CAMDEN — SeaDog Brewing Co. in Camden celebrated their Grand Opening with a Community Bar-B-Q that included a buffet, live music, games and prizes. The  buffet featured soup to dessert with several entrée's in between from pulled pork to teriyaki chicken to lobster mac and cheese.

From noon until 8 p.m. Sea Dog invited guests to join the fun, eat, drink and be merry. The event also benefited Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Mid-Maine.

Jesse Hardie, General Manager, Sea Dog Brewery Co. in Camden, said the event actually served multiple purposes.

"It's another chance for us to give back to the community and charity," he said. "It's Sea Dog's philosophy to give back as much as possible to the community if not more. It's also to announce our grand opening for real now. We have eight weeks under our belt and a lot of the kinks worked out, so at this time we are running at what's considered a Sea Dog level."

Hardie hails from Ft. Collins, Colorado. He said Sea Dog plans to be open seven days a week all year. He said music will become a regular feature at Sea Dog.

"We've already had music a few nights during the week," he said, "but we're hoping to get a more consistent schedule. If it's Friday night between this time and this time there will be live music at Sea Dog."

Hardie is new to Sea Dog and came on for this particular project.

"Everything about Sea Dog so far has been well beyond what I would expect from an awesome organization," he said. "One hundred percent involved with the project on all levels. It was definitely a big project too. They were able to put resources into this to really make it a success."

Hardie said people commented on the old Sea Dog that operated in Camden.

"It's really exciting," he said "People come in and say ‘oh, I ate at Sea Dog 14 years ago when you guys were over there.’"

Occupying the space that was once Cappy's, Sea Dog renovated the building before opening up.

"There were extensive renovations," Hardie said. "It was three buildings and hopefully now if you walk in it doesn't feel like three buildings, it feels like one. It needed a lot of restructuring and they did it right, so it's here for the long haul now."

Alex Gaeth CEO of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Mid-Maine, said the organization is about giving kids hope and brighter futures by matching them with caring, trained adults and supporting those relationships.

"I think we're going to be able to help a lot more kids succeed in life thanks to this," he said. "We've had a good steady crowd throughout lunch and dinner today. A lot of people are taking advantage of the raffle we have and making donations as well. And they're leaving with full a full belly which is really important. And if anybody is interested in making a difference then we have an opportunity for you."