Local brewery performs rain ritual

By MELODY McDONALD

STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

FORT WORTH — Mother Nature hasn’t had a drink in more than 30 days.

So on Saturday, the Rahr family, who have some experience in thirst-quenching, decided to take matters into their own hands.

They invited the public to Rahr & Sons Brewing, their microbrewery south of downtown Fort Worth, for a rain drumming party in hopes of shaking up the sky.

A rain ritual, of sorts.

Shortly after 2 p.m., about 200 people stood outside with a beer in one hand and an instrument (coffee cans, bean pots and tambourines) in the other. For a solid 10 minutes, the crowd banged on things, shook rains sticks, whooped and whistled.

Erin Rahr, who runs the Fort Worth brew company with her husband, Fritz, beat a Christmas cookie tin and surveyed the crowd.

“It’s looking pretty good,” she said of the chance for rain.

Jeff Lynch, 50, a glove maker from Keller who was visiting the brewery for the first time, had no worries as he shook his tambourine.

“I think it’s going to work,” he said matter-of-factly.

According to the National Weather Service’s Forecast Office in Fort Worth, 2005 was the driest year in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1957. Since 2005, precipitation is 10 to 20 inches below normal across Texas, and the drought is likely to continue into March.

The fire danger remains high. North Texas water reservoirs continue to recede.

But there is a tiny bit of relief in sight.

Lance Bucklew, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, was pretty confident Saturday that the Metroplex would be wet by Sunday morning.

“We’re pretty much saying it’s going to rain — close to a 100 percent chance,” Bucklew said.

Late Saturday, light rain was reported in parts of Fort Worth with the National Weather Service forecasting .10 to .25 of an inch until midnight.

And while it won’t be a drought-buster, Bucklew said the rain, which could measure a quarter to a half-inch in some places, should give everyone some hope that, yes, it does still rain in Texas.

“It will be a cool, damp day,” Bucklew said. “One of those days to sit back, enjoy the rain and, maybe, have a fire on.”

He said chances are good that there will be more rain toward the end of the week, too.

One thing is certain: Many of the people who turned out to the brewery Saturday will probably enjoy the weather with a rain beer.