Michael Patrick O’Brien–
The monastic movement has contributed much to society. Monasteries have been centers of learning and scholarship, cultural preservation, and spiritual development. There are lesser known benefits too, such as the production of great wines and beers. In fact, thanks to the old Utah Trappist monastery, I visited my first beer bar when I was just a young teen.
One day in the early 1970s, while visiting the monastery with my family, we told one of the monks and his guest that we were hungry and looking for a restaurant recommendation. One of them insisted that we try a place in nearby Huntsville called the “Shooting Star” and gave us directions. We followed the instructions and quickly realized that the full name of the establishment was the “Shooting Star Saloon,” a decrepit-looking, weather-worn tavern.
The bar was established in 1879 and still operates today, some 140 years later. It is odd element indeed of an otherwise conservative small town community dominated by the non-drinking members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It appears today much as it did during my first visit, an old red brick, distressed wood, small building located on a corner of what passes for downtown Huntsville. Exposed tree trunk-like pillars support the shingled front entry porch, which is accented by an ancient wooden bench. Imagine the sort of Western bar that Wyatt Earp might have frequented in either Dodge City or Tombstone, and you will have a good mental picture of the Shooting Star.
The inside matches the Wild West exterior and includes such staples such as wooden booths and stools, a classic wood bar, a pool table, a vintage antique cash register, dollar bills on the ceiling, and mounted animal heads on the walls. One such macabre but iconic decapitated decoration belonged to an owner’s beloved deceased pet, a St. Bernard dog. The bar’s website (https://shooting-star-saloon.business.site/) advertises the place today as the “Oldest continuously operating Saloon west of the Mississippi.”
When we first visited there in the 1970s, a sign on the door warned that no one under age twenty one was to be admitted. For some reason, they made an exception for teenage me and let us all in to eat lunch. (I hope no one gets in trouble for this belated disclosure, but I think the statute of limitations has likely passed on this particular transgression.)
Mom entered the place tentatively because, due to family history, she rarely if ever went into bars. Her father was an alcoholic. Her prim and proper mother (my grandmother) had been traumatized by the presence of New England bootleggers in the family. Grandmother felt the obligation to visit her wayward relatives but lived in constant fear the police would bust the place during one of her visits.
There were no such problems at Huntsville’s Shooting Star. An old grizzled bearded bartender welcomed us warmly and pointed to an empty wooden booth. We ate a delicious cheeseburger and potato chips (but no fries). I have enjoyed this same meal there on other occasions there too. There is nothing else on the menu and, near as I can tell, never has been.
Trappists around the world have brewed beer and produced wine for hundreds of years. Their governing Rule of St. Benedict stresses the importance of “ora et labora” or “pray and work.” Beer and wine production has satisfied the “labora” mandate for many monasteries, but never did at Holy Trinity Abbey in Utah. After all, who needs to go to all the trouble of brewing your own beer when you have a great neighbor like the Shooting Star?
