Party on wheels: The Mini Winni Party Bus comes to town

MEREDITH — With indoor and outdoor speakers, music-responsive LED lights and about 100 party-related stickers on its interior, the Mini Winni Party Bus is exactly that: a celebration on wheels. For four hours, it can be used for anything, from transportation to and from a concert with a pre-game party or spending a night bar hopping with a bachelorette party.

“People will be jealous when you're leaving the concert and the music is going, the lights are going with the music,” co-owner Jackson Puzzo said. “People are walking out, they go, ‘Why the hell are we walking home?’”

The Lakes Region has few transportation options, especially at the last minute. But the bus is more than just a nice ride. The party bus can fit in most parking spaces, and the owners will buy parking passes for their customers' events to eliminate a long walk out of a venue to return to the bus. They can keep the tailgate close by and will even grill if customers provide the food.

“We don't want to be like a taxi service,” Jackson said. “We're more of an experience. You have us for the whole four hours. You're not paying for a one-way trip.”

Customers Dallas Wrath, owner of Donovan Tree Experts, recounted his night on the bus with his employees.

“You have a nice cold beer in your hand, you're looking around and see guys who you work with all year long,” said Wrath. “The music is absolutely thumping, the lights are flashing, and you look around and everybody has this huge smile on their face. People are dancing. People are laughing. You have one of those feelings where you're just like, ‘let everything go.’ It’s just what you worked so hard for all year.”

The bus holds up to 14 people, with a flat fee for the four hours. If a group needs more time, there is an additional cost per hour. Get all the details at miniwinnibus.com.

But before the bus was a business, it was a family vehicle.

The bus was purchased originally as a Father’s Day gift for co-owner Chad Puzzo, Jackson's dad. The Puzzo family has always been concertgoers and usually went in large groups. At first, they would carpool in multiple cars. Then they had a large truck, and finally brought their friends and family in the mini bus. But after seeing people walking and struggling to find rides home after concerts, Chad and Jackson had the idea of providing rides for others, and created the business.

Chad and Jackson are both involved in other work in addition to operating the party bus, and would prefer to make the gig full-time.

“At this time in my life, as I get older, you know, I find out I'm not as young as I used to be,” Chad said. “Shoulders start hurting, hips start hurting. So, I have to think of another avenue. I would love to be full time ... that'd be fantastic.”

Winter months have proved a more difficult time for bookings, as there are more concerts in the Lakes Region during the summer.

To attract more people, Chad and Jackson have put together a list of businesses, mostly bars and breweries, that are offering exclusive Mini Winni Party Bus discounts to partygoers who visit on any pub crawl on the bus route.

“We hope that a lot of people want to ... give us more work in the winter, because we want to give local places more business during the winter, as it is tough for those places,” Jackson said.

“That's why we have the pub crawl at places with all these deals.”

Businesses on the list are Copper Kettle Tavern at Hart’s Turkey Farm, Winni Rum Shack, Dox on Winnisquam, Frog Rock Tavern, Paugus Bay Pub, Tiki Boats of NH, Twin Barns Brewing Co., Whiskey Tavern, Witches Brew Pub and White Mountain Brewing.

While a party bus might usually be found somewhere like Nashville’s Broadway, the Lakes Region now has a comparable partymobile to explore the area. Once on the bus, the only thing anyone will be thinking about is having a party.

“We want them to focus on having a good time,” Jackson said. “They hired us to ease their experience and have a better time.”