Billy Anderson

The House of Embers is celebrating Billy's 70th birthday! I will have a card at the next meeting (3/16) for anyone who wants to sign it. If you want to include a note but do not plan to be at the meeting just email it to me and I will make sure it gets on the card.

If you have not heard Billy be sure to check him out on the next ski trip. Great fun!

Nominations!

Correct me if I am wrong, but March is time to nominate for board positions? Then we vote in April?

So come to the meeting on Monday, March 16 - 8:30 pm, to nominate candidates for President, VP, Treasurer, and Secretary. The elections will take place on Monday, April 20 - no proxy voting!

Looking for a replacement

I need to give up the Brewhaha but, since my official "term" is not yet over I will stick it out till that time. Unless of course I can find someone who wants to take over!

Would you like to edit the Suds newsletter? It would require board approval, of course. But don't worry! I can be quite convincing!

Let me know if you are interested.

Thanks, Rene!

Meeting Notes

I want to get into the habit of publishing meeting notes the next day. It has taken me till today to recover from Monday night's meeting so I figure that this is like the next day!

No, I did not get all drunk and silly at the meeting...I just caught a little head cold.

Anyway, here is what we talked about:

* The club made a little money on the trip. As is tradition we need to reinvest or eat the profits. Since we do not need any machines we are going to have a trip wrap up party! See details here.

* Ray is going to run a Suds Picnic on September 12 ,2009. Details will come.

* We will have info about the April Sox situation soon.

Trip Wrap Up Party

Our annual trip wrap up party will take place on Saturday, March 21 at 6:30 pm.

As in the past few years it will be held at Sawa's Old Warsaw9200 Cermak Road, Broadview, IL 60155.

All members in good standing are welcome. If you went on the trip and have not paid your membership dues ($5), you may pay them at the event to be up to date.

The club will be paying for dinner and soft drinks. Beer, wine and cocktails may be purchased but are not included.

Please let me know if you can make it! renepaquin@sbcglobal.net

Millard Filmore Wrap Up

We had a great trip this year! There were fewer people but that did not stop the fun. I want to take a moment again to thank everyone who helped out - which is most of you! But especially Joel, who gets suckered into helping much more than he would like.

We tried a new breakfast place this year and I believe that everyone liked it. Please feel free to let me know if there were any issues. Assuming that everyone was happy we will use the same place next year.

We have a new favorite slushy flavor this year! I typically do not like anything blue but even I am convinced that the blue raspberry was the best slushy yet!

Since it was so cold this year, several of us visited Knuckleheads - I highly recommend this place in the future.

On an unplesant note: the price of the trip will be increasing by at least $20 per room next year. The manager of the hotel informed me that the price of the room has been the same for a long time and it was time for an increase. One of the reasons that it is such a large increase is that we have fewer people now.

I do not want to think about next year till at least October, but if you have any suggestions or would like to help feel free to send me an email!

VD Jokes!

Q: What do squirrels give for Valentine's Day?
A: Forget-me-nuts.

Q: What did the valentine card say to the stamp?
A: Stick with me and we'll go places!

Q: What did the stamp say to the envelope?
A: I'm stuck on you.

Q: Who sends a thousand valentines cards signed', guess who' ?
A: A divorce lawyer.

Q: What did the light bulb say to the switch?
A: You turn me on.

Q: Did Adam and Eve ever have a date?
A: No, but they had an apple.

Q: What did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus?
A: Can I hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand?
Q: What did one snake say to the other snake?
A: Give me a little hug and a hiss, honey.

Q: Why did the banana go out with the prune?
A: Because it couldn't get a date.

Q: What is a ram's favourite song on February 14th?
A: I only have eyes for ewe, dear

Q: What happens when you fall in love with a French chef?
A: You get buttered up.

Q: What is a vampire's sweetheart called?
A: His ghoul-friend.

Q: If your aunt ran off to get married, what would you call her?
A: Antelope.

Meeting Notes

From January - I don't remember! We mostly talked about the trip.

For February - We will discuss the trip, the wrap up party, the cookout in September, the replacement Sox tickets, etc.

MF Photos

Facebook

Suds is now on facebook. I don't know much about how facebook works but let me know your email if you want to join the suds group and I am sure that I can figure it out!

Anyone can post photos, videos, notes, etc..

Are You Ready!?

For Millard Fillmore 2009!?

Come to the meeting Monday to help prepare your mind and body for the debauchery that is about to occur!

Wally's House of Embers & Billy Anderson

The warmth of an old supper club can suggest the wonderment of a new year. Implied promise is found in the romantic lighting, cloth napkins and gentle demeanor.
Wally’s House of Embers in Wisconsin is on of those places.

I’m sitting in the 44-year-old supper club in search of a good martini and some classic Wisconsin Lannonstone, the late 1950s building material that mimicked the rectangular geometry of modern art. I always love the fuzzy feeling it creates.
Instead, these are the surprises I discover:

* The romantic Omar Sharif Room at Wally’s house of Embers. Originally a broom closet, the Sharif love shack seats two and is adorned in sweeping leopard spot curtains accented by pictures of Sharif from his best movie roles. The concept comes from Sharif’s appearance in “Funny Girl,” when he takes Barbara Streisand to dinner in a private room. Nearly 300 marriage proposals have been made in the Sharif Room since it opened in 1976.
I have an ex-girlfriend in Los Angeles who is dating Sharif. She says he was in Madrid for the holidays and unable to comment on his room. Despite their 31-year age difference, she says Sharif kisses like he’s in the movies: He holds you close, but leans back from the head only. Then, he holds your face from underneath. She claims Sharif would never put his hand on the side of a woman’s face because it would block the “camera” view.
This is why we call this column Detours.

* The supper club’s cocktail lounge is a mishmash of decorating ideas, like Martha Stewart-meets Emeril Lagasse. The back bar and ceiling are illuminated by stained-glass windows salvaged from a Wisconsin church, while a disco ball hangs near singer Billy Anderson, who plays a Hammond B-3 organ. A fan of B-3 greats like Jimmy Smith and Groove Holmes, Anderson has been playing the Dells since 1960. The remainder of the lounge’s ceiling is covered in leopard-print balloon fabric. The bar serves 21 martinis, including the Margatini ($7), Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Tequila mixed with Triple Sec lemon and lime juice, served with a salted rim. Also try the Paula Hartmann (Absolut Citron vodka, Chambord, Cointreau, cranberry juices, slices of lemon, orange and lime, $7).

* The supper club also has a Humphrey Bogart Room (for two to four people).
And the Rudolph Valentino Room (for four to eight).

* Wally Obois opened the House of Embers in 1959, back when Highway 12 was a two-laner. Wally moved to the Dells in 1952 to check out the Midwest’s wide-open spaces. Wally is 76 and retired, but he and his wife Barbara, 69, still help around the bar on weekends. He’s humble about how he gave the supper club its wacky name. “Something burning with charcoal,” he says. “When we started, we cooked with live coal- burning embers.”

The House of Embers is known for its tender ribs, smoked over hot hickory logs (they don’t use chips, which can create cold smoke). The supper club makes its own barbecue sauce, which is thin and vinegary. You can taste the flavor of the meat under the sauce. A full rack of ribs is $25.95, a half rack is $19.95.

Cinnamon rolls are served before dinner. The concept works because the rolls are airy and not heavy. Barbara created the recipe for the cinnamon rolls, which have been featured in Bon Appetit magazine. She is circumspect about revealing the recipe; outside of saying the secret is in how she mixes the dough.

The House of Embers seats 180, with capacity bumping up to 250 in the summer when outdoor dining is offered. A majority of the clientele comes from Chicago. The supper club also caters to stars at the Crystal Grand Music Theatre, down the road at 430 Munroe Ave. (Hwy 23); call (800) 696-7999. (Cool upcoming shows include Mel Tillis at 3p.m. and 8 p.m. March 15 and Ray Price at 8p.m. May 17.) Crystal Grand guests Willie Nelson and Bill Cosby have feasted on House of Embers food. Late Wisconsin Dells entrepreneur Tommy Bartlett was a House of Embers regular.
Chefs Mark and Mike Obois purchased the restaurant from their parents in 1998. Mark and Mike are graduates of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Besides the ribs, the supper club is famous for steaks; Austrian veal (flambéed with brandy and finished with cream, brown sauce and Swiss cheese, $22.95); and breaded haddock (with caper tartar sauce, $10.95), served on the traditional Friday night fish fry. During my visit, Mike was cooking while Mark did the talking. At age 39 Mark is the youngest of five children. All of the Obois children worked at the supper club at one time or another. One sister Debbie, is a bookkeeper, and another sister Linda, is an assistant manager and server. A third sister, Saffhron, is a jazz funk saxophonist in Los Angeles.

Wally and Barbara live in a modest home behind the supper club. The Obois family is as tightly knit as a Green Bay Packer ski cap. Up until 1999 Barbara’s mother, Lou Stettin, played baby grand piano every Sunday night in the lounge. Her warm-up routine included one whiskey Old-Fashioned and a cup of soup. She retired at age 92.

Lou Stettin was born on St. Patrick’s Day, 1907, in Chicago. Mark says she first came to the Dells in 1917. The trip took nine days in a horse-drawn carriage. Her daughter, Barbara, grew up near 57th and Halsted. Lou’s husband was a Teamster who ran a trucking company. Barbara came to the Dells in 1958 and got a great job at the legendary Del Bar (named because it is the halfway point between the Dells and Baraboo, Wis.) supper club, across the street from the House of Embers.

“Walter was a bartender there,” Barbara says. “That’s how I met him. He was supposed to be hip. These girls used to come in with motorcycle clothes on and go, “Is Walter around?” I thought, “I better stay away from this guy.” Then he asked me if he could drive me home. He knew I didn’t have a car. He had a long, pointy cream Cadillac. I figured he had money.” Wally and Barbara got married six months after their first date.

Wally was born in Austria, where he lived until 1936. From the age of 10, he was reared by Uncle Tony Baldasti in Queens, N.Y. His parents didn’t have the money to bring him to America. As a teenager, Wally was an apprentice electrician on the battleship Missouri in the Brooklyn navy yard.

Uncle Tony had his legs blown off below the knee on the Russian front during World War II. “His buddies were going to leave him,” Mark says while sitting in the restaurant’s enclosed veranda. “They thought he was going to die anyway. So he pulled out his luger and said, “You better take me, or I’m going to take you.” And he lived into his mid-80s. Whenever his mom would go to Europe, she would bring back six bottles of [Slivovitz] Uncle Tony’s homemade plum brandy in her trench coat. And when we’d go to New York, we’d bring some back. “I have some here, if you’d like a sip.”

We re-adjourn to the lounge. Wally and Barbara join us. Billy Anderson is singing Louis Armsrong’s “(What a) Wonderful World.” Someone reaches across the bar for one of those 1960s cartoon cocktail napkins with the quote, “Happiness is finding two olives in your martini when you’re hungry. - Johnny Carson.” Wally and Barbara suggest a toast, which is a good idea. You are among new friends in a dark room that is illuminated by the spirit of tomorrow. You are happy.

The Official Millard Filmore Map

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If you have any other points of interest that you would like me to add just send an email - sudsski@gmail.com

December Meeting Notes

December's meeting was a little drinky but I managed to take some notes, so your going to get something resembling minutes!

Item #1:

We took an unofficial poll and it was agreed that the best slushy flavors would be cherry and coke if the coke slushy flavor was any good.  We have it on good authority that it is not.  So the next best is cherry and grape, with orange running a distant third.  Therefore we think that we will go with cherry and grape on the trip.  

I do need someone to take responsibility to carry the slushy machine to the Dells.  It takes up the better part of a truck bed.  If you have that kind of space and are willing, let me know.  

I will have more chores!  If you have time, energy or desire to help out give me a jingle!

Item #2:

Joel is Great! (editor's note - this appears in my book but is not my handwriting so I cannot guarantee accuracy.) 

Item #3:

Since many Suds members attend and enjoy the Vom-O-Rama picnic, and the Vom-Organizers are a little burnt out, it has been decided that Suds will throw a similar type of picnic this summer.  Ray P is acquiring a park permit and the details will be worked out at a later meeting.  

Item #4:

In the last Brewhaha I promised that we would talk about hats and movies at the meeting. 

- Rene and Joel recommend Cadillac Records.

- Mike B will wear hats.

Item #5:

A movement was made to adjourn the meeting and resume the drinking.  I cannot remember who made the movement but everyone at the table seconded it and the vote was unanimous - with the exception of a couple votes: Joel abstains and the dude abides.  

The January Meeting will take place Monday, January 19, just days before the trip.  It will be a nice warm up for our weekend of debauchery!

Tis the Season to Get Falling Down Drunk!

Hints for Hooch Heads (and Suds members)
Borrowed from Modern Drunkard Magazine
Edited

• Whenever you open a non-liquor gift, loudly proclaim, “Oh, great, how the f#$% am I supposed to drink this?”They’ll know what to get you next year.
• If you’re forced to go to your employee Christmas party, always try to blackout. Because no one wants to spend their Christmas vacation knowing for sure they got fired.
• If you buy a bottle of liquor as a gift and accidentally drink half of it, just tell the giftee it’s a bottle and a personality test. If he says it’s half full, he’s an optimist. If he says it’s half empty, he’s a dick.
• If you receive three cocktail shakers every Christmas, you are a drunkard. If you receive ten, get ready for an intervention.
• Pine needles steeped in a bottle of vodka makes for an excellent gift. Because, trust me, you sure as hell won’t want to drink it.
• Don’t worry if you hate wrapping presents, because your favorite store provides free gift wrapping. Just give the brown bag a little twist around the neck of the bottle and hey! All done!
• Ironically enough, if you give your favorite bartender a bartending guide as a present he will not give you a free drink for at least a month. Nor will your significant other appreciate a copy of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Sex.”
• If money is tight, improvise your gifts. Believe it or not, a note stuffed inside an empty bottle of liquor makes for an excellent present. Because when they smash the bottle so they can read the note and it says, “This is the historic bottle the Rat Pack shared on the eve of their first appearance on stage at The Sands in Las Vegas--I bought in on eBay for $112,000” they’ll get to think, “Wow, for a second there I was pretty rich.”
• Don’t freak out if it’s your turn bring the Christmas Turkey to a family gathering. Just make sure you buy the one-liter family-sized bottle so there’s enough to go around.
• After eight of your “these-are-for-daddies-only” eggnogs, try to refrain from telling your children you are going to shoot Santa off the roof of your house when he lands.While their shrieks of terror may seem funny at the time, it will directly affect the quality of nursing home you will be eventually shipped off to.
• If your niece or nephew asks why your eggnog smells funny, tell them you added some “special warming juice.” If they ask you if you’re cold, tell them, “No, but I might be while waiting in the bushes for Santa and Rudolph to show up so I can shoot them off the roof.
• Your father’s good Scotch is hidden either in the cupboard above the refrigerator or in the hall closet behind the junk box. If he’s really crafty, it’ll be at the bottom of the clothes hamper in the laundry room.
• If your more religious relatives try to pin you down about your drinking habits at a family gathering, always tell them, “Hope you don’t mind, but I’m gonna keep prayin’ for ya!” For some reason it drives them crazy.
• If your spouse asks you to make a New Years Resolution to not drink for the rest of the year, promise her you’ll do it.You’ll find it a lot easier to keep if you make the resolution at 11:59pm on New Year’s Eve.
• Spread the holiday cheer by going to your favorite bar dressed as Santa Claus. Because nobody under-pours Santa. Nobody.
• You can’t get drunk on rum cake. But don’t let that stop you from telling your 13-year-old nephew that it’ll get him “wicked hammered,” so long as he eats the entire cake in fifteen minutes.
• No matter how stressed you get, always try to be full of Christmas cheer. They sell it down at the liquor store, $14.99 a bottle.

—Frank Kelly Rich

Holiday Shopping!

Looking for that perfect gift for Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, etc?  Check out the Suds store on Cafepress!  Suds does not make any money on your purchase but we do get to enjoy the fact that someone, somewhere is wearing our logo with pride!  

Find cafepress coupons here.

Year End Meeting

Our last meeting of the year will happen Monday, December 15 at TIME OUT SPORTS BAR (LaGrange Rd. just north of Joliet Rd in Countryside) - Meeting starts 8:30 but people usually start showing up as early as 7:30.  This meeting is typically well attended and usually a pretty good time.  If you have not been to a meeting all year come out to this one!  

Topics that will be discussed include:

- What do you like on your pizza?

- The Millard Fillmore Trip.

- Possible club events for next year.

- Should we get more beer?

- Seen any good movies lately?

- People who no longer show up for meetings.

- The classic "I have to go"/"No - just one more" argument.

- Hats.

So - come on out!  It will be a great time!

Celebrating with BEER this Holiday Season

by: Alström Bros on Friday - November 17, 2006 - 00:00 UTC
First published in: Boston's Weekly Dig

http://beeradvocate.com/articles/240

It's been documented in voyage journals that the Mayflower abandoned its voyage and landed in Plymouth due to running out of beer. That one of the first establishments constructed within the Pilgrim colony was a brewery, and that most of its passengers were also separatist farmers, poorly educated and without social or political standing. Given these facts, do you honestly think that they drank wine at the very first Thanksgiving in 1621? Hell no! They drank beer!

So as the holiday season creeps up yet again, some of you will ask your hosts what to bring to Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can go ahead and be that same boring person that shows up with that cheap bottle of Chardonnay, thinking that it will help you swallow down hunks of dry turkey. But that's just plain rude, man. Cheap and boring is not the way to go.

What you really need is some quality craft-brewed beer to liven up the festivities. Impress the hell out of everyone when you whip out bottles of intriguing beer and reel off brief explanations of what they are. Fortify the ancestral tradition of feasting by complementing it with beer. Suggest a beer pairing with dinner. Hell, make it an all-day event, and remember there's nothing wrong with drinking at 10am. Beer goes with every meal and minute of the day!

Here are some brief suggestions ...

Apéritif (before dinner)
Try not to kill palates too early in the day, by starting off with a nice light-bodied (not lite in soul) Pilsner or Lager to introduce the evening and guests with. Offer something that will arouse appetites and slowly awaken the senses.

* Brooklyn Lager or Pilsner
* Otter Creek Vermont Lager
* Sam Adams Boston Lager
* Victory Prima Pils

You could even try a Belgian-style Strong Pale Ale along the lines of Duvel. Its light-bodied fluffiness and higher alcohol will loosen minds into conversation.

Hors d'oeuvre Hour
Kick things up a notch with a moderate level of hops. The hoppy characters in Pale Ales will pair nicely with salads, a slew of cheese varieties, fruits, and many hors d'oeuvres, without overwhelming any flavors. But don't go too bitter.

* Anchor Liberty Ale
* Smuttynose Shoal's Pale Ale
* Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
* Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale

Dinner
Eating poultry, gravy, stuffing, etc? You could kick the day up a notch by pairing your meal with some strong Belgian-style ales. Their higher alcohol percentages cut through fats and starches, provide an edge of sweetness, and boast very diverse and complex flavors that lend themselves very well to this pairing.

* Allagash Grand Cru
* Avery Salvation
* Russian River Damnation
* Ommegang Rare Vos

Another recommendation is to reintroduce more Pilsners and Lagers, as they will not only act as a palate cleanser in-between bites, but their lightness and spicy tones complement poultry and the contrast with gravies and stuffing is often welcome.

Dessert
In our opinion, the best course in which to pair beer with. However, the last thing you want to do is kill a beer with a pairing that is too sweet, so ensure that your beers are sweeter than your desserts. Rich and big Stouts are our favorites, and tend to work very well.

* Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
* Founders Breakfast Stout or Kentucky Breakfast Stout
* Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout or Oak Aged Yeti
* Stone Russian Imperial Stout

Digestif (after dinner)
Time to kick back and let that food digest. No doubt you are bloated at this point, so the moment calls for something smooth and numbing. Enter Barleywine-style ales, or a similar, big, complex, malty and alcoholic beer. Simply decant some into a snifter, sip, and appreciate life, and your swollen gut.

* Dogfish Head Immort Ale or Raison d'Extra
* Rouge Old Crustacean
* Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale
* Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barley Wine Style Ale

Now our examples are certainly not the bible in pairing beer with food, but they should give you head start. In time, you will find that nearly every beer pairs with most types of food, some more than others with certain styles of food, and others less. Just remember to be experimental with your pairings and make sure to have fun doing it. And with that, we'll leave you with a 16th century English proverb:

Wine is but single broth, ale is meat, drink and cloth.

Respect Beer.

Millard Filmore Time!

Suds Ski and Social Club Presents:

Millard Fillmore 2009

January 23-25th

Our annual weekend of debauchery and fellowship will take place again this year at the Mayflower Motel in the Wisconsin Dells.




"Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like frozen drinks." ~ Millard Fillmore (ok…so I paraphrased a little)


Details
As usual the price of the trip includes:

~ A lovely room at the Mayflower Motel
~ Use of the pool and amenities
~ Use of the hospitality room and all beer, frozen beverages, beer, soda, snacks, beer, games, and beer it holds.
~ Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday at the Big Country Colossal Buffet.
~ Dinner at Wally’s House of Embers on Saturday evening.
~ Fun at no extra charge!
~ Lift tickets (at an extra charge.)

Registration Form Here

More details to come, including directions, rules, etc.

Pricing for the trip as follows:

1st adult - $210
Additional Adults (in same room) - $100
Children 12 & Under (staying with adult) - $45
Children 2 & Under – Free
Under 21 (staying with adult) - $80
Loft room request - $50 extra
Member Discount - $20*
Adult Lift Ticket - $35
Child Lift Ticket 12 & Under – Free

Questions!?
The Rene Does Not Have All the Answers, but She Sure Will Try Hot Line is available 24 hours. Call 773.807.9925 and leave a message or E-mail renepaquin@gmail.com for the fastest response!

*Member discount applies to current, adult members who have paid their membership dues in 2008 prior to October 1, 2008.

Payment Schedule:

A deposit of half the amount of the trip is due on or before December 1st to guarantee your spot.

Balance of the trip is due on or before January 1st.

In the past we have had people decide to go in January. Any reservation made after January 1st will be subject to a $10 pain in my butt fee. No exceptions.

I will have a paypal option on the website soon. If you choose to pay with a credit card via paypal there will be a small charge to cover the processing.

Refund Policy - Any reservations that need to be canceled prior to January 1 can do so with full refund. After January 1 the club will asses a refund based on the cost incurred and the refund will be processed after the February meeting.

There is plenty to do in the Dells if you do not ski:

· MooseJaw Brewery
· HoChunk Casino
· The Forevertron
· Top Secret - Upside-Down White House
· Sorry, Hiking around Lake Delton is just not going to happen this year.
· Hang out by the pool


FYI – anyone who chooses to ski this year will be required to sign a waiver. NO lift tickets will be distributed without a signed waiver.

Haunted House!

Hey guys,I'll bet you've been wondering" whatever happened to Paul Niemeyer?" Maybe not, but anyway....I have opened my haunted house in a brand new, kickass location.Check out the website for all of the info www.ABYSShaunts.comIf you are so inclined, we would really appreciate your vote at www.hauntedillinois.comGo to main directory and click on "visitors favorite haunts" and vote for ABYSS.We would truly appreciate it, We are getting rave reviews, but we need the votes so we can stay until next year!I know it's a way to come for a scare. but I promise you. It will be a good one!! If nothing else, please vote for us, OK?Thanks! We'll see you at Millard Fillmore!

Paul Niemeyer