The Schaefer Schummer of 2011...the schequel

In late July, I blogged how Schaefer Hall of Famers and Ring of Honor members were enjoying their 2011 Schaefer Schummer. Of course, summer isn't over in July. It runs through at least Labor Day - and for some folks, beyond! So here are a few more ways members of the SHOF and SROH enjoyed the remainder of their 2011 Schaefer Schummer.

Bill Combs is the great-grandson of Rudolph Schaefer Jr. He writes The Schaefer Story blog and can be followed on Twitter @schaeferstory. He represented the Schaefer Ring of Honor well with colors and brew in August at the Good Sam 500 Cup race at Pocono Raceway. Bill was brought into the Schaefer Ring of Honor about a year ago, but this entry is his first photo contribution. Schaaaaa-LOOT Mr. Schaefer Descendent!

He cemented his membership in the SROH by getting a meet-and-greet with Brandon Igdalsky just two days after Igdalsky was named the new President of Pocono!

Speaking of racing (and when am I not), how about this cool fictional scheme for the 43 of Richard Petty Motorsports? Designed by stimlad - a fellow poster at the Fans For Richard Petty Motorsports message board - I'd really like to see that happen. Look - I get it. Schaefer's market share is pretty doggone thin these days. But have you seen some of the other sponsors in NASCAR these days? Surely, the market potential for Schaefer is greater than some of them.

SROH members Kristi and Ryan earn bonus points for being a photogenic Schaefer Ring of Honor couple. They earn significant demerits, however, for toting Bud Stinkin' Light while wearing the SROH colors. As Gomer Pyle so eloquently put it: Shame, shame, shame.

Recent SROH inductee Rick earns high marks for getting a photo-op with Miss Sprint Cup. But as with Kristi and Ryan, he demonstrated why he'll likely never earn SHOF status. He had neither a Schaefer beer OR his SROH shirt in his photo. T'sk, t'sk.

As an example to the young'uns, SHOFer Uncle Dave brings it strong. He enjoys time toying with his '55 Chevy, appreciating old school Winston Cup signage, and sharing Schaefer with friend. THAT's the way to do it.

Uncle Dave also managed to score an ancient Schaefer keg bar light for the best price of all ... free. It didn't work well so he re-wired the thing, and now it works as good as new old-school.

If you've read this blog much at all, you know when Schaefer schelebrations are featured that SROH member Bruton will be right in the middle of one of them.

The following photo is perhaps the most enviable one of this post.

Bruton was prepared to write an emergency note of "Send more Schaefer...PLEASE!", stuff it in the can, and toss it to the surf. But he realized (1) the letter would get wet and (2) the can had 3 remaining ounces in it that couldn't be wasted.

One interesting discovery Bruton made this summer was to discover the fossilized remains of the frequently-sought but rarely-found Schaefersaurus.

SHOFer co-founder and executive committee voting member, Philly, enjoyed his schummer Schaefer with a Carolina classic - low country boil. You can never have enough of either.

SROH member 200WINZ delivered his own Schaefer meal - steak, potato, and Caesar salad. What completes this? The styrofoam bowls and Dixie plate - no doubt.

While in Richmond for the September Cup race, 200WINZ met someone who is arguably the most famous celebrity in American pop culture today - Windell Middlebrooks from the Miller High Life commercials.

Windell schills for Miller - not Schaefer - but that's OK. MillerCoors brews Schaefer along with all other beers owned by Pabst Brewing. And in a spirit of transparency, SHOF members also acknowledge each member will willingly quaff the champagne of beers when Schaefer is not available. Finally, I'm willing to bet Windell is the kind of guy who would in return enjoy a cold Schaefer with you if the cameras were away.

The 2011 Schaefer Schummer is now over. But that simply means its time to submit those pictures and stories of your enjoying Schaefer this fall and throughout the holidays.

Scha-LOOT!

TMC

The Schaefer Schummer of 2011...so far

As has been well documented, the Schaefer Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor has been alive and well at a couple of speedways in 2011 - with still a few more to go before the season ends. But as we often say ...

Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

(If I haven't given attribution in the past, I certainly need to do so now. That great slogan is credited to 2011 SHOF inductee Rev. Randy Esq.)

Here are a few other ways SHOFers and SROH members have schelebrated their 2011 Schaefer Schummer ... so far.

Schaefer Ring of Honor member, Bubba, made a rare appearance this schummer with his Schaefer Schushi.

Sticking with the fishing theme, the Georgia Chapter of the Schaefer Ring of Honor represented itself on the lake quite admirably. SROH member Bruton and his brother, Dale JR Ewing, hauled in 40 bluegill plus one honking-sized catfish! Being a fisherman, he might have suggested the two of them matched Schaefer for fish, but somehow I doubt it.

Rev. Randy Esq., the most recent inductee into the Schaefer Hall of Fame, wasted no time leveraging his enshrinement to his advantage. He had the opportunity to meet famed car owner, Richard "Rowdy Pounder" Childress.

Though this had to have been a memorable event, I wish the esteemed Rev. could have worn his Schaefer shirt under his button-down. It would have been cool to see him rip it as if he were Superman getting ready to rescue the party.

Randy is also getting ready to race in the Chump Car World Series event at Virginia International Raceway this weekend. With the extreme heat being experienced this summer, he thought it would be a good idea to order a "cool shirt" to circulate water against his skin as he drives.

Check out the manufacturer. Though spelled differently, the spirit is there. Nothing keeps you cooler on a hot schummer day than a cold Schaefer.

Speaking of the heat, Bruton once again took his Schaefer experience to Daytona Beach, Florida in July.

He loaded up his truck before heading for Florida for the Firecracker ... Pepsi ... Coke 400. Packing the old school beer in the truck convinced him to go old school with his hats. Here he is sporting the Union76 colors, formerly the official fuel of NASCAR.

Once he settled in at Daytona International Speedway, he wanted to make sure all around him knew how old school he was. An STP cap, an RPM/A.J. Allmendinger retro-Richard Petty scheme koozie, his SROH shirt, and of course an ice cold Schaef.

One word of caution for future races though Bruton: As you are mugging for the camera, you might want to keep an eye on guys around you who may be conspiring to kick your ass so they can steal your Schaefer.

After returning home from the beach, Bruton continued his fine ways of Schaefervangelism with family, friends, and neighbors. Upon tasting an offered Schaef, one of his neighbors quipped "Hmm, it's not that bad."

Bruton also excels at pairing Schaefer with great meals. A couple of examples include hot wings and fries...

...and another includes a tasty-looking pork tenderloin.

TMC even got into the action away from the track. One of my experiences was more taxing than enjoyable. After spending the weekend at Kentucky Speedway, I returned to reality to seal my cedar fence. I only needed 9 hours, 20 gallons of sealer, and 2 Schaefers to complete the job.

A BRIEF INTERRUPTION FOR A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Fellas, this label provides sound advice for any strenuous activity ... including sealing a fence.

Back to the blog...

But while Schaefer helped make a tough job bearable, I did experience some good Schaefer-related times earlier this year in Portland, OR.

A friend of mine took me to a several great places. Sadly, I must say procuring a Schaefer during our crawl wasn't possible - but great Schaefer experiences were shared nonetheless.

One place we quaffed some local brews was The Pub At The End of the Universe...

Another place was the Clinton Street Pub which served two of Schaefer's cousins - Hamm's and PBR. Once inside, I was pleased to find they had another cousin on draft - the long-tenured, Pacific Northwest Olympia. As with all the other yard-beer brands Pabst now owns, I'm quite certain the original recipe for Oly is no more. Yet for nostalgia reasons, I had to have one.

My eyes quickly opened and my pulse quickened when I saw this clock. I truly thought that yes indeedy I was going to get a west coast Schaefer after all. However, it wasn't meant to be. The clock was merely decorative and not a promotion for the beers they had. Close but no cigar ... err ... Schaefer.

After our pub crawl ended, we went to the infamous Voodoo Doughnut.

I was goaded into trying a doughnut bar with maple glaze and crisp bacon on top. One word: phenomenal. Even when downed ... near midnight ... upon multiple varieties of Portland brew.

The next day, I drove to Tillamook, an Oregon coastal town a couple of hours to the west of Portland. Todd Snider, one of my favorite singer-songwriters, lives in Nashville now but is originally from Portland. He has a great song titled Tillamook County Jail.

So opting for a bit of a when in Rome attitude, I found the Tillamook city limits sign and the police department and jail and decided to enjoy a bit of a Schaefer in their presence. (I was able to enjoy at least ONE west coast Schaefer - the one I packed in my suitcase.) Not the entire thing mind you - just enough to get my photo-ops and move it on down the line. I was a photo-op seeking tourist - not someone stupid enough (hopefully) to get an extended-stay, behind the scenes tour of the jail.

You may have to watch the video and listen to the lyrics for context.

Finally, the triple-digit heat of 2011 sometimes makes one conjure crazy images if too much time is spent in it. There have been a couple of times this year that it's happened to me. One odd image I visioned was my attempting to drink a can of Schaefer larger than me!

Though to be honest, I've not yet reconciled if it's a nightmare ... or sweet dreams.

To be continued...

TMC

Schaefer in Scheptember

Everyone knows about the dog days of summer. What you may not know is hot summers result in cool Schaefer times. After some great experiences in May through July, the Schaefer Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor raised the bar (and more than a few cans) during Scheptember. (Many celebrations happened in August too; however, I couldn't out a creative way to work it into the blog title without taking away from Scheptember.)

August

When I was in San Antonio, I paid an unannounced visit to the corporate HQ of Pabst Brewing - the parent company of Schaefer. (Yes, I realize this was technically late July vs. August. But I've already blogged about July and didn't include this story. So sue me.)

Pabst's corporate office is technically in San Antonio. The company moved there following its acquisition by Pearl Brewing. Then, Pearl was a San Antonio-based brewer. Today, its brewery and operations are no more. The remainder of Pabst's operations in San Antonio is limited to the fun departments like HR, accounting, some local marketing, and IT support. All of the execs, sales leadership, and marketing folks work in an office outside of Chicago. Yet - in the end - I was there. At the Pabst base camp - with my Schaefer. You know the old saying. Home is where you hang your hat.

Here is Schaefer Hall of Famer Cuba with Ring of Honor members Stephanie (L) and Havana Montana (R) at a Carolina beach. Lesson learned from this adventure? When drinking Schaefer, be sure to remove all Sharpies from your pockets before washing your shorts.

Keeping the SHOF race-centric, here is Philly enjoying some dirt tracking with Schaefer Light at Charlotte Motor Speedway's Dirt Track.

SHOFer Uncle D couldn't make it to the Coca-Cola 600 this year. But he made his presence known at the CARFAX 400 at Michigan Speedway. He also inducted his bud, John, into the Schaefer Ring of Honor. They also met a Canadian ... drinking Mexican Corona beer ... at a United States NASCAR race. Its possible the SHOF will need the services of its legal counsel, Rev. Randy, Esq., to determine if some sort of Geneva Convention law was violated in all of that.

SHOFers Philly and TMC, SROH member Chet, and probationary SROH intern Wilbur (Philly's son) made the trek to Bristol for the legendary night race. One of our newest members, 200WINZ, was formally inducted into the Ring of Honor. And Philly and I were proud to bestow SROH honors upon Deirdre aka Koleslaw - a proud volunteer in the United States Navy. She plans to send photos for me to blog of her wearing the Schaefer colors when she returns to her next overseas assignment in 2011 - Afghanistan. God bless you Koleslaw. (For more details on the Bristol weekend, here are links to part 1 and part 2.)

As Philly drove from North Carolina to Bristol, he passed by the legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway. Of course, in Wilkes County folks are known for sipping self-created alcoholic beverages with a kick far stronger than a tall-boy Schaefer.

SROH member Ron ensured his Schaef was well represented during an August trip to the beach

Cuba and Havana Montana wanted all to know nothing makes a couple happier than a night of cards and a cold Schaefer. Peace out.

When one is down to a single card in UNO, its time to begin celebrating...

But if one calls UNO! when looking in the refrigerator for another Schaefer...

its time to send someone on a beer run.


The hot August days brought about warm memories with friends such as...

Friend of Philly on visit to Helen, GA.

Brother of Ron

Friend of Ron - Da Murf!

Neighbors of Ron

Lanie (R) and friend

Some who don't understand the phenomenon of the Schaefer experience choose to hate on it. They dismiss the SHOF/SROH as old timers drinking an obscure, out-of-favor beer. While the beer brand itself may be legendary, the SHOF is creative in its procurement, enjoyment, and promotion of it.

For instance, Philly is now the proud owner of "new" used race truck with a Schaefer-gold base coat of paint. Once he adds some red striping, it'll be race ready for the 20th Annual Schaefer Racing Hootennany in May 2011.

September

The calendar page may have flipped to the ninth month, but the hot temps remained for much of the country. No worries as the Schaefer schelebrations continued.

Ron went all photo artsy-fartsy on us with this creative shot at Atlanta Motor Speedway while there to enjoy the Emory Healthcare 500.

Question: What washes down hot wings better than a cold Schaefer? Answer: Well, duh. Nothing.

Ron and his family returned to the beach - this time New Smyrna Beach, FL - where Fort Schaefer was constructed. Some may view this creation simply as a sand castle adorned by a single Schaefer can atop it. To me, however, the build speaks metaphorically as the arms of the masses longing to secure their own Schaefer. Take that art interpreters.

Cleveland, OH's own SHOFer Uncle D and the recently SROH-inducted John went to Richmond International Raceway to enjoy some of the sights, sounds, and smells of the Air Guard 400.

New Jersey's SROH representative 200WINZ also made the trip to Richmond. But he focused just on the sights part by meeting Miss Sprint Cup (or is it just Miss Sprint? Sprint Cups?)

Shortly after the race ended and I had turned off the TV, my phone buzzed. 200WINZ texted me to say he and his buddies were singing the Schaefer jingle theme song back at his motorhome. I returned the text asking him to video it. He replied "call me and we'll sing it". So I did - and they did!

As an aside, the Schaefer Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor have had a fantastic year at the track in 2011. We've had representation at the following races so far this year:

• Shelby American (Las Vegas) - Philly and TMC
• All-Star Race - Philly and Rookie
• Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)- Philly, Lanie, Rookie, Erin, Cuba, Havana, Stephanie, Padook, Ron, Rev. Randy, Monte Dutton, and TMC
• Sonoma - Kristi
• Coca-Cola 400 (Daytona) - Ron
• CARFAX 400 (Michigan) - Uncle D. and John
• IRWIN Tools Night Race (Bristol) - Philly, Chet, 200WINZ, Koleslaw, Kristi, and TMC
• Emory Healthcare 500 (Atlanta) - Ron
• Air Guard 400 (Richmond) - 200WINZ, Uncle D., and John
• NASCAR Banking 500 (Charlotte in October) - Philly

With my race season in the rear view mirror, I find myself having to creatively expand ways to enjoy Schaefer the rest of the year. First up? Baltimore, as previously blogged.

The summer of 2010 is now pretty much in the books. We have hit the double-digit months of the year. Its now time to turn our focus to autumn - and before you know it, winter. Ron is taking no chances with the looming cold winter, a predicted tumultuous series of November elections, and an uncertain economy. So as part of his home emergency preparedness plan, he loaded up on six cases of Schaefer in south Georgia to hold him over for a few days... weeks... months.

TMC