Manhattan sees increase in Fake Patty's arrests, complaints
Every year, thousands of K-State students, Manhattan residents and out-of-towners flock to Aggieville streets for Fake Patty's Day. For this year's event, bars and liquor stores stocked up for the crowd just a few days before.
"We did the same thing we've done the last four years it's happened," said Keith Eyestone, owner of the Purple Pig, a bar in Aggieville. "Extra door men all day long for the 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. shifts, printed more green Purple Pig shirts to give away and sell, more kegs and more bottles of vodka."
The bars were packed with people from the time they opened on Saturday morning to the time they closed early Sunday morning.
"Our capacity is 116 and we met that at probably 9:45 in the morning and kept it right around that until we closed," Eyestone said.
House parties were also a big part of the day, and local liquor stores knew they had to be ready for increased customer demand.
"We order extra kegs just to sell for house parties," said Mike Towne, owner of The Library, a liquor store. "We get about 80 kegs of green beer. We are one of the biggest buyers of the green kegs in Manhattan along with The Fridge."
City officials were concerned about safety for this year's event and several meetings were held to make sure enough precautions were taken to keep all participants safe.
"There had been meetings in the community for two to three months in advance for all the departments that were working that day for capacity and over serving and other things they were looking for," said Jolene Adams, director of operations at Kite's Grille and Bar. "We did what we needed to make sure we didn't have those problems."
Fake Patty's Day seemed to be a hit not only with businesses, but also people who came to Manhattan from out of town.
"I came because this is cool," said Ashley Miller, a University of Kansas student. "Lawrence doesn't have anything close to this and this is an awesome event."
According to a Riley County Police Department press release, 151 reports were filed. By comparison, there were 134 reports filed last year.
"We had all our officers on hand for both shifts this year," said Lt. Richard Fink.
The RCPD press release also stated there were more noise complaints, fights in progress and more victims of battery this year. In all, 766 calls for service were made from 7 a.m. on Saturday to 7 a.m. on Sunday, a 65 percent increase from last year's Fake Patty's Day.
Even so, Aggieville business owners are unlikely to complain.
"I think it's a good thing for the Aggieville bar and restaurant district," Eyestone said. "And also, I do believe some of the hotels see many a bump on this weekend and any other type of peripheral business benefits by it and could tell a difference."
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