As a founding member of the P.I.G. House, I am often asked about the origin of the place and what led to its creation. As incredible as it may seem, even P.I.G. House owner Rick Johnson is a bit foggy on this subject. I shall do my best to set the record straight.

In September of 1984, Keith Okan and I took a trip to Milwaukee to visit my brother Henry, who was then a junior at Marquette University. That Saturday, Henry said that he'd like to take us to The P.I.G. House, a point of interest near the campus, that was occupied by some friends of his.

Later that evening, the three of us strolled over to the house. It was a huge two-story, turn of the century structure that we found most impressive. A large sign, similar to fraternity lettering, sat atop the porch roof to let every passerby know that this was, indeed, the P.I.G. House. The house next door also had a sign on it. It read PIG, with an arrow beneath the word that pointed to P.I.G. House proper. This left no doubt as to which of the two similar looking structures was the P.I.G. House.

Parked in the driveway was an old automobile with messages painted on it, identifying it as the P.I.G. Mobile.

Upon entering the house, we found a large party in progress. I remember well the friendly feeling that the members of this house projected. After meeting some of the residents of the P.I.G. House and chatting briefly with them, we left the party.

The place had quite a positive effect on us. So much so that, after walking a distance of only about three blocks, Keith announced that he thought we should name our new house in Menomonie the P.I.G. House. I mentioned that I had a few reservations, the main one being that a P.I.G. House already existed. Perhaps we might do better to give our place a different animal name like the Moose Lodge or the Cow House. (Doug LaPoint recently joked that, considering the circumstances, we could just as easily have become the Sparrow House.)

I continued to voice my reservations, but Keith was adamant in his opinion. He came up with the thought that we could become a Menomonie chapter of P.I.G.

After returning to Menomonie, we told our roommates Pete Chaput and Rick Johnson about what we had seen, and about our idea for the house. They seemed quite impressed. An impromptu vote was held, and it was decided that we would indeed become the Menomonie chapter of P.I.G. That weekend a sign was erected over the porch roof, a party was thrown, and the P.I.G. House was established.

Henry was up to Menomonie several times over the next year and he seemed somewhat impressed with what we had done.