January Jammin…….

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome to Thebeerchaser. If you’re seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #1)

Happy New Year (and) Birthday!

Now I’m not trying to start the year off on a negative tone, but I thought this observation from my file collection reeked with wisdom:

“Denny’s has a slogan, ‘If it’s your birthday, the meal is on us.’ If you’re in Denny’s and it’s your birthday, the chances are excellent that your life sucks!”

Bar Profitability (#2)

I recently read a short article by a guy (probably an Economics major at an SEC school) that stated, “After pouring one shot of liquor, the income from the rest of the bottle is pure profit….” He should try telling that to one of the hundreds (or thousands) of bar owners who have gone out of business since the pandemic.

To lend credence in refuting this idiot’s assertion, I came across the following which itemizes the actual cost of a martini in five cities. https://vinepair.com/articles/martini-cost-breakdown/ For context, I mentioned martinis in my last post about the great bar – The Holy Ghost in Portland, Oregon – where we had martinis which cost $14 each.

The article gives the price for the patron at classy bars in five US cities – New York City $20, Charleston $14, Los Angeles $16, Phoenix $15 and Chicago $16. (#3)

More overhead than just the gin and olive!

It then gives an overhead calculation for each city. To illustrate, let’s just take the operating costs for the Chicago martini at the classy Club Lucky with the price of $16.

Ingredients: $3.23
Labor: $4.64
Mortgage: $0.86
Food: $4.16
Supplies: $0.49
Miscellaneous costs: $0.93
Total Cost: $14.31
Profit: $1.69 (#4)

So, for the guys who slowly nurse their drinks over conversation about the plight of the Chicago Bears, it takes a lot of customers to keep this establishment afloat.

A poignant quote about economists is from John Kenneth Galbraith:

“Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.” (#5)

But if you want to know about economic viability, I advise that listening to a financial expert rather than some guy who probably played linebacker at the University of Alabama is wise.

College Memories and the King of Cool

Followers of this blog may remember a number of posts where I’ve related fond memories of my SAE fraternity days at Oregon State University. The bonds established during those four years have continued over more than fifty years (gads, am I that old…?).

Whether it was learning how to study (which I largely ignored in high school) by having mandatory study tables from 7 to 10 each night as a freshman (unless achieving over a 3.0 GPA), we learned about accountability as a “rook” by getting up each morning at 6:30 AM with members of our class when we cleaned the heads or helped cook breakfast.

We learned to adapt by slumbering in one of four twenty-five bed sleeping porches. The lessons ingrained were not imparted in classes in Western Civ or Intro to Sociology.

And there were lasting memories such as football games including the incredible upset over the #1 rated USC Trojans led by OJ Simpson in 1967 – the year of the OSU Giant Killers.

We can’t forget concerts by entertainers such as Three-Dog Night, Petula Clark and Lou Rawls, house dances with pre-functions, the Inter-fraternity Sing, intramural championships and the Civil War game. Comraderie with my fellow NROTC midshipmen and even second-term Calculus (not!) are part of the recollection. (#6 – #7)

I even learned from my room-head when I was a freshman that it was cool to blow your nose in a dirty undershirt (he maintained that no-one would ever know) – a practice I sustained for years until the first time I tried it after getting married. Janet informed me that if I ever did that again, I would do all the family’s laundry forever.

And these friendships have been sustained throughout the years including some great Beerchasing events, attending football games in Corvallis and sadly, memorial services including the last two years for SAE Brothers Duane “Thumper” Barton and Charlie “Buck” Adams where we serenaded the departed bros with the SAE song.

Now, some might say, “Dirt (that was my college nickname), you are living in the past;” however, I would remind them of Helen Keller’s statement:

“So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.”

Now as an example, take my fraternity brother, Craig (The Dude) Hanneman (a former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, who I first met when he came to the SAE house as a freshman on a football scholarship in 1967. He was involved in football and I in NROTC and with the normal college schedules, we didn’t get to know each other well until winter term of 1968.

Each class slept on sleeping porches with bunks – and we also had four-person study rooms with a desk and closet for each guy. There was a bench-couch and table at the end under a window where we put the hi-fi so we could play vinyl tunes.

We were assigned these rooms each term by the House Manager and Hanneman was the youngster in the room and I was one class ahead as a sophomore. I knew he was a guy (with a rural background) from Turner which I originally thought was a truck-stop somewhere in Eastern Oregon or Idaho.

My 33LPs were of popular groups like the Four Seasons, the Mamas and Papas and The Temptations. I assumed Craig would favor country-western icons like George Jones or Merle Haggard, but on the first days I came back from class, he was playing Dean Martin.

When I questioned him, he pointed out that Dino was known as “The King of Cool” and maintained that I too would learn to love him. Well, that didn’t prove to be the case, except for one song, which I played over and over while we both sang along – Thirty More Miles to San Diego…(#8)

The King of Cool

I subsequently learned that the song was track 10 on the album “Happiness is Dean Martin” – a title that didn’t comport with my perceptions. That said, I also liked the song “Open Up the Door – Let the Good Times In” which we adopted as our motto in Room 2 although it had a negative impact on our GPAs.

I also pointed out to Craig that thirty miles north of San Diego – besides being the location of Legoland – was a drive of 16 hours or 989 miles from Corvallis, so the likelihood of us having a beer there rather than Price’s Tavern in downtown Corvallis was minimal.

While his taste in music was questionable, I immediately learned that the Hanneman’s sense of humor was robust. As I mentioned above, freshman (rooks) at the house could garner demerits from the House Manager for missing or showing up to morning work or study tables late.

Upper classmen told us that these demerits would be recorded on our college transcripts and could keep us from getting a job or into grad school and eventually heaven.

I still have in my files, the most cherished demerit from those years that was authored by Craig Hanneman during an all-house work party to get the house in shape for homecoming weekend. It speaks for itself.

Joel McDonald, the House Manager, was a wonderful guy and after college became a minister. We were glad to know that this demerit didn’t keep him for gaining admission to seminary…..

None of us knew at that time that Dude would go on to become an All-American defensive tackle and then play for the NFL – first with the Pittsburgh Steeler’s including the playoff game with the Immaculate Reception – which has a Craig Hanneman element in itself https://www.steelers.com/news/a-mistake-that-turned-out-to-be-immaculate

Or upon retirement from the NFL because of injury, own and manage a 200-acre farm and forest operation for seven years before being elected County Commissioner of Polk County, Oregon in 1985.

He followed with a career as a corporate executive at Willamette Industries, Weyerhaeuser and at the Oregon Foresty Industry Council for a combined twenty-two years. Now, I will probably be admonished for the preceding by my old friend because he’s very modest and tries to avoid accolades, but he was also a great family man.

And while his career achievements are admirable, what endears him to his friends is his sense of adventure and expanding his horizons – that and his loyalty to friends. Dude and his football teammates ran with the bulls in Pamplona (picture below) has ridden his Harley thousands of miles on road trips on multiple continents and rafted serious rivers.

Oh yeah, there was also his summit of Mount Everest in 2012 – one of the Seven Summits which he completed in 2019. In fact, he is one of the few members of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame to be inducted for two sports – football and mountain climbing.

I stay in touch with Dude and we have periodic Beerchasings – with the SAEs including the one below from the Gemini pub in Lake Oswego.

And, of course, Dino and our favorite song comes up. For example, this e-mail after I congratulated him on the Mount Everest climb:

“Okay, I’ll admit it, all those late-night sessions playing “flinchies” (that’s another story…..) really hardened me up to climb Everest! And to prove some things never change, you’ll be pleased to know I had plenty of Dean Martin tunes on my iPod Nano to help drown out the noisy wind at night.”

Flash Forward

On the afternoon of October 31, 2024, I was trying to figure out how to surreptitiously transfer to my desk drawer, some of the Snickers candy bars we had for youngsters coming to our house on Halloween.

While I was in my office trying to keep Janet from seeing my clandestine depletion of what I thought was detrimental to youngsters’ dental health, a text popped up on my phone with the following two photos:

I was aware from an e-mail two days before from Dude telling me that he was departing on an adventure that would take him through Southern California and stating:

“Dirt, I’m driving through San Diego tomorrow night….and leaving tugged a tad at my heart thinking of the good memories of our time in Room 2 listening to Dean Martin and only thirty miles to go. If I see a road sign that says SD thirty miles, trust me, I’m taking a picture.”

Well, the picture on the above left is not of a road sign, but of Craig’s GPS, which caused him to bring up the golden oldie on the right. Go figure!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sjrVIU1u1LU

With my elevated mood, I was much more generous with the candy that night than usual.

Cheers and Happy New Year (#9)

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birthday_cake.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Fir0002.

#2.Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bright-Field_Lighting.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Kyle May – 17 November 2007.

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dry_Martini-2.jpg) This work has been released into the public domain by its author. This applies worldwide. Author: Dry_Martini.jpg: Original uploader was Hayford Peirce at en.wikipedia. 8 September 2009.

#4. USARestuarants.info (https://cdn.usarestaurants.info/assets/uploads/c9924fee793df3d25760cdeea8a7102c_-united-states-illinois-cook-county-chicago-691299-club-luckyhtm.jpg)

#5. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dollar_sign_capitalism_logo.svg) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author: OwcaGierka – 13 November 2022.

#6. Albany Democrat Herald (https://democratherald.com/news/local/anniversary-of-the-giant-killers-famed-osu-team-beat-usc/article_b8be0757-0fcb-5091-a984-72075eb7d5ca.html)

#7. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_Union_at_Oregon_State_University.jpg) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: user:Owen – May 2005.

#8. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dean_Martin_-_publicity.JPG) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1930 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Source: Original studio publicity photo of Dean Martin for the film Bells Are Ringing (1960).

#9. Image courtesy of Pam Williams.

2020 Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter Update

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Thebeerchaser

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this through an e-mail, please visit the blog to see all of the photos and read the story by clicking on the title above so the post is not clipped or shortened.)

Well Beerchasers, I’m still waiting to get back to reviewing bars and breweries, but since that is on hold, I’m trying to provide some other insights. My next post will be on a number of Montana watering holes that I visited last summer. Due to the number visited (49) on a 15-day road trip, I’ve only written up several so far. So stay tuned for some good history on Montana bars.

Beerchasers-of-the-Quarter – Update

The Dude on his Mount Everest summit climb in 2012

Two of the past Beerchasers-of-the-Quarter, Craig-the Dude- Hanneman and Steve Lawrence should be recognized again for recent achievements and accolades.

Steve Lawrence

While that may be hard to understand given their past exploits, it’s true.

Jan and Jack at their home in Sisters, Oregon

So far, there are three BOQ’s in 2020, including a married couple – Jack and Jan McGowan who were co-recipients in February, for their outstanding and long-term commitment to SOLV (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) from the ’90’s until their retirement in 2008.

Former Oregon State Beaver football wingback and receiver Billy Main, a member of the legendary 1967 Giant Killers Team, was named in May.

It took Thebeerchaser two posts to fully cover his football and Navy ROTC stories while in college and then his successful hospitality industry career.

And the most recent BOQ label was for a group – Lawyers. That’s right – I relate my observations after working with them for forty years in three different organizations – the last twenty-five at a great law firm of 140 lawyers – Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt – where I retired in 2011.

I respect the members of this profession and enjoyed the interaction with this talented and competitive group. In future posts, I’ll continue this narrative as I have a great number of stories that I find very entertaining and think you might also.

https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/08/31/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-lawyers-part-1/

Update on Previous BOQ “Honorees”

Craig “The Dude” Hanneman

Transitioned from fullback to defensive tackle

My SAE fraternity brother at Oregon State who graduated in 1971, was a Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter in 2012. This former high school fullback who transitioned to defensive tackle at OSU, was voted captain and MVP of the Beaver team his senior year and named a Second-Team All-American and First-Team Pac-8 Team.

He then played for four seasons in the NFL including two years for the Pittsburgh Steelers and two for the Patriots, when a catastrophic leg injury ended his NFL career.

After a successful career in the timber industry and local politics, Craig is now retired but when he was about 50, he either ignored or confirmed the assertion of singer, David Lee Roth:

“I guarantee you will find no reasonable man on top of big mountains.”

Fellow Everest climbers, Mike and Heidi with Craig

He started mountain climbing in the late ’90’s, and in 2012, became the first former NFL or NBA player to successfully summit Mt. Everest. Kerry Eggers, who has been named Oregon Sportswriter of the Year six times, wrote two wonderful articles on Crag’s story in the Portland Tribune in 2019. https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/12-sports/446236-359995-mountaineer-craig-hanneman-takes-on-als

The next year (2013) Dude and four of his friends Ran with the Bulls in Pamplona (Below left to right Hanneman, Scott Freeburn, Mark Dippel, Jim Sherbert and Bob Jossis.)

Pamplona in 2013

But his sense of adventure was not stifled and even with significant injuries sustained when he fell into a crevasse and was buried in the snow for forty-five minutes before rescue on Mt. Jefferson in 2013, climbing continued. In 2019 at age 70, he became one of only about 500 people in the world and probably the oldest of those, to have completed The Seven Summits – the highest mountain on each continent.

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame – To the surprise of no one who has followed athletics in Oregon, he was named to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in August this year. He will be formally inducted into the Multi-Sports category i.e. Football and Mountain Climbing. This supplements his prior admission to the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

Besides Price’s Tavern in Corvallis during college days, Craig and our SAE brothers have been on many Beerchasing expeditions together in recent years including several at the Gemini Pub in Lake Oswego.

The Dude and I did a toast recently to retired Professor Dr. Edward G. McGrath, who died in March 2019 at the age of 101 in California.

In 1970, Dr. McGrath had an upper-division political science seminar in which Craig and teammate, Mark Dippel, a starting guard on the OSU Football Team and I, joined about seven other students.

Cheers to Ed!

The Dude, “Dip” and I sat in the first of two short rows and to the good professor’s astonishment, those two would chew tobacco while he lectured.

Professor McGrath, who was my advisor, always glared at me (rather than the two big lineman) because I walked into class with the “chewers” and they were about twice as big as he was.

At least he appreciated the fact that they used a pot-pie tin for the residue……..We laughed that he reached that ripe old age before passing – I was always convinced that he was going to have a heart attack during those classes.

Congratulations to Craig Hanneman. He is without question one of the most outstanding human beings Thebeerchaser has had the privilege of meeting even with his somewhat morbid fascination with the word “ubiquitous” and Dean Martin tunes which I had to endure in college. He is a man of great character, family values and humility.

Steve Lawrence – Lawyer, Mayor and Author

This 2014 Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter has also had several careers. After college, he distinguished himself for his service as an Army officer in Viet Nam where he commanded an infantry platoon.

The Bronze Star with Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster and the Silver Star

He was subsequently awarded two Bronze Stars and a Silver Star in 1968 and 1969 for heroism during enemy action. (To see the wording on the citations, click on the link above.)

After graduating from law school and passing the Oregon State Bar exam in 1978, he had a long career as a successful lawyer in private practice before retiring to his home town – The Dalles on the Columbia River.

Lt. Lawrence at ease

Steve graduated from high school in the ’60’s and married his high school sweetheart, Donna — but not until 2008! It’s an interesting story set forth in Thebeerchaser post you can see through the link above.

His next “career” was one of notable public service and little compensation. Steve served as Mayor of The Dalles for two terms from 2012 to 2018. The picture below is when Jud Blakely – another former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter and also a Bronze Star winner for action in Viet Nam (along with receiving two Purple Hearts) and I joined him to visit some watering holes in The Dalles while Steve was successfully running a mayoral re-election campaign in 2015.

Blakely on the right, points to the incumbent….

Steve’s insight and actions promoting economic development in The Dalles were notable. He also served for twenty-five years on the Board of United Cerebral Palsy of Oregon and SW Washington including three terms as President.

But this man of many talents demonstrated those again. He added “novelist” to the list in 2013 with the publication of his first book – First Light – A Novel of Close Combat in Viet Nam – that was forty-four years after he returned from Vietnam.

“Based on my own experience and notes kept in a journal, it literally took 44 years for me to know what I wanted to write. Over the years, I would write about singular events, put the writing into its own folder and stack it with others in my file cabinet. When I retired at age 62, determined to write, I gathered all those folders and finished the book.”

Steve was not done writing, however, and early this summer, he published a sequel entitled Amotan Field, which is now available at Amazon.

As Steve stated, in part:

“After First Light, I wanted to write a novel about a skeleton that was unearthed in The Dalles, Oregon by a sewer construction crew. Considering many possible stories, it occurred to me this was an opportunity to answer the question asked; what happened after First Light…..

The story is intended to be a story of redemption. Redemption for a returning soldier dealing with the aftermath of combat. Redemption for a WWII soldier who was denied a medal because the truth of his bravery was buried by a terrible accident. He was killed by friendly fire. He was a member of the Celilo/Wyam tribe.

The backstory of Amotan Field is the history of the Indian community, which had lived and thrived along the Columbia River for thousands of years, shoved aside in the 1850’s by pioneers, missionaries and the military, promises made and broken and complicit racism which has continued.”

Will be ready to raise a mug….

So check out both of the Mayor’s books and if you get up to The Dalles, invite him to have a beer. He knows some good establishments in his city and had a role in getting many of them up and running. (He might even buy your pint for coming to his city!)

The Next Honoree…

Followers of this blog will enjoy the story of my next Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter.

Fr. Martin

In 2017, I told the story of Fr. Martin Grassel. He’s a monk at the Mount Angel Abbey who also happens to be the Head Brewer at the wonderful Benedictine Brewery – one of three in the US owned and operated by Benedictine Monks.

And I will soon share the fascinating journey of another man of the cloth.

I have only known Fr. Chuck Wood for about eighteen months since I have had the pleasure of serving on the Abbey Foundation of Oregon Board with him

Fr. Chuck Wood

After studying at Mount Angel Seminary, Fr. Chuck went on to get his Master’s at the University of Notre Dame. He is now the Pastor at St. Wencelaus Parish in Scapoose, Oregon and has a wonderful sense of humor and warm personality. His story will captivate you. Stay tuned.

Cheers!

Beerchaser of the Month – Art Vandelay

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Thebeerchaser

The Beerchaser-of-the-Month or Quarter is a method this blog has periodically employed to acknowledge certain individuals or groups – simply because they should be recognized. Some, such as the four bartenders from the first four taverns visited (November 2011), are directly related to beer or pubs.

Lt. Jud Blakely, USMC at Than Thrah Viet Nam

Others such as two of my SAE fraternity brothers at Oregon State – Jud Blakely (Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient for Viet Nam service) September 2013

and

Craig Hanneman (Collegiate All-American football in 1970, NFL career and successful summit of Mt. Everest in 2012) August 2012

: Craig Hanneman (right) on Mt. Everest Climb

and

Dr. Harry Frankfurt (Princeton University Emeritus Professor and author of the book, On Bullshit) January 2012 are named because of their achievements and contributions to society. And some such as the fabled crew of the USS Constitution July 2012 and retired chemist, Harold Schlumberg August 2011 for more light-hearted faire.

: Professor Frankfurt, developed a theoretical framework in his book “On Bullshit.”

In that spirit, the current Beerchaser-of-the-Month is recognized for his profoundly inconsequential contribution to the world of Latex. Art Vandelay, President and CEO of Vandelay Industries a latex manufacturing company has largely slipped under the radar for many years – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Art Vandelay, President and CEO of Vandelay Enterprises

He grew up in Keokuk, Iowa, where he was President of his eighth grade class – twice and in high school was voted “Most Likely.”

: Keokuk – Childhood on the Mississippi

Vandelay then moved to Racine, Wisconsin and attended Kramer Community College for four years where he received his associate degree. He didn’t participate in major team sports but was a Bowler.

After a very short first marriage to a classmate, which was voided by the court based on a “technicality,” he moved to New York. Art Vandelay gained new confidence upon realizing that all his annoying habits disappeared when he lived alone.

Vandelay Industries’ Products, in part…

Our Beerchaser then became a latex salesman for Vandelay Industries and rose up the corporate ladder when he validated the following leadership theory propounded by comedian Dave Berry:

“When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that person is crazy.”

—————————

Art Vandelay’s solution for a market slump was originating the slogan for one of their more well known products:

“Wrap it in latex, or she’ll get your paychecks.”

After becoming President, he led his company to a record number of years of marginal profitability – his employees followed him primarily out of a sense of morbid curiosity.

: Leadership that inspires followers….

Idiosyncrasies such as his habit of paging himself on the intercom raised questions. However, his personal lifestyle and political philosophy had a calming effect on the organization. For example:

“Set aside five minutes each day. At the end of the year, you will have saved up 1.27 days.”