Posted on Jul 6, 2006

In 1973, Dale Metzger drove to Union College to play an extra in The Way We Were, the Sydney Pollack film starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand that was partially filmed on campus.

A local theater student, Metzger was eager to mingle with movie stars and collect $35 a day for it. He even tossed the football with Redford.

“He was regular guy. But you couldn’t get anywhere near Streisand,” Metzger remembers. “In fact, you couldn’t even talk to her stand-in.”

Little did Metzger know that 26 years later, he would return to campus in a new role – as manager of the College’s Rathskeller.

In 1999, after a long career as the head chef at several colleges, Metzger became the face of Union’s popular student hangout.

“I have always had a great connection with Union,” says Metzger. “With the support of the food service staff, the administration, and students, I’ve been able to help make the Rathskeller a part of the Union community, and I’m proud of that.”

Since taking over the job, Metzger has beefed up the place, adding, among other things, mozzarella sticks, curly fries and great springtime BBQ.

The man makes a mean milkshake, too.

“I like classic vanilla best,” he says of the ‘Skeller’s signature drink. “Honestly though, they’re all good.”

Metzger also serves up a tasty side of music and art to his loyal customers.

“One of my main goals is to fill the place with murals,” he says. “In the last couple of years, we put in some great new artwork, but I’d love to see more.”

This past year Michelle Curiale ’07 of Union’s ARTS House completed a new mural on the back Rathskeller wall. Like the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, the mural features the faces of celebrities (and Metzger himself), complete with milkshake mustaches. (Metzger asks those interested in working on a mural for the Rathskeller to contact him at metzgerd@union.edu.)

A self-described music fanatic, Metzger also has brought some of the area’s finest local entertainers to campus for weekend concerts and given student bands their first gigs. Performers who have graced the ‘Skeller stage include Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Mother Judge, The Roadside Blues Band and the Rumdummies. Others have played at the annual Bob Dylan birthday tribute that Metzger founded eight years ago.

Metzger’s birthday and Dylan’s are just a few days apart, and each May, musicians, friends, faculty, students and members of the Union community come together to celebrate.

“I felt Dylan was getting lost with younger generations,” Metzger said. “So I came up with an idea to bring his music here.”

With the encouragement of former Dean of Students Fred Alford, Metzger transformed Old Chapel into a rustic coffee house, complete with lighted stage, little bar and round tables. The atmosphere brings to mind early-’60s Greenwich Village folk clubs where Dylan himself performed.

“I think Bob’s music is as relevant as always, and to get the entire college experience, kids today still need to be exposed to it. Since I can’t book Bob himself, we honor him with a tribute every year,” Metzger says.

“We’ve been able to use the concert to raise money for the Chris Ryan Scholarship Fund, which benefits a worthy senior art student at Albany High School for the past several years,” says longtime friend Michael Eck. An Albany Times Union music critic and singer-songwriter, Eck has served as an emcee and performer for the Dylan show.

“Dale is a giant of a man with a giant heart,” says Eck. “He’s a reminder of what is good and right in the world today.”