In the early 1980s, every high school class had their own “special place” where they would go to drink, socialize, and have a good time. Ours was Gramsey’s field. Named for the owner, it was an undeveloped piece of property on the Apple Valley/Burnsville line. In the spring and fall, you could find a kegger party going on at Gramsey’s pretty much every Friday night.
Buy a “glass” (actually a plastic cup) for $2 and get all the beer you could handle. We were never sure exactly which beer it was, but nobody really cared. Old man Gramsey could care less that we were having parties on his land. Many times, he would come out and have one with us! The cops knew we were there but left us alone because we weren’t bothering anyone. They figured it was better to have all the kids in one place, rather than running all over town and raising hell.
My, how times have changed! Today, the owner would be jailed for “hosting” and the kids would have to pay hundreds of dollars each for “Minor in Possession” citations.