Hundreds Do a Crawl for Charity

The third Babylon Village Pub Crawl, an annual village charity event, boasted record attendance this past weekend as approximately 600 people braved the cold March Saturday to eat, drink and mingle for a good cause.

Proceeds from the event, which came from registration fees and t-shirt sales, were donated to Zero-The Project to End Prostate Cancer and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Bob McKeown, a third-grade teacher at Tooker Avenue School in West Babylon and triathlon coach who runs his own coaching business, hatched the idea for the crawl with colleague Lou Howard, a West Babylon physical education teacher who helped create a fitness program that won grant money for the school district.

"Howard is absolutely gifted with his visions of fundraising. I have learned from past experience that his visions turn into success when implemented correctly," recalls McKeown. He then teamed up with Babylon Village resident Dana Meadows to develop the charity event.

"I knew I had to team up with someone who was passionate about finding a cure like I am. Soon the pub crawl was born."

The pub crawl has several "heroes," survivors of cancer that inspire the event's organizers and attendees. Bob Mancuso, Dana Meadow's father, missed last year's crawl while he was undergoing cancer treatment.

"Many family, friends, and coworkers have been struck with cancer over the years. It literally can turn a family's life upside down. This year we were blessed once again to have Mancuso happy and healthy at the crawl."

The pub crawl spanned eight different Babylon Village businesses, which all hosted the bar-goers and offered special discounts. Lily Flanagan's Pub and Babylon Carriage House also served free food. Mary Carroll's donated all their proceeds from the event to the benefitting charities.

According to McKeown, "the Babylon residents and businesses have been overly generous. I have to admit it was a tough sell at first for the establishments to agree to host us. "

Post Office Cafe, Pronto Restaurant, Horace & Sylvia's, Argyle Grill & Tavern, and Joe Michael's Steak House also participated as venues and sponsors. Other local businesses like Bunger Surf Shop and Glen's Dinette donated gift certificates.

It's not just merchant support that allows the crawl to happen, however. McKeown credits local volunteers with providing crucial support.

"Our volunteers for the day of the event are many local village residents, West Babylon school employees, Team in Training members, as well as all the families we honor. It's chaos for a while but we love it."

Keeping hundreds of revelers from causing problems while traversing the village is always a challenge, and the event hires a security company, which escorts the participants at carefully coordinated times.

"We encourage everyone to use public transportation, show respect, and obey all the village codes. I'm sure that Mayor Scordino was a little worried that day. However, he, like so many of the other village residents, are big supporters of our event."

McKeown, a three-time Ironman triathlete, says that the logistics of staging the event are more stressful than preparing for a grueling race.

"After the pub crawl, I'm up all night thinking of ways to make improvements."

Plans for next year's crawl are already in the works.

"We've already discussed some ideas to make our event more successful. We have spoken with some of the owners and are brainstorming some possible ideas to make the event even better. Dana [Meadows] and I always like to keep our ideas a secret. It adds to the charm!"