Brand Storyteller & Creative Director Copy
ONLY ON THE AVENUE
The Mule - January 12 - 26, 2006
For 15 years, The Brown Bear Tavern has been the "Cheers" of St. Joseph.
On January 2, 2006, Dave Winn celebrated his 15th year of ownership at the Brown Bear Tavern. Tonight, days after the anniversary, business is slow. It’s a Monday, and regular patron and employee Winnie Wells sits listening to Dave while keeping one eye on ESPN.
“I’m Owner Number Six,” says Winn proudly.
Before purchasing the Brown Bear in 1991, Winn worked for Prudential, St. Joseph Tobacco, and Continental Screw. At the same time, he was always a part-time bartender somewhere in town.
“I started working for my father-in-law, Les Heater, at the Missourian, where I was a swab, mopping the floor after closing, starting in 1965.”
In the mid-’70s, Winn covered the bar for the owners of the Bluetown Tavern when they played softball. In ’82, he poured beer at the First Ward and, on special occasions, for Mike Welch at the Hi-Ho. Winn ended his part-time bartending tour of St. Joseph right here at the Brown Bear, working for the previous owner, Brad Edmondson.
When serving a beer, Winn knocks twice on the bar—a ritual he’s been performing since his days at the Bluetown. Dave is proud of the Bear’s rich history.
“Since the day it was built in 1899, the Brown Bear has always been a tavern—even during Prohibition,” Winn says with a grin. “At that time, the Bear sold soda and who knows what else.”
Winn goes to a stack of tattered cards piled around his cash register and searches through a collection of artifacts. He pulls out two weathered coins engraved with the names of the first owners, Veraguth & Moskau.
“This place is full of stories.”
He then begins at the entrance and paces along an imaginary wall where he has calculated that a barbershop once stood.
“The barber was actually my wife’s grandfather, Homer Green. At one time, there also used to be a restaurant in the back room.”
The Bear has been through its share of changes. In 1991, when Dave bought the place, it was in need of some good old-fashioned TLC.
“I’m proud to say I saved the Bear.”
He’s not bragging. Winn certainly has left his mark on the tavern, refurbishing almost every square inch. He’s rehabbed the foundation, replaced walls, and, at one time, added a full kitchen just to meet local codes so he could feed his patrons on MU game days.
To make the renovation process more efficient, Dave built a full wood shop in the attic. He’s not shy about giving the grand tour, pointing out the fir paneling, maple flooring, and various collections mounted on the walls.
Winn is clearly more excited about the atmosphere he’s created, though. Sometimes, he jokingly refers to it as the Brown Bear Tavern and Museum. Everywhere you look in the bar, you see real stuffed brown bears displayed in glass cases that Winn himself constructed.
“Every year, I travel to Macon, Missouri, for the exotic-animal auction. Sometimes I come back with a new bear.”
Located two blocks from Lafayette High School, the Bear has been transformed into a shrine to North End athletes, thanks to Winn. Team pictures from generations of LHS athletes grace the walls.
“Oh, sure, we bleed green,” he jokes, “but we get along with everybody here. Some of my best friends are from all over town.”
It’s definitely a North End bar, though.
“Lafayette Alumni Basketball Tournament weekend is the happening of the year at the Bear,” says Dave.
Brown Bear regulars agree that it’s usually standing room only.
“It’s better than St. Paddy’s Day and New Year’s Eve rolled into one,” he adds.
While the renovation of the building has been a labor of love, what Dave has built with his hands isn’t what makes the Brown Bear special. Dave Winn has created something far more meaningful with his heart.
“I’ve always tried to create a family-bar atmosphere,” says Winn. “The kind of place where I would like to go—a sort of St. Joe version of Cheers, where everybody knows you and anybody can come in without worrying about bad language or trouble.”
Winn has the back room set up for parties and smiles as he explains how groups sometimes just show up with a cake and chips and start the party unannounced.
“The number-one asset of this place is the people who gather here.”
He glows when he thinks of his patrons.
“When you put good people together, good things happen.”
Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t bring a gift into the Brown Bear. Bear figurines and souvenirs clutter the walls and shelves.
“I might have a bear or two around here,” he jokes.
Winn also enjoys framing the occasional high school sports photo or piece of memorabilia that finds its way through the door. By immortalizing local sportsmen and women, he seems to have found a way to showcase the good in people.
Another of Dave’s endeavors is the novel collection of dollar bills stuck in the ceiling tiles. Patrons roll a dollar bill around a thumbtack, using a quarter for weight, and toss it toward the ceiling. The coins fall out, and the dollars remain stuck in the tiles until they are harvested.
“Ronnie Seckinger and I came across a bar up north during a road trip that did it this way, and we thought it was neat.”
Every year that Dave has owned the bar, he has donated the dollars at Christmastime to the Northside Community Center.
“All the money goes to the kids,” says Winn proudly.
Dave is a hard worker.
“I learned that at Prudential,” he says. “I would feel terrible if I were late for work, so it never happens.”
He has spent countless hours making his business work, and that has meant time away from loved ones. His dedication hasn’t seemed to divide his family. In fact, it has drawn them closer together at times.
“My wife keeps the books and records, and all of my kids have pitched in behind the bar.”
His son B.J. is now a partner in the business.
“I’ve also got some dear friends: Jimmy Bergner, Tommy Nagel, and Winnie Wells. They have helped me in so many ways that I consider them part of my extended family.”
Dave Winn must be doing something right.
“There aren’t too many taverns that have been around since 1899,” he’s quick to point out.
One of the inspirations for his success was the late Gary Scannlin of Scannlin’s Fillin’ Station.
“We weren’t close friends, but I admired the way he ran his bar. You always felt welcome when you came in, and you were as good as anybody else there.”
Another motto Winn lives by is a line spoken by actor Chief Dan George in the Clint Eastwood movie The Outlaw Josey Wales: “Endeavor to persevere.”
After doing some follow-up research, I returned to the Bear to tell Dave that his inspiration, Chief Dan George, was born in 1899—the same year the Brown Bear Tavern was built.
“That’s amazing,” he replied, “and it’s my story now.”
Dave Winn shakes his head.
“Only on the Avenue. Only on the Avenue.”
—Chris Fleck