- March 29, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
With the $15,000 raised from last year’s inaugural Hamlin Craft Beer Festival, Legacy Events for Education was able to provide scholarships to 24 local students.
David Terry, the president of Legacy Events for Education, wants to increase the impact of the Hamlin Craft Beer Festival by making it bigger and better this year.
“Come out and have a good time and raise money by accident,” he said. “We’re going to throw this huge festival, but the cool part is all those people out there having a great time are all raising money for a fantastic cause to fund scholarships for kids who give back to the community and leave their legacy on the community and educational programs for kids who are just trying to figure out what their legacy is going to be.”
This year’s Hamlin Craft Beer Festival, which is presented by Legacy Events for Education and the Observer Media Group, will be from 3 to 7 p.m., Saturday, March 29, at the Hamlin Green Space.
The adult-only festival will be double the size of last year’s festival, featuring more than 75 varieties of beer, ciders and other drinks from regional and national breweries. There also will be mixed drinks, seltzer, alcoholic water and more. Terry said there is something for everyone.
“We’ll have beer from all over the country,” Terry said. “There’s beer coming from as far as Minnesota. We’ll have a bunch of different local beers that you can go sample, and you can find out those are places you want to go visit, but we’ll have beers that people will never get a chance to try … because they’re not going to any of the other festivals.”
New to this year’s festival is a live band, Shyanne, a 1980s arena rock band.
“We’re going to make this the biggest party you can find in all of western Orange County,” Terry said.
As an adults-only event, Terry said parents will be able to go out and have fun with friends without having to worry about kids running around. Four-legged friends are allowed.
Part of the fun will be a giant interactive game zone featuring miniature golf, giant beer pong and cornhole.
Attendees also have the option to splurge for a VIP package. Those guests will be able to enter the festival an hour early, receive a commemorative T-shirt and have access to a shaded area with seating and restrooms. Rum Runners BBQ and Twisted Plates will provide light bites, including pulled pork, french fries and dessert.
Terry said attending the festival will help Legacy Events for Education increase its impact on teens in the community.
In the past seven years, the nonprofit has given over $100,000 in scholarships to almost 100 students.
Besides scholarships, the nonprofit also provides programs and classes on financial literacy, resume writing, interview skills, soft skills and more.
Last year, students who received scholarships from the nonprofit had more than 6,000 hours of volunteer work completed.
“At last estimate, we had (more than) 40,000 hours of volunteerism recognized through our scholarship program,” Terry said. “It’s kids who started their own nonprofits. Kids who do 500, 600, 700 hours of volunteerism just in the four years of high school. … I do (more than) 1,000 hours of volunteerism as the president and executive director of Legacy Events for Education, but every year, when I get to get on stage and hand checks to those kids, I end up crying because these kids put me to shame for the things that I do for the community. They’re incredible. They’ve given just so much of themselves, and they’re all going to do amazing things.”
These students go on to make a lasting impact in the community. For example, Terry said one scholarship recipient, who was recovering from anorexia, started a hotline with a few other teens to help those with eating disorders.
“All I want to do for these kids in our scholarship program is be able to say, ‘Thank you for being you, thank you for giving to the community, and thank you for leaving a part of yourself here while you go out to do great things in the rest of the world,’” Terry said.
The educational programs Legacy Events for Education provides already has reached 125 families in this fiscal year.
“With the help of all the people that are attending the festival, the sky is the limit for what Legacy can accomplish and the number of kids that we can reach,” Terry said.
