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2024 Election Coverage

Pass The Mic: Serving up Support

From Left: Brendan Dorr, Lara Sumerson, Ashley Mac and Ezra Allen are bar and restaurant industry veterans who 'pivoted' during the pandemic, kept their businesses running and served up support for their colleagues and friends. Photo: Melissa Gerr
From Left: Brendan Dorr, Lara Sumerson, Ashley Mac and Ezra Allen are bar and restaurant industry veterans who 'pivoted' during the pandemic to keep their businesses afloat and served up support for their colleagues and friends. Photo: Melissa Gerr

As the omicron variant threatens more pandemic restrictions, we Pass the Mic to Dutch Courage co-owner and Baltimore Bartenders’ Guild president Brendan Dorr. He talks with Ashley Mac, from HEARD, a mental-health resource for restaurant and bar staff, Ezra Allen, co-founder of Cane Collective, and Lara Sumerson co-owner of The Back Yard Restaurant and Mulberry’s Bar, about how the industry has managed … and what they’re concerned for in the future: Here’s Lara:

“My only fear is that some people might not survive another hit but I do believe that we have proven that we will support each other through it and we will support our communities as safely as we can.” 

Plus their holiday beverage offerings--spirited and spirit-free!

Links: Baltimore Bartenders' Guild, Dutch Courage, CAnE Collective, The Back Yard Restaurant, Mulberry's Bar, Nihao, HEARD, Baltimore Restaurant Relief Group.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'