VOB at Army Banquet

[cowdery]

The event is called the Grog Bowl. The presenter (he comes on at about 1:20 in) is Derek Schneider. Derek is the guy Angostura hired to rehab and run the Charles Medley Distillery in Owensboro, until the financial crises crashed the parent company. Derek is retired active duty Army and now a member of the Army Reserves. In April they had a meeting of all of the Command and General Staff College instructors for the Eastern United States. It included a dinner followed by the famous Grog Bowl Ceremony. Each state nominates a representative to introduce a local beverage that their state is noted for and adds it to the grog bowl while discussing the historical significance of this beverage to that state. Clearly, the presentations run to the bombastic.

The distillery, by the way, is for sale. It still needs a lot of work.

[T Comp]

That was fun...and of course now...just had to have me a little taste of some Barton even if it's past my usual, work the next day, imbibing time :grin:.

[wmpevans]

Great video. One can only wonder what the finished product.....the combined "Grog"....tasted like.

Reminds me of college days and "Yucca" punch.

Bill.

[LongBeachScott]

I went to many, many Dining-Ins when I was in the USAF. This was actually a mild grog ceremony. Trust me, they get much rowdier.

As far as what the grog tastes like...keep in mind that the grog is a punishment for violating the rules of the mess. So, it's pretty bad. You can normally expect hot sauce, vegetables, meatballs, vinegar and all kinds of stuff in there. And, always, at least one Baby Ruth. I was at a Dining-In once where someone threw some balut in there (I'll let you look that one up). In the old days, there were usually two grog bowls - one with alcohol, one without. The non-alcoholic one was typically worse.

There is a whole ritual that is demonstrated on the proper way to go to the grog bowl when you have been caught violating the rules of the mess. Of course, if you screw up the ritual, it is another violation of the mess.

Lots of fun though!

[smokinjoe]

Nice speech by that second fella. I kept waiting for a "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!?!?! Hell no!!!"

And LBS, the Baby Ruth would be a great touch.

And I did look it up. The guy who put the balut in there should be committed...That's some nasty sh**!!!