Moondogs, Too gets into the Season of Giving

There’s more than just booze at the Bay Street tavern.

Beyond its favorite Christmas cocktail recipes, Moondogs, Too is truly in the spirit of giving.

Last month, for Thanksgiving, the Port Orchard tavern hosted a complete Thanksgiving dinner at a cost of $1 for its patrons. They then donated all the proceeds, along with extra donations collected that day, to the South Kitsap Foodline.

Moondogs’ owner Darryl Baldwin said they served about 145 people and raised a little over $800 that day. And when all was said and done they’d donated at least $1,000 to the local food bank.

Not to mention the number of patrons they provided with an extra-affordable hot meal — some of whom might not have been able to afford it otherwise and others who were excited about the cost because that meant they could donate that much more to Foodline.

The crowd encompassed all types that day, Baldwin said, from those you’d expect to find at the tavern on Thanksgiving Day to some folks who were setting foot in Moondogs, or any tavern for that matter, for the very first time.

Baldwin remembers an elderly woman from Bremerton who had called ahead asking for directions.

He told her it was in the same building that the old Port Orchard tavern used to be, and she fired back staunchly on the defensive saying that she was 80-some-years-old and she “hadn’t set foot in a tavern in her entire life,” Baldwin said jokingly in a granny voice.

But she came down to Moondogs that afternoon, and she ended up staying for hours, chatting with the group of new people she’d met over the $1 meal which was served by a family of kids who were volunteering for the cause.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Baldwin noted.

And that’s also part of the reason why Moondogs is doing it all again for Christmas. From 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Christmas Day, Moondogs will be serving a complete family meal for $1 per person and collecting donations for South Kitsap Foodline.

County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido will be there helping out, and as always Moondogs is a family-friendly until 7 p.m.

Baldwin said word has been traveling about the $1 holiday dinners, and announcements of the upcoming Christmas dinner have even made their way into some area church bulletins.

When church bulletins are listing an event at the local tavern, that’s when you know you’re onto something good.

MOONDOGS, TOO is located at 715 Bay St. in Port Orchard. Info: www.moondogstoo.com, myspace.com/moondogs_too, (360) 895-2300.

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