One man’s attempt at a Laurier pancake kegger

Homecoming is an important date to Wilfrid Laurier University students. It allows us to show off our purple and gold, lose our voices screaming at the football game and be Friday-night style wasted while the sun has yet to reach its pinnacle in the sky.

That is why as a fourth-year student on WLU’s 100th anniversary Homecoming I felt it necessary to document an event held highly in WLU homecoming tradition: The Pancake Kegger. So there I was, iPhone recorder app in one hand, beer in the other.

I woke first among my roommates, and at 9:05 a.m. I rushed downstairs to our sound system and promptly started blasting Avicii. By 10 a.m. we were on our way, fully decked out in purple and gold; we had our game faces on.

As we approached the kegger I remember looking up to see the dark grey sky, and amidst the surrounding complaints of the cold air my roommate turned to me and profoundly uttered “My nipples could cut glass.” But it didn’t matter, this was homecoming.

We got to my friend Carson’s pancake & sausage kegger and bee-lined it to the keg area. I asked the fellow pouring the beer what type it was, he replied, “MGD Imitation.” It kind of tasted like Miller, mixed with Lakeport, with a distinct aftertaste of independent brewery.

I was first struck by how well organized the kegger was. There was a corner for beer, a tent and long table for flip-cup, a little window (kind of like a drive through window) that you walked up to for a pancake and another tent with a barbeque for sausages.

The preparation and effort was so outstanding that when I asked fellow partygoer Nick Crimi about the kegger he replied, “This is a high value kegger, you get your bang for your buck.” Everyone was pleased and you could tell by the contagious amount of smiles and laughter.

It was at this point I decided to conquer a staple at WLU homecoming keggers: the flip cup table. The tradition of flip cup on Homecoming forms a tighter bond with your partners than marriage or blood siblings.

That was clearly the case on Saturday. Everyone playing was part of the same team.

Wrapped up in the excitement and laughter of the kegger I decided it was time to talk to Carson Kolberg (the man behind the kegger) about the day’s events.

Carson immediately pointed out something that hadn’t even crossed my mind since we got the kegger, the weather. He pointed upwards to a blue sky; the dark grey clouds that once loomed over my hung-over self were now nothing but a distant sight.

Another partygoer, Bjorn Nordin, had only great things to say about this party. “Carson puts on the best spread I have ever seen in my entire life… Me and Carson are cooking the shit out of these sausages, for the bros,” he said.

Nordin then left me with a feel–good statement where I couldn’t help but smile when I was playing it back a day later, “There are probably 100 people in this backyard, a backyard that probably holds only 20 people. But there’s a 100 people here and they love it. They’re all having a great time and you know what? That’s all that matters. Meeting new people, interacting and loving life.”

This quote that exemplifies Wilfrid Laurier University homecoming tradition and culture. It’s not the beer, the pancakes, the sausages, the cheers or the colours. It’s the people that makes Laurier so unique and inviting.

Oh and by the way, Nordin, he goes to Waterloo. But the doors always open Nordin — see you next year.