Harbor Bar in the mid 1950’s after Keith Brown bought it from his stepfather, John Putnam and made some additions.
The service bay is visible on the right and the bar on the left. Courtesy Omena Historical Society.
Kori Wheeler remembers that on Monday mornings when she was growing up her dad would come out and swim with the kids. He was a perfect diver and taught his children to dive and swim underwater. They laughed at his white legs…. white because he did not have a tan there, he never wore shorts as he worked all the time. For 40 years Keith Brown worked hard, constantly coming up with new ideas and making a success of a little gas station and bar in a little town in northern Michigan.
“I’ll Buy It!”
Keith grew up in Omena, went to Northport High School and then the army, serving in Korea. One day while at his army base, Keith got a letter from his stepfather, John Putnam. John and his wife Evelyn had been the owners of Putnam’s Ice Cream and Texaco Gas Station in the heart of Omena since he built it in 1935, and he now planned to sell. “I’ll buy it!” Keith wrote to his dad. It was a leap of faith, but Keith was hard working and knew most of the people in town. He was sure his friends would support him, and he had a lot of creative ideas to attract others.
Keith is remembered as being “tall, blond, and handsome” when he came home from the service. He was friendly and greeted people by name when they came in. Keith was hard working and ambitious. He wanted a bigger place and more customers. The first thing he did was enlarge the place. When he bought the bar, it seated about 30 people according to Omena Historical Society records, but even that must have been a tight fit. Helen Bradley remembers when she was a little girl it had just a bar and a few tables. Keith expanded it so it had a dining hall that would seat 150 people according to OHS. He called it “Harbor Bar and Marina.”
He needed more living space on the lower level for his growing family, he and his wife Alice had six children eventually, so they added on to the lower level living quarters. Now it has 5 bedrooms, a larger kitchen, and a garage. Kori remembers her new bedroom was below the dance floor. “It got pretty noisy on Saturday nights.” she said.
The fishing vessel Lady Hilma at its mooring in a safe harbor for the winter. Native American fishing boats often parked at Keith’s Harbor Bar Marina before they had their own marina. Courtesy Omena Historical Archives
Safe Harbor
Keith put in a break wall to provide a safe harbor for boaters in bad weather. He put in several boat slips and gas pumps for the boats. Joanne, Keith’s second wife, remembers Keith never let the marina gas tank run out as he knew people depended on it. There were few places for boaters to gas up. If Keith knew a big boat was coming in for gas, he would have the tanker fill his marina tank before they arrived to make sure there was enough. And he kept watch over the bay from the bar and his living quarters below, rescuing people out on the bay who got in trouble from time to time.
He added a horse-shoe pit below the bar next to the marina and devised a clever way to be able to serve players their beer and burgers as they played. It was a pulley system, a rope with a little red plastic basket attached, which he used to lower down the food and beer and haul up the payment.
Friday Fish Fry and Sunday Morning Breakfast
Their Friday Fish Fries, which began shortly after Keith took over in the 1960’s, became so popular that cars were lined up all along the road in both directions. As Kori and her sisters grew up, their help was needed. She remembers filling little paper cups with tartar sauce and prepping the fish and burgers (“not everyone liked fish”) getting ready for the crowd.
Later on, Keith and Joanne began having a Sunday Morning Breakfast from 10-1 which lasted for a while, until one busy morning after a busy night Joanne looked out and saw Keith taking down the “Breakfast Served” sign. “That’s the last time we’ll do that.” he said. It was just too much! The bar closed at 2am on Saturdays, they cleared out the last patron by 2:30am and then cleaned up. The next morning, they had to get up early and get ready for the Sunday morning breakfast crowd. It ended due to pure exhaustion.
Auto Service Ended
In 1981, Keith ended the automobile gas and service part of his business. The competition from Traverse City became just too great for it to be worthwhile. However, he could still be called when people needed a tow, needed their cars fixed or needed to be plowed out. He attached a big blade to his truck in the winter, Kori remembers. And he kept the marine gas pumps below for boaters.
For a short time, there was a vegetable stand in the side bay which had been the service bay. Then it was rented to Leelanau Cheese which was just beginning to make their delicious cheeses. They stayed there several years before moving to Black Star Farms.
Keith on the deck of their Florida home. He looks every bit the people person he was in this photo with his big smile and wave. Courtesy Joanne Brown
Keith had been inviting musicians to play on weekends at the Harbor Bar since the 70’s. Back then Zip (LaVern) Flees would come on Sundays with his Concertina (a kind of accordion) and friends. Several other local bands came as well. “Newt and the Salamanders” were regulars beginning around 1980, followed by “Ace and Mozart “from 1985-1990, which brought even more people into the restaurant and bar, the music echoing out across Omena Bay. Other bands followed: Ken Holton and his band, and Mark Frank’s band, among others. Mark remembers playing there one holiday and having a group of motorcyclist’s ride in, circle the band, and ride back out again, much to everyone’s surprise!
Keith’s “Pets”
Mark also remembers Keith had a pet crow that he and patrons would hand feed out on the deck railing. He also had a pet skunk according to Kori, as well as several pet raccoons. He hand fed seagulls the leftover French Fries right off the deck.
His insides pets included a cat named “Clifford,” a black cat with only part of a tail, which would ride around with Keith in his pickup truck as if it were a dog, and a white cat that had lots of kittens. Kori also talks about their dog named Prancer, who nipped at the tires of cars as they went by. Luckily, there was not as much traffic then as there is now. Prancer managed to live to a ripe old age. Once a week the boys would go across the street to the firehouse and test the firehouse signal bell, and Prancer would howl. This was a family that loved animals.
The Place to Be
Harbor Bar became a gathering place, a community center, where people went when the power went out on cold winter days. There they knew they would find the generator purring, the wood stove radiating cozy heat, and Joanne’s hot chili waiting. They had a satellite dish which, with the generator’s help, kept the TV humming and of course, powered the register.
They offered milk shakes for kids, a Pacman table as well as a pool table, and even a library that had Readers Digest books and even Encyclopedia Britannica. For the businessmen there were subscriptions to Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Dailey, and Value Line. And you could send a fax or make a copy there as well. What else could anyone want?
Keith had a stroke in 1996 and sold the business to Tim Weiss in 1997. Tim quit the business in 2000, it remained empty for a couple of years until it was finally sold at auction to Leelanau Wine Cellars. It was the end of an era, but not really. Life goes on. And a popular bar, restaurant and marina is still an important part of who we are in Omena.
Courtesy Joanne Brown, Kori Wheeler, Helen Bradley, Mark Frank, and “Omena, A Place in Time” by Amanda Holmes, Omena Historical Society.