Loomis, Steven, IC3

Galaxy, Roost and Satellite Bars in Beaver Dam Wisconsin were TEEN - Beer Bars for 18-21 year olds. You had to buy a BEER CARD, Wisconsin ID in order to be admitted and served. They only served beer, but unlike some states with 3.2 beer, Wisconsin bars never served anything other than 5 or 6% alcohol. Back then, the 1960s, there were three exits from Beaver Dam, one of these bars was at one of those exits or within a mile or two.

The more I think about those three bars, the funnier it gets. They had three different personalities... clients if you will. I could probably define each with a single word: Galaxy/bikers, Roost/jocks, Satellite/nurds.

A lot of things depend on each other. The Roost was east of town, past the roller rink, fair grounds, across from the Crystal Creek Dairy House, and just before the local golf club, Old Hickory. The jocks, Lettermen past and present, and their women were the likely clients there. I think it now goes by the name of Hogz & Honeez. Sounds like a funky biker bar.

The Galaxy was the toughest, with it's (real) biker crowd. It became more of a place for me later on, when home on leave and for a brief time after I got out of the Navy. Maybe it was the working class, or the fact that less of these people moved on. It was on the south side where most of the trailer courts were. It appears the current name is Jumpers, I believe it's still a tavern.

The Satellite, no it did not have a satellite dish on the roof, this was decades before all that. Nor was not just nurds, but people like me, middle of the road types. It was on the north side of town on hwy 33, a road heading for Fox Lake and not much else. Oh yeah, there was a bowling alley just down the road, maybe that helps you to picture it. In later years the facility was turned into an old folks home, the Golden Care Adult Day Center. Somehow, I wasn't all that surprised.

With names like Galaxy and Satellite I think you get the time frame, 1960s, when beer was for kids, 18-21 year olds. Funnier yet is that while I was in Viet-Nam (June 1970-71) Wisconsin changed a few laws... like dropping the voting and drinking age, for hard liquor, down from 21 to 18. When I got home from Viet-Nam, my younger brother, by three years, took me out (downtown) for a drink. The world had changed, the Beer Card was a thing of the past, and the girl I thought was waiting for me.... well she had moved on also.

During my post-Viet-Nam home leave I ran into a couple of classmates at the Roost. They, both "Lettermen" had not moved on and one made a comment to me about Killing Babies. I never forgave him for that uninformed statement, it just shows how much influence the media had on those who weren't there.

A couple of other classmates I ran into during that leave wanted to go bar hopping, and I went along. They were bars I'd never been to because of the prior age limits, etc. But, one of the stops was very memorable, because just as we were seated drinks arrived, they were from "that man over there"... It was my high school coach Charlie McDonald. I stepped over to him and it was Charlie that shook MY HAND. Saying, he had read (the Navy's Hometown Release) article in the local newspaper which outlined my tour in Viet-Nam. He said he was proud of me and thanked me for my service... It was the only time, and he the only person, who ever thanked me for my war time service until nearly thirty years and it had become somewhat of a fad, which by the way is "not the same".