Birthday Weekend at Bernie's presented by Southwest Airlines® to be celebrated from August 16-18 at Miller Park

This season marks the 40^th Anniversary since Bernie Brewer was introduced as the mascot of the Milwaukee Brewers and to celebrate, the Brewers will host "Birthday Weekend at Bernie's" presented by Southwest Airlines® from Friday, August 16 through Sunday, August 18. The Brewers will play against the Cincinnati Reds during the birthday celebration weekend.

A variety of activities are scheduled for this entire weekend at Miller Park, including giveaways, prizes, sing-a-longs and much more. On Friday, August 16, the first 20,000 fans to enter the gates at Miller Park will receive a Bernie Brewer can coozie, compliments of Southwest Airlines. The giveaways continue throughout the weekend as roundtrip tickets on Southwest Airlines will be given away during each inning of the game on Saturday, August 17 (two roundtrip tickets will be awarded to a lucky fan each inning)

Two special events are planned for Sunday, August 18 with the Kids Eat Free promotion and the Party on the Plaza. The Party on the Plaza will take place before Sunday's game from 11am - 1pm with clowns, face painting, tailgate games, music and appearances by Bernie Brewer, the Klement's Famous Racing Sausages and other local mascots, including Fang, Roscoe, Pounce and more. Then, upon entering the ballpark, vouchers will be distributed to fans 16 and under, good for one free Klement's hot dog, small Pepsi product and Blue Bunny ice cream for the Kids Eat Free promotion.

Additionally, fans will have the opportunity to sign a giant card for Bernie when attending games leading up to his birthday, beginning this Friday. The birthday card will be located near the Southwest Airlines Nuttiest Fan display in the right-field corner on the Field Level.

As the most popular Major League mascot on Twitter, Bernie is very tech-savvy so fans can join in the celebration online in the following ways:

• Tweet messages and/or photos on Instagram using the hashtag #LUVBernie. Fans can visit Brewers.com/luvbernie to see a compilation.
• In August, the Brewers will launch a photo app which will allow fans to integrate a digital Bernie Brewer mustache into photos and post them in celebration of Bernie's birthday.

For more information and tickets to "Birthday Weekend at Bernie's," please visit Brewers.com/bernie40. A historical timeline of Bernie Brewer is included below.

Bernie Brewer Historical Timeline:

• June 1970: 69-year-old superfan Milt Mason climbs to the top of the County Stadium scoreboard and vows not to come down until the Brewers draw a crowd of over 40,000.
• August 1970: The Brewers drew a crowd of 44,387 on bat night, also drawing Milt, their adopted hero, down from his perch.
• June 1973: Milt Mason passed away on June 12, 1973. The team dedicated their new mascot that year, Bernie Brewer, in Milt's honor.
• 1984: The bleachers at County Stadium were rebuilt and Bernie's Chalet was replaced with a sound tower, sending Bernie into early retirement.
• 1993: Due to overwhelming demand, Bernie Brewer returned as the team's mascot in 1993.