FOND DU LAC: Forty years ago, bars in Fond du Lac allowed smoking, didn’t have air conditioning and sold draft beer for less than a dollar, and patrons of The Press Box could get a taste of the latter again this weekend .
Owners Bob and Vicki Diener are inviting Fond du Lac customers Saturday to help them celebrate the anniversary of The Press Box251 Forest Ave., which opened in 1982.
The event will include 1982 beer and liquor prices, volleyball and wiffleball tournaments, a pig roast, slides and bounce houses, as well as live music starting at 1:30 p.m.
The Dieners had farm and factory experience between the two of them by 1982. With a child on the way, they tried to take a new direction in life and opened The Press Box, a fraction of the size it is now.
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“If you really want to make it, you want to work for yourself, so we thought we should go into business for ourselves, and the easiest way to do that was the bar business,” Bob Diener said.
Owning a bar meant flexible hours for the family, especially when their children could play sports. Vicki Diener said she could bartend at night, when her children didn’t notice she was gone.
Two bars opened that year: the Sports Page Tavern was first downtown, but The Press Box lasted longer. For both, the sports theme and coordinating names came easily. Now, O’Davey’s Pub has taken the place of The Sports Page at 36 Fourth St.
Since opening in 1982, the Dieners have expanded The Press Box exponentially, with a vision of volleyball as their starting point. They started with an outdoor volleyball court with six teams, then added indoor volleyball courts in 1991.
Now, the land behind the bar has four volleyball courts, and 160 teams, wiffleball courts and the addition of basketball in 2021, while the inside of the bar caters to darts, pool and more volleyball fans, with leagues for each.
And there’s still some room left on the property for an even bigger expansion, Bob Diener said.
The Dieners were successful in the Fond du Lac sports scene, supporting teams and hosting tournaments from a local to a national level, in the case of softball. This year, they were incorporated into the Wisconsin Softball Hall of Fame as sponsors for their dedication to over 200 ASA/USA Softball sanctioned league teams in the area.
“Bob and Vicki provided a home for many teams to play softball and provided a network of support and equipment for many teams to play every day and night of the week throughout the county, state and country,” says the hall of fame brochure. “They are the epitome of a Hall of Fame sponsor.”
Aside from leagues, The Press Box is also known for its parties, including birthday parties on the wiffleball court and annual Super Bowl parties.
One of their biggest events to date was the 2005 NBA Draft, when the Dieners’ son Travis Diener was drafted by the Orlando Magic as a crowd of family, fans and news crews celebrated at the bar.
The birthday parties will begin when the bar opens at 9 a.m. Saturday, according to reports from the Facebook event, which also has contact information for the volleyball and wiffleball tournaments. For more information on The Press Box or its leagues, visit pressboxfdl.com.
Contact Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @daphlemke.
