Wing-crazed campers stay overnight for free foodDiana Soliwon Daily Egyptian
Tents, coolers, grills and beer cans littered the sidewalk outside of Carbondale's newest restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings Bar & Grill, which opened Sunday.
More than 75 students camped in the drizzling rain Saturday night. The goal was to be one of the first 100 people to receive a booklet of coupons - a guarantee of six free wings a week for a year.
The rumor of free wings began before owner Bill Zellmer had even considered the idea.
"I don't know how it got started," Zellmer said. "But once I heard about it, I figured we might as well give them something to camp out for."
Franchise Consultant Dustin Crews mingled with students throughout the night, passing out tickets so students could save their place in line. The tickets served to keep people from showing up in the morning and getting ahead of the all-nighters, he said.
"We wanted to make sure it was fair," Crews said. "These guys that have shown their support and stayed out all night deserved to be guaranteed coupons."
While some students sat in their tents, studying for finals or taking naps, others socialized in the parking lot and vowed to stay up all night.
"We're going to try and stay awake the whole time," said Sarah Hemker, a junior from Bartelso double majoring in English and journalism, as she sat in the bed of a truck.
Joel Sambursky, a graduate student from Liberty, Mo. studying business administration, and the SIU football team's all-time leading passer, also camped out for the event.
Although he had never tried Buffalo Wild Wings, the executive director of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce said he was looking forward to free wings for a year.
"I'm out here on a Saturday night trying to get free wings, and I'll be in there Monday morning asking for a Chamber of Commerce membership," he said.
Crews and Zellmer passed out the coupons in front of a boisterous crowd of more than 150 people at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Some students who arrived too late in the night to guarantee a spot in line expressed dismay as others with tickets filed past.
Zach Schrader, a junior studying marketing, said he thought the system was unfair. He and some friends arrived at the restaurant at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning, after all the tickets had been handed out, he said.
"So some of the people who got tickets just went home and didn't come back until the morning," Schrader said. "We're the ones who stayed out here all night."
Zellmer said the large turnout was unexpected but overall he thought the event was handled fairly.
"There's always someone who's 101st," he said. "We just had to make sure we guaranteed a reward for the early supporters."
Franchise consultant Carolyne Chalupnik surveyed the coupon distribution with a smile. She said she was excited to use the idea to help promote other restaurants developing in the western region of the U.S.
"It's never been done before, and it's just genius," she said.
The coupons will only be honored at the Carbondale location, Zellmer said. Coupons written for weeks during the summer will still be valid for students not returning to the city until August when school resumes, he said.
