"Let every person know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of PubSprawl. "
- Peggy Mahoney, PubSprawl Founder
Not pictured here:
PubSprawl Founder Peggy Mahoney
With just a handful of friends and a six-pack of determination, Peggy Mahoney founded the PubSprawl in the year 1997. What started with a few friends getting together at noon to enjoy a nice corn beef sandwich before heading out and "crawling" the bars of Edison Park and then later that night Wrigleyville, has now grown to a monumentous cultural event rivalling the development of the wheel itself.
And many agree. "PubSprawl is what America is all about: people with disposable incomes of all races and creeds getting together to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by boozing it up and acting obnoxious until they pass out or puke," says one long-time PubSprawl and Peggy Mahoney supporter, Anthony Davargas. "She's definitely the reason why there's this PubSprawl...I mean, she's the one who does all the work in organizing it and stuff."
PubSprawl Founder
Peggy Mahoney
and Some Random Guy
Prior to founding the PubSprawl, Peggy Mahoney began as a staff public relations manager for a now defunct pubcrawl named "The Fellowship of The Crawl" in 1996, and served in the following capacities over that decade: Assistant to "Tommy's Westside Chicago Pubcrawl" Commissioner Francis M. Wheat (1995); Special Assistant in the "Chicago South Side Pubcrawl" Office (1993-94); Editor of the National Pubcrawl Newsletter (1990-92); Secondary Assistant of the Palos Heights Division of Pubcrawl Regulation (1987-89); and Executive Assistant to The City of Glenco's Pubcrawl Chairman Ray Garrett, Jr. (1985-86).
Peggy Mahoney studied Pataphysical Science and got an advanced degree from Tampa Bay's University School of Pubcrawl (1993). She was awarded an honorary doctorate in bartending by the Bartending School Of Ontario in Toronto, Canada in June 2001.
