CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- COVID-19 may have forced the cancellation of an in-person holiday tradition in the northwest suburbs, but the spirit of giving lives on.
The Mike and Paul Pub Crawl was born out of some pre-Christmas bar hopping in downtown Palatine in 2001. Since then, it has grown from drinks between friends to an event that attracts 100 people per year. It is also a donation drive for Toys for Tots that collects 200 toys per year.
Beth Zyer, who is married to founder Mike Zyer, organizes the annual pub crawl. She said it would have been impossible to hold the event inside the state's capacity restrictions on bars and restaurants. Another in-person event was planned at the local American Legion post, but that was cancelled after the state added more mitigation efforts to slow the second wave of COVID-19.
Zyer said she didn't want the event to be linked to an outbreak of the virus.
Instead, the "pub crawl" was a drive through toy drive at the Legion post last weekend.
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"I don't want to be that lady that has some super-spreader due to Toys for Tots. That's why we made it a drive through (event). Hopefully next year we'll get back to something normal," Zyer said.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I hope that it will be able to happen. I hope that we'll be able to do something where people are able to meet."
People who want to donate a toy can do so at a Toys for Tots donation box in downtown Palatine through Dec. 7th. Zyer is also curating an Amazon Wish List for those who want to donate virtually.