Brother Willie's Pub

From Minnewiki

Campus favorite Fred Savage and the Unbeatables play a packed house.

History

Date Opened:

Roughly 1994, coincidental with the opening of Sexton Commons

Owners:

Saint John's University

Address

Sexton Commons
Saint John's University
Collegeville, MN 56321

Staff

Anecdotes

Behind the bar at Brother Willie's Pub there is a formal portrait of Br. Willie paintedby David Manahan, OSB, for which he posed in his monastic “good-guys-really-do-wear-black” robes. George Maurer catches the significance of that well positioned portrait when he writes, “I like to think Brother Willie is still doing his job, hanging up on the wall there, good as any bouncer, with a fierce but gentle gaze that effectively scares away any student who lacks the proper ID for beer.”

The pub is named after Br. William Borgerding OSB, known to generations of students as "Br. Willie." He was the official night watchman of Collegeville starting in 1967--the same year Bill Kling and Abbot Colman Barry founded Minnesota Public Radio at Saint John's.

Br. Willie is known for his trademark "shuffle" which was immortalized in song by George Maurer, jazz pianist and 1988 SJU alumnus. His song, "The Brother Willie Shuffle", is featured on On Track: Live at the Dakota and also on the student-produced CGR Volume III compilation released in 2002.

In the liner notes of On Track, Mauer talks about the track:

Actually, it’s not a real shuffle, but that is the sound you will most likely hear coming down the hallway when Brother Willie’s walking his nightly rounds. Studying late at night in the quadrangle, the sign to wrap things up was often the faint sound of Br. Willie shuffling along, pausing to knock on classroom doors he was about to secure for the night. You can hear the musical personification of this done as I reach into the piano to dampen the lowest B string (B for ‘Brother’) and rapping out a loud knocking sound with the hammer against the deadened string. That knock by Willie was my signal to either scramble or stay put, based on whether I had the time for one of Willie’s many Tales from the Monastic Crypt. I usually chose to stay put.

As of 2006, Br. Willie can still be spotted roaming the Collegeville campus, collecting errant recyclables in his wheelchair and making his presence known.

Related web sites

BWP on JohnnieWiki

Related groups