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Crawl History

1998

The Lafayette Hill Bar Crawl can trace its origins back to a series of parties held at David "Roll" Kaiser's house going back to the summer of 1993. The "Roll-A-Rama" parties became legendary week long events which first took place in the summer, but was then changed to "Roll Winterfest" when the parties began to take place in the winter months. However for the first time in 1998, the group of friends that would become The Founders of the crawl were all 21 years of age. It was decided that one night of "Roll Winterfest" be converted into a bar crawl. Five bars, all on at 3/4 mile stretch of Germantown Pike in Lafayette Hill were chosen. They were: The Ye Olde Ale House, Smokin' Sam's, The Whitemarsh Valley Inn, Brittingham's Irish Pub and The General Lafayette Inn. And so it was that on February 1, 1997, the first ever Lafayette Hill Bar Crawl took place with a grand total of 12 people.

1999

After the mild success of the first year, it was decided that the crawl would continue. The Founders (David, Keith, Jimmy, Aaron and Steve Sague) invited some friends and increased the size of The Crawl. Approximately 25 people participated in the second crawl, which saw two major traditions of The Crawl implemented. First, Keith became the "Whistle Master". At each bar, he'd would blow a loud whistle, signaling a last call for that bar. A few minutes later, a second blow of the whistle made it known it was time to move on to the next bar. The second major tradition was the addition of a final stop to The Crawl. Breakfast was served at the home of Steve Sague after last call at the General Lafayette Inn. "Club Sague", as Steve's house is affectionately known, is roughly at the middle point of The Crawl route on Germantown Pike. Eggs, bacon and beer were served from 2:30 a.m. til nearly dawn that first year of "Breakfast at Club Sague".

2000

The Third Crawl saw another major increase in attendence, as over 40 people joined in. It also saw another phenomenon occur: Crawl Followers. As our sizable group moved from bar to bar, we picked up a few stragglers who saw the idea of The Crawl as the great time it is. So as the 1999 Crawl staggered into Brittingham's Irish Pub, a large group of people that did not even start with us had latched on. The breakfast at Club Sague was huge this year, with David's brother Pete and their father Dave doing the bulk of the cooking. Many dozens of eggs, pounds of bacon and loaves of bread were consumed well after 2 a.m.

2001

The 2001 Crawl saw us break the 50 person barrier, with an offical total of 56. It also saw the return of Steve, who had moved to Arizona. Sague flew in special for the Crawl and his appearence brought cheers from the crowd. Breakfast was moved to the Kaiser home on Germantown Pike due to Sague's move. The good news is, Sague has moved back to Lafayette Hill, and Club Sague will enjoy a grand re-opening as THE breakfast spot for the 2002 Crawl!

2002

What a year. The 2002 Lafayette Hill Bar Crawl was bar far the biggest, best, most fun and best run Crawl yet. We more than achieved our goal of 75 crawlers for the year, sold 50 teeshirts, got the website up and running and saw the spectacular return of Club Sague. The only ingredient missing this year was the Whistleman himself, Keith Lapp, who was down in New Orleans for the Super Bowl. Never fear though, Lapper and a small group did the crawl the next weekend. Jimmy Miller filled in admirably as the backup Whistleman and the Crawl moved on. After a slow start from the Ale House, the Crawl was cranking when we hit the Lucky Dog Saloon. Double Dog Bowl shots filled with mind erasors and over 100 Jello shots greeted the Crawlers at the Dog this year. We then waylayed the Whitemarsh Valley Inn, which may have been filled past fire code! Brit's saw carbombs and shots galore, before we chugged into the General for a nightcap. Club Sague was back in effect, with offical Crawl Chef Pete Kaiser chugging through 5 pounds of bacon, 5 pounds of sausage, 6 dozen eggs, 4 loaves of bread and 20 pounds of potatos. Not a drop of food remained. Lets break 100 Crawlers in 2003!!

2003

Will this thing ever stop growing? The 2003 Lafayette Hill Bar Crawl was completed officially by 116 people, but we are quite sure there are several people we missed. This year's crawl suffered from its size, as we pushed almost all of the bars to the capacity, and in the case of Brittingham's, over capacity. They actually had to turn Crawlers away at the door. It didn't matter, half the group just trudged over to the General Lafayette Inn and circled back to Britt's when it was less crowded. Once again, The Lucky Dog Saloon tossed out free Jello shots for the crawlers. We took over the dining room at the Whitemarsh Valley Inn and even got a few Crawlers up singing with the band! Once again, Club Sague hosted breakfast, with more food then ever being dished out. Eggs, bacon, sausage, scrapple and toast were served up by Pete Kaiser, who was helped by the prep work of Steve Sague, David Kaiser and Joe McNichol. Another record was broken this year, as Sague's "I came from Arizona for the Crawl" record was shattered by Juliane who came from GERMANY for the bar crawl. Now that is dedication. I fear for next year...

2004

The more things change, the more they stay the same with the Bar Crawl. Due to cost and size, the Breakfast at Club Sague was retired. Due to the size of the bars and the times they are busy, the Crawl reversed directions this year, starting at the General Lafayette Inn and finishing up at the Ale House. And I said last year I feared this year? I had no idea, as an estimated 130+ crawlers made the trek this year. Many of us feel the number was even higher.. its just impossible to keep track anymore. Brittingham's, The Whitemarsh and the Lucky Dog were all a zoo, with once again the Dog serving up Jello shots (we went through 200+ of them in 15 minutes!) and thanks to Chris Bass and the Ale House for keeping the steam table open late and serving up some free food. One of the highlights of the night was the chourus of boo's and chants of "Redskins suck" that came when Founder Keith Lapp, who was bartending at the Ale House, called for "last call". Of course, he loved every minute of it. What will next year bring?

2005

The numbers may have dropped a bit, but the energy levels were never as high as during the 2005 LHBC. Eagles fever gripped the Crawlers, as the event doubled as a giant pep rally the day before the Super Bowl. Around 100 revelers, many clad in Eagles jerseys, sweatshirts and hats, roamed from bar to bar. One of the highlights was bringing down the house at the Whitemarsh with a spirited version of the Eagles Fight Song. The game might not have turned out as we'd hoped, but it definately was not because we didn't whoop it up enough the night before.

2006

The Crawl has calmed down (sort of) with "only" about 90-100 crawlers this year. But there has to be a 9th year before we can go on to the TENTH year of the LHBC.

2007

What can be said? Ten years of the Lafayette Hill Bar Crawl is quite a feat. A small group of friends started trudging through the winter night in 1998 and eventually became the monster that it is today. With the size holding steady at between 100 and 125 people, the Crawl has stablized, even some of the people going on it has changed over the years. With Founder Keith working at the Ale house, Founder Jimmy in Ireland and Founder Aaron not being able to make it, Steve and David held the fort down this year, with help from David's brother Mark, Fred Foster and a few others. Here's to ten more years!