Quakake American Legion

In a recent blog, I mentioned McKinley Carpet. It turns out I used to live down the road when I was 12. My parents managed the American Legion club for about one year, and my bedroom was directly above the jukebox. To this day, I detest the song Tiny Bubbles in the Wine; it was played constantly into the wee hours of the morning.

Part of my childhood memories was the smell of stale beer. I was in charge of the bottle bin located beneath the bar, separating the broken glass. Times were different back then 😀.

The walls were loaded with punch boards where you gambled for prizes. I remember watching the drunken volunteer fire company pour out of the bar to a tractor trailer accident. Everyone made it back safely, and I wore free underwear for a couple of years.

I received my first .22 rifle there for Christmas. My training was, "don't shoot yourself" and I was handed a box of shells; too funny. I remember learning you can’t clear a weapon by firing point blank at a tree. Turns out that they do make that pinging noise as it bounces from tree to tree all around you.

It’s also where I learned how to swim by making the mistake of telling my buddies that I could not swim while investigating some local bass ponds. Yep, they pushed me in, laughing hysterically at my panic. Just like most kids back then, I survived my childhood.

For some strange reason I remember a regular member who had like 20 kids named Emma Frye who fancied Cream De Minth. My father made up a bottle of green non-alcoholic beverage he used to give her on the house so she could walk out the door, after 20 kids you couldn't blame her, also too funny.

It was a nice flashback, probably the last time this comes across this old brain.