ippin’ them tall pitchers of beer
What with rigorous class loads, tons
of textbooks and often a part-time job
or two, you’d think University students
would have no time for distracting ‘‘ex
tracurricular activities."
But there is one free-time activity
many students attend as regularly as
class — some even more — the
(in)famous beer gardens.
At week’s end, as many as 1,500
students — and even some faculty —
gather at the impromptu watering hole
set up in the EMU’s large cafeteria to
unwind after a grueling week of also
grueling study.
But behind the beer garden’s mellow
atmosphere are hard-working EMU
food service employees and Cultural
Forum staff members.
Because thirsty students guzzle an
average of 16 to 18 kegs per garden,
there must be several “bartenders,”
table bussers, and security “guards"
watching the cafeteria's several en
trances, as well as checking ID at the
door.
There must be plenty of cheap eats,
as well, to soak up the alcoholic suds.
Students gobble lots of popcorn,
25-cent hot dogs and burritos. Food
Service director Jim Covington says
he’s “tried just about everything" in
the way of food at the gardens. “Peo
ple will buy anything for less than 50
cents,” he says.
At the first-ever outdoor beer
gardens, which were held on the Alder
Street tennis courts last spring term,
students guzzled a record 55 kegs, top
ped off by barbecued chicken.
Although the gardens’ phenomenal
success is making them a permanent
campus fixture, until 1976 they did not
exist.
Beer garden founder Shane Tappen
dorf originally created the weekly cam
pus “tavern” to provide a showcase for
new, local bands.
“When I envisioned the beer
gardens at the University, I envisioned
a very successful program, and I envi
sioned a place for new acts to per
form," says Tappendorf, who was a
Cultural Forum staff member when he
began the gardens. Tappendorf is cur
rently general manager of Double Tee
Concert Line, a concert promotion
business.
‘‘I am not surprised at all” by the
beer garden’s success, he says.
But when the first beer garden
opened its doors, there were not
the long lines or large crowds
that typify today’s gardens. Back then,
100 beer gardeners was considered a
"crowd.”
That was just the way Tappendorf
wanted the gardens to begin. Because
serving alcohol on campus was a first
for the University, Tappendorf didn’t
want to make waves with ad
ministrators. Oregon State University
students are still trying to start a
similiar program at their more conser
vative school.
"We were very cautious about get
ting this thing (the beer gardens)
together. So we started them with a
low profile," Tappendorf says.
Surprisingly, the University’s ad
ministration was a big help in getting
the gardens firmly "planted,” Tappen
dorf says. “We (the Cultural Forum
staff) received great support from the
administration” in starting the
gardens. All in all, I would say the ad
ministration worked very carefully with
us,” he says.
In turn, the forum staff compromised
with the administration by not holding
beer gardens during New Student
Week when many under-age freshmen
might try to sneak in with the "legal
age” crowd.
i ne uregon Liquor control Commis
sion has also kept close tabs on the
state’s only campus beer garden. Every
time there is a beer garden, the OLCC
must first approve a license. Yet the
OLCC has also been “very helpful"
with instructing security guards how to
spot fake ID, Covington says.
Despite the weekly mobs of
sometimes tipsy students, the
beer garden’s problems have
been minimal, he says.
And as the beer gardens grow in at
tendance, so, too, do its profits.
“Gardeners” must down about eight
kegs just for the EMU Food Service to
break even. During the summer when
the crowds are smaller, most beer
gardens barely break even.
Beer comprises 40 percent of total
garden costs, but Covington also must
pay food service employees who work
at the gardens.
During the academic year, the
average garden sells 16 to 18 kegs of
beer, which means a $450 to $500 pro
fit, Covington says. These profits go
back into the food service budget,
which funds such food outlets as the
Skylight, Deli and catering van.
The Cultural Forum, which hires the
bands who play at the gardens,
receives none of the profits because
they are funded by the Incidental Fee
Committees. The forum also hires
about 15 security guards for each
event.
With the exception of the monthly
Emerald photo
Campus beer gardens offer a place for students to relax and enjoy a break from
study, study, study.
ballroom gardens, the other gardens
have no admission fee, and Jan War
ren, a Cultural Forum program advisor,
wants to keep it that way. "We're not in
this to make money off it,” she says.
The appeal of the beer gardens is
more than economic, though. It’s
not unusual to see a throng of
garden-goers gyrating to live music on
the cafeteria’s small dance floor. "We
try and do a wide variety of programm
ing to satisfy everybody’s interests,”
Warren says.
The forum does just that.
All kinds of bands, from new wave to
disco to punk to polka have entertain
ed beer garden crowds, with names
like The Sneakers, The Robert Cray
Band, The Polka Pipers and even the
Porcupines.
When the gardens first began, the
Cultural Forum had to advertise for
bands who’d be willing to play at the
three-hour event for a meager $100 set
fee. But since the beer gardens
became successful in the last few
years, ‘‘lots of bands have wanted to
play. Now we’re inundated with re
quests,” Warren says.
Beer garden “gigs” are enjoyable for
musicians as well as the listeners
because the large crowds are generally
enthusiastic and receptive, she says.
“They (the musicians) get a tremen
dous response and they get to perform
in front of such a large group of
people.”
Occasionally, the beer garden
founder returns to his old stomping
grounds, and if there’s a garden, he’ll
step in to check on his “creation.”
Looking back on the effort, Tappendorf
says “It was a lot of work but it was
well worth it.”
Many University students would
agree.
Story by Joan Herman
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