News About Town: Matthews residents have a new park option. The playground equipment at Rice Road Park, a 9.5 acre parcel at 2530 Rice Road, has been installed and is ready for play! The work recently finished, Phase I, included driveway access into the park, an on-site walking trail, one sidewalk connection from Rice Road into the park, playground facilities, parking lot, lighting, benches, and picnic tables, as well as landscaping. According to the Town’s Facebook page, Phase II of the park will include a picnic shelter, additional seating, and enhanced natural areas around the walking trail.

News Around Town and One Good Thing: This Saturday is the Shamrock Crawl, the biggest bar crawl Matthews has to offer. Things can get pretty rowdy later in the day, so if you’re looking for a more family-oriented celebration, you have a few options. Come on down to the Loyalist for the Shamrock Pop Up, we’ll have a table set up and some fun goodies. You can even purchase a Beacon membership! Stop by from noon til 3 p.m. and support local artists and your favorite local news source. Grace O’Malley’s will open their doors Saturday at 10 a.m. to host a day of Irish fun. Try some chef-created Irish fare for lunch and stay for the DJ on the patio, starting at 1.

Celebrating sober? Good Cup will have coffee and kombucha during the pop up at the Loyalist. Stumptown Station always offers an array of mocktails (and O’Douls if you’re hankering for the taste of beer). 

If you’re coming to town for the bars, know how you’re getting home.

• Designate that driver first thing. Have a plan and stick with it so you can have fun and not worry.

• CATS buses run through Matthews (schedule here), and if you don’t have a pass you’ll need exact change ($2.20).

• Ride with Uber, but before you go out make sure you have an account. Same goes for Lyft. You don’t want to be a few drinks in and trying to figure out technology. (That also goes for texting exes. Put the phone away.)