Pubs profit on St. Patrick's Day weekend

GREEN BAY - Area pubs say they're raking in double the profits this two-day St. Patrick's Day weekend.

They just hope Mother Nature doesn't ruin their plans.

The Guinness was poured right after breakfast at St. Brendan's Inn in Green Bay, warming up the revelers on a cold morning in more ways than one.

"A couple more of these, and we won't have to worry about it at all,” said Sue Wigge of Rhinelander.

Despite the temperatures around 50 degrees colder than last year, this couple came all the way from Rhinelander for the celebration.

"Just the enjoyment. Everybody's you know, gathered, it just brings everybody together,” said Wigge.

St. Brendan's manager says she hopes everyone will come together to pack this party tent, as the wearing of the green helps her crew rake in the green both Saturday and Sunday.

“It is a lot different because there's actually two days to celebrate. We have about 32 barrels of Guinness, about 16 barrels of our Irish cider, Magners, and we have a ton of other beer. And we ordered 800 pounds of corned beef,” said manager Ashley Oates.

Even in a place with a name as German as Hagemeister Park, everybody's a little bit Irish this weekend, as this restaurant gets ready to roll out the green beer for the first time.

A strolling bagpiper was just one special bit of Irish culture on the menu here.

"We have two bands, a DJ, a lot of fun stuff going on. We have corned beef sliders, as well as our traditional Guinness beef stew, and our corned beef and cabbage,” said Curt Cornell, the manager at Hagemeister Park.

And with a long St. Patrick's Day weekend, restaurant and bar managers say their eyes will most definitely be smiling in the end, whether they're Irish or not.

Both St. Brendan's and Hagemeister Park say the fun continues on Sunday.

Bands and Irish dance troupes will headline the venues throughout the day.