Some liquor bars' best-kept secrets have been revealed.
In England, a village pub has an unusual part-time bartender who wears a dog collar while working twice a week without pay. In exchange for his bartending work, Reverend Gary Ward's employer, Ken Lavender, donates to the All Saints Church, where the priest does his ministry.
Ward, 56, has been a vicar the past 13 years. He caps his evening job at The Crown Inn in Claverley, Shropshire, by sitting down with locals and drinking a pint of his favorite lager, a German brew called Hell, Longview News-Journal reports.
The secret is also out for a by-invitation-only watering hole somewhere inside a United States military base in Colorado.
The John Wayne Saloon, so called because of a poster of the iconic American actor on the door of the supposedly clandestine "tavern," had sparked controversy when officials aware of it but declined to be identified, complained about daytime drinking at the base when USA Today inquired about it.
The investigative reporting prompted Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck to close the bar last month.
"We did find the John Wayne poster outside a door. Behind the locked door, what we found was an office space with a refrigerator that did contain some alcohol. We did find some beer … some hard liquor," VanHerck said, according to USA Today.
Pentagon policy bans alcohol in office settings without a waiver. VanHerck has ordered an investigation if the saloon affected the work of on-duty staff at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, at Peterson Space Force Base, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, USA Today reported.
John Wayne Saloon was understandably a no-no not only because of the policy but also because workers at the base have critical duties. NORAD is tasked with watching missile or aerial attacks from US enemies.
The 24/7 watch is demanding and requires fitness for duty and sobriety, which the secret saloon may have compromised.