​Going hog wild

Robinson, North Dakota, is about two and a half hours northwest of Fargo, it can easily be found on I-94, but the route via highway 36 is a sight to behold with its gently rolling hills, pothole sloughs filled with multiple varieties of waterfowl and a handful of small towns with plenty of character dotting the highway.

Robinson has a population of close to 40 and is home to a bank, post office, and Hanson’s Bar. Hanson’s has been a staple on Highway 36 since its inception in 1936 and is still going strong today. This weekend the community will celebrate this milestone with a pig roast on Saturday night and a Frogmore low country boil on Friday.

I couldn’t help but ask, What all goes into a pig roast? “We dig a hole, we have a big fire in the hole a couple days beforehand. Then we stand around and drink beer,” laughs Bill Bender, co-owner and Mayor of Robinson, “Then we throw wood on it when it looks like it needs wood. Last year a local guy who had pigs brought a pig to town and we butchered it.”

After the hog was butchered it was lowered into the hole to cook slowly.

The hole they dug was 3’x5’ and was approximately four feet deep. A local trucking company assisted with the digging, burying, and eventual hauling of the hog to the bar, once it had finished cooking.

“Most of the time these things turn into a potluck without asking for it. There are certain farm families who always bring something.” Bender says. Acquiring the wood for the hog roast was a community endeavor as well. “The community comes in there and they say--yep--we’ll get you some wood, there’s no f*ckin’ problem there--as Danny would say,” jokes Bender, ”he’d always say that after the first round.”

Hanson’s started out as Ernie’s Bar in 1936, Ernie’s son Danny Hanson took over the bar in 1967, though opinions and memories differ as to when the name changed. Danny ran the bar until his death in 2014. Hanson’s even has a drink called “The No F*cking Problem” in Danny’s honor, along with a list of other drinks named after other pillars--or rather characters--of the community.

The bar sat empty for nearly six months until a group of college friends--some local, some not--decided to go in on it. “We thought at the very least it would be our club house. A place to hang out.” Bender says, “Just on a whim we decided to get the licensing and open it for one week in October that year--a month after we bought it.” Smart move in a community located in a hunter’s paradise.

The interior of Hanson’s is everything you would expect from a small town bar and more, complete with memorabilia from celebrations past, such as Robinson’s Golden Jubilee of ‘61, photos from days of yore, quirky antiquities, a killer jukebox, pool table, dartboard and an impressive vinyl collection

One of the investors from Hanson’s originally set up a record player in the corner of the bar when Danny was still alive. He proceeded to carry on the tradition once the bar changed hands. “I’ve started buying vinyl too--we have a pretty good collection built up,” Bender says, “lots of old-school Hank, Johnny Cash, that kind of stuff. We have music galore.”

Hanson’s Bar plays host to monthly community events such as a chicken feed, all locally raised, a pumpkin growing contest, the pick up pull after party, live music for Danny Hanson Days--to name a few, and even a fish fry in the winter in which the locals bring in the spoils of their ice fishing ventures.

“They do it specifically because they want to support the bar. That’s what it’s all about,” Bender says, “I know the bar wouldn’t be open now if it wasn’t for the local community.”

IF YOU GO:

Hanson’s 80th anniversary hog roast

Saturday, August 13, 6pm

Hanson’s Bar 123 Main Street, Robinson ND

https://www.facebook.com/hansonsbar/?fref=ts