BELLE FOURCHE—A unique opportunity drew people to the Hitching Post Tap House on Saturday afternoon, March 29. Puzzles, or putting together a 1000-piece puzzle, turned into a competition to see who had the best skills at assembling a puzzle—fast!
Working on coming up with exciting events and opportunities to attract customers is common for small businesses. And that is the case for the Tap House. Mariah Wainman, Owner, had the idea of a puzzle competition. Amanda Kramp, Owner, then found some cute, frothy mugs of beer puzzles and the event came to fruition!
“We were trying to figure out some different things to bring people in or just different events to have,” explained Kramp. “Puzzles is not something that we’ve ever seen here in Belle Fourche. I don’t know if they’ve had it in the past at other places, but it’s something that brings new people in here, and plus Puzzles and Pints—the Ps sound good!”
With five spots available for the event, the slate was quickly set. Teams of 2 to 4 players came together to spend the day drinking beer (or pop) and putting together puzzles. The event ran for four hours. “The time frame is about four hours where they can sit and build as fast as they can. At the end of it, we will look and see who made it the furthest—if it’s really close, then we will count pieces that are left over and see who actually is further along with it,” explained Kramp.
The event was perfect for the Stiefel-Liggett team. One of their members, Dee Liggett, is a puzzle enthusiast. “She spends at least four hours a day doing puzzles, she has her own puzzle room,” explained Shila Liggett. “She glues them together and I think we have probably 100 of them stacked up.”
For an entry fee of $25, the winners get some of that back. “The winners will win a cash prize based off of all the entry fees, and then we have a little goodie bag for each member of the team,” said Kramp. “Each team also gets to keep their puzzle.”
The Puzzles and Pints event was also a chance for the Hitching Post to show off their new tables. They recently made upgrades to the seating area. “The old ones were not very stable anymore and kind of getting wobbly, and it was just time that they were changed,” said Kramp. “The new tables utilize the space better and we have a ton more seating available.”
If you are a dissectologist and love putting together puzzles, watch for more upcoming Puzzle and Pint events. In the mean time, The Hitching Post is still hosting Trivia Night on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., and on April 26th is having a Sip and Paint with Alexandra Hansen.
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
