Grand Old Day Anyway
Donation protected
Who you are and where are you from?
Grand Old Day Anyway is a grassroots movement that began just hours after Grand Avenue Business Association announced they were canceling Grand Old Day 2019. Andy Rodriguez, with Grand Avenue roots, who works for Saint Paul Parks & Recreation teamed up with Ashley LeMay, who grew up blocks from Grand and is the daughter of the Tavern on Grand owner. Rodriguez and LeMay started a Facebook Event as a forum for the broken-hearted and an opportunity to organize a gathering of some sort, which quickly spread among Grand Old Day lovers and Grand Avenue small businesses alike.
Within 5 hours, the event had over 1,000 people interested in attending. Within 12 hours, phone calls and messages began coming in from people wanting to make Grand Old Day Anyway a reality. The Lexington and Summit Brewing pitched a bar crawl proposal, at which point it really hit home that it was possible to find the support to revive the Saint Paul tradition in some from. Bar crawl tickets were on sale within 24 hours of the initial cancelation notice. Within 48 hours, Grand Old Day Anyway had a dedicated website and over 10,000 event followers. In less than 4 days, Grand Old Day Anyway was a registered non-profit organization.
Our grassroots effort has been successful in reviving the traditional Grand Old Day working in cooperation with the Grand Avenue Business Association. Our role is to market and support the event by promoting local business and enhance day of festivities with new and fresh ideas.
Grand Old Day is a right of passage into summer for the city of Saint Paul. Business owners along historic Grand Avenue have been planning for this event for months and support our efforts to continue making Sunday, June 2 an annual tradition for all of Saint Paul.
What’s your relationship or contact to the parties you're raising funds for?
The efforts of Grand Old Day Anyway created the momentum needed in order for Grand Old Day 2019 to be a reality. Andy and Ashley each have connections to Grand Avenue – Andy living on it and Ashley’s family owning the Tavern on Grand. Those connections aside, Andy and Ashley believe the small businesses on Grand Avenue are a crucial component to what makes the area special.
How the funds will be spent?
The funds raised will go toward support of Grand Old Day in the form of promotion and marketing, highlighting small businesses along Grand Avenue and sponsoring activities on Grand Old Day. A portion of the funds are being used to host a food drive on the day of the event for Second Harvest Heartland. Excess proceeds will be donated to the Grand Avenue Business Association.
What is you withdrawal plan to get the funds from the campaign to the ultimate beneficiaries?
Grand Old Day Anyway is the beneficiary of this campaign and will utilize the funds as outlined above to support the event on Sunday, June 2nd.
#goda #stpaulstrong #stsmall
Grand Old Day Anyway is a grassroots movement that began just hours after Grand Avenue Business Association announced they were canceling Grand Old Day 2019. Andy Rodriguez, with Grand Avenue roots, who works for Saint Paul Parks & Recreation teamed up with Ashley LeMay, who grew up blocks from Grand and is the daughter of the Tavern on Grand owner. Rodriguez and LeMay started a Facebook Event as a forum for the broken-hearted and an opportunity to organize a gathering of some sort, which quickly spread among Grand Old Day lovers and Grand Avenue small businesses alike.
Within 5 hours, the event had over 1,000 people interested in attending. Within 12 hours, phone calls and messages began coming in from people wanting to make Grand Old Day Anyway a reality. The Lexington and Summit Brewing pitched a bar crawl proposal, at which point it really hit home that it was possible to find the support to revive the Saint Paul tradition in some from. Bar crawl tickets were on sale within 24 hours of the initial cancelation notice. Within 48 hours, Grand Old Day Anyway had a dedicated website and over 10,000 event followers. In less than 4 days, Grand Old Day Anyway was a registered non-profit organization.
Our grassroots effort has been successful in reviving the traditional Grand Old Day working in cooperation with the Grand Avenue Business Association. Our role is to market and support the event by promoting local business and enhance day of festivities with new and fresh ideas.
Grand Old Day is a right of passage into summer for the city of Saint Paul. Business owners along historic Grand Avenue have been planning for this event for months and support our efforts to continue making Sunday, June 2 an annual tradition for all of Saint Paul.
What’s your relationship or contact to the parties you're raising funds for?
The efforts of Grand Old Day Anyway created the momentum needed in order for Grand Old Day 2019 to be a reality. Andy and Ashley each have connections to Grand Avenue – Andy living on it and Ashley’s family owning the Tavern on Grand. Those connections aside, Andy and Ashley believe the small businesses on Grand Avenue are a crucial component to what makes the area special.
How the funds will be spent?
The funds raised will go toward support of Grand Old Day in the form of promotion and marketing, highlighting small businesses along Grand Avenue and sponsoring activities on Grand Old Day. A portion of the funds are being used to host a food drive on the day of the event for Second Harvest Heartland. Excess proceeds will be donated to the Grand Avenue Business Association.
What is you withdrawal plan to get the funds from the campaign to the ultimate beneficiaries?
Grand Old Day Anyway is the beneficiary of this campaign and will utilize the funds as outlined above to support the event on Sunday, June 2nd.
#goda #stpaulstrong #stsmall
Organizer
Ashley LeMay
Organizer
St. Paul, MN