12 teams old & new come together for 12 hours of Pub Mania

GILFORD — The atmosphere was exuberant Thursday morning at Patrick’s Pub & Eatery, as Pub Mania teams gathered to prepare for a full day of fundraising and celebration of the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction.

Twelve teams representing businesses and organizations throughout the Lakes Region would sit around the bar at Patrick’s from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. in a final fundraising push to cap off another year of supporting the Children’s Auction, which funds grants for numerous charities in the area each year.

This year, the Children’s Auction received 82 grant applications. If fully funded at $1.1 million, the auction would support 42,000 children across Central New Hampshire, Children’s Auction Executive Director Jenn Kelley told a crowd of around 100 during the opening ceremonies for Pub Mania Thursday morming.

The celebration was marked by some melancholy — Warren Bailey, the radio personality and philanthropist who founded the auction event more than 40 years ago, died at home in August, at age 72. His absence was felt by all who attended on Thursday morning.

Lisa Cornish, longtime volunteer and passionate advocate for the Children’s Auction, was at one point a beneficiary of Bailey’s efforts. She told the crowd about asking for help in acquiring winter boots and hats for her two children many years ago, then receiving two boxes of supplies and Christmas gifts, to her immense gratitude and astonishment.

“I just changed the whole trajectory,” Cornish said. If everyone emulated the greatest characteristics in Bailey, the world would be a better place, she said.

“He really made me want to be like him,” Cornish said. Allan Beetle, owner of Patrick’s and host of Pub Mania, told the crowd he is “deeply grateful” for the contributions made by Cornish over the years.

“We have a phenomenal, phenomenal community,” Cornish said. “Look at what we do for the kids as a community.”

Some teams at Pub Mania have participated for many years — teams Cafe Deja Vu, which raised over $41,000 last year, and Ladies of the Lake come immediately to mind. Others, such as that stood up this year by members of the Governor’s Island Club, are participating for the first time. All of them were at Patrick’s Thursday morning, well before the opening ceremonies were set to begin at 11 a.m.

“The Children’s Auction directly gave back to my family,” Kylieh Farley of team Color Me Christmas — representing Jennifer’s Color Bar — said Thursday morning. “There were seven of us.”

Farley and Jennifer Fielder were busy decorating their barstool for the day’s events.

“Just the community, and how many people get involved,” Fielder said when asked what she likes most about Pub Mania.

Foster’s Tavern in Alton was represented by Chelsey Richardson and Caitlin Sylvester.

“A big reason is I was one of those kids who needed help for Christmas,” Sylvester said.

For the Ladies of the Lake, this marks their 10th year participating in Pub Mania. Holly Ruggieri and Kathy Drouin were donning costumes and preparing their barstool for the event just before 11 a.m.

“We love our community, and we love giving back to our community,” Ruggieri said. “There’s no better feeling.”

“We have been doing this for 10 years,” Drouin said. “We are never going to stop.”

As of 11 a.m. on Thursday morning, Beetle said, more than $250,000 had been raised by Pub Mania teams. As of this writing, the figure had surpassed $260,000.

He hopes to raise another $150,000 by noon on Friday. Donations can be made directly online at givegab.com/campaigns/pub-mania-2025, or by bringing check or cash donations to any location of Meredith Village Savings Bank by noon on Friday. Beetle will present a check with the money raised to the Children’s Auction around 6 p.m. Friday at their broadcast headquarters at Belknap Marketplace in Belmont.

The final day of the auction is 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12. Bid for the kids at childrensauction.org, or by calling 603-527-0999. Tune in on Lakes Region Public Access, channels 25 and 9002 on Breezeline, and Comcast channel 8. Lakes 101.5 FM also broadcasts the event each day, and it is also streamed at laconiadailysun.com and childrensauction.org.

The mission is simple, Beetle said: to break the cycles of child poverty, neglect and abuse.

“That’s what we’re doing here,” he said.

For Sarah Gray, owner of Body Covers Screen Printing & Embroidery, the moment was overwhelming.

“You have no idea how special it is to see you all here,” Gray said Thursday morning. “This takes so much effort and you make it look effortless. This is the Super Bowl for nice people.”