A ceremonial toast will commemorate the 74th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 7:30pm. Over 40 enthusiasts of Buffalo history will share in the celebration at Daren’s Tavern, located at 514 Howard Street at Metcalf Street near the location of the former Buffalo Stockyards.
Daren’s Tavern represents one of the best-preserved, pre-prohibition taverns in the Buffalo-Niagara. According to City of Buffalo records, the building was built in 1900 as a tavern sponsored by the Magnus Beck Brewery and has served as a tavern/restaurant for 107 years. The establishment’s museum quality interior features a finely carved wooden bar-back, neon accenting added in the 30s and an authentic, turn-of-the century tin ceiling.
Thursday’s event will commemorate the anniversary of the day the United States repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and gave Americans the constitutional ability to consume alcohol. In the Buffalo area, hard liquor was distributed to taverns, hotels and private clubs at 5 p.m. on December 6, 1933 ending nearly 14 years of temperance.
The Repeal Day toast is part of a tour of Buffalo conducted by Forgotten Buffalo. The tour will also include a home cooked, Polish meal at the R&L Tavern (owned by Lottie & Ronnie Pikuzinski’s) on Mills Street and a stop at the G&T Inn on Memorial Drive near Central Terminal. The G&T is owned by Eugene “Geno” Kiszelewski, known as Polonia’s “Polka Singing Bartender.”
Thursday’s tour is sold out but will be repeated on January 19, 2008. For more information, visit http://www.ForgottenBuffalo.com.
ForgottenBuffalo.com was created in 2004 to provide an urban explorer’s guide to the Buffalo-Niagara region. The website features unique landmarks, classic taverns, old world neighborhoods, historic 20th century sites and Nickel City oddities! Forgotten Buffalo hopes to provide visitors with an uniquely Buffalo experience by highlighting sites that have been left behind, or perhaps clandestinely left in place, providing clues as to what was there before. More than just a nostalgic trip through time, Forgotten Buffalo allows visitors to better understand why Buffalo is one of the most unique urban communities in the world.
