Flame

Mike Fitzpatrick, former owner of The Flame, shared the history of the business.

"The Flame was originally a stable for horses that was built in the 1930s. It was converted into a tavern known as Schuster's in the 1950s. 

In the 1960s, Ben and Eleanor Lasinski bought the Rendezvous beer bar next door at 908 Maria Drive. Later, Ben bought Schuster's, remodeled the bar and named it The Flame, and sold the Rendezvous to their lead bartender, Roman Dragula.  He changed the name to Romie's Rendezvous.

Wisconsin alcohol laws in the 1960s permitted people from 18 to 21 to drink beer and then at 21 to drink wine and liquor. Wisconsin had also created a special identification card for 18 year olds. ID checking became critical, because the police started busting underage drinkers. 

I joined The Flame as an ID checker in 1971. I later moved on as a bartender and assistant bar manager through the 70s. In 1973, I began dong a live DJ show that became known as Fitz’s Rock & Roll Revival on Thursday nights. The bar ran live bands on Friday and Saturday nights, but Thursday became the bar’s biggest night of the week. 

In heavily Catholic Stevens Point, Good Friday was a day off as many business closed or restricted hours, so the Flame’s Holy Thursday business was double that of New Year’s Eve. It became so popular that I began doing Rock & Roll weekends as part of the mix. As the disco era erupted in the mid-70s, entertainment at the bar shifted and a DJ booth was added with disco lighting. Live music weekends became rarer.

At some point, I expressed my desire to buy The Flame.  But in 1979, Ben unexpectedly sold the bar to someone else. He did not do well and my business partner and I purchased it in 1981. 

To build business on the slowest night of the week, I started Nu-Musik Night, featuring punk and new wave music. The night also gave me the opportunity to expose the music to benefit my other business, Graham-Lane Music, the major record store in town.  We began to take business away from College Records, a small but convenient record store located across the street from the dorm complex at UW-Stevens Point.  Nu-Musik Night drew a mix of college and other progressive locals.

Monday nights grew in reputation, bringing in folks from all over central Wisconsin. A small but significant number of the regulars were gay men and women. Because the rest of the week catered overwhelmingly to "townies" and other straight locals, tensions grew as the new music night became gayer over the years. In 1984, I met with a number of the gay regulars at their urging.  Our goal was to continue the Monday night as a gay-oriented night. The group came up with the idea of the "Monday Night Dance Club (or MNDC)," a membership-based event with a fifty cent Monday night admission. I think it cost $2 to buy the card.  This was an ad hoc group with no formal leadership and no written bylaws.

MNDC night (or "Card Night" as the townies started calling it) continued for the rest of the decade.  MNDC nights became successful. Memorial Day and Labor Day attracted crowds from all over the state as the group sponsored picnics at Pfiffner Park earlier in the day, using the monies raised to buy half-barrels of beer, while attendees brought potluck dishes. MNDC also sponsored other events, including a tubing day on the Wolf River.

MNDC only died off when the Platwood Club became a gay bar in the late 80s.

I learned that The Office on 1st Street and Treasure Island on Strongs Ave. were considered the gay-friendly bars in town. I cannot recall the name of the owner who aggressively hit on me when I visited with some of my regulars. 

 The punk Santa in one of the photos I will be sending was my girlfriend at the time.

It's important to note that we were also dealing simultaneously with the emergence of AIDS/ARC and the rise of hate crimes. Gay and AIDS became the same in the minds of many Americans. Wild stories circulated about catching AIDS from drinking from the same glass or from kissing someone gay.  I was still "openly straight” at this time, though I was still dealing covertly with one of my employees who had become ill. 

When I eventually came out, some MNDC folks were surprised. But having a gay night and serving the same bar glasses the rest of the week did hurt business. The Flame sponsored benefits for the Central Wisconsin AIDS Support Group (CWASG) that operated in conjunction with the Central Wisconsin AIDS Network (CWAN) prior to the start of Ryan White funding. 

I did “scare drag” for the only time in my life with Pendulum/R-Bar/Mad Hatter/Oz bar owners Dan White and David Deer in 1988.

My business partner (for The Flame and Graham-Lane Music) passed away in March 1989.  We sold the bar to an bar collective group that went belly up and reneged on the sale in 1991. 

We ended up swallowing the cost of the remodel and remained open as Mojo’s."

- Mike Fitzpatrick, August 2025.

The Stevens Point Journal reported that The Flame was closing on May 20, 1989.

"It's been a great 25 years, but it's time to say goodbye...The Flame is closing forever, so we're throwing a three-night Farewell Party this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Wild and crazy drink specials changing every hour, 50s-80s music for dancing 9:30-close, it will be a great party you won't forget!"