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Ding, ding and ding, the donation bell has rung once again!

John Freim has once again donated 20 dollars to the blog to help out with the cost of beer, gas and Uber rides!

This is an ongoing monthly donation from John and I appreciate it greatly! Thanks, John!

If you’d like to donate to help with the cost of beer, gas and Ubers, simply click here and scroll down to the donate button!

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So last Sunday evening I was going to a family dinner to celebrate my sister Terry’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Terry!) and so I needed to do my bar thing during the day. I started looking around and discovered that Peoria’s German American Society was having a Bratfest at Hickory Grove Park.

I don’t think I’ve been to one of these German gatherings at Hickory Grove Park for more than 30 years! I used to love to go to them back in the ’80’s. I think we’re overdue for a return visit and today that’s exactly what we’re going to do!

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Bar Number 180: Hickory Grove Park, Sunday August 2, 2026

Here we are at the grassy parking lot at Hickory Grove Park. We’ll hike on over to…

The entrance!

Let’s go in and see what’s shaking here at the park!

There’s a nice crowd here on this summer afternoon in the park.

There’s the German band playing German tunes, we’ll come back and check them out later. Right now I need to find the bar in here.

Here’s a vendor table with German hats and beer mugs for sale. This is great, but where the hell is the bar?

More people and a German Nail Game…but no bar!

I thought maybe this building would have the bar, but it’s just selling dinner and sandwiches. Mistkerl!

Here’s an ice cream truck…but still no bar! I see people walking around with glasses of beer, so it’s got to be somewhere around here somewhere…

I glanced over at this crowd and saw a sign…the bar!

There it is in all of its glory, the bar at Hickory Grove Park!

All the action seems to be down at the other end though, so let’s go down there.

You order down here and there’s the beer and drink list. I went with a domestic beer which was Miller Lite.

This gentleman poured and served me the beer. Danke!

They serve up a big glass of beer here, I think this is a 20 ounce cup! Prost!

They also have plenty of booze for a mixed drink, but who drinks a mixed drink at a German Bratfest?

And the band plays on and people are out there dancing as the alcohol kicks in!

I wondered what this sign meant, so I turned to my good friend Google for a translation and there you go! Don’t let anyone say I don’t do my research here at MBIP!