Joe Pat Allen
I met Joe Pat Allen early in my life; he loved sports and enjoyed playing them, too. Joe Pat worked at Burroughs like most adults at his age, either you took seasonal labor outside or you frolicked at some local factory or distillery here in Bardstown.
Joe Pat loved his cold mug of beer at Joe’s and everyone did. Joe’s place was home away from home where all your friends lived after work. Joe Pat was a decent pool shooter but I wouldn't say he was near the best and when he was young before his eyes started to go bad, he won a few bucks. He was decent at foosball, what a game that was; the game was very new to Bardstown, too. The game was invented and patented by Harold Searles Thorton in 1921. A serviceman Lawrence Patterson discovered it in Germany in the 1950s and brought it into the United States. In the 1970s, the game took off like mad! A great game. I practiced endlessly, because I had free access, I cleaned up the tavern. We had some historic games on Joe’s foosball table. The jukebox was right next to it and Joe Lawrence had it loaded up with Wille Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and CSN&Y. The winner got free beer. I played front, but was a great back goalie too. Joe Pat often played goalie as my partner. We played long enough to get drunk, then quit, and watched the World Series, or whatever game was on ESPN, or on the local channels.
Joe Pat was a decent person, he came from a strict Catholic family, they lived less than a mile from St. Joseph’s Church. He was one of the Maple Hill Gang, a neighborhood jof many patrons of Joe’s Tavern. The tavern made everyone come together, it was like a human convention of friends. Friday nights came to be everyone’s Mecca; where everyone prayed to the ever-flowing tap premium beer.
