SintonFan
07-31-2009, 10:22 PM
In the off season folks used to go to a place like this to have fun:
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Pub Crawl Martinez Social Club
JIM BEAL JR.
Express-News
Dancing real dancing, couples dancing is the main attraction.
•Address: 7791 FM 1346 (East Houston Street at St. Hedwig Road)
•Phone: (210) 661-2422
Snapshot: Deep in the East Side, out in the county, you can find folks who wear cowboy boots and hats to work and to play, not just when the rodeo comes to town. You can find folks who spell their last names with as many consonants as vowels. You can find folks for whom dancing comes as easy as walking. A couple times a week, you can find those folks at the 97-year-old Martinez Social Club.
Who goes there: We don't really get a lot of area people, said manager Rosalie Mikolajczyk. We get mostly seniors. Not many younger people come in, but when they do, we're happy. Mikolajczyk said people come from Falls City, Lockhart, Pleasanton and Castroville to dance on the hall's wooden floor. The club started as a community center back when this was a farming community. We opened to the public about 20 years ago, she said. It only costs $12 a year to be a member.
Behind the bar: The beverage menu is simple: bottled beer (and no fancy bottled beer), soft dinks, wine coolers and setups. Most of the beer sells for $1.50 a bottle (Shiner costs $2). Wine coolers go for $2.
Munchies: Chips, crackers, popcorn and a few other bar snacks are for sale. On special occasions, such as the recent 97th anniversary party, the members put on a big spread. Potluck meals have been known to break out on Sundays.
Fun and games: Dancing real dancing, couples dancing is the fun. There's one TV set over the bar. Martinez Social Club also has a bowling alley, complete with kids setting pins by hand. During the summer, there's bowling at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. During the winter, the bowling happens Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9.
Soundtrack: Local and area bands play country, real country. And some of the groups wisely spice the country repertoire with dance-floor-filling Czech/German/Polish/Bohemian polkas and waltzes. There's a polka dance one Saturday a month. Right now it's on the first Saturday, but it's probably going to be moved to the third Saturday. Cover charge is $7.
The skinny: Martinez Social Club is the real thing, an oasis in a harsh world, a little bit of the past that remains vital and transcends nostalgia, because there's no substitute for dancing, and socializing, in a place built for those very things.
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Link (http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/Pub_Crawl_151_Martinez_Social_Club.html)
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Gonna take my family there next Sunday.:)
.
.
Pub Crawl Martinez Social Club
JIM BEAL JR.
Express-News
Dancing real dancing, couples dancing is the main attraction.
•Address: 7791 FM 1346 (East Houston Street at St. Hedwig Road)
•Phone: (210) 661-2422
Snapshot: Deep in the East Side, out in the county, you can find folks who wear cowboy boots and hats to work and to play, not just when the rodeo comes to town. You can find folks who spell their last names with as many consonants as vowels. You can find folks for whom dancing comes as easy as walking. A couple times a week, you can find those folks at the 97-year-old Martinez Social Club.
Who goes there: We don't really get a lot of area people, said manager Rosalie Mikolajczyk. We get mostly seniors. Not many younger people come in, but when they do, we're happy. Mikolajczyk said people come from Falls City, Lockhart, Pleasanton and Castroville to dance on the hall's wooden floor. The club started as a community center back when this was a farming community. We opened to the public about 20 years ago, she said. It only costs $12 a year to be a member.
Behind the bar: The beverage menu is simple: bottled beer (and no fancy bottled beer), soft dinks, wine coolers and setups. Most of the beer sells for $1.50 a bottle (Shiner costs $2). Wine coolers go for $2.
Munchies: Chips, crackers, popcorn and a few other bar snacks are for sale. On special occasions, such as the recent 97th anniversary party, the members put on a big spread. Potluck meals have been known to break out on Sundays.
Fun and games: Dancing real dancing, couples dancing is the fun. There's one TV set over the bar. Martinez Social Club also has a bowling alley, complete with kids setting pins by hand. During the summer, there's bowling at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. During the winter, the bowling happens Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9.
Soundtrack: Local and area bands play country, real country. And some of the groups wisely spice the country repertoire with dance-floor-filling Czech/German/Polish/Bohemian polkas and waltzes. There's a polka dance one Saturday a month. Right now it's on the first Saturday, but it's probably going to be moved to the third Saturday. Cover charge is $7.
The skinny: Martinez Social Club is the real thing, an oasis in a harsh world, a little bit of the past that remains vital and transcends nostalgia, because there's no substitute for dancing, and socializing, in a place built for those very things.
.
Link (http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/Pub_Crawl_151_Martinez_Social_Club.html)
.
.
Gonna take my family there next Sunday.:)