Bellying up with …
On Fridays, we’ll spotlight the men and women serving up cold ones and conversation in our neck of the woods. Let us know about your favorite bartender by emailing ltaylor@news-gazette.com.
With three daughters and two jobs, ANNA SHIPLEY is a pretty busy lady.
She jokes about the three daughters being the reason for the two jobs, saying “they suck me out of all of my money,” but whatever the reason, Shipley says she’s been loving working at the Lucky Monkey Pub and Grub in Bement for the last three years.
“It’s all of the Bement people. That ranges from 21 years old to, you know, 84. There’s just a wide array of people and all their different personalities and conversations,” Shipley said. “It’s just a really fun thing to decompress from my normal job.”
Shipley’s “normal” job is store director of County Market, and many customer-service skills overlap between the two.
At the Lucky Monkey, though, she’s allowed to tell people to get out if they’re being nasty.
It’s a classic small-town bar — “We don’t even have martini glasses,” Shipley said — with a unique theme due to the owner’s love for monkeys.
Plenty of folks come in just to hang out, but Shipley said fresh pie and cinnamon rolls bring in a crowd, too.
A favorite memory of her time there came right after she started, when she helped out with a celebration of life for another bartender who had passed away.
“I thought it was very cool, because you’re commemorating local people that used to work for you,” Shipley said.
Another great time at the bar is when the Lucky Monkey hosts Barstool Golf, and all the bartenders are kept on their toes with the crowd.
If she isn’t behind the bar, Shipley is out with her 8-, 12- and 18-year-old daughters, most likely at a softball game this time of year.
