Remembering a Foundational Moment

From Dave "Keene State Owls Rule!" Brigham:

Longtime readers of this blog will perhaps recall the inaugural post, nine-and-a-half years ago, in which I traced my curiosity about what I eventually dubbed "the backside of America" to a canoe trip I took with my father when I was about 12 years old (see March 1, 2010, "Take Me to the River"). I saw my hometown of Simsbury, Connecticut, from a new angle -- the rear -- as we paddled on the Farmington River. I was fascinated by the hindquarters of homes, stores, factories, churches, you name it, that I'd previously only seen from the road. The fronts of these residences and companies and houses of worship weren't necessarily beautiful, but they made good efforts because Simsbury is a well-to-do town. The backside of these places, on the other hand, was where I saw rusting cars, rotting porches, overgrown patios, dumpsters, hanging laundry, fallow farmland, etc.

The photo above represents another foundational moment for me in my quest to find the big, beautiful backside of America. We're looking at the Keene branch of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The national organization calls its clubs "aeries," which I love. Keene's is #1413; like all the others, its mission is to raise money for "eight major charities, including kidney, heart, diabetes, cancer and spinal cord injury funds, a children's fund, memorial foundation and the Golden Eagle Fund," per the national web site.

Also, drinking.

When I was a senior at Keene State back in 1986/87, one night I went on what I dubbed a "back-lot tour" with two friends: Peter and Kristen. Peter played guitar, Kristen sang and I played bongos as we walked through downtown Keene and along the darker side streets populated with old mill buildings, train tracks and places like FOE Aerie 1413. As we rounded the corner from 93rd Street to Church Street and saw all these people hanging out front, with loud music leaking through the door, I was transfixed. "What IS this place?" I asked in wonder. I'd been at school for three years and been to my fair share of on-campus and off-campus parties, but I'd never seen a place like this where the locals partied.

I wrote about Keene's FOE chapter earlier this year. Not thinking I'd actually snap a photo of my own, I shared a Google Maps image (see Feburuary 26, 2019, "To All My Friends!"). Go ahead and read that post, as it covers much of the same material in this one, but with more colorful language.