Saturday, November 18, 2006

Divine help for hunting faithful

For the start of deer-hunting season, Tom Kertscher has a front page report in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the life of Saint Hubert.
Hubert, a native of the Netherlands, lived about 1,300 years ago. He was well-to-do and he enjoyed hunting.

One Good Friday morning, according to the legend, Hubert went hunting instead of going to church. He saw a deer and then a vision of a crucifix between the deer's antlers. ...

Hubert also heard a voice deliver a daunting message:

"Hubert, unless you turn to the Lord and lead a holy life, you shall quickly go down to hell."

Hubert heeded. He gave up his possessions, became a priest, then a bishop and eventually was canonized.

Now, he is known as the patron saint of hunters.
And, the article points out, the source of the logo for Jagermeister, "the popular drink-it-cold liqueur".

The intrepid reporter ventured northwest of Milwaukee, and found that even in the hamlet of Hubertus, most of the locals were ignorant of their patron saint.
Unless you happen to ask Marlene Winkelmann, who helps run Sloppy Joe's Saloon and Spoon on Hubertus Road, where "Jager bombs" sell for $4.50.

Winkelmann remembers the St. Hubert lessons she learned years ago at the former St. Hubert's School.

If few of her customers seem to know the story, she said, perhaps it's because more outsiders have been moving into Hubertus.

"We have four stop signs on the corner now; there used to be none," Winkelmann said. "Now that's progress."

According to this Madison magazine article, if you're visiting the area,
Hubertus' Sloppy Joe's (ask for one and it's free) Saloon and Spoon is where to take the family -- great food, fun building history.

Nothing goes with a free sloppy joe like a Jager bomb.

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