Wisconsin Man Wins Backyard Dive Bar In Miller Contest

Jim Kasten, 79, from Shawano, Wisconsin, has won his very own backyard dive bar after entering a contest hosted by Miller High Life beer.

It might seem that someone who has their very own bar in their very own backyard might have a bit of a drinking problem, but when you're nearing 80 years of age--how much of a problem do you really have? In Jim's case, I figure the only problem he's looking at is neighbors jumping the fence to party in his yard.

Social distancing regulations and mitigation restrictions probably don't apply to your backyard as long as you're not operating your backyard dive bar as a profit-making venture. And, looking at Jim's new bar, I would assume capacity is about 3 people. Not a lot of profit to be made there.

So, Miller High Life launched the contest to win a backyard dive bar, and Jim was picked out of over 100,000 entries. The part of this story that cracked me up is that of the 100,000 entries, 20,000 of them were from Wisconsin. If there's anything that Wisconsin lacks, it's got to be watering holes, right?

It's really more of a shed than an actual bar, although the folks at Miller High Life say that it has all the dive bar hallmarks installed; sticky floors, quirky bar stools, popcorn machine and “a spot for a bouncer if your neighbors try to crash your bar.”

Jim, who has been drinking Miller High Life beer for over 60 years, says that his daughter and granddaughter encouraged him to enter the contest. Interestingly enough, the bar wouldn't fit on Jim's property, so it's in his daughter's yard.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Kasten watched a crew put the bar up.

"Inside there's a tap and there's a popcorn-making cart which is really kind of neat," he said. The bar also came with a $200 gift card for Miller products and a dartboard.

But is it really a dive bar? It will be.

"There are no dollar bills hanging on the ceiling yet," Kasten said.

The prize is estimated to be worth about $10,000.

The dive bar is set up by the fire pit at his daughter's home but he said real use of the bar likely won't happen until next summer.