FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Every year on Cinco de Mayo, Maxine's Tap Room in Downtown Fayetteville throws a birthday party in honor of its founder Maxine Miller, who would have turned 100 years old on Sunday.
"This was a great excuse for her to have a party, so we're having a Cinco de Mayo party for a good cause on her birthday," bar manager Hannah Withers said.
All of the profit from Sunday's party will go toward the legacy scholarship in Maxine's name.
"Years ago, we partnered with the University of Arkansas in their gender studies program to create the Maxine Miller Legacy Fund," Andrea Foren, Maxine's great niece and the owner of the bar, said. "What that does is that enables students to get scholarships, funding for conferences, and funding for things that they need."
Foren says this tradition is the perfect way to pay a tribute to Maxine.
"It's just an opportunity to celebrate her and keep her legacy alive, keep her name alive," she said.
While Maxine has been gone since 2006, her bar still serves as a staple on the hill.
"It has been a cornerstone of downtown for 75 years," Withers said. "We're starting to see three generations of people that are U of A alums, you know grandparents and parents and kids at the university, who are coming in together that have all been regulars here at some point, and I think that it's important to celebrate small businesses that stay here this long."
Foren believes that Maxine would be proud of what her bar has become.
"Maxine was always huge into family," Foren said. "The fact that she left this bar to family and the fact that it is what it is today, absolutely means the world to me. This place is filled with people all day, every day, and really that's 100% what Maxine would want."
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