Cheers! It's Bar Month at OnMilwaukee – so get ready to drink up more bar articles, imbibable stories and cocktailing content, brought to you by Potawatomi Casino Hotel and Miller Lite. Thirsty for more? To find even more bar content, click here!
If anyone had been concerned that the annual Blessing of the Bock – one of THE beer events of the year in Milwaukee – wouldn’t survive the transition to new owners and operators of Riverwest’s Falcon Bowl, they breathed a sigh of relief last year when it returned.
Organizer Jeff Platt has shared details on this year's 36th annual Blessing of the Bock, scheduled for Sunday, April 14, from 1 until 4 p.m. at the Falcon, 801 E. Clarke St.
Admission is $30, and there's a $45 VIP option that allows early entry at noon.
Polish Moon Polka is back, as is the homebrew competition that began last year and the Riverwest Brew Fest, featuring all kinds of beer, not just bock.
“The first Blessing of the Bock began at Saint Casimir's Church, and has always welcomed homebrewers,” Platt says. “The tradition continues.”
There may also be some stein holding and a hot poker to add some sizzle to your brew, but we'll have to wait and see on those, it seems.
If the weather is good, maybe there will be goats, too!
We do know for sure that "Brother James" – aka Lakefront co-found Jim Klisch – will once again do the "Sermon of the Bock."
Usinger's will be on hand again, too, to lead the Blessing of the Brat.
If you’d like to read a history of Falcon Bowl from about a year ago when it was in the process of being sold, check out this Urban Spelunking story.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
