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When Chapter Chair Tim Visk invited all the officers and staff of the downtown office as well as his Morton Classified membership to an Oktoberfest in Berwyn, I anticipated a Germanic get-together mit der Schnitzelbank und that kind of stuff. Much to my surprise, The Sixteenth Street Bar & Grill reminded me of the neighborhood bar & grill that I used to visit while waiting for my father to drive me home from high school. 

 

We lived in Elkhart, IN. I used to wait for my father after work there when I got in from St. Joseph’s High School, right across from Notre Dame University’s golf course. Dad was the managing partner of a small metal fabricating plant. I would arrive at 4:00 after my trip from South Bend. I would say hello to Alfredo, who would give me a 7-Up on the house. My father would arrive about an hour later, have one or two VO& 7-Ups and then take me home. 

 

It was a very small bar in the late 1950s, but the Italian chef from the nearby hotel would come in and treat folks to something occasionally. I even remember Alfredo saying to my father: “Bob, I may open two hours early.” “Why?” my dad said. “You’d be opening in the early morning.” “I might catch a fish,” Alfredo said. I was just a junior in high school, but I got the message.

 

When I walked into the Sixteenth Street Bar & Grill, I thought, Alfredo lives! The interior was very similar, except there was a large open-air picnic area next to the bar proper. Most of the decorations in the bar and in the open-air area were beer signs or sports signs. Some things never change. The women who worked there were friendly. The bartender had a smile on his face. And everyone was happy to see us. What more do you want?

 

Tim Visk and House Representative Richie Pawlak were there early. Everyone grew convivial quickly, except for the request that folks pose by the “Wrigleyville” sign. We north-siders had goofed again! Soon, Secretary Karen Piest had arrived as well as Asst. Chapter Chair Eric Porod, Assistant to the President Randy Barnette and V. P. Classified Jillian Verstrate. Shortly thereafter, Legislative Chair Bill Naegele arrived and livened up an already chatty affair. I had to disappear to pick up my wife at O’Hare, God bless her. I missed the food spread.

 

My wife, Diane, never spent her high school afternoons helping patrons add up their bar tabs at the end of the month.  For some reason, they trusted the high school junior with the algebra book more than the middle-aged bartender and owner. I don’t know why; math was always my worst subject.   But of course, I was the only one in the house drinking just 7-Up without any Seagram’s product added. 

___Bob Blackwood, CCCTU webmaster