Fairhope City Council served as bartenders at Fairhope Brewing Company last Wednesday night as part of the final week of the Cheers to Charity fundraising efforts.

Every member of council was behind the counter serving drinks to patrons, including Jack Burrell (Place 1), Joshua Gammon (Place 2), Jimmy Conyers (Place 3), Jay Robinson (Place 4) and Andrea Faust Booth (Place 5). Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan was also in attendance.

The event is part of the brewery's annual Cheers to Charity series, which invites local community leaders and notable figures to spend an evening behind the bar and collect tips to raise funds for local nonprofits, with Wednesday's event benefiting the Fairhope Volunteer Fire Department. So far this month, the Fairhope Brewing Company has raised over $10,000 for local causes.

Jim Foley, Fairhope Brewing Company's managing partner, said it's fun to see these kinds of people, who he says are usually so confident in everything they do, come out of their natural habitat to work behind the bar and not be sure about what they're supposed to do, along with seeing the tips pour in because of the bad service at times, describing them as "fish out of water."

"We're just so, so happy about all the community support we got," Foley said. "December used to be sort of a slow month for us, but now by having a charity aspect to everything we're doing, it's one of our busiest months. It's wonderful."

On Dec. 18, Fairhope Brewing Company hosted another event at its location in downtown Mobile on St. Louis Street, which saw Mobile Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis behind the bar, benefiting Feeding the Gulf Coast. It lasted from 5 to 7 p.m.