After a successful first run of the Mancos Valley Summer Brew Fest, event coordinators Kathy Hands and DeWayne Johnson were able to donate $10,400 to Mancos Valley Resources and Mancos River Trails last week.
Hands and Johnson, celebrating Mancos Brewing Co.’s first year in business on Oct. 2, say the inspiration for the charity-minded Brew Fest came about from their love of Cottonwood Park in Mancos.
The Aug. 17 festival featured eight breweries, and several homebrewers, a segment of the festival that Johnson would like to expand next year.
“We have a lot of irons in the fire for next year already,” he said.
The duo were pleasantly surprised with attendance for a first-year event, and sold about 600 tickets.
“For a first-year event, to even break even is an accomplishment. We overshot what we would bring in by a lot,” said Hands at a Sept. 9 check presentation ceremony.
“Being a small business, we wanted to give back to our community, and since we have this amazing commodity called beer, we thought about using that to bring people together and raise funds for Cottonwood Park,” Hands added.
Mancos Valley Resources netted $6,300 from the event, and the Mancos River Trails group netted $4,100. Mancos Valley Resources will use the funds to continue its support of community members and other local nonprofits through grants and other funding sources. Mancos River Trails will use its funds as a grant match for the town’s riverwalk and Cottonwood Park improvements.