Abide Coffeehouse is opening up the “bear-berry-bar debate” with three tip cups out for their NEPA-themed trivia on Wednesday, January 24.
Photo Credit - Gabrielle Lang, The Weekender
Abide Coffeehouse in Wilkes-Barre hosts Trivia Night every Wednesday with a different theme each week.
Photo Credit - Gabrielle Lang, The Weekender
WILKES-BARRE — Abide Coffeehouse put out three interesting tip jars ahead of their NEPA-themed Trivia Night on Wednesday, January 24. The cups are labelled “bear,” “bar,” and “berry” and even without further explanation — you may already know what that means.
Guests are encouraged to place their tips in the cup that corresponds with the way they pronounce “Wilkes-Barre.” And I can tell you that there was already a little money in every cup before I left, although “bear” appeared to be leading. Who knows what the cups will tell us by the end of trivia night!
Barista, Mary Interewicz said they came up with the idea to accompany their NEPA Trivia Night as a fun, interactive way to get everyone talking and supporting the cafe. This way, everyone gets to weigh in on their go-to pronunciation of the Luzerne County city.
This has been a long-time hotly debated topic among locals and it seems as though we may never all agree on the “correct” way to say Wilkes-Barre.
Actually, we even did a deep-dive on this very subject for The Times Leader and concluded that “berry” is, in fact, the historically accurate articulation of our home city. However, that doesn’t mean the debate is over! Far from it!
“As a native Wilkes-Barrian — over all of my twenty-two years on this earth — I say bear,” Mary Interewicz chimed in.
I, myself, put a dollar in for “bear,” although I seem to remember saying “berry” as a kid. Personally, I think that “bear” or “berry” is correct, but “bar” is definitely wrong. Although, it seems like everybody in Wilkes-Barre certainly has their own opinion on the subject.
How do you say “Wilkes-Barre?” At the end of NEPA Trivia Night on Wednesday, Abide Coffeehouse will tally up the votes for each of the three cups and announce which reigns supreme among their coffee-goers.
Abide Coffeehouse hosts Trivia every Wednesday starting at 6:00 p.m. and themes vary from NEPA to Disney to Taylor Swift.
