Erv

Erv was the quintessential bartender, spending most of his life in the service industry. From his time working in a dive bar downtown, where he met the love of his life & fell for the magic of the Baraboo Circus Parade marching by his bar every summer (The reason for the clowns in summer). To his time managing Desalvo’s in Cudahy and learning the inimitable management style of Jack Desalvo, right up to running the Oak Chalet Supper Club on the corner where Walgreens on Howell & Ryan now sits. All of it had a hand in forming his dream of his own place. 

One day in 1979 he wandered into the joint next to the Oak Chalet called the Dispatch House. It was the true dive bar, a sliding door cooler at the end of the bar, no food, a pool table, a pay phone in the back, and an apartment attached to the side.  There are only a few old timers who still remember what this dump looked like when he started, and some of them had a hand in transforming it into what would become his dream.  Literally, over the years with his cronies, he was known to impulsively tear out a wall with the vision of what was next for Erv’s Mug. Yet, he wondered where I got it from years later!  

Up until just before he passed away, he was still coming in every morning to cut twists for the bar, checking that everything was in working order, and making sure we all showed up to do the job he loved so much.  Thanks Dad, for teaching me what passion looks like and leaving me a legacy to live up to.