By Paul F. Vang Whitefish is, to say the least, bulging at the seams.
Like Kalispell, its big neighbor to the south, there' construction everywhere, with new hotels, restaurants and resorts popping up all over the landscape.
The town' scenery is dominated by northern Montana' premier ski hill, Big Mountain. Just to the east you can see the wall of mountain peaks that is Glacier National Park. It' a major stop for Amtrak on the old northern route of the Great Northern railway.
A memento of those railroad days of years past is the Great Northern Bar & Grill in downtown Whitefish. Doug Rommerein and Kathy McGrath, owners of the Great Northern since the early 1980s, filled me in on the bar' history.
Rommerein admits, "It' kind of a guess," but understands the Great Northern Bar first opened around 1919. "We know it was in existence at about the time the Great Northern came to Whitefish."
The original Great Northern Bar was about two blocks away and was moved to its present location in the early 1950s. The building at that time was a newer structure built by a Jane Mathias. When Ms. Mathias' husband died she sold the business to a consortium of new owners, Al Dennis, Dick Peterson, and John Boss. They also hired a local carpenter, Tommy Moe, Sr. (father of the Olympic skier), to do some remodeling.
When the business struggled, Al Dennis lost interest in the bar and reportedly tossed his keys to his partners and said, "You can have it."
In 1980, Doug and Kathy Rommerein came out from California to go skiing, fell in love with the area and decided to stay. Kathy got a job in a local bank and Doug, a jazz guitarist, worked in local clubs, including the Great Northern. He also started tending bar and was then made manager, and recalls with a laugh, "I did such a lousy job of it we were going broke. I did try hard, though.
"We took out a loan with three partners to buy the business, though. Eventually we bought out the others, with Dick Peterson as our last partner. We finally bought out Dick. Then Kathy and I divorced, but we're still business partners--and best friends," Doug relates.
That start with the bar business was rough. "It was hard times in the "80s," Rommerein reminisced of his first years, with big winter seasons and extremely slow summer seasons. It' a major contrast to the current boom but "it' easy for me to remember," Rommerein says. "I remember leaning against the wall in front of our building waiting for some customers to come in. Now summer is the hot season--bigger than winter."
If it' hard to think of hard times in Whitefish, the Great Northern Bar & Grill has become the institutional memory of the day-to-day struggle of small town small businesses. When you enter the bar the first thing you notice are all the signs on the walls rescued from businesses that no longer exist.
"I found this sign in the attic, advertising, "The Hideaway--Modern Cabins on the Lake.' I asked Dick (Peterson) where it came from, and got the story of the old business. I kind of liked it and hung it on the wall. That was the beginning of the collection.
"There was this neon "Groceries' sign on an old store across from the Junior High School. It bellied up when the school went to a closed campus. I asked the owner how much do you want for it. He said, "$200.' I asked him again six months later and again, he said, "$200.' I said, "I'll give you $20.' He said, "Oh, alright.' The sign went up at the kitchen at the rear of the building.
"I thought the signs were kind of neat in the bar--and then the signs began multiplying. When carpenters or contractors started remodeling an old business building they'd bring the old signs in here. They know it'll usually be good for a pitcher or two of beer."
Rommerein gestured over his shoulder at the building across the street. "I think I have seven signs from there."
The wall across from the bar at the entry to the building is dominated by a large art deco style sign saying "Cadillac." It' not from an old car dealership. The Cadillac was the bar across the street.
"It was raided by the Feds in the "80s," Rommerein says, "and the owner disappeared. When it got raided I knew the business was going to go down and I had just the place for the sign."
The "Paddle and Axe Saloon" is the most recent tenant of that ill-fated building across the street to supply a sign to the Great Northern.
A Kaiser/Frazer neon sign--the neon hasn't glowed in decades--came from a car lot where a bank is now located.
"Mom' Hall of Fame" is a memento of a quirky but ill-fated business scheme. "He collected $50 from people who wanted their mother in the hall of fame, and then the idea was that people would pay a $5 admission to pay their respects to Mom."
"Wellington Buildings" is a souvenir of a contractor who, it is said, collected money from people as down payments on new buildings and then never built them.
Returning to the Great Northern' history, Rommerein' music background turned out to be the key to business success.
"It was a struggle early, but I know the entertainment business. We have live music and that kind of turned it around," he says. Rommerein still plays guitar in the house band that generally performs four nights a week.
Music also turned out to be the basis for the Great Northern' brief moment of national fame.
"A local person was the sound engineer for rock star Bruce Springsteen, and he came back to Whitefish to marry a local girl. Bruce Springsteen came out for the wedding and on a Friday night came on stage to help us finish our last set of the evening. That story was picked up by the press and went on the wire services across the country," he says.
Over the years, the Great Northern has expanded from its 1950s building to take over the adjacent building.
"That was a taxidermy shop," Rommerein says, "and before that a Chinese dice room and somebody said it might have been a Chinese whorehouse."
In the early 1990s Doug and Kathey took over the vacant lot next to the addition. "We originally put in a mini-golf course in there, and that just got trashed. I replaced that with horseshoe pits. Finally, we just put a deck over the whole thing," Rommerein said.
"We put up a tent at the back end for shelter from summer storms," McGrath said. "We've had a number of wedding receptions and rehearsal dinners out here, and one wedding, too. They didn't stay married," she adds.
The restaurant side of the business, with its neon Groceries sign, does a brisk business with one-third pound burgers, sandwiches and salads. It' a popular lunch spot for local people as well as tourists.
"It' just everybody," Rommerein describes their clientele. "We have bank presidents sitting next to carpenters. It' a loyal clientele. We also get some the wealthy people who live here at least part of the year."
Our visit to the Great Northern Bar and Grill was on a warm, sunny spring day. The main bar was lined up, elbow to elbow, and overflowed into the dining room and dance stage area. A second bar was opened on the deck area and doing a brisk business serving people enjoying the sunshine.
"Happy hour is good," McGrath said with a smile, "and Friday happy hour is the best!"
There' an employment crunch in Whitefish. The McDonald' signboards advertised a health insurance package for employees. The local Pizza Hut' signboard advertised a $200 signing bonus for new employees.
While food and bar service employees are in high demand in Whitefish, the Great Northern has experienced low turnover.
"They rarely leave," McGrath said of their bar staff, "And when they do they regret it," Rommerein added.
"We have a really good group of people here," McGrath said. "We have a family atmosphere among our staff--we know them and we know their children. Our main cook has been here 20 years, and one bartender has been here for 15."
"We'd love to provide health insurance but we'd go broke," said Rommerein, noting that with 25-30 employees they're too large for a new small business insurance pool the state has started.
While running the popular Great Northern Bar & Grill keeps the ownership team busy, Rommerein takes time for golf, horseback riding, sail boating and camping.
McGrath, looking forward to summer, said, "I like to be with my flowers and garden. In winter, I like to be with family." While they originally came to Whitefish for the skiing, neither of them ski anymore.
With Whitefish' current boom in full swing, it' a good question as to which new business signs might eventually find their way to the crowded walls of the Great Northern Bar & Grill.
Doug Rommerein mused, "People often ask me, "How much do you charge to have a sign put up?'
"I tell them, "How much does it cost to go bankrupt?'"
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, July, 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.