‘Pearl’ wins $4800 bid for Boys and Girls Club

Canyon Lakers Todd Stover and Lori Blanchard took “Pearl,” their company’s tap truck, to the annual Boys and Girls Club Charity Auction last week and successfully received a bid of $4,800 for their business’ Tap Truck Temecula event at a young couple’s wedding.

They partnered with 8 Bit Brewing, who will provide the craft beers that will be distributed to guests at the wedding from the taps on the vintage truck. The auction was held at Pechanga Resort Casino and the iconic “Pearl” tab truck was on display at the resort’s Grand Ballroom during the Saturday fundraiser.

The Boys and Girls Club of Southwest County benefits the kids in the area, including those from Canyon Lake. The entire $4,800 bid for the wedding event is being donated to the club.

Tap Truck Temecula is a business that Lori and Todd began just two months before COVID-19 shut down all the events they had booked. With restrictions lifting, the events are back. They are hired to cater beer, wine and other beverages at various events.

Todd and Lori serve many different types of beverages in their “tap truck.” Their business can cater to a variety of events, including weddings, birthdays, corporate events and tournaments. They serve not only beer and wine, but a full range of non-alcoholic beverages as well.

Tap Truck Temecula is a franchisee of Tap Truck USA, a business that was started in San Diego five years ago. The founders combined their love of craft beer and vintage trucks and formed a franchise wine and beer catering business, Todd said. The Tap Truck founders ensure that their licensees remain true to the Tap Truck brand by refitting each licensee’s truck with a fully-functioning beer and wine tap inside a classic truck.

The San Diego-based franchise business quickly expanded from the San Diego area to the rest of the country where it now has 35 licensed tap trucks. There is also a Tab Truck in both Mexico and Canada.

Soon after Todd and Lori became licensed with Tap Truck USA, they bought their signature classic panel truck, a brand for Tap Truck USA. Todd and Lori found a 1951 Ford F-1 panel truck for sale on Facebook Marketplace. They completely gutted and refurbished the truck in order to be converted into a Tap Truck.

The truck now has the capability to dispense beer and wine on tap. The truck can hold six kegs and there are five taps on the side of the truck. Lori named their refurbished tap truck “Pearl,” Todd said, because of its color and because of a bride’s pearls at a wedding.

Todd and Lori are licensed by Tap Truck USA to a large territory that they have exclusive rights to serve. Tap Truck Temecula has the rights to hold events as far south as Fallbrook, as far east as Idyllwild and as far northwest as Canyon Lake. The couple hopes to find a niche with weddings. The color they chose to paint their “tap truck” is called Wimbledon white, a color, Lori said, that brings out the perfect white in a bride’s dress.

Todd has lived in Canyon Lake for 27 years and a couple of years ago moved from his house on Chaparral Way to a home with Lori near the east gate.