Looking back: Toby's Tavern continues to hold onto its legacy

[Editor's Note: This story was first published in the Clark Fork Valley Press Sept. 11, 2011.]

NOXON – As you pull into Toby’s Tavern, you do not expect to find anything out of the ordinary. The bar is situated on the main stretch of Noxon, a setting that is both calm and quiet.

With a plain front, the bar looks like a typical small town watering pub but once the doors open, a whole new world is exposed, one you would not expect.

Walking into the dark bar it takes a moment for one’s eyes to adjust. As your eyes start to adapt to the dim light, you see walls covered with Susan B. Anthony dollars, old mugs dating back from the 1970’s donated by beer tycoon Michelob, and pictures covering every inch of the wall.

As you start to take a look around, you realize you are standing in a bar that resembles a museum, the artifacts depicting different historical events. Whether those events are personal to Toby or on a national level, the history spans near and far.

Gale Therrian runs Toby’s Tavern and is the one-woman show, opening and closing the bar single-handedly on a daily basis.

In doing so, Gale is keeping her father’s legacy alive, a legacy that started before the 70s.

Toby purchased the bar in 1969 after retiring from the military and surprisingly, the bar only had two paintings on the wall. Now the paintings almost go unnoticed, surrounded by memorabilia.

“It took him 31 years. He collected stuff and people brought a lot of stuff in to him,” said Gale. “It’s like a museum – there’s a little bit of everything.”

Toby passed away seven years ago this year but his bar has not changed much. The walls remain the same, with no additions or deletions, keeping it preserved to a time where Toby was still around with the exception of a couple added photos of Toby himself.

“He was just a likable person, a good bartender. He was just one of those guys that should have lived forever,” said Gale explaining he was well known up and down the valley.

During his years at the bar, Toby accumulated enough stuff to literally line almost every inch of the bar.

Through the years of 1979 to 1987 Tony collected 10,200 Susan B. Anthony dollars. According to Gale, patrons would buy the dollars for a dollar and put their names by them. People as far away as France and Saudi Arabia contributed to the walls of dollars, which cover the countertop of the bar, the side of the bar, and the walls entering into the establishment.

Dollar bills spanning from $1 to $100 line the ceiling, all donations from patrons who wrote on the dollars and had them plastered up high where their memories can live on.

In the back of the bar, two cougars stand mounted, a piece that Gale considered to be the most interesting in the place. The cougars were donated about three years ago.

“A guy and his son killed them and had them mounted,” said Gale. In order to pay off the $6,000 mount, people added their names on a sign off to the left of the cats, paying $100 to get on the board.

Surrounding the cats, are bits and pieces from the Therrian’s life, with family photos plastered throughout the establishment. Not only is their family history depicted on the walls, historical events such as 9/11 are also featured.

In a letter sent by a man who was in New York for the attacks, pictures of the smoky buildings are featured, explaining the experiences he went through during that time. Also pictured is the man in a hat that Toby gave him, one from Noxon, Montana.

On a more light-hearted note, funny pictures adorn the walls as well, depicting some of the great times had in Noxon.

As Gale walked through the bar and pointed certain items out, she had a smile on her face, no doubt reliving some of the great memories she experienced here.

“He used to have a beauty shop back here probably about 30 or 35 years ago,” said Gale leading the way into a back room. There stood an old hairdresser chair worth a small fortune, an antique that remains seated exactly where it had dozens of years ago.

As she looked at the walls, she pointed out a military invention her dad came up with. Although, unsure of its history, Gale said it had something to do with preventing engine fires.

“Back then and there you didn’t get any gratitude from it,’ said Gale, moving onward.

Taking a closer look in between the photos, sayings were sprawled out in black sharpie, something her father had loved to do.

“There’s a lot of history in some of this,” said Gale.

An article depicting actor Patrick Duffy’s slaying of his parents hangs on the wall. Gale explained that Duffy’s parents and her dad and current wife at the time had been close.

“The all knew each other – his mom and dad and my dad and his wife,” said Gale.

Duffy wasn’t the only celebrity to mark the walls. Viggo Mortensen from the Lord of the Rings has been known to make appearances in the Noxon bar as well.

“He’ll pop in if he’s around. He’ll pop in a couple of times in the summer. Last time he was here he was here for three or four hours and played pool with the locals,” said Gale.

Another man of fame has also supposedly stopped by, the one and only Merle Haggard. Although Gale did say she was not entirely sure if this was true, she had heard rumor of it when she was younger.

Currently the bar experiences great summer months, with a lot of people stopping by to see the tavern. Gale said plenty of tourists from all over the area come in for a drink, many of them hearing about the bar through the grapevine. In the summer months, the business slows down and narrows down to primarily locals.

As Gale reflected on more of her fond memories, it was apparent that she loves what she does and she loves the bar as a whole. In striving to keep the bar open, Gale has continued the legacy of her father – a man that was well known and liked by many.