Friends, Jeff here. I come to you with some sad news. An EAW original and friend of the family, Dave Boesch, has passed away.
Steve and I first met him in the spring of 2015 when he stopped in for the first time just on a whim. I think he was curious about our brewery and why the bar was located in the back. We then saw him every day we were open afterwards. Yeah, every day! He quickly earned the nickname "Everyday Dave."
During his visits we loved hearing about his travels in the Coast Guard, what life on a buoy tender was like, and watched him get all excited describing the customized van he drove back and forth to Maine. He loved attending Erie Otters hockey games, and really enjoyed spending lunchtime with his mom. He'd often support the food truck in our lot despite saying, "well I have some antipasto or leftover wings at home". Nonprofits we hosted for Benevolent Beers benefitted from his generosity too, one time winning an Erie Roller Derby gift bag complete with a tank top he'd clearly never wear. "Oh I'll do something with it, give it away or something," he'd say.
After a while we met his nephew, Tim, who'd come down from Syracuse, NY to visit with him, grandma, and subsequently us. We learned Tim is a great appreciator of craft beer so we'd talk at-length about his brewery conquests in central NY.
Dave was a creature of habit, always keeping to a daily schedule. We knew we'd see him by about 6:30pm every day after he made his social club visits on his way to Erie's east side. He'd pop in for his two pints of Tattooed Lady (always Tattooed Lady) and sometimes he'd just won big money off the daily drawing at one of the clubs to which he belonged. We often were envious of his daily schedule, similar to Norm from Cheers.
He was big part of our EAW family and we will miss him dearly. It'll be very strange not seeing him every day. I think I speak on behalf of everyone in Dave's orbit - we are all better for knowing him and being around him during the little time we had.
Until we meet again my friend.