Interesting People on the Fringe: This Week - Ann Hruby
First of all, I'd like to thank those kind readers who have shared their comments on the blog. I am now checking your comments and publishing regularly. Some would say I should just let unmoderated comments fly without me being able to delete what I would perhaps consider inappropriate content. To those folks, I wish to say, "Get you own fucking blog!" In the words of Adolf Hitler, this ain't no goddamn democracy!
And now for our weekly series about those lost souls who once had meaning within my life. This week picks up on a theme from last week, namely Ann Hruby, a buxom young lady who used to work as a waitress at the That Place bar, where I was employed as a DJ. Ann showed up in Ames from the North Country, that is, North Dakota and/or Minneapolis, and remained in town for a couple of years before heading back to the Twin Cities.
As I mentioned before, she was the object of the lustful thoughts of Jesus, making her somewhat like Mary Magdalene in The Last Temptation of Christ. I remember showing up one time at the house of Fred, a.k.a. Greg Smith, (oooh, looks like another subject for this weekly column!), on a Sunday morning for a Twenty-Something Breakfast of biscuits and gravy, made by moi. Incidentally, that was the only time my biscuits and gravy went bad, i.e. the grease effect brought about projectile vomiting on my part, probably as they didn't sit well on a queasy Sunday morning stomach following a night of heavy drinking. Anyhow, when I showed up at the Casa Fred, there were Fred, Kevin Brocker and, low and behold, Ann Hruby waiting to chow down. Fred and Kevin pulled the wool over my eyes with allusions that young Miss Hruby (pronounced, by the way, like the gemstone) had had a passionate evening with Mr. Fred. Later, I was made aware of the fact that the object of her desire for the evening was not Fred, who was also known as "The Love Man", so the story was plausible, but indeed, Mr. Brocker! Actually, in light of the fact that Kevin, who also worked at That Place / Top of the Town, often used this arena as a happy hunting ground for young, new waitresses, it isn't that surprising.
Another Ann Hruby story is a prime example of Midwestern hospitality and could very well be made into a Hallmark Holiday Special. It was right before Christmas, and Ann came into That Place depressed and downtrodden, as she had missed the last Greyhound bus to Minneapolis to be with friends and family over the holiday. My roommate, Guy Tensen, was working that night, and I, in the bar as usual, somehow caught the Christmas spirit, and we offered to drive Ann to the Twin Cities after the bar closed at 2:00 a.m. So, in real, bone-chilling Artic cold, we three drove northwards in Guy's car. I remember getting gas at a rest stop outside Minneapolis, and it was so cold that after 10 seconds outside, my jeans were frozen as stiff as cardboard. We dropped Ann off somewhere in the city, after she had said that everytime she goes through downtown she thinks of the classic Replacements tune, Skyway, (note to creative self--definitely to be included in the soundtrack for the holiday special) and wished her a Merry Christmas. God bless us, God bless us everyone!
The last time I saw Ann was with her husband, a Mr. Ed Lecher, at the Minneapolis home of Jim and Ivy in November 1993. I think the Lechers went to the East Coast after that, and I went into the Army, losing contact with Ann Hruby forever, or at least until she writes an angry comment on this blog, which I promise to publish should it happen!
To Ann, wherever you are--Cheers!
And now for our weekly series about those lost souls who once had meaning within my life. This week picks up on a theme from last week, namely Ann Hruby, a buxom young lady who used to work as a waitress at the That Place bar, where I was employed as a DJ. Ann showed up in Ames from the North Country, that is, North Dakota and/or Minneapolis, and remained in town for a couple of years before heading back to the Twin Cities.
As I mentioned before, she was the object of the lustful thoughts of Jesus, making her somewhat like Mary Magdalene in The Last Temptation of Christ. I remember showing up one time at the house of Fred, a.k.a. Greg Smith, (oooh, looks like another subject for this weekly column!), on a Sunday morning for a Twenty-Something Breakfast of biscuits and gravy, made by moi. Incidentally, that was the only time my biscuits and gravy went bad, i.e. the grease effect brought about projectile vomiting on my part, probably as they didn't sit well on a queasy Sunday morning stomach following a night of heavy drinking. Anyhow, when I showed up at the Casa Fred, there were Fred, Kevin Brocker and, low and behold, Ann Hruby waiting to chow down. Fred and Kevin pulled the wool over my eyes with allusions that young Miss Hruby (pronounced, by the way, like the gemstone) had had a passionate evening with Mr. Fred. Later, I was made aware of the fact that the object of her desire for the evening was not Fred, who was also known as "The Love Man", so the story was plausible, but indeed, Mr. Brocker! Actually, in light of the fact that Kevin, who also worked at That Place / Top of the Town, often used this arena as a happy hunting ground for young, new waitresses, it isn't that surprising.
Another Ann Hruby story is a prime example of Midwestern hospitality and could very well be made into a Hallmark Holiday Special. It was right before Christmas, and Ann came into That Place depressed and downtrodden, as she had missed the last Greyhound bus to Minneapolis to be with friends and family over the holiday. My roommate, Guy Tensen, was working that night, and I, in the bar as usual, somehow caught the Christmas spirit, and we offered to drive Ann to the Twin Cities after the bar closed at 2:00 a.m. So, in real, bone-chilling Artic cold, we three drove northwards in Guy's car. I remember getting gas at a rest stop outside Minneapolis, and it was so cold that after 10 seconds outside, my jeans were frozen as stiff as cardboard. We dropped Ann off somewhere in the city, after she had said that everytime she goes through downtown she thinks of the classic Replacements tune, Skyway, (note to creative self--definitely to be included in the soundtrack for the holiday special) and wished her a Merry Christmas. God bless us, God bless us everyone!
The last time I saw Ann was with her husband, a Mr. Ed Lecher, at the Minneapolis home of Jim and Ivy in November 1993. I think the Lechers went to the East Coast after that, and I went into the Army, losing contact with Ann Hruby forever, or at least until she writes an angry comment on this blog, which I promise to publish should it happen!
To Ann, wherever you are--Cheers!
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