Emerson Dameron

Early Thursday evening, the Rainbo Club reveals its moody, divey core. The bartender shields his face in a book. A young man and young woman light cigarettes as one. With no player to guide him, a hapless Q*Bert repeats his mistakes. At a corner table, a small band of barflies absorbs stragglers. Gradually, a party develops.

The Draught Beer Preservation Society is an open, Chicago-wide organization propagating the notion that, since the allure of tap beer draws us out of our homes and into each other's company, bars solidify a community. Critical Mass veteran John Greenfield leads this, the club's Ukrainian Village arm. (Others exist in Logan Square and Andersonville; a Roscoe Village chapter is reportedly in the works.) He cites the transformation of Tuman's, the mysterious disappearance of Ten56, and the significant drop in citywide corner bar activity during the Daley years as hiccups in Ukie Village's collective pulse. To fight this growing conviviality deficit, UVDBPS members sample adult beverages in as many walking-distance bars as possible. Last November, they staged a neighborhood pub crawl that hit Sak's, Ola's, J&M Tavern and other gentrification-resistant canteens. A web site, bringbackthedraught.org, tracks the organization's plans and ideas.

Greenfield distributes buttons and T-shirts bearing the UVDBPS logo. A rambling candor sets in. One member springs for tamales and smokes, declaring both to be community property. Another changes seats so that a companion's smoking doesn't spark her asthma. "If someone allergic to cats comes to my place," she says, "I expect them to deal with it."

(2006-01-24)

Also by Emerson Dameron

King for a Minute
As the vice president of the Elvis Entertainers Network, Cass is the sort of Elvis impersonator who prefers to be termed an "Elvis tribute artist"
(2006-01-10)

Pour Showing
Steve Walker traveled from Manassas, Virginia to pour mixers at T.G.I. Friday's on Erie
(2005-11-15)

Arts Attack
"Jazz is a good metaphor for democracy," says Tom Tresser, lead organizer for the Creative America Project
(2005-05-17)

The Last Howl
"When your lover is still inside you," says a curly-haired woman with an air of placid self-importance, "after he has ejaculated. That's when you do it."
(2005-05-03)

Getting Personal
(2005-04-19)

Soul Vegetarian
(2005-03-15)

Moto
(2005-03-01)

Chick unlit
(2003-12-16)

Subterranean sport
(2003-04-15)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment