Do you remember the original Bear’s Den at UMaine?

BearsDenLook…  Some parts of college are pretty fuzzy for me. After more than a decade away plus some weekend choices that, in retrospect, might have been less-than-good for my brain cells, there are things that just aren’t going to stick.

But I do remember one thing: the original Bear’s Den. 
 
I know I probably missed the heyday of things like Bumstock and the Bear’s Den as a kid of the 80s/90s.  But when I was an impressionable little frosh, there wasn’t a cooler thing than sitting down with a few upperclassmen and a pitcher of beer and drinking a pint out at a bar for the first time.  Especially if there was a band playing – and it didn’t matter how good they were (or not.  Usually not…).  The Bear’s Den was the first taste of young adult living: out for a beer, music, and a good time.  The greasy cheese sticks or fries soaked up the suds, as cholesterol, sodium, and trans fats never crossed our young minds.
 
The Bear’s Den was also a staple of daytime life, of course.  For me, it was the perfect pit stop on my way from Oxford Hall on hilltop to classes in the Pavilion Theatre, Nutting Hall, or Libby Hall, or before/after hitting Fogler Library (See?  I did some actual school work!).  My staple was the grilled chicken sandwich with a Fresh Samantha (remember them?  Before Odwalla, kids…) – portable and delicious-ish.
 
Most of all, the Bear’s Den was a meeting point.  If you had to meet someone, the Bear’s Den provided one of a few central locations and reference points (Fogler’s steps, The Pit, maybe the Maine Center for the Arts/now the Collins Center would’ve been the others, I guess).  That’s what I think the best part of recalling college days, or any days – the places and times that give a common sense of the community where we were, and what we shared.  The Bear’s Den did that for thousands of stein fillers over the years. The new incarnation of the Bear’s Den may not be the same, but seeing some of the newer Black Bears taking part in some of their own memories that might be a little fuzzy one day helps keep the tradition alive.

5 Responses to “ Do you remember the original Bear’s Den at UMaine? ”

  1. The original Bear’s Ben? Beer was not a part of that! I remember it from the 50’s and early 60’s when you went to the counter and ordered your hamburger and milkshake to be made on the spot just for you. They mixed the cherry, lemon, and vanilla cokes by the glass. There was a linoleum floor, formica tables, and florescent lights, and the place hummed with the conversation of crewcut young men and girls in full skirts and music from the jukebox (for a dime). Plenty of beer was consumed around campus, I am sure, but not at the Bear’s Den, that was where you went with your books (carried in your arms) because you at least wanted to look as though you had been/were headed to the library. Steins were for frat parties.

  2. Not sure exactly when beer was introduced, but it was very much a part of the Bear’s Den through the 1980’s and 90’s before it fell victim to “urban renewal”.

  3. My memories are from the ’60’s, so definitely no beer. No freshmen with cars on campus, no boys visiting girls’ dorms, curfews…pavilion was a sheep pen in the middle of campus.

  4. I not only worked at the Bear’s Den as a student(54-58)but spend a lot of free time there also.It was the social center on campus..of course Pat’s was the off campus spot for those of age..Irv Fletcher

  5. Beer was first introduced to the bears den when the drinking age was lowered to 18. That was in 1970+ or so.

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