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Minnows in a bucket
I've never shot the minnow—have you?
Shooting the minnow is when you go to Nelson, Minnesota to the Corral Saloon & Eatery and order a "minnow shot", which is a drink with a real actual minnow in it.
"It's kind of a fun little thing," says Sue Hawkinson, who owns and runs the place with her husband Mark Scheller, and their daughter Abby. "It's become a tradition for people. Depending on age, you can do it in pop, or in a beer or whatever. Some people do it in tequila. Some grammas, they like to do in pop. The youngest person I ever saw do it was 18 months old—she wanted to be just like her daddy, and she got it down."
Hawkinson says the Corral has been there about 57 years. She bought it with her family four years ago, when the minnow shot was just celebrating its tenth anniversary, so she guesses it all started around 2003. "When it started, they were allowed to be fresh minnows," says Hawkinson. "They'd put them in a fish tank, they'd be swimming around, it was so much fun. You put them in the shot glass and they'd swim around. Then the state decided they have to be frozen. So we buy them frozen, from an approved food vendor. They stay frozen, and when you get it in your little glass, it’s frozen. Put it in the shot glass, put your alcohol in it. People put their videos up on YouTube. It's a hoot."
Want to shoot the minnow yourself? Minnows are available in the saloon only, from 3 p.m. to bar close. The price of the minnow is bundled in to the price of the commemorative t-shirt ($11), tank top ($14), or sweatshirt ($30) you buy with your minnow. Pick your garment, get your minnow, go! There's a new t-shirt every year.
Hawkinson says they typically go through 7,000 shirts a year. "It's just craziness. We get them from Europe, the UK, from out of state. On party busses. When people get company from out of the area they know they have to bring them to shoot the minnow. If it's busy in here, everyone sees the minnow coming, and they hoot and holler and clap. It's unbelievable. It's so fun."
In conclusion: Your Minnesota neighbors drank no fewer than 7,000 minnows last year! Yup, the people that you meet when you're walking down the street, the people that you see each day? They're full of minnows. Join them?
The Corral Saloon and Eatery, 117 North Nelson St., Nelson, MN; 320-762-2416, corralsaloonandeatery.com
