A hip ‘new’ club

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2012 (5189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With unit presidents’ photos lining the walls and shuffleboard tables in the back, the Army, Navy & Air Force (ANAF) Club 60 looks like any other veterans’ club, complete with karaoke every Saturday.

You might not suspect that it is quickly becoming one of Winnipeg’s most popular weekend destinations.

Founded in 1928, the club is situated at 3-433 River Avenue at the corner of Osborne Street. Contrary to traditional veterans’-club rules, it has opened up its membership to those not affiliated with the armed forces, and is trying to widen its appeal to the younger folks who flock to Osborne Village every weekend.

“What’s happening is many of our veterans are passing away, so we need to relax the way that we do things a little bit, without taking away the traditions,” explained Shelley Pedersen, manager of the club.

That doesn’t mean the club has done away with all of its rules. If you’re going to hang out at ANAF Club 60, there is to be no swearing, and you’d better take your hat off as soon as you walk in the door. Though these rules have upset some customers, for the most part, everyone who comes through the club abides by them without any complaints, she said.

“I got a call from someone saying ‘If they fought for our freedom why can’t I have to freedom to wear a hat if I want to?’ What do I say to that? Those are the rules. We still have to keep incorporating some of the traditions,” Pedersen said.

While it still organizes several activities for its older members, including sponsoring a shuffleboard league, the club has begun bringing in live music on the weekend more oriented to its younger customers, including country rock acts Cheering For The Bad Guy and The Bushtits.

Jay Evaristo, a bartender at ANAF Club 60, said that when he first started working for the club about 18 months ago, many of his friends in university didn’t event know the place existed.

Some were under the assumption that they couldn’t enter if they weren’t in the armed forces or had no family members who were members of the military.

“When I started working here, we didn’t have nights like you see now. We had nights where you’d put $50 through the till; it was really, really slow,” Evaristo said.

Given that the club is located in the heart of Osborne Village, Evaristo saw an opportunity to market the club’s laid-back, casual atmosphere to his younger friends.

“There’s no hour-long wait outside in the cold to get in. It’s not pretentious at all. It’s a really fun environment; we don’t have a lot of trouble here — and we’d like to keep it that way,” he said.

Sheldon Birnie, lead singer of Cheering for the Bad Guy, said he’s frequented other veterans’ clubs in the past, but felt ANAF Club 60 has opened itself to the public in a way that many other clubs haven’t.

“They’re definitely conscious that they need to expand their membership to survive in the way the older members want them to survive as a veterans’ club,” he said.

For him, it’s the club’s adherence to tradition, including the no-hat, no-swearing rule, that makes it stand out from other bars.

“I remember one of the first times as an adult going into a legion and almost getting through with my hat on.

“My uncle turned to me and said ‘You better take that off or you’re going to owe the whole bar a round,’ ” he said.

“Not because he was mad at me but just to say these are the rules and you gotta play by them, so I’m conscious of that. It would be weird without the rules; it wouldn’t be the same scene for me.”

Donald Schneider, a member of the ANAF Unit 60 executive and veteran of the armed forces, said he thinks the increase in younger clientele is a positive change for the club.

“Sometimes the music is a bit hard to take, but so what? If people are there to have fun, let them have fun,” he said.

Many young customers who come through seem to take a keen interest in his military background, which he greatly appreciates.

“When I was in [the armed forces], young people didn’t seem to know anything, but now, they seem to have a lot of respect for Canadian soldiers. They want to know what I did,” he said.

Schneider used to frequent the Royal Canadian Legion in Kenora, Ont., but said he never saw the same influx of young customers as he does at ANAF Club 60.

“With ANAF, we let them do what they want in here, to an extent, and they love it and they’re well behaved,” he said.

“It’s not a library: There are going to be some problems, but for the most part it’s under control.”