Don’t judge, Big Red and a Ron Mower Revolution

Sometimes you take your lawn mower to the bar to pick up a Big Red.

Or nine lawn mowers.

Passers-by of Huntingburg’s well-known bar Ron’s Place would have happened upon nine mowers of the rider and push variety parked in front Tuesday evening. (To be fair, one of the “mowers” was a New Holland frontend loader, but for the sake of consistency in the story…)

The glorious machines of green, red and blue, some rusty and dusty while others polished, were all parked at a jaunty angle along the curb in front of the bar while the operators of the grass-munching machines laughed and took pictures waving cans of Big Red.

What the heck was going on? A lawn mower poker run? Or as Molly Johannemann, an employee at the bar, called it, a Ron Mower Revolution?

Well, it all began with a photo, a disparaging remark and Facebook.

Let’s back up.

Weekly, Jeff Foerster drives a Cub Cadet riding lawn mower down to Ron’s Place in Huntingburg to mow the lot behind the well-known bar.

When he finished the job this last week, the 49-year-old puttered down to a friend’s house and after visiting for a bit, came back up to the bar and backed the Cadet in at a jaunty angle.

As is his usual habit, Jeff wanted to grab his usual, a Big Red, before heading home in the hot sun.

While Jeff was in the bar sipping on his Big Red and talking with a couple other patrons, someone drove by and snapped a picture.

“I stopped to drink me a Big Red and then I was going to go home,” Jeff explained. “Someone drove by and took a picture of my riding mower and put it on Facebook saying ‘It’s pretty bad when a man’s got to drive a riding mower to the bar to get a beer.'”

After some friends found the post on Facebook, the owner of Ron’s Place, Bobby Buechlein, and Jeff’s friends decided to hold the lawn mower rally.

“Bobby [Buechlein] said he was going to get a bunch of people together with their mowers and see who takes a picture,” Jeff said. “I didn’t think they were serious about doing it.”

But the friends did and after leaving the mowers out front for a while for any passers-by to admire and take photos, the group came out with cans of Big Red and took a couple photos of their own.

Bobby explained that if a guy wants to drive his lawn mower to the bar for a Big Red, it shouldn’t be a big deal.

“We are a judgment-free facility,” Molly added.

After a bit of sugar- and red food dye-induced revelry, the mowers collectively sputtered and headed home. (I wish I could write “into the sunset” but a passing train was blocking it.)