Barter for beer

Tucker Sargent and Leah Lewis were the winners of the inaugural Black Star Beer Barter competition at the Great Northern Brewery on Saturday, Feb. 5. More than 1,000 people attended the new Whitefish Winter Carnival activity.

Judges included two Viking Divas along with Whitefish singer-songwriter John Dunnigan and brewery partner Marcus Duffey. The four used binoculars from time to time to judge the entrants, which included singers, jugglers, hard workers and a man wearing an athletic supporter.

Sargent and Lewis played four pre-recorded radio commercials for the judges that promoted Black Star beer “with colorful vernacular and cunning wit,” according to Black Star spokesperson Ashley Garver. They promised to produce 100 commercials altogether.

For their offer, Sargent and Lewis won 52 cases of beer. Each contestant, including a strange man in green who accompanied the Carnival royalty on stage, were given a 12-pack. When the event concluded, event organizers handed out several dozen leftover 12-packs to the crowd.