The Battleship Texas remains in the Houston Ship Channel, where it has constantly suffered leaks. Image: Courtesy Battleship Texas Foundation

Breweries are logical 21st century community gathering places. Especially on weekends, you’ll find parents trying to wrangle their kids by the cornhole boards (I'm totally pro-kids-in-breweries), social groups gathering over baskets of pommes frites, and bachelor parties only starting to become annoying. You may even see dogs there!

This makes the Battleship Texas Foundation’s latest effort to raise awareness about the plight of the USS Texas logical and pretty darn smart. From 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, the Foundation is posting up at Karbach Brewing Co. It isn’t asking for money (though swag will be on sale and will go toward the fundraising effort), only signatures from patrons, which it will use in their effort to secure government aid to save the dreadnought.

The ship is docked in the Houston Ship Channel but suffers constant leaks and needs regular repairs. Bruce Bramlett, executive director of the Foundation, told Houstonia in 2017 that his group is willing to raise money to move the ship into a dry berth—which would prevent it from deteriorating to the point of disrepair—but he also needs a substantial government commitment. According to the Foundation’s summer newsletter, it needs to raise about $60 million to construct the dry berth and move the ship to her new home.

So far the Foundation has collected more than 10,000 signatures, and it’s hoping its “Come and Save It” campaign, which it launched in May, brings even more support. The event at Karbach is the first of four events across the state designed to raise awareness and collect petition signatures; each of the events is scheduled for a brewery (Friends & Allies in Austin is next, on August 18), where the first 100 people who sign get a free drink token (the first 500 get a koozie).

Folks who attend this Saturday's event at Karbach can also gawk at an ice sculpture of the Battleship Texas, but best yet, they can play a life-sized game of Battleship. (Question: Is each person a peg, or will there be actual life-sized pegs available?) Helping to save historic military vessels; hosting life-sized versions of childhood board games: Breweries really can do it all for the community.