Last week (July 10, 2025 to be exact), we hosted Meet The Pickup, our very first subscriber event. Heirloom Rustic Ales let us take over their bar and blather at our readers and writers for three hours! Can you imagine?
Since Day 1 of The Pickup, we’ve hoped and prayed to meet our readers. And you all turned out. From readers, to strangers, to freelancers, to one-day freelancers, the reading public showed up to tell us with one resolute voice: We either know about or read The Pickup (or are hearing about it for the first time)! A powerful message for this world.
We managed to sell many of you some sweet, sweet merchandise, which no, you cannot yet purchase online, and yes, is still cool as hell. We’re working on the selling it online part; soon you'll be able to purchase a “Keep Honking! I’m Reading The Pickup On My Phone” bumper sticker, a The Pickup hat (in red or black!) and The Pickup stickers. We also sold This Land merchandise, which was bought by those with discerning palates.
It was lovely to hear from our readers, who have good taste and are generally attractive. They said things to us ranging from “I like your website” to “you are doing God’s work,” which is probably a healthy spectrum of perception.
You may have been one of the many who approached us with ideas for articles. If that’s the case, we hope you’ll reach out to us again, because 1) we love new writers and stories, and 2) we are forgetful. The event was at a brewery, after all!
Big thanks again to Heirloom Rustic Ales, who hosted, as well as to Mister Softee, Old Dog, and Dante’s Woodfire Pizza who showed up and sold delicious snacks, and to JD McPherson, who spun tasty vinyl all night. It was a blast. We hope to do it again sometime. Let us know in the comments if you were there in order to stoke others’ FOMO for next time.
-Matt, Alicia, and Zack
