Where everybody knows your name...

I know this is off the subject of my personal growth, but a

very dear friend of mine passed and I must express my deep sympathy for the family that was effected as well as grieve on my own. This friend was there for me through thick and thin. To celebrate the good times and to mourn and help me forget the bad. This friend was one that was a friend to many and a stranger to none. This friend loved live music and theme parties. Maybe that's why we got along so well.

This friend is actually The Pub in Maryville, Missouri. This was the only bar in town where you had to be 21 to get in. By the time we got to go to The Pub, it was like an exclusive club-- upperclassmen and the occasional stressed out teacher at the end of the bar. Sadly, the walls to Pub collapsed and fell yesterday. Or, as the newpaper article dramatically details, the walls "gave a final shudder then crumbled into an alley with a loud crash, convincing several onlookers to cover their heads and run for cover." ...Well, duh.

You see, The Pub was not what you'd call 'structurally sound.' The myriad of times I was waiting in line for the bathroom, I noticed a tarp hanging down from a gaping hole in the ceiling. The tarp was holding water that had leaked down from the roof. If a girl slammed the bathroom door, the tarp would threaten to break by shaking a little bit. Bits of the brick wall were crumbling and the floor was an absolute mess. It was FREEZING in the winter, which was sort of an accidental brilliant marketing plan because that just made people drink more. The Pub had chips, salsa and Corona on special on Tuesdays and some pretty amazing live acts coming through. RPI or Towncrier, anyone?

I think what The Pub was most known for were their amazing Halloween parties. The staff picked a themed (one year it was SNL, another it was Pirates) and there was a costume contest with pretty much the greatest grand prize ever for college students: a keg of beer. I met some amazing people at that place and in my last few semesters at school, I learned that drinking and brainstorming ideas for a group project was a great and productive idea, so a group I worked with met there a few times.

Alumni will miss you, Pub!