This year, on Green Beer Day, patrol cars from Miami, Oxford, the Butler County Sheriff and the Ohio State Highway Patrol cruised the uptown streets. Close to noon on March 21, students gathered in sparse groups, mostly huddled around upstairs seating at Brick or tables outside Skipper’s. Everyone wore the trademark green to celebrate.
As the morning turned into afternoon, street vendors arrived in front of Red Brick with signs advertising IV hydration bags, energy shots and to-go hydration kits. A person in a squirrel suit passed out plastic bags full of goodies.
The night before, Skipper’s and Top Deck were closed by 1 a.m. and Brick was empty by midnight. Side Bar and New Bar were open, but mostly empty. Most of the parties seemed to have occurred in houses or at fraternities.
The fraternity houses were packed and a crowd of hundreds packed High Street for the second annual “ginger run,” in which red-headed students sprint to boisterous cheers. Things began to wind down as the police presence increased closer to 3 a.m.
“The vibes were very good, I felt very safe,” Miami senior Kendall Kretzinger said. “I honestly was surprised because I hadn’t been uptown for GBD before, but everyone was really nice and having a good time. The cops weren’t terrible, either.”
Kretzinger said she saw the ginger run take off.
“Some guy fell over right when they started and caused a human pileup, but it was really funny,” she said. “I think he’s OK.”
Kretzinger said her night was a success because she and her friends got “a little silly” and walked around. They got home around 3 a.m., Kretzinger said, and weren’t asleep until 4 a.m. She says they plan to go out again tonight.
The Green Beer Day parties are expected to resume on Thursday evening.
