An article on today’s front page caught our attention as a good example of business owners banding together to hopefully become more successful.

The Little Chicago Pub District sounds like great fun. Let’s hope customers, including out of town visitors, think so too and frequent the downtown pubs involved. That would be good for all of Minot, not just the seven member pubs in the group.

Reporter Shyanne Belzer told us that the Little Chicago Pub District hasn’t been around long, but they’ve already begun to catch people’s attention in the area. It began around the spring of 2017 with a pub crawl idea to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The event ended up being a huge success and some of the bars involved decided to try and make it a more common thing, bringing a new night life to not only Minot but the downtown area too.

They zeroed in on the Little Chicago theme, which is a splendid idea.

Minot certainly had a wild side in its early days, even though some residents over the years chose to put the negative images and the past behind. In recent years, though, some people have been eager to dredge up and capitalize on Minot’s connection to booze trafficking. Some have actually embellished the tales of bootleggers, tunnels and shootouts. Residents of other towns with similar histories have also claimed for their towns the title of Little Chicago. That’s OK. No harm done, here or elsewhere.

In present day Minot the downtown businesses are working hard – together – to come up with ideas for attractions and events that customers and prospective customers would want to take part in again and again.

Block parties, theme nights, dances and crawls all within walking distance and some put on to benefit a cause. Sounds like a recipe for great fun – and success.