Club Members

The Stein Club's all male membership never exceeded twenty-four people, and over the course of fifty years, many men came and went according to jobs, family responsibilities, or personal interests. Only three original members, Carl Domitrovich, Bob Schneck, and Bernie Anderson, still belong to the current club which now has only twelve members. Mick Hoefferle, a member since 1968 characterizes the club members in this way: “They all had an affinity for beer, they liked to work hard and play hard, and started out of the same age group, same vintage, and…Finnish jokes were welcome.”

Although the original members were of the same age, the club evolved into an intergenerational mix of men in which the younger were socialized and brought into the traditions of the elders. New men needed sponsorship from an existing member, and the entire membership voted to accept or reject the inductee. If the final tally was yes, the guys welcomed the new member by singing “For He's the Jolly Good Fellow,” followed by toasts and merriment. Starting a fight was the only way a member could be excommunicated.

Mick Hoefferle described the Stein Club as “a cut of every fabric that was in our community.” Carl's following list of members' occupations reinforces Mick's claim: “Berry had the bar, Joe was logging, Bernie worked in the woods, Smokey and quite a few -- I'd say half of our men were working at White Pine (Copper Mine). Otie was a mail carrier, Earl Wilson was a fisherman, George and Jerry Hoefferle owned the (grocery) store, Eight Ball, Leonard and Stanley all started working at the same time when the (paper and pulp) mill opened.”

Each member brought his own personality quirks and talents to the group. Carl describes some of them here:

“Well, there was Bob Scheck and your Dad (George Hoefferle) always got everybody singing, especially later on in the evening. Labine was always a good member. He was in everything, building anything. Now, there are four Labines that belong to the club, Wilbs, Dan, Tom and Bill. Mickey (Hoefferle) is the secretary. He pays the taxes and lets us know how we're doing. Jerry Hoefferle was a great one - he liked to cook. He always made something fancy. We always gave him a hard time. He couldn't cook unless he dirtied every dish in the house. He was the organizer. He had all the ideas of how to make things go. He's the one behind the floats, and to make nicer floats. Joe Stimac and Rudy (Stimac) and Hank (Thompson) were the musicians. When Jerry was here, he played the guitar. Otis Giest was a quiet guy, a good member, in on everything. Stanley Domitrovich was the artist. He painted all the lettering on the floats.”

Carl also articulated examples of the support the men offered one another:

“They'd (the members) talk about what happened since the last meeting, last month. In the beginning, whenever somebody was building a house, and needed help, we'd come and give them a hand. Hank Thompson, we all put the sheet rock up at his place. Louis built a house down there, we painted it, prime coat. Some guys helped me build my first house. If someone needed help, we'd go and do it. It was mostly about having a good time. For me it was perfect, working in the woods, you don't see anyone all week. You go to church on Sunday, you see a few people. Other than that your pretty much home with your own family. That was a perfect thing, you'd see all these guys and wouldn't cost you hardly anything. Now we charge ten dollars a meeting -- dinner and all you can drink. Before it was six dollars or something like that. We'd come here have a good time, good meal. Good fellowship."

Currently, the majority of the club's members are senior citizens. As Carl said, “When the club first started, only a few guys were married. Then, as years went by, we all got married, and then you have your families. We still meet, but a lot of the other activities just faded away.”