Oberon day! What a great day to be and celebrate in Kalamazoo. It’s the first day Oberon is served again and it’s our reminder of warmer weather and good times. Hopefully, everyone had a chance to celebrate in one way or another. This year was my first time celebrating, and it went…smashingly.
My friend came over as soon as she got out of class and crammed my roommate and I into her bright blue cluttered car and headed over to Shakespeare’s, which was packed. They had the best specials ($2.50 Oberon’s and on any other Monday $2.50 pints) and they were more than an accommodating. It’s a great place to celebrate Oberon day, not to mention we had a long table full of friends who were already there.
We walked in and tired to find a table; luckily, we found our friends first, otherwise it wouldn’t have happened. We sat down and order our Oberon’s right away, looking around at a table that was already full of them and orange slices. It was perfect. We clanked our glasses together – cheers, we sipped in the taste of spring.
Then we started to talk and I revealed to the table about the subject of my article, which of course is Oberon. I ended up talking to someone I had met on New Year’s eve, a friend of a friend, named Melisa Rutkelis who drove an hour to get to Kalamazoo to celebrate. “I’m calling in sick tomorrow because I’ve been doing this for the past six years,” Rutkelis said.
Then she started reflecting on her days of being a WMU student. “My first Oberon night, I knocked over a speaker at Bells Brewery during a concert. I bled everywhere and I’ve been celebrating ever since.”
As the night progressed and the drinks kept coming, I started to think about my last year here in Kalamazoo. Then my mind wandered to the people working at Shakespeare’s. It was so crowded and everyone seemed to be ordering the same thing. How did the people working at the bar celebrate?
Finally, the perfect opportunity – he was someone who was working was at our table, not asking us if we needed more drinks but just kind of collecting the empty accumulated glasses. This is it I thought. I sat up straight, smiled and grabbed my little black notebook from my purse, pen in hand, and asked if he had time to answer a few questions. I told him who I was, what I was writing and about the magazine. He smiled and said he had all the time in the world.
I thought he was just a polite guy who knew what he was talking about, but it turned out my very last question revealed a lot. I asked him his position and he said he’s the owner! I lucked out! I interviewed the owner of Shakespeare’s, on accident, how crazy is that?
Anyways, the owner, Scott Makohn explained how fast this place fills up with people who want to enjoy the first Oberon batch of the year.
Makohn is a WMU alumni and opened the bar six-and-a-half years ago and has worked every Oberon day. “We open and celebrate our neighbor’s good beer – people look forward to it,” Mahohn says, “along with our free popcorn and big parking lot.”
“When we first opened, our dream was to have 31 taps, our first one was Oberon. I have a lot of respect for Larry Bell,” said Makohn, who talked about how great Kalamazoo is and how much he enjoys the “fantastic community.”
At that point, it was around 10:30 p.m. and Makohn estimated that they were going to probably sell 11 kegs that night. A half hour later he came back to me smiling, saying “We’ve already been through 15 kegs, I just counted.”
So, it’s official. Oberon day has been celebrated and to me it’s officially spring. Warm weather, good beers and even better specials. Bars are opening their decks and people seem to be friendlier and all around happier. The sun’s out and people are out on campus, enjoying all there is to offer. Needless to say, Oberon day was a success.