Remember When?

40 YEARS AGO • MARCH 5, 1981

LOUIS LaROCK BUYS

HOTEL BAR IN TF

Louis LaRock, partner in the firm which has operated the Thompson River Ranch since January 1964, has purchased the Hotel Bar from Mrs. Joy Reynolds and plans to reopen the establishment later this week. The change of ownership was effective Thursday.

The reopening of the bar is subject to approval of the State Liquor Control Board, which is expected to be received by mid-week he said.

The Hotel Bar has been closed for the past few weeks, while ownership was undergoing a transfer.

LaRock said he will continue to operate the Thompson River Ranch, but that the corporation owning the Ranch has no interest in the Hotel Bar.

Side note: The Hotel Bar was built by William M. Cummings as the Legal Tender Saloon, a bar and hotel in the early 1900s. Sanders County Ledger, Friday, June 20, 1913: William Cummings has installed a fine Regina Mandolin orchestra in the big bar room of his hotel building. It is operated by an electric motor and is a dandy. All you have to do is drop a nickel in the slot, the orchestration does the rest. The instrument was purchased in the east and cost $600. Mr. and Mrs. Cummings also took over the Ward Hotel (Black Bear) in 1909 and operated it for two years previous to building his new establishment. Cummings was a hotel man, when he first arrived in Thompson Falls, he operated the Thompson Hotel and was also co-owner of a saloon called the Exchange.

30 YEARS AGO • MARCH 7, 1991

BIDS TO BE OPENED FOR FALLS PARK

Bids were to be considered this week in Butte by Montana Power Company officials for the construction of the Wild Goose Landing Park in Thompson Falls.

Recreation Specialist Chris Dumas of MPC said bids were due Tuesday at 5 p.m. and the firm hoped to let a contract with a successful bidder March 12.

Montana Power had agreed last year to fund the initial improvements for the facility which will eventually be operated and maintained by the City of Thompson Falls.

Wild Goose Park Association Chairman Dan Whittenburg said the plan remains to have the improvements completed and the park open by Memorial Day this year. The effort would culminate several years of planning and community involvement in the project that started when the late "Mac" McGuigan agreed to transfer his lease to the property, which had been operated as a trailer court, to a coalition of service groups. Those groups then each contributed a member to the park board, which negotiated planning and organizing efforts for the park. Montana Power became involved as part of their relicensing effort of their Thompson Falls hydroelectric plant. Under guidelines directed by the Federal Energy regulatory Commission, the licensing agency for hydroelectric plants, Montana Power was directed to make contributions to the recreational amenities available in the area.

Montana Power worked out a plan to fund improvements to the park as part of their commitment to the community.

The park, as currently envisioned, will provide parking, restrooms, walkways, landscaping, a new boat dock and picnic areas.

Construction on the improvements is slated to begin around April 1, and Whittenburg said he hoped that Montana Power would be using local contractors for the work.