Blair's Reno Club, Billings
Pub Date: 1/1/2003
It's 11 o'clock on a Saturday morning and John Blair is standing behind the bar at the Reno Club in Billings, entertaining some customers by telling them about the recent operation on his nose.
His delivery is animated and humorous and he soon has his customers roaring with laughter. You can tell that Blair enjoys his job as he moves adroitly behind the bar and even has a cup of coffee ready for a regular customer he spots walking through the door.
John and his dad, Bob Blair, have been in business together at the Reno Club since 1975. But the Reno Club itself has been in the Blair family for 60 years when Bob bought a basement lounge in downtown Billings in 1942.
The bar has always been the Reno Club, even when it was opened by Red Daniels, a former blackjack dealer from Nevada (and hence was named after that state's second largest gambling mecca) shortly after prohibition was lifted in 1933.
But its location has changed three times over the years. In 1967, the Reno Club moved to the Muzzle Loader Cafe, and then in 1975, the father and son bought a vacant lot and built from the ground up what is now the modern Reno Club at 150 Calhoun Drive.
"This was just a big field at one time," John Blair said.
Today, it is one of the real "neighborhood taverns" left in Billings.
"It's like a Cheers Bar," John said, comparing the Reno Club to the famous and fictional television tavern. "It's a nice little bar surrounded by a residential area."
The Reno Club offers full beverage bar service, a package liquor store, hamburgers, chicken and what John describes as "gourmet finger food." The establishment also sports a number of amusement devices including pool tables and video poker and keno machines.
And because it is a neighborhood tavern, the Reno Club draws a lot of regular customers.
"From the clientele that my dad had, I got all their offspring, and now I'm serving a third generation," John said.
John, now 48 years old, was 22 when he went into business with his dad. Bob, who is still active in the business, is now 82.
After 60 years, the Blairs have become an established part of the business community in Billings. The Reno Club sponsors 10 pool teams, four softball teams, bowling teams, baseball and softball teams and even trap shooting teams. The Blairs also donate to Easter Seals, the March of Dimes, United Way, Make-A-Wish Foundation, church bazaars, community fireworks and numerous other charities.
"Everybody who walks in, we usually give them something," John said. "You have to buy Girl Scout cookies from every one of your customers' kids. I probably buy 50 boxes a year."
In the last year, John said the Reno has run fund-raisers for three youth victims of leukemia who are children of his customers. They've raised money for accident victims, too. And the Reno is donating a pool table and electronic golf game to the local Boys and Girls Club.
Such continued giving is, of course, contingent upon remaining profitable. But even with the legislature convening in Helena and talk of increased taxes on adult beverages and gaming, John is optimistic the 60-year tradition of the Blairs and the Reno supporting their community will be sustained.
"The tavern has always been the community social center in Montana," John said. "This is a family-owned and operated business and we cater to families. My dad always said, "If you take care of your bar, it will take care of you." Our customers are good people who take care of us so, when the time comes, we try to take care of them."
When Bob Blair purchased the Reno Club, which in 1942 was located at 20 N. 28th St. in Billings, it was billed as Montana's first nightclub. "Completely remodeled and air conditioned," advertising said at the time. "The Reno Club is today one of the newest and finest in the state."
Other promotions at the time reminded customers to "Remember Pearl Harbor, but Don't Forget the Reno Club."
The original Reno Club was a gathering place for businessmen who stopped in after work. At that time, a beer was a dime and a mixed drink was a quarter.
"If you put $50 in the till at the end of the shift, you had one heck of a night," John said.
John was a member of the state's Gaming Advisory Council from 1993-1996, and was engaged in many of the policies that were passed to regulate gaming when it was still in its adolescence.
"I really do believe that when gaming was brought into Montana, it was to help the small mom and pop bars across the state," John said. "Nobody would have believed then that it would become a more than $50-million annual tax benefit for state and local governments."
While some other taverns in Billings have changed to a casino-style look, John said, "We never did. We remained a lounge."
"I've got a good solid bar and package store business," he said. "If you don't have a good solid clientele for your beverages, you may not stay in business."
At home, Blair pursues hobbies with the same passion and flare that he does when he is working in the bar. His pastimes tend to the creative. He was a professional musician playing with a rock and roll band throughout the west coast and Pacific Northwest from 1970-75 when he went into the bar business with his dad.
"We were on the road a whole lot," he recalls.
He still plays the guitar and drums and writes and sings lyrics to songs. He said he has written a few commercial jingles, but adds, "I don't particularly like to do that because it feels more like a job then."
A softer side of this man's personality is demonstrated with his pursuit of designing stained glass and photography. He displays the stained glass at his home and at the Reno Club. His photography is heavy on landscapes and wildlife, and he sometimes gets out of bed at four o'clock in the morning to capture wildlife as they come out of the trees for water.
"There's nothing prettier than that," he said.
He said he is planning some improvements that will include a face-lift on the outside and an expansion of the package store.
John plans to continue the family tradition of staying in the tavern and gaming business for many years to come by following another adage from his father:
"The first $20 you put in the till is not yours'; the last $20 is."
Source:Special Reports, . 2002, published by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite, Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.