Big Bird Inn – Farewell Rainbow Room

Nov 30, 2017 @ 08:08

 

On November 24th, I watched the Rainbow Room sign that has been perched on top of the Mel Ere, Bavarian Inn and Big Bird Inn for as long as I can remember come down. It was bittersweet to watch its removal.

 

Remembering my experiences working there. In my teenage years, I worked under Agnes Ostermier as a chambermaid, then with Mary Chalmers as a waitress in that cute skirt and bonnet in the Bavarian Inn with Helmut Kientz. That ownership was short-lived, and then the hotel became the Big Bird Inn, with Gordie Mackintyre and Paula Korytko at the helm. With Verna and Becky as mentors I became a cook’s help on weekends, and then one summer day when a cook didn’t come in – Shannon Belair threw me into the fire, and I did my first shift on my own.

 

 

It wasn’t easy, but with help from those ladies, I did okay. I will tell you though, I will never forget how to poach an egg. My mother never did ‘poachies’ – so when I did my first for Gord’s breakfast one day; I failed miserably. He came back into the kitchen and I must have gone through an entire flat of eggs before I made a pair of eggs he said were ‘good’. That was a shift to remember!

 

I’m sure that there are many who remember walking over from MHS for french fries or the MNR and Great Lakes Power employees filling the long wooden tables at 10 and 3 every weekday for coffee and freshly cooked donuts. You could set a clock by the orders coming into the kitchen from the ‘regulars’.

 

 

It’s been difficult through the years to watch the Bird dying. Once such a vibrant place, the very important stop between the Lakeview and the Wawa Motor on a summer Friday or Saturday night. And a critical one in the winter time, a good buzz doesn’t hold off the bitter cold as much as you would think 🙂 Live music, I seem to remember the Downchild Blues Band playing there, amidst all the wanna-be rockers that entertained us on weekends.

 

I did have the opportunity to walk inside yesterday, courtesy of the gentlemen who are in the process of rebirth. A quick look into the bar, I was curious to see if the Minto was still hanging on the wall (it is gone). It’s really hard to see. Everywhere I turned I could see in my mind’s eye, what was – contrasted with what is today, and listen to what will be…

 

The roof has been redone, and now the barger board is being removed and replaced. These men are working very hard outside, and trying to beat the impending winter. They say that everything will have to be taken out – down to the bones. But they assure me, the building is in really good shape. There is a vision of a beautiful hotel, and I’m waiting with bated breath – a pool! I along with many residents have had dreams of a pool for many, many years, and it sounds like we may just see that happen.

Wawa-news will continue to update with the progress of this re-construction.