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LENTEN FERIA
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from Inlander
By Eliza Billingham
"Come guess me this riddle: What beats pipe and fiddle? What's hotter than mustard and milder than cream? What best wets your whistle? What's clearer than crystal? What's sweeter than honey and stronger than steam?" So lilts the old Irish folk song, "The Humours of Whiskey." It sings the power of ancient whiskey, an English borrowing of the Gaelic word "usquebaugh," which means "water of life." Tucked between ponderosas in the Selkirk foothills of Clayton, Washington, a few all-but-forgotten Old World recipes for these "waters of life" are being resurrected in the New World. Will Persons is the craft distiller and owner of Olde Tyme Spirits, a line of Celtic brandies and some traditional Slavic spirits. Armed with a cookbook of centuries-old recipes handwritten by his grandfather, Persons is reintroducing spirits distilled from apples, apricots, cherries and plums that are older than America itself. In today's legal world, "whiskey" has to be distilled from fermented grain, so Persons' fruit-based spirits don't count. But he's convinced that anyone singing about "water of life" a hundred years ago would have been sipping on something similar to the smooth, rich spirits that he's creating today.
By Eliza Billingham
When Richard “Dale” Storr sat in solitary confinement outside Basra, Iraq, his cell walls were so thick that he couldn’t hear if anyone else was in the jail. This Saturday, the four walls of his neighborhood bar will be so full of people that he probably won’t be able to hear much else. On Feb. 2, 1991, Storr — or “Storr Man,” as the fighter pilot was known — was shot down and captured on a Desert Storm mission. The Gulf War ended on Feb. 28, and a week later, Storr was released to make his way back home to Spokane. Today, Storr owns Hi Neighbor Tavern, a sports bar on North Monroe Street that’s over 50 years old. Every year, Storr celebrates his “Freedom Day” with family and friends. But this year, Hi Neighbor staff are planning the biggest bash yet. On March 16, Hi Neighbor is hosting a celebration of the perfect storm: Storr’s Freedom Day on March 6, St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, and Storr’s birthday on March 18. The open house starts at 1 pm and goes until the party’s over. There will be plenty of drinking, reminiscing and one-upping stories. And despite Storr’s disapproval, there will definitely be cake.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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