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After everyone went in peace, there would have been an "E-A-G-L-E-S!" chant and cold drinks before, during and well after the Birds' 4:15 kickoff.
But because of underage-drinking violations, Keenan's, the epicenter for Philadelphians at North Wildwood's annual Fall Festival, will be closed on arguably its busiest weekend of the year.
"I truly apologize to the thousands upon thousands of people who took pride in coming here for Irish Weekend," said co-owner Scott Keenan, of South Philly. "This is part of everyone's heritage."
On Sept. 3, New Jersey's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control ordered Keenan's retail license suspended for 55 days, after investigators from the ABC and the county prosecutor's office observed two underage males, one 18 and the other 20, drinking at the bar June 7.
Keenan says the bar is constantly fighting a battle against fake IDs. He believes that his family is being punished for flaws in New Jersey's and Pennsylvania's licensing systems.
"That hand we've been dealt isn't 100 percent accurate. Yeah, we served minors. But we confiscated 175 fake IDs from Memorial Day to Labor Day," said Keenan, 35.
"The bottom line is we have four separate violations, with a total of six underage drinkers in 10 years. Every one of them had a Pennsylvania valid ID with no dupes."
Irish Weekend, now in its 17th year, starts this morning and annually draws more than 200,000 visitors to the Cape May County resort town over four days, particularly the stretch of bars along Olde New Jersey Avenue, said festival co-chairman Jack Maley.
"This makes their year," he said.
Revelers can drink on the street until 11 p.m., Maley said, at which point they must enter a bar or beer tent.
Without Keenan's - which takes up an entire block, with 25,000 square feet and nine bars - Maley thinks some festival-goers will be left high and dry.
"There's going to be a couple thousand more people we're going to have to fit somewhere else," he said. "My biggest fear is that things could get out of hand when people realize it's closed."
Keenan said that his attorneys were attempting to work out a deal to keep the bar open for Irish Weekend, but that the ABC's stipulations were too strict.
"We would have to change the drinking age to 25, pay penalties, and they wanted us to be closed from the middle of May till June 30 next year," he said.
Keenan said he probably won't spend the weekend in North Wildwood with the masses. He might have a smaller party back in Philadelphia.
"I'd like to find a place where I can gather 500 to 1,000 friends," he said. "Maybe start a new tradition."
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