One more thing about Bennetts...when we were there, we saw a flier for something they call a "meat raffle."
Naturally, we were curious, so we asked the waitress what in the heck a meat raffle was. Apparently, they raffle off various cuts of meat throughout the day. Fairly self-explanitory, I know.
So why haven't I heard of it? The waitress thought that meat raffles were quite common. She expressed shock that we didn't know anything about them. It led her to ask, "Are you from out of town?" Yes, my ignorance of meat raffles led to me being marked as a tourist.
Now, I can get the working class appeal. I don't, however, understand the pure regionality of the event. We don't have meat raffles down South, even in the working class bars. Never seen one around Ohio. I can only assume this is something you do in the places where it gets way too cold for rational thought, which, while I like Wisconsin and think it is one of the most beautiful places I've been, certainly is an apt description of their winter.
So, anyone ever heard of a meat raffle? Are they confined to certain areas of the country? To certain ethnic groups? Anyone ever enter? Win anything?
I do like the concept, however, and it is one more reason in a long list of why I would never be a vegetarian.
3 comments:
Ok, that's the name of our rock band: Meat Raffle.
I once entered a meat raffle in a VFW in Minneapolis. i dropped a couple of bucks for two numbers written on folded up pieces of paper. a wheel was spun. numbers read. i went home without winning meat. I didn't go home emptyhanded, but I'd have been better off with the steaks.
In the part of Wisconsin I live in they call it Meat Paddles. A bar will have a bunch of wooden paint stir sticks with numbers written on them. The bartender will tell everyone which kind of meat (often there will be a marinade or some such thing to go along) and then you draw a stick/paddle if you are interested in winning it. Everyone smacks the bar really loud with their sticks as a number is drawn out of a hat, can, or whatever. If it is the number that is on your stick, you win. Usually everyone wins at least once where we go and it is quite a fun time. Everything, including meat, really is more fun when you win it!
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