SIGN OF THE TIMES
As Denise Vierstraete pressed the button to raise the door to a large garage on her property, the memories of the former Silver Dollar Bar in downtown Ghent came seeping out.
The Silver Dollar Bar, which became well known for being the first licensed establishment to serve alcohol in Minneota following the repeal of prohibition in 1934.
If that sign could talk, it would have an infinite number of stories to tell.
Rick and Denise Vierstraete 'have been collectors of signs and relics from the past. They have a couple of antiquated pop machines, wooden cases of pop in glass bottles, and an old gas station pump, to name a few.
The massive Silver Dollar Bar sign is beautifully displayed; affixed to a modern stairway overhang inside the Vierstraete garage.
The Vierstraetes acquired the Silver Dollar Bar sign from another party in Ghent, who had initially bought it during an auction following the establishment closing on Aug. 27, 2011. The original buyers were planning to donate it to the Lyon County Museum, but the museum declined because of the sign's size.
The bar has had six owners, including Red Engels.
"Rumor has it that (Aloysius) ‘Red’ Engels slept on the State Capitol steps during the night to be the first in line in the morning to get a license," said Ghislain DeVlaeminck, a former Silver Dollar bartender who now resides in Eagan.
The Jan. 19, 1934 edition of the Mascot read: "When news reached the Twin Cities Tuesday afternoon that Ghent had its liquor license approved as the first place in the state and expected to begin sales that night, things began to happen. Two Twin Cities newspapers sent men out. The Universal News Service sent a movie news reel cameraman out to cover the opening also."
But Engels was involved in an automobile accident and delayed the arrival of the stock he went to pick up.
So the reporters and cameramen covering the historic story spent the night in Marshall and awaited Engels' arrival the next day.
In addition to the on sale liquor license that had already been granted to the Ghent Hotel that Engels owned and ran his bar from, the village council also granted a liquor store license to Theodore DeRoode, the owner and proprietor of Ted's Bar (now KBs Bar & Grill), the Mascot story continued.
DeVlaeminck is hoping to put some stories about the Silver Dollar Bar in book form if/when he gets the chance.
"I worked as bartender in the Silver Dollar when I was going to school to get my engineering degree at Southwest State," he said. "Being a bartender is sort of like being a priest in confessional. Heard a lot of crazy stories when I worked there."
Originally, the Silver Dollar Bar was a hotel that had been built by the railroad with the west side being a bar.Engels bought the bar and began operations in 1932 before it was called the Silver Dollar Bar, which became the name shortly after prohibition ended. Through research, the Mascot learned Engels is rumored to have bet a friend a silver dollar that he would be the first one in line for a liquor license, and when he won the bet, thought it only appropriate to name his establishment the Silver Dollar Bar.
Ken Kompelien and Dan Cool bought the bar from Engels in 1953. After that, it was owned by Dan VanKinderen, co-owned Rick Banbury and Whitey Johnson, and then a partnership known as LDJ's Silver Dollar Bar owned of Johnny and Dottie Tillemans and their daughter LuAnn and son-in-law Jim Anderson.
When Dottie Tillemans and Bill Anderson both passed away, Johnny Tillemans owned the bar with his daughter and son-in-law Sandy and Bill Doyscher.
The bar closed on Aug. 27, 2011. Johnny, who was well know throughout the area, passed away in 2014.
The Silver Dollar Bar still stands and is now the home of the Ministerio Rayo de Luz Church.