MTA's top honor goes to Marotteks
By Paul Vang Montana Tavern Times
Frank and Myrt Marottek, long time operators of the Buckhorn Bar and Café in Poplar, are this year's recipients of the Durkee Award, the highest honor given by the Montana Tavern Association.
Frank Marottek is a long-time Director of the Montana Tavern Association, representing Roosevelt County. Together, Frank and Myrt are leaders by example, in community service, agriculture and business.
They said they were surprised, even stunned by the award. When Mark Staples, MTA's government affairs counsel and awards banquet master of ceremonies, was going over the couple's accomplishments, Frank says, “I was looking around, wondering who he [Staples] was talking about.”
Myrt adds, “Oh! I never expected anything like that. We just try to keep up with what's going on in the industry.”
The Marotteks have owned their business since 1970, though it's just one step in a long history of hard work. When asked about what he did before buying the bar almost 40 years ago, he ticks off a long list of occupations, including farming, ranching and raising registered red Angus cattle, school bus driver, oil field worker, a surveyor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and when he had time, would occasionally work as a bartender.
“I was working the night shift one night when the owner asked, 'If I decided to sell the business, would you be interested in buying it?' I said, 'Hell yes.' We made the deal to buy the business, including an interest-free loan from the seller.”
Myrt also got into the act, buying a place of her own, though it certainly complicated life. Frank recalls, with a chuckle, “She'd work at my place days, while I worked in the oil field, and then at night, I'd work in her place.”
Myrt points out, “It wasn't so bad, but Frank was president of the rodeo club, and I was secretary, and we'd both be gone all day working at a rodeo, and then have
to go to work after we got home.”
Myrt and Frank Marotteks with MTA President Dennis White.
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That was just a beginning. Frank also became president of the national Red Angus breed association, a position that entailed travel over much of the country.
Electing to concentrate on just one business, they rebuilt the bar in 1974. In 1984, they expanded the business to add a restaurant to the establishment, at which time their son, Charles, joined them in the business.
“Actually, we bought his business so we'd be able to expand our parking lot,” Myrt recalls.
“When we built the restaurant, we didn't think it'd be a big thing,” Myrt continued. “But it turned out to be a big thing, what with opening at six in the morning and staying open until 11 p.m., and with lots of employees. Then we added pizza to our menu. We were the only place in the area offering pizza, and we had to hire an extra cook – just to make pizzas. We also added a salad bar, which was also a big success.”
Their service to their business associations began shortly after they first bought the business. They became members of the Sheridan-Roosevelt-Daniels Tavern Association, and both Frank and Myrt have served as president of the S-R-D.
Shortly thereafter, they joined the Montana Tavern Association, attending their first convention in Miles City in 1972. “We haven't missed many conventions since then,” Myrt observes, noting that they're looking forward to the 2010 MTA convention in Havre because it'll be just 240 miles from Poplar, a casual afternoon drive, compared to the 650 mile trip to this year's convention in Missoula.
Frank is a long-serving MTA director, representing Roosevelt County, and acknowledges that he has braved many a blizzard to make it to winter meetings in Helena.
Myrt says, “I did all my community service in Poplar. I've been on the local hospital board and housing board. I once ran for county commissioner, but didn't get elected.”
Frank is now 84, but has no plans to retire. “No time for retirement,” he says, though he concedes that he has slowed a little. “I don't tend bar any more. I'm just a go-fer.” Myrt points out, however, that he still pitches in at bartending on occasion.
“I'm only 78,” says Myrt. "My daughter-in-law said I was going to be 80. I said, 'No, I'm not!'”
Myrt still does all the business bookwork, payroll and ordering, though she says that Charles is beginning to phase into that part of business management.
Still, they will admit to some aches and pains.
Myrt has had a hip replacement, and Frank has arthritis in his back, and had back surgery last August, and often uses an electric scooter for getting around. “That's my saddle horse now,” he explains, with regrets that stepping up into a stirrup and swinging into a saddle now seems too difficult.
“I also had malaria,” he adds, as he mentions his military service during WWII. “I walked all the way from Australia to Manila,” he says. When reminded that walking on water is somewhat of a specialized skill, he'll concede, “The mosquitoes carried me across the water.”
That hitch in the Army spurred a remarkable achievement. He had just started his senior year in high school when he got his draft notice. In a few intensive weeks, he did all the course work for that last year, and passed all the tests for graduation. “It was just 21 days, from the time I got my draft notice, completed my last year of high school, graduated, and then got on the train to Butte to report for induction.”
Frank and Myrt have been married for 61 years. “And we still speak to each other,” Myrt says. In addition to Charles, their oldest son lives in Denver, and their youngest son is raising Red Angus cattle, plus operates an oil field service business.
The day after receiving the Durkee Award, Frank and Myrt Marottek were still in a state of semi-shock over being singled out for this prestigious award. What seems more important to them is that after many years in the business, “We have friends in every town in Montana.”