Taco Steve among the vendors at Sunday's 50th birthday party at Sam Peden Community Park.

I'm told that Powell's Pigs & Cows, Shawn's Southern BBQ and other vendors will be on hand Sunday for Community Park's 50th birthday party.

What will not be available is NABC's iconic Community Dark, so named as a pun directly referencing the park, which is located just down Grant Line Road from NABC's original Pizzeria & Public House location on Plaza Drive.

That's because there is no provision in current law for exceptions to Community Park's mandated "dry" status. This came up earlier in the year, when briefly it appeared the park might be the ideal venue for IndieFest.

However, Republicans in county government did not possess the will (or interest) in changing the law, and so in spite of the ready availability of  temporary sales permits, and the profits to be accrued by controlled and otherwise perfectly legal consumption of alcoholic beverages, beer cannot be involved in the party.

For those alleging that I've been letting the GOP "off the hook," please reread the preceding, and recall my general attitude toward prohibitionist spasms.

At the newspaper, papa provides the details and praises the old white males.

Community Park at 50: Concert planned to celebrate New Albany park, by Chris Morris (News and Tribune)

... Despite the many changes to the park in the last 50 years, Community Park is still one of New Albany and Floyd County’s most used parks. And on Sunday, Aug. 16, the Floyd County Parks Department will host a free concert at the park to celebrate its 50th birthday ...

... The concert begins at 6 p.m. on Aug. 16 with the Jessie Brown Band from Nashville kicking off the festivities. Midnight Special-The Classic Rock Experience will take the stage at 7 p.m. and the headline act, Shenandoah, the 1991 Academy of Country Music Vocal Group of the Year, will close out the festivities. The concert is being funded by user fees and a grant from the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County. The concert will conclude at 10 p.m.

Community Dark and Bob's Old 15-B take Brewers' Cup medals at the Indiana State Fair.

NABC took home two medals at the 2011 Indiana State Fair Brewers' Cup Competition. The winners were announced in Indianapolis on Saturday, July 9.

NABC Community Dark, our English-style Dark Mild, received a Gold medal for Category 11 (English Brown Ale), while Bob's Old 15-B scored a Bronze in Category 12 (Porter).

Seeing as we entered only four beers, a 50% success rate seems reasonable enough. A complete list of the categories and winners can be found here.

It is instructive to note that in 2010, we entered a completely different lineup into the competition, selecting heavier hitters like Elector, Solidarity and Hoptimus, with barren results. This year, we decided to flip the wisdom, and chose the ones (for us, the few) beers corresponding to style definitions. Arguably, Community Dark and Bob's Old 15-B are the two most center-of-the-target beers we do, which would seem to be certified by the results on Saturday.

To me, this means (a) the judges were spot on, and (b) I still prefer we not brew with an eye toward winning medals, even if both our winning beers are quite good. What good's a rule unless you can break it with impunity?