With school cancelled due to weather, Uptown bars are preparing for a flock of students looking to celebrate the day off.
Ohio University’s first snow day of the year spurred uptown bars to prepare for an expected flux of students.
For many, however, it simply meant business as usual.
Kaeleb Schweiger, an employee of Lucky’s Sports Tavern, 11 N. Court St., said the bar served the same specials on Wednesday night that they do each Wednesday and plan to do the same on Thursday.
The bar serves liquor pitchers all day on Wednesday and served them for the same rate as usual yesterday.
“We’re gearing up for it to be much busier (Wednesday night) and (Thursday),” Schweiger said.
Another Athens hot spot, Tony’s Tavern, 7 W. State St., also expected an increase in patrons because of the chilly celebration.
“Kids will definitely be out more in full force,” said Colin Glover, a Tony’s employee. “As soon as the sun goes down, after 9 or 10, people will be out for sure.”
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Glover said the bar would probably not have specials that differed from set standards.
Spencer Wien, a junior studying outdoor recreation education and geology, said the inflation of bargoers can be attributed to the time that the university announced Thursday’s cancellation.
“Usually, class isn’t canceled this early, so people have a long time to plan for their night,” Wien said.
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Another student, Alex Farrar, agreed with Wien’s opinion, saying that aside from the early message from the university, the fact that there is a snow day in general makes more people want to go out.
“It’s … unusual, so why not make the most of it?” he said.
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However, not everyone will be hitting the businesses around Court Street.
“I’ll probably just watch some Netflix because it’s too cold and I don’t want to walk up the hill,” said Erin Walsh, a freshman studying biology.
Walsh added that her area of study often prevents her from going out during the week.
@w_gibbs
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