USA, OH: Walking Distance Brewing Co. to close permanently at the end of the week

A Marysville brewpub that hosted drag performances, sold "I'm an ally" T-shirts and drew the scorn of local conservatives in the process has announced plans to close permanently at the end of the week, The Columbus Dispatch reported on February 26.

Walking Distance Brewing Co. opened in October 2021 at 222 E. Eighth St. in the Union County community about 18 miles northwest of Dublin. Owner Teddy Valinski said the decision to close "didn't come lightly."

He made no reference to what he called a campaign of "slander and harassment" against his business in a June 2024 Dispatch story.

"We are so thankful for the community that we built together. And we are confident that the community we've built with you will continue to have a positive impact in Marysville," Valinski told his customers.

Walking Distance brewed its own stouts, IPAs and lagers on-site and sold them in cans and on tap from its bar. Valinski also brewed a hard seltzer he enhanced with flavors such as lemonade, peach, raspberry and dill pickle.

The pub hosted karaoke and trivia nights, craft markets, Columbus Crew watch parties and fundraisers for children's cancer research and other causes. But it was a June 2022 Yaaas Queen Drag Bingo night and other LGBTQ+ Pride events that caught the attention of a group called the Union County Faith Family Coalition.

One member of the group called the bar "little Epstein's island," a reference to New York financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and members pushed the Marysville City Council to stop drag performances and Pride events in the community.

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