After a fire ripped through Beanie’s Bar & Grill last week, roughly 30 people are out of work. Now, the owners of the beloved Loudon pub are asking the community to step up and help their staff.
George and Nasi Georgopoulos, the father-son team that runs the restaurant, are planning a benefit for their employees — bartenders, servers and cooks among them — this weekend. They hope to collect donations of all kinds.
“Our employees have spent countless days and nights serving this community, getting to know your families, pouring your drinks, bringing out your meals and being part of so many memories at Beanie’s,” Nasi wrote in a social media post. “Right now, we have an opportunity to return some of that love and help through a really difficult and unexpected time.”
The benefit, set for this Sunday, Aug. 30, will feature live music from local bands, a cornhole tournament, raffles and food. It’ll run from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 409 Loudon Ridge Rd.
Organizers encourage people to bring whatever they can, including gift cards, products, services, raffle items, food and monetary donations. Even something small will help, Nasi said, and can be combined into larger gift baskets.
The family is already planning to rebuild Beanie’s, but Nasi said immediately after the fire that he’s hesitant to fundraise for those efforts. He said he’d rather wait to see how much insurance will cover.
“If I can get it taken care of without that, I’d rather not,” he said in an interview. “Everybody has to go to work for their money.”
