Anton "Big Moose" Pellowski

1873 Pine Creek - 1940 Winona

I grew up on a farm back in Hungary Valley;
I liked it well enough because I was young and dumb.
My oldest brother Jake brought me to Winona with him
Where he and I ran a saloon on East Fifth.
Due to certain fiduciary issues,
Jake and his family moved back to Trempealeau County
Leaving me, aged 25, in charge of
A bankrupt beer joint. But lucky for me
I was a natural businessman. I loved the job.
I made so much money that Jake never forgave me.
Too bad. So long, Hungary Valley.
Everything about the Big Moose was sharp.
I dressed sharp, I smelled sharp, I looked sharp.
I wore a flower in my lapel and
Chatted with everyone who walked by Third and Main.
Everyone used to talk about the Big Moose.
Then came the Eighteenth Amendment, Volstead Act,
Or Prohibition - whatever you want to call it.
I called it a Godsend.
The rotgut rolled out and the money rolled in.
When the cops, as sometimes they had to do,
Ran me in, I just said
"What should be, happens."
Until the day when the judge found me guilty,
As sometimes he had to do, fining me
Five hundred dollars. I pull five brand new
Hundred dollar bills from my vest pocket.
And beaming, place them before His Honor.
Who grins back at me. "Pellowski, look in your pocket again.
Do you have sixty days in there too?"
Everyone burst out laughing. Myself included
Nobody could ever tell a story on the Big Moose
Better than the Big Moose himself.
They talk about me in the hollows of Pine Creek today.
What should be, happens.