UDLC Stories: Moose Ott
If you happen into Fireside Bar & Grille at dinnertime on the second Thursday of the month, you’ll see them filling the long table in the back left corner behind the bar. Or maybe you’ll hear their laughter first – deep and boisterous.
You’ll find the guest of honor, Moose Ott, sitting at the head of the table, sipping from a tumbler of ginger whiskey, his soft voice and gentle smile belying his 6’6” frame.
You can join them — so long as you agree to let them buy you a beer.
On this particular second Thursday, Moose wore a cherry red beret atop his long white hair and beard. Sitting next to him was Chris Couch.
“When we first went to UDLC, my youngest was only, like, maybe 5…,” Chris remembered. “She walked in and she goes, ‘Santa Claus.’ And that was how she looked at him. ‘Santa goes to my church!’”
This monthly tradition began about two years ago, not long after Moose retired from his nearly 40-year tenure as Ambler’s own real bearded Santa (a gig for which he always refused payment). At the time, Mrs. Claus, his beloved wife Lori, who died in December 2024, was declining in health and no longer able to oversee their finances like she used to. Moose, who is legally blind, was struggling, so Chris stepped in to help. He soon realized Moose needed more than just help doing his finances — he needed his buddies.
“The TV doesn’t talk back to him,” Chris said.
And lo, the first “Moose Meal” was organized.
While the men around this table and the conversation topics vary, the date and the location remain the same. Fireside was Moose and Lori’s “happy place.”
“They love him and he loves them,” Jack Freeston said of the restaurant staff. “I’m surprised his glass is empty!”
“Don’t worry – it’ll be full and he won’t have to ask!” said Ray Sowden.
“As soon as I heard that music, I said, ‘If you wanna join, this is where I want to be ‘cause I think they’re fabulous. ”
Moose and Lori joined UDLC in 2002. Moose hadn’t been to church in about 30 years. But then, one Sunday morning, he heard For the Spirit play.
“As soon as I heard that music, I said, ‘If you wanna join, this is where I want to be ‘cause I think they’re fabulous,’” he said.
Lori and Moose soon became dedicated members of the UDLC family – Lori joined the choir and Moose began baking treats for coffee hour.
In the year since Lori’s death, Moose is especially grateful for these gatherings with his friends.
“If it wasn’t for the church, I don’t know where I’d be right now, I can tell ya that,” he said. “I have a small family… and the church has been like the family maybe I was always hoping to have… They’re great. They’re checking on me and I can’t thank them enough — and I don’t know how to repay them.”
After a moment, Charlie Breinig piped up over the din: “Maybe they’re repaying you.”