Aaron Vehling

Two years ago Water Street and UW-Eau Claire lost a piece of history that many students are too young to remember.

The Camaraderie bar was located on the corner of Fifth and Water Streets until it burned down Jan. 7, 2001. For 30 years the bar served as a meeting place for students, faculty and community members.

“It was a place where everyone felt comfortable,” said John Bachmeier, alumni director.

Bachmeier, remembers frequenting the bar when he attended the university. He planned an event that took place on Saturday to bring back the memory of The Cam, as it was often called.

Alumni and old friends of The Camaraderie gathered in the Council Fire Room of Davies Center for The Camaraderie Revisited. The event offered favorite foods that were served at The Camaraderie, such as its cheese curds. Memorabilia from the bar also was on display.

The event was planned as an attempt to draw more alumni to Homecoming events. Bachmeier said the theme generated a lot of excitement because the establishment had been around so long and was quite popular.

Senior Adrian Klenz remembers The Camaraderie as being “kind of like Cheers.”

“There was something about the atmosphere,” he said.

Student organizations and study groups used the welcoming atmosphere and study room for meetings. Klenz used to meet there with the College Democrats.

“The Cam was very good at working with students,” he said.

Employing many students was another way the bar helped them. The Camaraderie probably helped between 200-300 students work their way through college, economics professor Ed Young said.

“Pearly (Johnson, one of the owners) was always gracious and generous,” he said. “He always made people feel welcomed.”

Young was among a close group of friends that included Johnson. The group had a Christmas party every year at the bar and each friend was given a beer stein from Johnson.

“The key (to the atmosphere) was Pearly,” he said.

Several professors, including Young, also used The Camaraderie as a meeting place each week. For a long time, Young said, a group of professors met every Thursday to talk about campus issues and classes.

“It really was an excellent place to talk about improvements in the quality and access to education at UWEC,” he said.

The diverse group of clientele and the d‚cor made The Camaraderie a neat place, Johnson said.

The Cam was a family establishment, he said. Johnson’s daughters worked there, and it was a popular place for students to bring their parents.

When the building burned down, Johnson said he received an overwhelming response from students.

“It was like a home away from home for students,” he said.

Johnson, an Eau Claire native and UW-Eau Claire alumnus, and his wife Mary Lee opened the bar in 1971. The bar was named for the feeling they hoped it would bring to Water Street.

“Everything we wanted The Camaraderie to be,” he said, “it became.”