JAY MARTIN
#16605
Welcome back! Several years ago, Teri and I had the pleasure of visiting a collection located in the Austin area,
owned by a Minnesota Legend. Most of you should already know who I’m referring to, the “Good Father”,
Murray S.
Upon viewing this collection, the one thing that caught my eye (well, there
were several things that caught my eye) was a framed Grain Belt poster
about 4 feet long by 2 and half feet high. I just fell in love with it. The
graphics depict a picture of a lady holding a pilsner glass of beer, with a
look of desire on her face (not sure if is a look of desire, but I like to think
so) and It has the Grain Belt diamond logo and the words, “Light and
Refreshing”. I don’t really collect Grain Belt as a specialty, just whatever
grabs my attention and this piece was a thing of beauty to my eyes.
Well, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would have
the opportunity to buy this same piece and as the years have passed, hope became dimmer and dimmer.
That’s what happens to hope, when reality sets in. One day, and that day happened just this last March 23rd at
the North Star Chapter, Mc Clay VFW post, buy, sell, trade show in Bloomington. We arrived, got our table set
up and the action was fast and furious, with “barley” or barely any time to breathe, much less pound down some
suds.
Beer Hound Bob sniffed out a growler I had with and as you can guess, we drank it. Finally….. in the afternoon,
I started to walk around and view what was there. All of a sudden, POW, thar she blows !! Here was that sign I
so coveted from Murray’s collection, staring me in my pie. After about 3 minutes of conversation a price was
reached, and a deal was done! According to the Grain Belt expert I got it from, (and he IS an expert with Grain
Belt) it is circa 1954 and he only knows of about 7 that exist. Why this piece did not fly off the table as soon as it
placed there, I do not know and I don’t care, I own it now. See attached picture. Now I’m looking for someone to
have it re-framed for me, I wonder who could do that? Maybe if I ask Tom Terwilliger, he might have a
suggestion. Ha !!
Next, I have a begun a year-long beer project, which we started the first week in
January. My pea-sized brain had the idea to visit all known ACTIVE breweries in
Minnesota in a year time frame. Now I know this may not be a big deal and most likely
someone else has already done it and I’m sure we are doomed to fail. BUT, it seemed
like a worthy goal to pursue and if beer is involved that makes it, worthy. If you doubt
that, I would suggest asking Beer Hound Bob about the worthiness of beer. The
question to my self was, how could I do it a little differently? Well, I bought a dry erase
board and at each brewery we visit, we write the number of our visit on the board and
get a picture at the brewery with their logo in it. I have a picture attached from Fulton
Brewing, as an example of what we are trying to accomplish. This has been a blast for
us so far and at the end of the year I will assemble a
photo album of (hopefully) all Minnesota breweries. There are about 160 to
170 operating breweries, so we got plenty to do this year and I know we will
love every minute of it!! No Bob, you can’t come with.
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