The Eagle was open 365 days a year without fail. DC Eagle Contest is the longest running leather title contest in the entire country. The idea of selecting a man who best represented the traditions and mystique of the bar was a novel one. Every Christmas Day, those that were in town would gather at the Eagle and sing carols with friends, instead of being alone. He began a tradition of preparing a complete holiday feast with all the trimmings that was available to all.Ĭhristmas Carols. Don was very aware of the numbers of men that had nowhere to go on Thanksgiving Day. Thus began the tradition of a "Blackout Night." One night while the bar was open, there was a power outage and rather than close, candles were placed around the bar. As a thank you to the bikers that patronized the Eagle, the first drink is always on the house.īlackout Nights. Don insisted that any club member who came to the bar received special treatment. Don wanted the club members to feel at home and special. The Spartans were the first club to have mugs in the Eagle. The Spartan Colors were the first club colors to ever hang on the walls of the Eagle and subsequently other bars adopted this tradition.Ĭlub Mugs. There are many traditions that evolved from the brotherhood of the Spartans and the Eagle in the early years. The Eagle gave flight to a number of other businesses, including the Leather Rack and the Eagle in Exile. Many of the club members were drafted into the moving party to make sure everything would be ready. The bar closed at the regular hour on moving night and reopened the next day at noon in a brand new location.
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This sculpture hung on the wall of that bar until the building was claimed by eminent domain to make way for what was then the "new" DC Convention Center at 900 9th St. They placed nails into a sculpture of an eagle.
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The night before the Eagle was to open, Don invited the Spartans to take part in a ceremony. Don and his brother Eddie pooled their money to open the first of three buildings on 9th Street. He then decided that our crowd should have a home of our own. On September 4, 1968, Don Bruce became, what we now refer to as, our first "Baby Spartan." These dates and events are important to this story, because they would give birth to the legendary DC Eagle.Įventually, Don Bruce, became one of the early Spartans Presidents. The bar was renamed Louis' Spartan Lounge, after the Spartans MC was formed on April 3, 1968. Oddly enough, it was located right across the street from FBI headquarters, and these were the days of J. A group of guys put together dinners for local motorcyclists and leathermen These dinners took place at a bar on 9th Street in NW called Louis'.