Photo credit Tiffany Unger
Tiffany and Dave Unger of The Wandering Sidecar Bar Company don’t always do things in conventional ways. To introduce Ruthie, the vintage 1960 Avalon camper they’ve restored and converted into their good times traveling bar business, they motored down Market Street on Sunday, June 26th at one of the biggest parties ever, the Grand Pride Parade.
The Ungers are traditional as can be, a millennial couple together eight years, married for four. They have one-year old twin boys Samuel Bear and Otis Lee, and one fur baby, Jax, the wander dog.
Photo credit Tiffany Unger
They named Ruthie after Tiffany’s grandmother. Birdie, a 1967 2-horse box trailer, isn’t fully restored yet. She’s named after Dave’s grandmother. She’ll soon be up and running also as a bar, ready to party.
Photo credit Tiffany Unger
And party they will – birthdays, showers, family get-togethers – they’ll show up with the bar plus the bartender (that’s Tiffany), the back bar man, heavy hauler and keeper of the hitch – that’s Dave. Clients supply the booze, The Wandering Sidecar Bar Co brings in the talent and the moxie to mix the cocktails, pop the corks, uncork the bottles and pour the beers.
Ruthie and friends at the Grand Pride Parade in St. Louis.
What sets them apart from the crowd is their willingness to allow all people to celebrate well, without discrimination. When the Religious Freedom legislation, SJR39, grabbed headlines in Missouri in March 2016 that would allow vendors to discriminate against LGBT people citing religious objections, Tiffany and Dave took a stand. Wandering Sidecar Bar Co would travel to any wedding, anywhere.
“It was a little shocking for me. I wanted not only to let the LGBT community know they have an ally. When planning what should be the happiest day of their lives, they should have no trepidation placing a call to a vendor. A client is a client. A wedding is a wedding. Love is love. We stand beside the community,” Tiffany Unger says.
Photo credit Tiffany Unger
The business makes use of the Unger’s many skills. Tiffany knows bartending. “I bartended all through college and beyond,” she says. “I have a master’s degree in non-profit management no one can take away from me, but I love what we are doing now.” She calls Dave, who fully supported her idea to bring home a fixer-upper camper and horsebox trailer, ‘the backbone’ of the operation. As a new mom of twins, Unger appreciates her flexible schedule.
The business also taps her creative side. She developed the design ideas for Ruthie with tiny home specialist Mark Bertel of Bertel Construction in Mountain Home, Arkansas. “Not that many people can restore old campers,” she says. The resulting design is simple, elegant and functional, designed to fit in with any kind of celebration.
Ruthie is ready to roll to parties and weddings right now. Birdie is still ‘under construction’ but the Ungers expect she’ll be road-ready soon.
Kudos to this couple for taking the road less travelled and making a stand for equality, one party, one wedding, one celebration at a time.
The Wandering Sidecar Bar Company
Consultations by appointment only. Contact Tiffany and Dave by email at thewanderingsidecarbarco.com
Photo credit Tiffany Unger
