Ferraro named Durkee Award honoree
By Paul F. Vang, Montana Tavern Times
On the morning of March 5, 2009, a friend called Ralph Ferraro at home to tell him that a major explosion had ripped into downtown Bozeman and that Ralph's business, the Rocking R bar – a downtown landmark and hangout for generations of Montana State University students and others – was on fire.
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Kay and Ralph Ferraro at the 2011 convention
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“I couldn't believe it,” he recalls. “I just couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. He said, 'It blew up and there's debris all over downtown Bozeman.' I went into town and sure enough the bar was burning.
“That place meant 33 years of my life and there was nothing I could do about it except watch it burn. My whole life, my whole business career was gone.”
The explosion made headlines across Montana. One person lost her life in another business in the same building complex, and in retrospect it's amazing more lives weren't lost or more people seriously injured. If the fire happened in the middle of the day instead of early morning, the consequences would most likely have been even worse.
Once Ferraro recovered from the shock and devastation of the loss of his business, he set about to rebuild, though rebuilding turned out to be a long and complicated process. It took months before the site could even be cleared, as there was a lengthy forensic investigation to determine the fire's cause, along with resolving complex insurance issues among the eight different businesses involved in the fire.
In fact it took a full year before construction of a new Rocking R could start. Ferraro hired Jerry Locati, a local architect, to design the new building and Martell Construction to build it.
The new Rocking R opened for business on July 26, 2011. “We had a great opening,” Ferraro says with a smile. “I hope it will continue to be good.”
That July 26, 2011 was a red letter day for Ralph Ferraro, though Sept. 14, 2011, will rank right up there as well. On that evening the Montana Tavern Association named the long-time Association leader as the winner of the Bob and Marie Durkee Award, MTA's highest honor.
In an interview with Tavern Times shortly after the award presentation, Ralph and Fay Ferraro held hands while he reflected on the honor bestowed on him.
“It means a lot. I've been in MTA since 1974. I love the industry and all the people in it. It's a passion of mine to keep the restaurant and tavern industry alive. It means a lot to me to be involved. I like it.”
MTA government affairs counsel Mark Staples said, “Ralph has for years and years gone way, way beyond the call of duty for the MTA.”
Ferraro is a native of Salida, Colorado, and went to college at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. He started skiing when he was just 8 years old, and he carried that love for skiing from then on. In fact, one of his first jobs was working for the renowned ski champion Pepi Gramshammer at Hotel Gasthof Gramshammer in Vail, Colorado.
After finishing college, he went to Seattle where he worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant called the Hindquarter. He broke a leg while skiing, and after that injury healed he traveled around Europe for several months. Returning to Seattle, he went to a chef school at a Seattle-area community college. After finishing school he hit the road for Colorado to pick up his belongings and decided to go through Yellowstone National Park on the way.
He made a stop in Bozeman to visit a friend who operated a ski shop. His friend said, “Why don't you come to Bozeman and open a restaurant?” He met with owners of the Bozeman Hotel and signed a lease for a restaurant, then went skiing and came back to Bozeman to stay.
That first restaurant in Bozeman, the Overland Express, was the first in a number of restaurant ventures in Bozeman, Missoula, Helena, Butte, Great Falls and Livingston. Looking back at the flurry of restaurants he started, Ferraro says, “I was young and crazy.”
In 1978, Ferraro had an opportunity to purchase the Rocking R, becoming only its fifth owner in its history. “I sold my interest in the Overland Express to my partners and then concentrated on operating the Rocking R.”
In 1990, he purchased another business that, at the time, was an ice cream parlor. He converted it to a casino, and then in 1995 converted it, once more, to Ferraro's Fine Italian Restaurant.
In 1976, business colleagues in Bozeman, Stacy Crosby, now deceased, but then owner of Gallatin Gateway Inn, John Hooper and Mike Cetraro approached Ferraro. “They grabbed me and said, 'You need to get into the tavern association.' I said 'okay' and was elected president of the Gallatin County association right away.”
With the Montana Tavern Association, Ferraro says, “Marie and Bob Durkee were influential in getting me involved – and I've always stayed involved. It's been a learning process, learning how the laws work.”
Ferraro served as president of the Montana Tavern Association from 2003 to 2005, following that with a term as chairman of the board of directors. Most recently, Ralph has served as chairman of MTA's Legislative and Gambling Committee.
Ferraro and his wife Fay married in 1976. They have two children, Angela Frye, who owns Mud Hut coffee kiosks in Bozeman; and Lisa Marie Miller, of Atlanta, Georgia. Fay is an artist and says she's not involved with the businesses, though she does put some of her artwork in the restaurant. She enjoys golfing and looking after their home. Ferraro notes that while Faye stays in the background, over the years she has attended several tavern association dinners and conventions.
Ferraro enjoys a wide range of outdoor interests. He regrets having to give up skiing six years ago, after having knee replacement surgery, but continues to enjoy golf, hunting and fishing, and, especially, sporting clays, and is generally the top shooter at MTA convention shooting events. Ferraro also spent 10 years, in younger days, driving in stock car races.
Ferraro said receiving the Durkee Award at the Rock Creek Resort, with his old friend from years ago, Pepi Gramshammer, owner of the resort, at his table meant a lot to him as it brought his career full circle. He insisted that one of the photos be taken of him next to a photo hanging in the Kiva Room of the Rock Creek Resort featuring Gramshammer and several other ski champions from years back, people he long considered personal heroes.
Ralph Ferraro now has earned MTA's highest honor, though he doesn't plan to retire into the background anytime soon. “I love the association and the bar and restaurant business,” he says, adding, “It's been good to me. I've made a million friends.”
In fact, he says, “I've volunteered to help with the 2012 convention planning. I'm an SAE - Self Appointed Expert.”