School Daze
It’s inevitable. Gather two or more people who attended college in
Wisconsin – longtime friends, long-lost acquaintances, perfect strangers
- it makes no difference - and the conversation will ultimately lead to
familiar places. It happens in board rooms, airports and car pools,
around soccer fields and banquet tables, at neighborhood block parties
and church picnics.
What are the most common of all denominators when we turn an eye to the
past, the collective touchstones of Wisconsin higher education?
Bars. Taverns. Dives.
Wisconsin is home to nearly fifty colleges and universities, schools and
communities annually sending forth legions of men and women with
distinctly similar memories of their collegiate life, memories made,
according to many, slightly off campus.
Kelly’s.
Ella’s. Nick’s. The Brat. The Brick. The Joynt. Second Street. Third
Street. State Street. Water. Amid the ebb and flow of GIs, Baby Boomers,
Generation X and Y, and now the recent grads (Generation Text?), many of
the old haunts have stood the test of time as much as ivy covered
academic buildings, and with only slightly worse ventilation systems.
The result being former collegians who have graduated into a decidedly
less carefree lifestyles marked by careers, kids and mortgage payments
return in droves seeking the familiar confines of dimly lit spaces.
“Alumni are back almost every weekend,” said Carl Westermann, manager of
the Pioneer in Eau Claire, a fixture on Water Street. “Larger groups
return in the summer.”
“I get a lot of people who used to go to college here,” said Dino
Christ, owner of Nick’s Bar & Restaurant on Madison’s State Street. “I
get a lot of people who used to work downtown. They bring their families
now, or their kids are coming here, or their grandkids.”
“I do make a point of going back,” said Angela Adams, a 1996
UW-Platteville graduate who reconnects with her ZBX sorority sisters
every winter to make the rounds downtown. While balancing career and
family sometimes makes the getaway challenging, Adams said, the end
result is never in doubt: “It’s always worth it.”
Pilgrimages
to the old school are nothing new of course, that’s why homecomings were
invented, but a case can be made the tradition runs deeper in Wisconsin
thanks to the prevalence of campuses in communities across the state -
the town/gown relationship as academics call it - combined with
Wisconsin’s hospitable spirit - happy hour as others call it.
The pioneers of Eau Claire wouldn’t know a Jello shot if they saw one,
but they would certainly recognize the Pioneer Tavern. The distinctive
19th Century building - the city block is a member of the National
Register of Historic Places - served a variety of purposes across the
decades, including pharmacy and book seller. Established in 1984, the
Pioneer boasts Eau Claire’s longest-serving beer garden. Its two
faithful mascots, an elk and a bison, still keep watch over patrons
coming through the old storefront. According to manager Westermann, “In
2009 there was an alumni group from 1986 to 1989 with about 350 alumni.
Pioneer alumni.”
It’s a bit of a disservice to categorize The Joynt, 322 Water Street,
Eau Claire, as a college bar. While the legendary tavern serves its
share of students, typically as a starting point before they head
further down the street, the Joynt is just as likely to be populated by
a mix of local characters and fellow travelers along with college
faculty and returning alumni – all folks who have declared their
longstanding love for the cozy place in the postcards sent from around
the world and tacked to the wall near the juke box. Photos of jazz
greats who performed at The Joynt in the 1970s crowd the interior, and
the place remains as cool as the summer breeze through its weather
beaten screen door.
“I always get hopelessly nostalgic for the Joynt,” wrote one former
patron, “when the weather gets warmer and the door gets opener.”
Eau Claire still mourns the Camaraderie, destroyed by a fire in 2001
that took everything but three decades of fond memories. The “Cam” had
been a popular gathering place at Water Street’s west end for both
locals and students alike since 1971.
In
Stevens Point, the first structures constructed along the town square
were saloons. They’re still there. Maybe not the original structures,
but not far removed either. The Square looks distinctly old school as
the historic buildings continue to bear witness to the nightlife within
their embrace. Locals, students and grads mix easily at longtime
establishments like the Elbow Room and Joe’s Bar. Buffy’s Lampoon
resides in a building constructed in 1866, but don’t let the date fool
you, the bathrooms seem much older. This decidedly low maintenance, low
cost establishment has always been a natural fit for students. Returning
visitors will recognize the hand painted SIASEFI signs dating back to
the Central State College days along with a vintage “Smile You’re on
Radar” state police sign (obtained by means we can only imagine). On
Division Street, Ella's holds the distinction of being located across
the road from the UW-SP campus, making it a convenient after-class
diversion for patrons since 1974. The unassuming bar remains virtually
unchanged with its notty pine interior, lone pool table, chalkboards in
the bathrooms (for the poets among us) and well-beaten hammerschlagen
tables resting atop empty half barrels. Former Pointers stop in for
Ella's hot bagel sandwiches washed down with the product that made
Stevens Point famous. Add a pickled egg if you dare. And Ella’s In Point
sweatshirts continue to earn recognition in most corners of the globe.
In the granddaddy of Wisconsin college towns the names of the familiar
establishments roll like barrels down Bascom Hill. (For the record, the
writer does not condone rolling barrels down Bascom Hill, even if they
are empty). Among many establishments in downtown Madison, the Irish
Pub, Kollege Klub, Mondays, Nitty Gritty, Paul’s Club - the place with
the tree inside - and the Red Shed endure as they have for years.
Taking
the prize is the virtual time machine known as Nick’s Bar & Restaurant,
226 State Street. “Nothing has changed,” said owner Dino Christ. “I hear
that almost on a daily basis, and in a good way. Even people who come
back and don’t have time to eat will stop in because they want to look
at the place. The décor is the same. We try to keep it as original as
possible, and anything we upgrade we do just enhance what already
exists.”
What patrons find at Nicks is 1959, right down to the original bar,
wooden beer coolers, booths, light fixtures, even the dumbwaiter needed
to carry food from the basement kitchen. The wallpaper and mural on the
back wall were updated… in 1970. “Part of our niche is that it’s stayed
the same, it hasn’t changed,” said Christ, the second generation owner
who literally grew up in the establishment billed as The Home of Good
Food. “The other part is -- it’s still old-school basic, good homemade
food. Everything is still made in-house with our original recipes. On
weekends my mom still makes the pies.
And if sitting in one of Nick’s booths enjoying good music and
conversation and soaking-up the atmosphere doesn’t stir your sentiments,
the pies will.
A notable change to the Madison scene occurred in late 2010 when The
Pub, 522 State Street, closed its doors after nearly 70 years. Emerging
in its place is the Whiskey River Saloon. The change resulted in a well
deserved makeover for the place, particularly in the bathrooms, which
for years held both a reputation and odor far preceding them.
Another Madison icon to undergo major changes through the years is State
Street Brats. Established as the Brathous in 1953 by Seymour “Shorty”
Kayes and Warren “Lammy” Lamm, the original place, outfitted to resemble
a German beer hall, was credited with introducing the bratwurst to
Madison menus. That alone deserves our undying gratitude. Like the
Gritty, the establishment has employed thousands of students through the
decades, including Kelly Meuer, who assumed ownership in the late 1980s.
A major renovation occurred in 1997. Out went the bench seating and low
ceiling, in came the televisions, 28 in total, a second level was added,
and now State Street Brats is perennially awarded “Best Sports Bar” in
the epicenter of Wisconsin’s Big Ten city. Fortunately the brat remains
the same. “I get people all the time who come off the Interstate,” says
Meuer, “and they say, ‘I’m going to Chicago but I had to stop for a
brat.’” The signature Red Brat is sliced lengthwise, char grilled and
served on a fresh bun just like Shorty and Lammy did it, and while the
recipe remains a secret, the brats never were. More than 10,000 pounds
are served annually.
Platteville’s
early residents designed the town to resemble their native England with
narrow streets and thin lots. That means the hotspots are found on
one-block sliver of Second Street in the center of the vintage downtown.
Among the familiar names are Orville T’s, Big Jim’s, formerly called The
Chute because it’s no wider than a cattle pass, and Brothers, still
displaying the awnings from its days as the gone-but-not forgotten Hoist
House. On the corner of Second and Mineral stands one of the oldest
structures in Platteville, the Parnell Building, constructed in 1849 as
a grocery store and still providing sustenance as a sandwich shop,
albeit with later hours.
“It’s always been a good bar,” said Orville T’s owner Tom “Chance”
Schmid, a former bartender who purchased “OT’s” in 2007. The name dates
back at least thirty years but the origin – just who was Orville T? –
seems to have been lost among the happy hours, one consequence of
serving 36-ounce cups of Long Island Iced Tea. OT’s remains especially
popular for fraternities and sororities holding reunions. “I get people
from twenty years ago that walk in and say, yeah, this is how I remember
it,” Schmid said, adding, “the canoe is still here.”
Be it a taste of comfort food in a familiar booth, the strains of a juke
box through an old screen door, or mixed drinks served in bucket-sized
plastic cups - the touchstones remain all across Wisconsin.
“I'm always, always glad when I go back,” said Angela Adams. “Being with
your old friends who knew you before you were a mom or a wife or a
co-worker and going downtown …maybe I feel like a college kid again.”
Copyright 2011
classicwisconsin.com