CHARLOTTE — Rich & Bennett’s St. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl expects 20,000-plus people — all decked out in its signature green T-shirts — to descend on Charlotte this weekend.
Saturday marks the pub crawl’s 20th year — and its return after a two-year, Covid-imposed hiatus.
For founder Rich Saner, it’ll be a bittersweet day. It’s his first St. Patrick’s Day crawl without longtime friend and business partner Jeff Bennett, who died suddenly in December 2020.
“This one — this was our baby. This was what started us. This is what is what made us,” Saner says.
Emotions are high going into the weekend. Saner says the knee-jerk reaction was to shutter the business after Bennett’s death.
“When I took a step back, I realized there’s no way I can let this legacy die,” he says. “I want to keep his memory and spirit going.”
Saner talked with CBJ about the history of the event and getting it back up and running after the pandemic. Read the full story here.
(WATCH BELOW: ‘It makes us really sad:’ Charlotte’s St. Patrick’s Day parade won’t return, founders say)
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