Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Valley News at a Glance

Florence’s Rustic Hut transformed into ‘High Spirits’ - by Gretchen L. Langton

“Oh….look at the carpet,” were the words out of Cory Caddell’s mouth when he walked into the Rustic Hut in Florence for the first time.  “Then I thought how did they get it up there and then I wondered how do they clean it.”

 The “it” we are commiserating on is the 1970’s gold shag carpet covering the entire ceiling of this cavernous watering hole.  Cory, his wife Cassandra, and her father Gary Kelley took over ownership of the Hut on December 11th and have been working hard to get the place ready for their grand opening this Friday and Saturday, March 21 and 22.  They have renamed the place the High Spirits and intend to live up to the possibilities of this witty double entendre.

Cory and Cassandra were both born and raised in Montana.  As a matter of fact, these two were born twenty-six hours apart in the same Helena hospital.  They went to the same schools growing up.  “She didn’t like me in the second grade,” Cory muses.  Something about throwing rocks, he says, but he swears that he doesn’t remember this.  Cory does recall fondly Cass’ version of how she fell for him, “She says she spotted me from across the gym (during gym class) when we were freshmen and said ‘that was it’.”  They became high school sweethearts.  Cass joined the military after high school and spent six years in Germany.  After time apart, they rekindled, got hitched, and had two kids, Calen (10 years old) and Chaela (9 years old).  Cory has an older son, Aaron, who helps out around the place.  Twelve years into their marriage, Cass and Cory find themselves teaming up with Dad for a trek into the tenuous and sometimes fickle world of bar ownership.  Their energetic attitudes coupled with several healthy servings of Montana work ethic suggest they will thrive.  

“We make a great team.  We are all open-minded and willing to take suggestions from each other,” Cory says of this threesome’s partnership.  They each provide a different skill.  Cory gets to carpenter and bartend, Cass does the books, ordering, special events planning, and manages the motel rooms.  Gary is in charge of music.  Yet, they aren’t confined to these roles, which often end up overlapping.  A general contractor by trade, Cory can’t see the end of his tasks.  Today he is installing rope lighting.  “We are doing all the work ourselves,” Cory tells me with a pride and anxiousness typical of someone who likes to get things done and is probably adding to his mental list of tasks as we speak.  The gold shag has come down over the dance floor, and will also soon be removed in the main room.  Everything in the spacious west half of the building has received a fresh coat of paint.  They have accentuated the bandstand with red, faux, theater-style curtains and flashing lights, added better lighting to the dance-floor area, and increased their seating throughout by rearranging and spot remodeling.  

Gary is hard at work perfecting a state-of-the art sound system; he went to the Recording Workshop in Ohio to learn about the business of sound.  “One of the women in my class ended up being a monitor engineer on tour with the Rolling Stones,” he relates.  However, Gary says he didn’t attend this prestigious program in order to land a fancy job.  As a musician himself, he desires to be immersed in all things relating to music.  “I just did it for myself.”  He points over his shoulder with the enthusiasm of a serious music junkie, “I have a full blown twenty-four track system set up back there.”  He will be running the sound for the High Spirits’ latest addition to the weekly line-up, Tuesday Open Mic, plus, he can professionally record live music when the opportunity arises.  From 9 pm to close on Tuesdays, musicians will have a chance to perform solo and/or jam with other musicians from the valley.  Gary’s commitment to support local musicianship is indicative of a growing renaissance in a valley that has had a somewhat schizophrenic relationship with live music—going from a thriving music scene in the not so distant past, to less and less live music, and hopefully back again.

High Spirits will soon have music five nights a week for sure and sometimes on Sundays as well.  On Wednesdays, in addition to the Fun Darts league, Karaoke begins at 9 pm, hosted by L.I.V. Entertainment; on Thursday a DJ plays music to celebrate Ladies’ Night.  On Friday and Saturday, some of the best live bands in the area are featured and the dance floor is a swirl of color, cowboy hats, and laughter.  Dance lessons are also available.  Every Friday night from 7 to 8 pm Cathy Clark teaches singles and couples new moves ($5.00/person and $8.00/couple).

For pool players, there is free pool on Mondays.  Sundays the cribbage players hold tournaments and occasionally the accordion players come to jam.  This means that there are things happening seven nights a week.  “We are open 11 to 2 every day of the year,” says Cory.

This weekend for their Grand Opening, the High Spirits will be featuring a classic rock band called Elxr (yes, “elixir” minus several vowels) both Friday and Saturday nights.  Starting at noon on Saturday, Cory says a “down home BBQ” commences to be followed by the Bar Olympics including five events: darts, pool, Polish horseshoes, shuffleboard and Big Buck Hunter.  The top three teams get cash prizes and drawings for door prizes, such as t-shirts, travel BBQ’s, and coolers, will be held throughout the day.  They plan to have an open jam session Saturday afternoon.

This business extends beyond the bar itself to the motel and businesses out back.  Cory says currently the motel has three regularly available rooms, eleven apartments, and three businesses.  One of these business spaces (300 square feet, with two rooms) will be up for rent soon.  (Call Cory for more information: 241-1675.)

When I ask Cory how things have been so far, he responds, “I can’t believe how well-received we’ve been.  We’ve had people volunteer to help (with carpet removal, for example)... It’s their bar, we’re just taking care of it for them.”  In this spirit, the High Spirits will be hosting a benefit for a Florence local who has cancer.  Barry Miller, husband and father of two girls, needs help with his medical expenses.  On Saturday, April 12  at noon, a benefit auction will take place.  Guns, art, and even pies can be previewed at 10 am.  “All the proceeds from food sales that day go to the family, plus one third of that day’s drink sales,” Cory adds.