the Milwaukee Boys & Girls Clubs traveling on a Milwaukee County Transit System bus will be among the first in line for the event’s noon start time. There is a possibility that club members and the rest of the public may be able to enjoy the Floatilla as a yearly celebration, too. “The community response has been tremendous, and we are considering making this an annual event,” Chada states.
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