Everyone Can Agree On The Ham

They celebrated Armed Forces Day with a baked ham dinner Saturday night at the American Legion hall in Athol, Idaho.

Scalloped potatoes, Jell-O with marshmallows and a reality check were on the menu.

A few days before the event, the dinner had been noted in the paper. And a woman answering the phone at the hall had warned that tickets would sell fast. But nobody really seemed to be expecting strangers when one came through the door.

“You looking for the men’s room?” asked a friendly sixtysomething woman who was arranging salads and desserts on a covered pool table.

That confusion was cleared up. And a tall man in cowboy boots, Ivan was his name, accepted $5 in exchange for a yellow dinner ticket.

But dinner wasn’t going to be ready for a few minutes. So there was time to soak up the vibes at the Clifford A. Hackney American Legion Post 149.

The hall, located on Highway 54 next to a joint called the Pastime Club - where a sign says “Beer Lovers Parking Only” - is essentially a no-frills one-room affair. And with people smoking and nursing drinks at the bar as families with kids waited for ham at nearby tables, it was hard to decide if the place seemed more like a tavern or a community center.

The house rules were posted. “No legion business discussed at the bar.” And “Foul language/rowdy behavior not tolerated.”

The decor could be described in two words: Budweiser signs.

A man and woman playing electric guitars competently performed songs such as “Heartaches By The Number” and “Take These Chains From My Heart.”

A guy in a Minnesota Twins T-shirt went around with a big can collecting donations for the musicians. “You don’t have to,” he said with a shrug.

Another man made the rounds, waiting for people to comment on his “Idaho Native” sweatshirt.

But one thing was missing. Politics.

Americans of a liberal stripe have been known to imagine that legion halls are darkly mysterious places, inhabited by bitter old cranks still blaming hippies for the way things turned out in Vietnam.

You never know. That’s probably true some places. But not in Athol. Not Saturday night.

The only issue was baked ham. And everyone was on the same side.

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