Billy sometimes asks me about the good old days.  He loves to hear my stories.  The other day, while we were discussing the price of a cup of coffee I reminisced about when I was part of the good old boys network in Amana.  Pretty much every day except for Sunday, we would meet at the Colony Inn before our work day started.  Sort of an early FaceBook concept.  Of course Al Gore had not yet invented the internet so this was Face to Face networking.

On any given day you would see the likes of Paul Oehl, Art Baumgartel, Ramon Goerler, Bill Hess, Jake Roemig ,Paul Hursh,  Leonard Kloubec and me.  ( Click HERE for more info on Kloubec)   Of course there were others...some of them sporadic attendees and others who I have forgotten their name.

Walt Schuerer was the proprietor of the inn and dispensed the coffee to us.  Jake Roemig* was the owner of the building and that title gave him priority seating at the  head table.  He would shake his cane at anyone who  sat in his reserved seat announcing that "he owned the joint" and "so and so better find another place to sit".  It was always a hoot when one of the regulars brought someone new to the table and urged him to sit in that empty chair.  We looked forward to Jake coming in  to roust him from his perch.  Another benefit of being the building owner was that he received complimentary coffee for life.  However on the 3rd of every month, Jake would reach into his wallet and remove enough cash to pick up the tab.  You see , it was the third of the month....the day his Social Security check would arrive at the post office.   Since we were all working stiffs, he figured we were supplying his "paycheck" and thus lavishly rewarded us once each month.

Coffee was 25 cents per cup with unlimited refills.  Everyone, but Bill Hess would participate in a gambling game which had the loser pick up the tab for all the coffee.  Even if the place was packed with 10 guys the bill was only 2.50.....but Bill Hess chose to pay for his coffee with a shiny quarter prior to being seated.  This prepay maneuver  kept him safe from "the Flip".

Of all the names mentioned, only two remain....Walt Schuerer and me....Walt is 91 and doesn't move too fast any more......come to think about it......I don't move so fast anymore either.




* JACOB ROEMIG was born on 16 Jun 1893 in AMANA, IOWA. He died on 29 Aug 1975 in AMANA, IOWA

Trivia at the Moose

I had to go to the Moose tonight...because I missed last night. You see ....last night I had to take Billy to the special Olympics in Dubuque. The Hopper was mad and so was the Puzzler because I told them I would be there. But Billy rang up my cell phone and told me about the Olympics and how he would be real good in the luge event......Well we headed for Dubuque.....actually it isn't a bad ride with the divided highway and all and we were looking forward to the sledding and all.......well i t all took place indoors and to say Billy was disappointed would we a huge understatement. We trucked home ...mostly in silence as Billy had the headphones "glued" to his ears most of the way, whilst trying to figure out the latest Wuzzle book.

I digress....So tonight I was able to go to Randyland aka the Moose.....The Hopper didn't show because he can only do one night in a row. Actually it is mostly unknown that the Hopper is a gourmet chef. He spends his free evenings glued to the Food Network. I suspect he was home preparing a soufflé. The Puzzler, a new spousal member of Elmcrust had to do a tour of the facility.....like he didn't know how to find the restroom or bar.....he was at both of them this noon.

Bernalidio and Deb were there....so was Big Al the Vegas odds maker. Also present was Electric Brian and Tom the interior decorator.....but my camera was in the car at that time.

I am a direct descendant of Christian Metz...the founder of the Amana Community in Iowa. He was the charismatic leader who become inspired from time to time and I am a lot like him in that respect. At certain times I become inspired to do a post to my blog and when Randy took charge of the group and suggested various trivia topics and started buying rounds of drinks....I became inspired and took note with mental recording and digital photos.

Jack the pill pusher was there, as was Rich the mortgage broker. Kirk the former roofer and Lowell in search of a recliner...made the round circle. the first trivia question was , "If you could party with any celebrity, who would you like to party with?" Mortgage broker began with Chicago....the band ...not the city and soon the rules committee established that it had to be individuals. Next the question came up as to whether living or dead.......it was determined that one or two dead people could be included. It should be noted that the cell phones were humming in an effort to get the trivia answers.

Andrea, the Moose's newest and very adept barkeep, kept us well watered and we were ready for more trivia.

The new categories included, "If you were in the center seat of an airliner and had to choose your two sidekicks for a lengthy flight, who would they be?" We also had a long animated discussion relating to Andy Griffith. Where was Steve Smid when we needed him?


Here are the answers...you make up your own hypothetical. Tom Cruise, Sean Connery, Anna Nicole Smith, Charlie Gibson, Burt Reynolds, Jack Nicolson, Hugh Heffner, Hillary Clinton, Alan Greenspan, Diane Sawyer, Dominica Davis, Alisyn Camerato, Courtney Friel, Julie Banderas, Tiger Woods...........

....but no Brian Kilmeade

Billy and Billy

Billy reads the Gazette...mostly the funnies. Sometimes he reads the classifieds and tries to figure out the Puzzler's Wuzzles. Today he saw that Bill Clinton was going to be in Amana and he called me to see if I would take him to the event. He loves Bill Clinton...he is his hero....ever since that episode with Monica. We were all set to go when the regulator on the the lung blew a seal and it was just too risky to take him in view of the -8 degrees wind chill. Billy was heartbroken.

We went without him and somehow lucked out to get 3rd row seats. No metal detectors, no wanding...just walk right in with your bulky winter coat and get within 15 feet of the former President. I thought the security was way lax.

Mr. C arrived by driving his GMC SUV right into the building. A young lady came through the curtains first. She looked a lot like Chelsea and the guy sitting next to me asked if it was Chelsea...I told him it was Monica...in just a loud enough voice to raise a chuckle amongst the throngs of liberals that I was surrounded by. Notables in the crowd were BS, who was copiously taking mental notes about her new health insurance and wondering what that electronic health card would look like. Some Obama spies were spied as well. Absent was RC, who usually gets there early for a front row seat. Dixie, Billy's landlady, was no where to be seen, she probably was at home re-writing the von Crippe lease.

The secret service was focused on the crowd and had probably heard the story before anyway. I now know for sure how he got the name "Slick Willie".

I'm Mr. Bruce and I have approved this message.

2007 That was the Year that WAS

Billy loves New Years Eve because he gets to stay up late and watch Dick Clark. He also found this on the interenet and wanted to share it with his friends.
This will be my last post for 2007.....but rest assured there will be a few more in 2008. Thanks to all my friends for making this the most watched blog in Amana. Billy appreciates your support and looks forward to meeting you in person someday.