Business Bites: The Wild Hare open; Rise Athletics going to national competition; Alumni Club blacklisted by Malmstrom; Trail Mixer and Legacy Awards coming up
The Wild Hare
The Wild Hare, the new bar in the freshly remodeled space that was formerly the Lobby Bar, is now open at 518 Central Ave.
The owners held their soft opening March 30 and are planning their grand opening for April 8-9 with a DJ on Friday and 50 Watt Sun playing on Saturday.
“It’s been a labor of love,” said Matt Robb, one of the owners and managing partner.
Robb said that the former owner, Carl Heishman, owned the building since the 1970s and supported the change in ownership knowing the new team “could take it into the future.”
Robb said they’ve kept many of the original elements of the building and restored some of those that had been covered up over the years.
Photos by Amber Fern
Robb’s partners in The Wild Hare are Alen Aivazian, Ryan Sweeney, Skyy John and Justin Klinger.
Some of them are also partners in the GOAT Group, which owns and operates bars in Hawaii, California and a new one opening in Nashville.
The bar at The Wild Hare will offer beer, wine and cocktails with 12 beers on tap, Robb said.
Matt Black, the chef at Harvest Craft Kitchen, will be the executive chef overseeing the kitchen at The Wild Hare and he’s bringing on Emily Brockman as the day-to-day chef at the bar. Harvest Craft Kitchen is maintaining their existing location in the 200 block of Central Avenue.
The newly renovated space includes a stage for live entertainment, 24 screens with two video walls, making it a place to watch sports, Robb said.
Photos by Amber Fern
“The whole goal was to not be a sports bar, but a place that has sports,” he said.
The front bar space will now be a tequila tasting room and Robb said that space or the main bar can be rented out for private events.
Robb said that tequila is often forgotten or people don’t know much about it, but it’s one of the best spirits.
The casino was also remodeled and has 16 new machines, a full bar and casino attendant, he said.
The team is “super excited to be part of the community,” Robb said. “The people here are awesome. We’ve invested in the business community and I and Ryan both own houses here.”
Robb is making Great Falls his permanent home base.
The renovation was designed by LPW Architects and Robb said that the city planning department was “nothing but helpful since the beginning.”
Among their long-term plans, once The Wild Hare is up and running, is to develop a speakeasy in the basement dubbed The Night Owl.
The Wild Hare will have entertainment ranging from karaoke to open mic nights to trivia to comedy and live music. The space has always had music, he said, but they are conscious of their neighbors on the block.
Rise Athletics
Rise Athletics all star competitive cheer team has earned another trip to a national competition.
At a competition in Utah last weekend, Atmosphere, the senior 3 team, took second; Elevation, the youth 1 team took second; Altitude, the junior 2 team, earned a bid to the Summit competition in Orlando, Fla. later this month.
About 12,000 teams compete to earn 1,240 bids available for the Summit competition. Last year, they competed in a similar national competition and took fourth.
Elevation will compete at The Pinnacle in Las Vegas. Athletes will have a short break and then rev back up for tryouts May 14 for Rise’s fourth season.
Anyone interested in trying out can message the Rise Facebook page or find information on their website.
Alumni Club blacklisted
Officials at Malmstrom Air Force Base have declared the Alumni Club at 601 3rd Ave. N.W. off-limits until further notice.
Off-limits means military personnel are prohibited from conducting business with and entering the premises of the Alumni Club. If the business is renamed or ownership transfers, the establishment will remain off-limits, according to the base.
“After reviewing criminal statistics provided by local law enforcement partners, it has been determined the establishment is unsafe for military personnel,” according to the base.
Trail Mixer Auction
The Lewis and Clark Foundation at the Interpretive Center is hosting the 17th Annual Trail Mixer Online Auction with bidding beginning April 19.
Register for the auction here.
The History Museum Legacy Awards
The History Museum is holding its annual Legacy Awards at 1 p.m. April 9. The event is free and open to the public.
The event honors businesses, organizations and individuals that have helped shape, promote and preserve the history of Cascade County and North Central Montana. The Cascade County Historical Society/The History Museum’s Annual Membership Meeting will also be held during the free event appointing board positions and the new leadership slate to be voted on that includes Carol Bradly, Andrew Finch, Troy Hallsell, Jeff LePard, Chayleen Person and Paul Snyder.
The Monarch-Neihart Historical Group is this year’s Non-Profit Legacy Award winner. The historic train depot built in 1902 had fallen into disrepair and was slated for demolition by the Montana Department of Transportation. It was saved by a group of dedicated volunteers who formed a non-profit organization in 2012 and continues under the leadership of Monarch residents Hugh and Janet Enloe.Today, the depot is the only remaining railroad structure of the Great Northern Railroad that once extended from Great Falls to Monarch, Barker, and Neihart, Montana. The work done through this non-profit strengthens small communities by offering a communal space where history is preserved and a yearly festival: Montana Rocks.
THe 2022 Person of the Year award is going to Mary Sheehy Moe, educator and active community member. Moe retired from a career in education in 2010. She began her career as a high school English teacher, continued as an English teacher at a two-year college in Montana, and concluded as Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education in Montana. Since retirement she has been a school board chair, a state senator and a city commissioner representing the citizens of Great Falls.
Calumet Montana Refinery LLC is receiving the museum’s 100 Years in Business Award. The refinery employs about 600 people and has called Great Falls home since 1922. Though they have operated for a century now as part of the petroleum and coal products industry, they continue to grow and engage in new technology. In 2021, Calumet launched their Montana Renewables project that seeks to create renewable fuel for Montana and continues to invest millions of dollars into our local economy.
Calumet adds jobs for conversion to renewable diesel
Showdown Montana is this year’s Commercial/Local Business Award winner. The ski hill has been serving the Great Falls community since 1937 and is among the oldest ski areas in Montana. George Willet and the late Ted Cogswell purchased the hill in the 1970s. Originally named Kings Hill Ski Area, offering a tow rope to the top of Porphyry Peak for $1, George and Margie Willett have since brought this local gem into the modern age without sacrificing character. Last year it was announced that operations of the ski hill were being passed on to daughter Katie Boedecker, who continues the legacy.
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