APPLETON, Wis.— Five bars in downtown Appleton have come together to send a simple message of positivity. Plain one-worded signs such as love, faith, awareness and generosity adorn windows along the 400 block of College Ave.

What You Need To Know

  • Bars on the 400 block of College Ave. chose their own positive message

  • Owners hope the idea spreads to the rest of downtown Appleton

  • Participating bars are D2 Sports Pub, The Bar, Chadwick's Bar, The Bent Keg and Speakeasy Ultra Lounge

  • Bar staff wear special messaged shirts on Saturdays

Brent Mack of D2 Sports Pub came up with the idea and got other bars on board.

He’s not pushing one specific cause. He knows the past year was rough for many.

“It doesn’t have to be one cause, one focus. I think it can be everything... in a positive way— whether it’s Pride month or Black Lives Matter or whatever it is," Mack said. "Let’s make this all a positive thing, for all of us to come together and have a good time with it.”

Mack wants a positive message but also wants people to have fun.

“Let’s move past the negativity and let’s start somewhere,” said Mack. “We have to start little and hopefully it gets a little bigger.”

He’d love to see the idea spread further than his block.

Kyle Willenkamp, just a few steps down the road at The Bar, jumped on board right away.

“People see [the signs] and that gives them a reason to come in,” said Willenkamp. “They’re like, 'Hey I’m going to support a place that’s doing something like that.' I think that’s what we’re looking for also, is to spread that positivity.”

On Saturday nights, the shirts come out. Each participating bar picked out a positive word for their employees to wear. Willenkamp spent time researching which word his workers would display. He went with "hope."

“We’re not targeting any one thing,” said Willenkamp. “Not just COVID, not just any of the movements, just kind of in general after the year this country’s had and the world for that matter."

Participating bars are D2 Sports Pub, The Bar, Chadwick’s Bar, The Bent Keg and Speakeasy Ultra Lounge. They plan to keep it going for a month and possibly longer based on the reception.

Josh and Jennie Luedtke, in town from Florida, were recently looking to grab a drink downtown. They said the signs outside made the choice easy.

“We saw all the signs about inclusivity and positivity, we’re like, 'Let’s stop here,'" said Josh. 

A D2 employee told Mack how the signs had a direct positive effect on someone.

An individual walked a homeless man into D2 and bought them a burger and a soda, then just left.

“He said, 'It’s hard to walk past these positive pictures and walk past a homeless man,'” said Mack. “He said, 'I walked in and did my part.'”

The positive message seems to be taking hold on College Ave.

“I want people to know it’s that easy just to kind of change your mind, change your mindset,” said Mack. “I think it’s working a little bit.”