Saturday Pub Crawl Wheeler’s mission to fight colon cancer

Donovan Wheeler has taught our children English -- no small feat of its own. He’s founded a magazine -- against all publishing odds in this era. And now he’s tapped into our tastes and sensibilities in an effort to fight the insidious villain cancer.

In honor of his late mother, teacher/writer/publisher Wheeler has organized the Greencastle Pub Crawl for Colon Cancer Prevention and Awareness.

The inaugural Saturday, March 11 event will feature live music, beer and food at six separate Greencastle venues, beginning with registration at 3 p.m. at The Inn at DePauw, 2 W. Seminary St.

A $20 donation for the fight against colon cancer will get participants a wristband and make them eligible for gift basket drawing at participating venues. Participants must be 21 and over and have an ID in possession at all times.

Participants are encouraged to disperse from the starting point, take their time at each stop and snack/eat frequently.

The music schedule is as follows:

-- 3:30 p.m., War Radio at The Inn at DePauw.

-- 4:30 p.m., Crawl kickoff.

-- 5-7 p.m., Tad Robinson at Boulder Run.

-- 6 p.m., Steve Gehm at Moore’s Bar.

-- 7 p.m., The Dogmatics at Taphouse 24.

-- 8 p.m., Hunter and Girton at The Swizzle Stick.

-- 9 p.m., Part 2 Duo (Jack Gibson and David Mahurin) at Wasser Brewing Co.

In addition to the six music venues, other event sponsors include the Putnam Inn, National Road magazine and Indiana on Tap.

The event is designed to raise funds for colon cancer prevention and awareness.

No one is more aware of colon cancer and its devastating effects on a family than pub crawl organizer Wheeler, who lost his mother, Mary Elizabeth Wheeler, to the disease in 2015. He and his dad were also diagnosed with cancer originating in the colon, making it three different cancer diagnoses in the same family within two years.

“The impact of the experience has affected everyone in the family differently,” Wheeler wrote on his National Road Magazine website. “In my case, my mother’s passing impacted me more than my own illness. At 64, she was looking forward to a long, well-deserved retirement ... And given that her own parents lived into their 80s and 90s, she had no reason to assume she wouldn’t get it.

“The least I can do to honor my mother -- and everyone’s mothers, fathers, sons and daughters -- is attempt something along the lines of what I know she would do. I doubt she would have made it beer-centric, but she’ll understand.”

So he’s hosting a pub crawl Saturday, possibly a first for Greencastle.

“For a ‘small town’… whatever that means … Greencastle has developed a bit of a scene,” Wheeler said. “From the Putnam Inn’s cozy little spot north of the square, to the majestic rafters enveloping Wasser Brewing a block east, to the historic sign hanging at the threshold of the Fluttering Duck two blocks south, the city’s central district, Greencastle is a pedestrian-friendly beer lover’s fantasy.”

Wheeler wants to make it clear, Saturday’s event “is not going to be a brewfest.”

“We’re not charging $40 a head, handing over a shot glass, and encouraging everyone to get hammered as quickly and as irresponsibly as possible,” he stressed.

Instead, organizers are asking for a $20 donation which gets attendees a wristband and an entry for gift basket drawings at participating venues.

”You’ll still buy the beer, just as you would any other night,” Wheeler said, “but you’ll be sharing that night with a community brought together to raise a glass for a good cause — and for me, the best of causes.”

The details of handling the proceeds are still being worked out, he said, but he wants the money to stay local, to support families in need facing the trials of the illness.

“If we can pay for one screening, for one person, and save just one life … then it was time well spent,” Wheeler reasoned, noting there will be music all night Saturday along with food and friendship.

“My hope is that it will underscore Greencastle’s metamorphosis from the sleepy Mayberry which used to shut down at 5 p.m. every afternoon. When I moved here in the late ‘90s a night out meant a trip to Terre Haute, Plainfield or Indy. Now, a night out happens right here, there’s often something going on, and the beer selections rival larger towns.