West Allis bar owner recounts tradition of toys for Catholic Charities

She was grateful for gifts her family had received when she was a child and after growing up, she fell into this toy tradition by accident.

“The first year we collected for Toys for Tots and when I went to go drop (the gifts) off, they said the deadline had already passed so I took them to Catholic Charities and they were really happy to get the gifts,” Engebregtsen said.

Shortly after that, she received a call from then-Archbishop of Milwaukee Timothy M. Dolan, now cardinal, thanking her and asking if he could come to the bar to pick them up.

“It’s exciting that he’d go out of his way to stop at a small neighborhood bar to thank us for what we’ve done,” she said.

On that day she remembered Cardinal Dolan sitting at the bar and ordering a Budweiser. [....he IS a St. Louis guy..... ]

“He told my bartender not to tell anybody and she said ‘Why? You can’t have a beer?’ And he said, ‘No, don’t tell anyone it’s Budweiser,’” Engebregtsen said, laughing at the memory.

The tradition of the archbishop coming to the bar to receive the toys continues with Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki.

“They’re very charismatic members of the church,” she said of Archbishop Listecki and Cardinal Dolan. “It’s exciting for us, (but) we don’t do it for that reason.”

For Engebregtsen and the patrons at Kip’s Inn, it’s all about the families.

“My customers ask me two months before we get the list, ‘When are you going to get the list from Catholic Charities?’” she said. “They’re really excited about it.”

continue at Mil Cath Herald

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