This great 1930's building doesn't have adequate insulation for us to stay open through the winter so we are now closed for the 2009 season.

If you have wine, beer, or menu suggestions for us, please be sure to let us know. We used to carry Blue Moon, but our beer drinkers told us via their purchases that it's not their first choice when at Fisher's. We now carry several more selections from the local Cold Spring Brewery in addition to New Castle and Olde Johnnie Ale. If you haven't tried Cold Spring's John Henry 3 Lick Spiker Ale, plan to order that first thing next Spring.

Our Chef Pat can create many terrific items beyond our regular menu for your special event, and he loves a challenge, so bring on your birthday or anniversary parties or wedding events.

Garrison Keillor has an updated website and several new books. Yes, we too ask, "How does he do it all!?" But he does it and then some, and we are big fans of his: www.prairiehome.org

Leave your e-mail address with us on the 'contact us' page so we can keep you posted on our opening date and other events we are planning. Until we see you: stay as healthy as you can, exercise, enjoy your friends and family, and have a great winter!

It is that melancholy time of year for us: we don't want it to be the "last weekend of the season" but the weather tells us it is time to take in the deck tables and chairs, and that means we are near the end for now.

BUT, we are open Friday, October 23rd and Saturday October 24th starting at 5:00 p.m., and we hope you will join us. We'll have the votives lit and you may choose from our Oktoberfest menu along with our regular menu. It's a struggle -  the terrific walleye or the autumn sauerbraten created by our Chef Pat.

Saturday, October 24th we will have live jazz starting at 6:30 p.m.  The jazz will be provided by Muggsy Lauer and Jeff Engholm, and we are thrilled to have this duo take us out for the season.

Thank you for a great 2009

If you aren't yet on our mailing list, please follow the directions on the "contact" tab and we will keep you updated -albeit occasionally - during the winter and early spring.

Much of the Central Minnesota area has been settled by Germans, so we feel obliged to carry on one of their desirable traditions: Oktoberfest!

We have a terrific Oktoberfest Menu that includes Chef Pat's Sauerbraten with home made gingersnap gravy, German-style brats, and squash soup. (We don't know if the soup has origins in Germany, but we love it, so it's on the menu!). You will love the accompanying braised red cabbage with apples and warm German potato salad.

Homemade Desserts - of course we have them, and for fall we have added Pecan and Pumpkin Pie to our ever-changing line-up that often includes Strawberry Shortcake, Rhubarb Pie, and sometimes Apple Pie.

Locally Brewed Beer? Yes! We are proud to serve Cold Spring Brewery Beer, including Ol' Johnnie Ale on Tap, their fine collection of bottled brews, and especially their signature John Henry Three Lick Spicker Ale, for all dark beer lovers, and it might make you a dark beer convert if you're not yet. We also feature New Castle on Tap, and other traditional American beers.

We look forward to seeing you at The Club

The Man is coming back! We are hosting a talent show - we're calling it Rock the Rafters because that is what we expect to do - this Sunday July 26 at The Club and it is being emceed by Garrison Keillor, one of the owners of The Club. Fresh off the end of his Prairie Home Companion season, Keillor energized the area and about 10,000 of us with a remarkble 4th of July celebration in Avon. He's coming back to enjoy a smaller venue at The Club.

The Club opens at 4:00 Sunday, and the show will begin at 7:00 p.m.

 We have a tremendous line-up of area artists, thanks to local musicians Dee Holsinger and Doug Millaway. You'l hear from Pachanga (a Stearns County South American and Cuban music group) to fiddler Alisha Neuman to Sinatra sound-alike Alex Willard plus 14 other artists/group.

Word barely got out about the event and we sold out of reservations for dinner. We do have some tables on the lakeside deck that we will keep open for walk-ins, so if you were unable to get an inside reservation you could try for an outside deck table. While the sight lines won't be ideal, we will have speakers out there for good sound projection.

Our many thanks in advance to Doug and Dee for all their work, and to the Avon Area Arts for once again providing not just muscle but brain strength to bring fine music to the area.

We hope you can join us!

If you are thinking of joining us for what we are affectionately calling Prairie Stock (ala Woodstock and the anticipated number of Prairie Home Companion fans to Avon on July 4th), then here is some addtional information to help you plan your day:

Parking will be available in the Avon Elementary School lot and the Avon Community Church lot, which are both just 2 blocks past the Wobegon Park. The park and these two lots are all on Avon Ave which is also County Rd 9.

Additonal parking is being allowed by the generous owners of Lumber One, on Avon Ave. Please only park on their lot, NOT on the grass, as they have a sprinkler system underneath the grass and we are planning on that grassy area for an overflow for people to sit on.

Parking at PSI on Blattner Drive is also being offered by the generous owners of PSI, and Jeff Meyer has generously offered up spaces on land he owns adjacent to the park on 1st St. just south of the park.

Are you a bicycler? If so, you can park at the St. John's University exit along the County Road and bike to the park, a smooth, level distance of about 7 miles. Perhaps put a blanket in your backpack for seating once you arrive at the park in Avon.

The Wobegon Park and food vendors will be opening at 1:00 on Saturday for action (we formerly said 2:00). This means seating will not be open until 1:00, and we respectfully ask that everyone honor this opening time.

See you on Saturday! Come hungry - we're serving PIE!

Avon is a town that is small enough to qualify for Garrison's "Towns Under 2,000" annual music contest, so the event of Keillor's Prairie Home Companion as a national broadcast from our little town is a very big deal for us.  No one in town can remember last time a satellite truck was here, but we've never had our Mayor John recite poetry before, so that alone is worthy (he's to appear on the program). We're excited to have you join us!

Here is what will be happening in Wobegon Park on the 4th: In addition to the national broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion from 4:45-7:00pm, we'll have the park open at 2:00 for seating and food. The Lion's will be serving cold beer (wanted to let you know that right away!), and you'll find food choices from hotdogs on the grill to hot pizza and sloppy joes. Soda, lemondade, rootbeer, and water will be offered. For dessert: ice cream cones and maybe smoothies if we can draw enough electricity in the park for that, along with our famous (really!) Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie and Powdermilk Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake.

Parking: We have permission to use the local elementary school lot and the Avon Community Church lot for parking. Both of these lots are just 2 blocks past Wobegon Park on Avon Ave. This is also County Rd. 9. If you have small children or others who cannot walk the 2 blocks we recommend you drop them off at the park and then drive to the lots to park. You are also welcome to park on the city streets as room allows.

Bring your own lawn chairs or blankets! We do not have any bleacher seating available so you must bring your own chairs. The park will open for seating at 2:00.

Mr. Keillor is personally paying for most of the expense of this show, and we are so very grateful to be welcoming him and Prairie Home Companion to Avon.

Summer Quiz: Who drafted our Declaration of Independence at the youthful age of 33? **

Our 4th of July Celebration, American Style

Here is an update on details:

35th Anniversary of The Prairie Home Companion broadcasts by Garrison Keillor.

The Wobegon Park in Avon will play host to this event. A dynamite line-up of musicians and historians are planned, and as Garrison loves patriotic music he will no doubt convince you to sing along on a song to two. 

There will be a fine assortment of local food purveyors offering foods from Bee Bop a Ree Bop Rhubarb pie (sold by Fisher's Club) to sloppy joes, hot dogs, pizza, walleye sandwiches, and more. Vendors will be set by 2:00 p.m. so you can come early to watch the staging & sound check if that sort of thing holds your interest. Bring a blanket or lawn chair. While the broadcast starts at 5:00, we will ask attendees to take their seats by 4:45 p.m.

Fisher's Club is offering a reserved seat and walleye dinner special. For $10.00 you can have a hearty walleye sandwich, generous helping of coleslaw, pickle, and Killebrew Root Beer PLUS a reserved seat in the park (this is esp. good for those of you who don't own one of those chairs-in-a-bag.) The dinners will be delivered to our tent in the park at your choice of 4:15 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. during intermission. Please call the club to reserve your pre-paid dinner and seat: 320.356.7372.

The Club will be open at 2:00 p.m. on the 4th with our full menu for dining. If you are planning to join us at the Club after the show but unable to get an inside dinner reservation for your preferred time then please join us on the deck for burgers and brats on the grill, lakeside. We have a fine beer and wine list (where else in Central MN do you find New Castle on tap) and as always you can buy a set-up* and bring your own hard liquor.

We look forward to seeing you at Wobegon Park and at Fisher's Club on July 4th.

*A set-up is something we and the few remaining bottle clubs in Minnesota offer. We provide the elements for your favorite cocktail and you provide the hard liquor. Need an example? We deliver to your table an ice-filled shaker, olives, dry vermouth, and two martini glasses. You mix your martini as dry or dirty as you like. Apply this example to, say, a Marguerita.

This is really a great deal for you and us because by the time you have arrived at the Club, you've forgotten how much you spent on that pretty bottle of Grey Goose or Bombay Sapphire so your bar bill looks really low(you're happy) and you go home happy (we're happy). That's what we want - collective happiness - and we'll do our best to make that happen. Some nights it just takes a little longer than other nights!  -chp

**Thomas Jefferson is the answer to today's quiz.

Event: 35th Anniversary of A Prairie Home Companion

July 4th, 2009 is 35 years to the day of Garrison Keillor's first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion public radio show. This national broadcast will take place from Wobegon Park in Avon, MN, the heart of Lake Wobegon.

Fisher's Club will be serving Bee Bop A Ree Bop Rhubarb Pie and Powdermilk Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake in the park, as well as offering brats and burgers from the grill.

We will open at 4:00 p.m. for dinner on the 4th, taking reservations. 320.356.7372