|
Puempel's Olde Tavern - New Glarus - Wisconsin-esque taverns
This entry was posted on 7/29/2010 1:48 AM and is filed under Taverns - Wisconsin-esque.
Heide and I lived in New Glarus, Wisconsin from 1994 until 2003. For those that do not know, New Glarus is the village the Swiss built. And, coincidentally, we had our first date there over 30 years ago. They also dabble in German food, and my girlfriend - now wife - is German. Anyway, I have been meaning to write about some of places over there I, and also both of us, often haunted.
We stopped in New Glarus the other day, and we popped into a couple of old standby establishments.
I was not really a permanent fixture in Puempel's Old Tavern in New Glarus. None-the-less, rather it be during an era I drank alcohol, or an era of being a non-drinker, I used to pop in Puempel's from time to time for my "old-tavern" fix. It is just up from the Post Office at the main entrance to the village. We had lived so close to town at one point, we were required to stop and pick up our mail from our Post Office Box. We had no mail carrier. I would sometimes also pop into Puempel's.
The same folks have owned Puempel's for 18 years. Before that, a family had it for nearly a century. It's not the kind of place you would find me sitting and getting plastered. It has a unique blend of customers. There is often a gaggle of old dudes sitting at one of the card tables playing euchre (a common card game in Wisconsin). There will always be a couple regulars sitting at the big wood bar. Often, the customer stew is topped off with some tourists that wander in. The rather well known Sugar River Bicycle Trail starts just around the corner. Sometimes, a few old gray-haired codgers and their gray-haired wives or lady friends will find their way down to place from the big tour buses that regularly stop in the middle of the village.
The bar is wood and very old, but polished. The back cabinet and mirror area of the bar is a fixture right out of an old cowboy movie set. The floor is wood, and the front and back doors are screened. The day we were there there was a nice breeze running through the place. The ceiling is high and it looks original. The beer spigots will have of course...New Glarus Brewery beer on tap. There is a neat little patio facing to the south to the main street. The southern sun filters through the big front windows lending to the feeling of an era gone by.
However, the most interesting thing to me, is the murals painted on the wall. The Swiss love murals. The ones in Puempel's have been there for decades. There are a half a dozen or so big ones painted on the large walls of the place. The one I find most interesting is the Civil War scene dedicated to a local unit that served in that war.
They do not have a big food selection in Puempel's, however it is a great place to get a dandy bowl of soup and some homemade bread from the bakery around the corner. That day we went in, we both enjoyed a good bowl of tomato bisque soup. Heide got hers in a bread bowl. You can also get a traditional Swiss/German meat and cheese platter if you are so inclined.
Just a thought. New Glarus is a great place to take a date. There are a dozen good eateries to peruse.
Puempel's Olde Tavern is still cool with Cool Dadio. Find them at 18 6th Avenue, New Glarus, Wisconsin. Call (608) 527 - 2054 for more information. Or, visit their Web site at: www.puempels.com .
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Staff Sergeant Patrick L. Lybert, 28, of Ladysmith, WI, died in Gowardesh, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, June 21, 2006. His unit encountered enemy forces using small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades during combat operations. Staff Sergeant Lybert was assigned to the 1st Platoon, C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, New York. Lybert entered the United States Army in August of 2002. He had also served a tour in Iraq from 2003 to 2004. Lybert was deployed to Afghanistan in February of 2006. According to a posting on blogspot.com honoring Staff Sergeant Lybert, awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Course, Overseas Service Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Parachute Badge, and posthumously in February 2007 he was awarded the Silver Star. The blogspot posting went on to mention Patrick has a Special Needs Brother who has Asperger Syndrome (Autism). And, the posting goes on to say Patrick's goal was to return to his home area in Wisconsin after retiring from the military and become caretaker and Guardian for his Special Needs Brother's future. He also had plans to marry his fiance. According to a posting by the Ladysmith News, there is a remote outpost in the Hindu Kush mountains of northeast Afghanistan (near the Pakistan border), named for Lybert - Camp Lybert - is referred to as the Edelweiss of Afghanistan because of its rugged mountain beauty. It is atop a 6,500 foot high mountain. Wisconsin 2005 - 2006 Assembly Joint Resolution 109 noted Patrick graduated from Ladysmith High School in 1996, and also graduated from Western Technical College in La Crosse with a degree in criminal justice before enlisting in the Army. He also excelled in athletics, especially wrestling; other sports included baseball, cross country, and football. He was awarded the Outstanding Senior Boy Athlete Award from the Ladysmith Jaycees. Staff Sergeant Lybert enjoyed scouting and earned an Eagle Scout rating. At the time of his death, Staff Sergeant Lybert was survived by his mother and stepfather, Cheryl and Terry Nussberger; his father and stepmother, David and Janet Lybert; his fiancé, Carola Hubbard; his brothers, Stacy Lybert and Noah Nussberger; his grandparents, Robert and Helen Patrick, Frances Kettering; and, his stepgrandfather, George Kettering. Army Staff Sergeant Patrick Lybert was the seventh Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
97,110 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,566 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,413 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1206 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
760 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,888 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
7,011 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
