Waterhole #3 rejuvenated, successful under Knaff brothers
Pub Date: 8/1/2008
By Paul F. Vang
A quick quiz: Waterhole No. 3 is:
a) A bar in Jackson, Wyoming
b) A bar in Saranac Lake, New York
c) A 1967 comedy western that starred James Coburn and Carroll O Connor
d) A bar in Fairview, Montana
e) All of the above
The correct answer is, of course: e, all of the above, though in this month s issue of the Montana Tavern Times we ll just worry about Waterhole #3 in Fairview.
Fairview is a pleasant agricultural community on the extreme eastern edge of Montana. In fact, part of the community is in North Dakota. State Street lies directly on the border and was once the main business drag until a massive fire wiped out the "downtown." The commercial district then moved two blocks west into Montana and onto Central Avenue, now Highway 200 and the location of this Waterhole.
It s an area rich in history. The Lewis and Clark expedition came through on the trip west and, again, on their return. The nearby confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers made it a prime spot for early military and trading posts.
Modern travelers can visit replicas of two of those posts, Fort Union and Fort Buford, as well as the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence interpretive Center, a project of the North Dakota State Historical Society.
After all this heavy travel, just like the old-time cowboys and trappers, a natural inclination might be to visit a watering hole, and this is a natural: Waterhole #3 in Fairview.
Pat Knaff, co-owner and manager of the Waterhole, doesn t know the origin of his bar s name. That was before I came here, so he doesn t know if there was a connection to the movie, though there s no doubt that Waterhole #3 is his link to the Fairview community.
Pat is a native of Sidney, the nearby county seat of Richland County, and one of 10 children. As the family grew up and went in different directions, Pat ended up in Bozeman, while his brother, Terry, stayed in Sidney, where he s a business owner. Due to their mother s declining health a few years back, Pat found he was making a lot of long weekend trips back and forth from Bozeman to Sidney, so he started looking for business opportunities and found what he happily describes as, The right opportunity.
In a historic building in the center of Fairview was Waterhole #3, a building that once housed a car dealership, and later, Stroh s Bar, and then Waterhole #3, which, at the time when the Knaffs were looking for a business venture, had been closed for several years.
The brothers acquired the facility and then Pat began another long series of travelling weekends as he and Terry worked to refurbish and rehabilitate the old building, as well as thinking through their concept for the business.
I was looking to create a place that would be part of the community and where people could come and feel welcome and be comfortable. After eight years of operation, Pat feels he has succeeded. This is a great business, he says with a smile, but gives credit to the Fairview community: The people here are great.
To understand how the bar fits into the tightly knit community of 750, it s important to understand the bar s physical plant. It occupies a huge old building. The main part of the bar occupies what was the parts department of the old Ford dealership that once operated in the structure. Just adjacent to the bar is a cavernous space which used to be the showroom. At one time, there was a ramp in the rear of the building leading to the basement area, which housed the service department.
That old showroom has become a beehive of activity, especially in winter months, when pool leagues and dart leagues bring a steady flow of people to the Waterhole. The big room is also the happening place for private parties, wedding dances and other similar functions.
At Halloween, Pat and a crew of volunteers turn the old showroom into a haunted house, where kids come in the front door, go through a series of darkened pathways leading to areas with spooky sounds and visual effects, and finally work their way to the building s back door. The kids never enter the bar itself, Pat notes.
As for that old basement repair shop, it is now providing community youth an opportunity to re-visit part of Fairview s heritage.
Pat explained that, years ago, two brothers by the name of Miller "Pell Mel" and "Boom-Boom" established a national reputation as boxers, making the U.S. Olympic team in the 1960s. They boxed at abnout 103 pounds and perhaps 106 pounds and were trained by well known Fairview coach, Bud Starr (the local football complex is named after Starr). The "Fighting Miller Brothers" later taught the "sweet science" and coached upcoming youngsters.
The Miller brothers are gone, but two Fairview residents, Kirby Sundheim and Shawn Shipman, have stepped forward to give boxing lessons to community youth. Currently, 12 kids are taking advantage of the opportunity and several times come to the basement area where there s a boxing ring and a number of punching bags and heavy bags hanging from the ceiling.
Pat is pleased that his establishment can provide this service. In a small town like this there s not a lot for our kids to do and this has really become important, both for recreational activity and physical fitness.
During summer months, the Waterhole sponsors a weekly bike ride for area motorcyclists. Pat, himself, is an enthusiastic biker. Each Wednesday evening, eight to 16 bikers get together for a group bike ride to communities or attractions in the general area, returning to the Waterhole after a couple hours of touring.
Taking it a step further, the Waterhole sponsors an annual bike rally every August, just a week after the famous (or infamous) motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.
In 2007, some 140 bikers came to Fairview for the rally, plus other local riders came together for a 200-bike poker run.
We close off a couple streets for all the festivities and hire live bands. People coming for the rally pay an entry fee of just $10, which includes lunch and dinner. We go out for a slow ride in the area, plus we have lots of fun events, even tricycle races for the kids. This is a G-rated event, Pat points out.
The proceeds from the rally are donated to local charities. In 2007, the money went to benefit a local family after a son, a young local farmer, tragically broke his neck in a diving accident and ended up paralyzed.
His father was really worried about how he d get the son's harvest in last year, and then one day, a group of neighboring farmers showed up with a fleet of combines and trucks. They harvested 900 acres in just nine hours. That s the kind of community we have in the Fairview area, Pat commented.
In 2008, rally proceeds will be donated to Relay for Life.
A July event the Old Timer's Reunion and Summer Festival is the weekend when Fairview high school class reunions are conducted along with parades and a host of other family activities. It s another long weekend when they close off the main street for a big party.
We have a huge parking lot out in back, Pat says, and all through the summer people get together for barbecues, which bring lots of families who come in to eat.
verall, Pat is pleased the Waterhole has become the place where local residents gather for a variety of functions, reflecting his original goal of creating a place where people could come and feel comfortable.
In addition, gaming machines bring customers from a wider territory, especially from neighboring North Dakota, where gaming machines are not legal except on distant Indian reservations. At the time of our visit, Pat and Terry had just completed remodeling a former beauty shop next to the bar into a casino, and were planning a July grand opening event.
Pat noted that while Terry, his partner and brother, is extremely busy with his own business in Sidney, he does come to Fairview for special occasions, and especially to help with remodeling.
We do 70 to 80 percent of our own remodeling and construction work ourselves, he says.
Among the usual lineup of draft and bottled beers, as well as other adult beverages, the Waterhole offers customers something often hard to find in eastern Montana: Missoula's Big Sky Brewing's Moose Drool on draft.
After living in Bozeman all those years I was used to the popularity of microbrews and imports, so I thought I d really do well if I brought in some microbrews. Boy was I mistaken! Still, he says that Moose Drool, which he obtains from his area Miller distributor, is slowly but surely developing a local following.
When asked about next year s final implementation of smoking bans in public places, Pat confesses, I m kind of leery about it, though I think it will work out to be a good thing in the long run. He explained he is making plans for a large deck outside to provide a designated outside smoking area.
It bothers me that we seem to have lost a lot of our freedom of choice, adding that he tends to feel the same way about helmet laws for motorcyclists and seat belt laws.
Still, times have changed, and it s usually for the better. We have tough DUI laws to help keep people safe, and that s good. We give lots of people rides home from here, and lots of cycles get parked here overnight. I m adamant about drinking and biking. Someone who s on two wheels and has been drinking is in danger.
He adds that when it seems appropriate he opens the old showroom double doors and wheels customer bikes in there for the night, making sure he also has the keys.
Sometimes, they re not happy with me, but they can come back in the morning when I wheel their bikes back out.
He sums it up, I want people to be my return customers.
After eight years in business in Fairview, Pat is happy how things worked out. He notes that nine of the 10 Knaff siblings with whom he grew up are now back in Montana. I really appreciate being able to see them more often.
He goes on to say, When I decided to come here I was a little worried about how I d be accepted here, but the people have been really great.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, August, 2008, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.