THEY KEEP POPPING UP: The
July 11th
“Daily News had a neat article about Eddy Dell's retirement which
evoked a host of fond recollections about yet another of my very memorable
students, Bruce Dell. Eddy's son. He was in a whole bunch of my classes
and my memory of him is still very positive. Bruce was one of those
always-attentive, seldom absent reliable students, and his papers were
always a great read. But remembering Bruce also calls up the many great
times we had at Casey's back in the 70's and 80's. I still remember
the almost weekly “ceremonies” we attended there with cohorts
from NDSSS and the Fairmount area. On
most TGIF nights, Casey's had the best band in town, so when that was
the case, the Morrisons, the McCurnins the Ericksons the Johnsons the
Williams and the Pinkneys often met there to take advantage of the fine
music, dancing, and camaraderie we all needed after a heavy week of
teaching. In
Hemingway's amazing short story, “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”,
(do Google it up; it's only about five pages long) the bar scene is
an allegory. The bar is the chapel, the bartender, the priest who hears
the confessions of the tormented souls who come to him for absolution,
and a spirit, alcohol, holds sway over the whole service. The parallels
are uncanny. It's told from the view-point of an old Spanish bartender,
proud that he presides over a clean, well-lighted place and not a “bodega'
or dive. He keeps it open late in case some lost soul should need to
come in for late-night service. The story is real ponder country, balancing
the dangers of addiction against the human hunger for spiritual love
and acceptance. At the end of a typical
great night at Casey's, Ed Casey and his beautiful wife, Carol would often show up
to night-cap off the evening. They often joined a group of regulars
who sat in a large corner booth opposite Eddy's station. Among those
was Bruces beautiful mom Dorane, her sister Jane Erickson, Nancy Kietal
and others. There was family there, kinda like “Cheers.”
And one very rarely, if ever saw a fight break out. Here's
Thomas Hardy's celebration of cider and the dance. “Sweet cider
is a great thing/ A great thing to me/ Spinning down through Wahpeton
/ By bridge way thirstily/ With maid and mistress summoning/ That tend
the hostelry/ Oh cider is a great thing/ A great thing to me”
The dance it is a great thing/ A great thing to me/ With candles lit
and partners fit/ For night-long revelry/ And going home when day dawning
/ Peeps pale upon the lea/… Oh dancing is a great thing/ A great
thing to me.” (adaptations my own.) I'm sure many will
say “Amen,” to that. Many won't. But to the work-weary soul
who needs a week-end recharging, America still offers spiritual alternatives:
A Clean Well-Lighted Place, like Casey's, a “bodega” like
Fargo's Nester, recently torn down., or Sunday Morning Services. Each
meets real needs. But “Ponder the path of thy feet.” You
may not want to spend “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Sadly, time has taken
its toll of the memorable crew at Casey's: Rex Larson passed away several
years ago, Lois Waldera lost a valiant battle with cancer only a couple
of years ago, and today at Ed Casey's funeral reception at the bar,
his lovely wife Carol told me that Eddy Dell has recently suffered a
stroke which has robbed him of his ability to speak. But that reception
was packed. It looked like Casey's used to look on a Saturday night.
There were Casey's uniforms going back at least four generations. Seeing
a handsome young guy in a brand new red and white Casey's soft ball
uniform I asked him which generation his uniform belonged to. He said,
“This one!” So, though many of
the great souls of Casey's are passing, the tradition of great Casey's
teams still refuses to die.
Gene Pinkney (For the Daily News)
Revised, 7/27/20 html edit
8-12-2021
Remembering Casey's Bar
The band I liked the most to dance and listen
to was a Mexican father and sons combo whose name I can't quite remember--
maybe The Comancheros” I do remember that the family name was
Guzman and the highlight was one of the sons who played a double-yoked
guitar with jaw-dropping and astonishing skill. A favorite song of theirs
was “ Que La Paloma Blanca” (White Dove); and they played
“Malaguena” with amazing versatility. I'm probably biased,
but I have a special love of Spanish music-- It's got mucho mas SOUL.
In fact I stayed up way too late a while back watching the four hour
long “The Wild Bunch” just so I could hear one more time
that beautiful and poignantly majestic anthem at the end--- “La
Golondrina”, or 'The Swallow'--about a bird who longs to return
to its home-land but can't.
Serving us those great nights out was about
as in-synched a team as anyone could assemble: Eddie Dell at quarter
tap, Rex Larson, the surely broad-shouldered “tender” and
bouncer, at center tap, and serving rings around them all, the charming
and lovely, Lois Waldera. plus various college guys helping out part
time when the crowd got big. My wife, Audrey and I , still fondly recall
those great nights out. I'm sure some of my church friends might frown
at all this, but the spirit of friendly fellowship is even lauded in
the Bible: … ”and wine that gladdens the heart.” And
the first great miracle Jesus did was to turn the water into wine. It's
the abuse of wine that causes trouble. 