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Union Tavern - Union - Consummate Wisconsin tavern
This entry was posted on 6/10/2010 2:08 AM and is filed under Taverns Wisconsin.
The Union Tavern first came on my radar screen after Wife and I moved back to Wisconsin in 1992. I would make the jaunt from the lower West side of Madison where we lived for a couple years, down to Janesville to check in on family and often take Highway 14 in lieu of Interstate 90. Just about half way between the two towns is an unincorporated village called Union. Its claim to fame - Union Tavern.
I love old taverns. I love small towns. I grew up a mile from Lima Center, Wisconsin - population, maybe 100 from time to time. So anyway...back in 1992 I would break for a "cold one" now and then to pause before dealing with family matters in Janesville. I actually quit drinking for 15 years and recently took up the sport again. So I have dropped in the place a couple times in the last couple years in route to Madison - I now live in Janesville. Anyway, back in '92 I would stop at the Union Tavern once in a while.
Not much has changed in the years I have dropped in now and then. Owner Paul Milz recently celebrated 50 years of ownership of the place. A glass of Miller Lite will set you back a Buck. The Janesville Gazette did a piece on the place on August 9, 2010.
Most of the outside of the place is parking lot. Ol' Paul does not seem to lose too much sleep over the patch of grass along the road. The building is basically an old house. It is the inside that "time" takes a break. There is one old television - no flat screens with NASCAR or poker games in this place. John Wayne was shooting up some outlaws on the tube when I was there the other day. The woodwork behind the bar is probably over 100 years old and it is not distressed because of factory made fashionable style; these cabinets have actually been worn from real use. The old telephone hanging on the wall has probably been there since the 1960s. I imagine it is the main phone in the place.
The bar-top is worn down from decades of bottles, classes, and elbows. If you peak around the corner, there is a pool table. I never even realized the pool table until just recently - I am always just there to have a beer. Yes, actually just one or two, and then head on down the road again.
The place was at one time a stagecoach stop between Janesville and Madison. It still holds that "take-a-break" timbre after all these generations, but now for Harley riders, commuters, working dudes, and locals. There will usually be a good conversation going on in the afternoon about something local - maybe farming, maybe hunting, maybe a bit of politics.
Union Tavern is cool with Cool Dadio. Find it at the corner of West Union Road and Highway 14 in Union, Wisconsin. It is just north of Evansville. Call (608) 882 - 9931 for more information.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Marine Lance Corporal Eric A. Palmisano, 27, of Florence, Wisconsin was killed on April 2, 2006 after the 7-ton truck he was riding in rolled over in a flash flood near Al Asad, in the Anbar Province, Iraq. Palmisano's body was recovered about a week later. Six other Marines and two Navy petty officers were also killed in the incident. Lance Corporal Palmisano was assigned to the 1st Transportation Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, California. The 2005 Wisconsin Senate Joint Resolution 82 noted Eric joined the Marine Corps March 15, 2005, and was awarded the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. The Resolution also noted he had received an associate degree from the Seminole Community College in Florida before entering the Marine Corps was a Martial Arts enthusiast. At the time of his death Palmisano was survived by his fiancée, Claire; parents, Herb and Bobbie Samme; a brother Salvatore; paternal grandparents Sam and Marie Palmisano; maternal grandparents, Bob and Gloria McCauslin; and, as his beloved dog Hannah. As well, the Resolution went on to say Eric's final resting place is next to his father in Chicago and he was buried with full military honors. Marine Lance Corporal Eric Palmisano is the 53rd military service member from Wisconsin to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
96,663 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,500 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,402 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1093 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
709 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,839 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
6,141 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
19 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
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