Hop on over to Skipper’s Hamtown Bar for a free beer

By Ian Perrotta
No, you’re not hallucinating. All you have to do is answer a few questions.

This coming Wednesday (July 11), Skipper’s Hamtown Bar will be hosting its usual Open Mic Night, but with a twist. In exchange for completing a “Hamtramck Vibrancy Survey,” the Millennial Mayors Congress (MMC) will buy you a drink.

It’s all part of the MMC’s 2012 protocol to create “Vibrancy Maps” for its member cities. Each year the MMC designates one agenda, and this year the goal is to create a map that highlights the things that make each particular city a vibrant place in which to live.

More specifically, the maps will highlight things that make Hamtramck an ideal place for the so-called “millennial generation” — those born between 1980 and 2000. By compiling the answers given to the survey questions, an interactive map of the city will be created. Example: Want to know where the best places to hang out are? There’s a map for that.

Though the target audience of the survey is the millennial generation, the survey will be open to all ages. However, in order to get a free drink you’ll have to be one of the first 50 people through the door after 8:00 p.m.

Even if you don’t feel like answering a few questions, it’s still worth it to check out Skipper’s on a Wednesday night. Drinks are only a dollar, and the crowd for Open Mic Night has been growing steadily and now regularly tops 50 people. You can also get some musical equipment from the pop-up version of Sticks, Strings and Other Things (Hamtramck’s not-open-quite-yet-but-sometime-soon music store).

Skipper’s Hamtown Bar is located at 9735 Conant (at Evaline) and hosts an Open Mic Night every Wednesday beginning around 9:00 p.m. Instruments are available, drinks are $1, and lately there have been a lot of attractive people to look at.