A pub crawl for Santas? It will happen Monday in Old Town

LANSING - Count Lansing among the legion of cities where the thirsty and holiday-minded can spend an evening crawling from bar to bar in full Santa Claus outfits.

"It's kind of a holiday twist for adults that gets everyone out on the town and socializing in a very fun and unique way," said Corey Montie, co-owner of the Grid Arcade & Bar on East Grand River Avenue in Old Town, who is working to make the bar crawl happen.

SantaCon, as the concept is known, began in San Francisco in 1994 and has spread to hundreds of cities around the world. Lansing's version is set for Monday night.

Montie once lived in San Francisco and has participated in SantaCon events around the world. He helped organize one in Columbus, Ohio, and thought it might go over well in Old Town, too.

"The one and only rule is that you have to wear a full Santa suit – trousers, jacket, hat and beard, although most of the beards kind of disappear as the night goes on," he said. "Different cities will tie it to a charity. Some will hand out candy canes or sing Christmas carols."

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As it now stands, Lansing's event will begin late Monday afternoon at the Grid and end around midnight at Spiral Dance Bar, with stops at The Creole, Zoobie's Old Town Tavern and Unicorn Lounge in between.

Participating businesses have agreed to donate $1 from every drink sold to the Greater Lansing Food Bank, he said.

"We wanted to do something that was easy to participate in while still benefiting a charity, and the food bank was at the top of that list," he said. "If it goes well, it's going to be something we do annually."

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.