Please rise for the National Anthem at Lucky’s Bar before the NDSU games

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Lucky’s Bar in Bismarck is the place to be for NDSU Bison football games. However, there is something special that happens prior to the start of the game that makes everyone feel a little more patriotic.

“We have been doing the Bison games here for eight years. We started out about six years ago. They happened to be doing the National Anthem on TV during a championship game and all I asked the crowd to do was please rise and remove your headgear for our National Anthem, and that started it all,” said Steve Laframboise, emcee at Lucky’s Bar.

“Lucky’s Bar is a huge veterans bar, and it’s the right thing to do. The owner has served, I have served, and a lot of the people that come in here have served. It’s two minutes out of your day to rise up and pay respect to our nation and to our military,” said Laframboise.

“It is the most honorable thing that I can possibly do to express my gratitude. It’s a beautiful song, the words are powerful, the song is powerful. It truly is an honor,” said Lauree Hellman, National Anthem singer.

“Pride. That’s all it is, is pride about North Dakota, yes, United States, yes, but us as a group,” said Dale Helbling, a regular attendee of NDSU game tailgates at Lucky’s Bar.

“The fundraising aspect is new to us this year, thanks to McQuade’s Distributing and our good friend Heather. She brought a tailgate portion to us, so before the game, she comes in and she brings in a different charity every week and we have raised money for different charities,” said Laframboise.

“It gives me goosebumps because it means that much, and so to see people honoring the flag and standing for the flag. I try to avoid making eye contact because I get choked up if I do,” said Hellman.

“You can’t put a price on what that is. The singers that they get are so good, I actually think that they should be going on to something better,” said Helbling.

“We do a lot of great things here, we raise a lot of money, and we praise America,” said Laframboise.

Lucky’s Bar says they have raised more than $25,000 this year for different charities. If you want to experience this tailgate, you have more opportunities coming up.

The next opportunity will be Saturday, November 25 at 2:30 p.m. Tailgating at Lucky’s starts at 11:30 a.m.

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