Of course, the Harguths don’t expect anybody to donate items for free. If some sort of compensation is desired, he encourages the memorabilia owners to call the bar or stop by, so as to start the friendly negotiations.
“If some sort of recognition is preferred, we could certainly make sure to say who the item is donated by,” Dan said. “But, once it’s out of their hands, we plan to keep it. We do have insurance coverage, but if somebody were to take it, or if it gets destroyed by fire, it’s out of our hands.”
This garage sale of sorts, he hopes to occur very soon. In the next month or so, his goal is to have all the Hartland and New Richland items and lay it out in an orderly fashion.
“I just don’t want this place to look like a run-of-the-mill bar where people walk in and there’s only beer signs with stuff cluttered everywhere,” Dan said.
He doesn’t want anyone to worry though; there will still be beer signs displayed for all to see. He and Tara would just like to have “that perfect take to it.”
“We have come a long way since day one,” Dan said. “For the majority of it, we hired contractors and believe it or not, we never closed down during any of it.”
As the “only show in town,” they knew it needed to stay open. Their customers are number one.
“December 17th of this last winter, we started renovating the inside,” Dan said. “We’ve done a lot of other stuff in the past like adding a new roof that actually extends over half the patio and adding two sand volleyball courts out in back.”
In fact, just this last summer, their volleyball courts filled to the brim. Sixteen co-ed teams played on Tuesday on Wednesday nights combined.
“That is the most we can handle,” Dan said.
With two full-time employees and six part-timers, Dan and Tara want everybody to know they don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.
“I had a couple of different milestones I wanted to meet,” Dan said. “One was to be here 10 years because the supposed word on the street is, if you can make it 10 years in a business, you can last forever.”
Upon surpassing that important marker, by no means did he let that accomplishment go straight to his head. For him, it’s just always been about being there for all those loyal customers.
“We have a really good business,” Dan said.
A full-time Ag-Power employee these days, he and Tara conduct the University’s bookkeeping duties in the comfort of their home.
“For the first two or three years, I basically worked here all the time, day and night,” Dan added. “Now when absolutely no one can work, then I work. I don’t want to make that sound bad, because to be totally honest, it actually bites not getting down here enough.”
Whenever he does show his face, there’s always a familiar face behind the bar to welcome him. A University employee now for nine years, Megian Bell knows just what to do and when to do it.
“I would say we are by far the cleanest bar around,” Bell said. “Even our pizza vendors from Mankato and the Cities always say we are the cleanest bar around.”
Dan added, “The previous owner, Yog, always made sure this place sparkled. I’d say he kind of rubbed off on me while working alongside him, during that nine-month transition in ownership.”
Tara even is bold enough to say that their bathrooms are the cleanest ones anyone will ever see in a bar. But, never mind their compliment-winning “OCD” level of cleanliness.
The best part of their journey has come, the renovation finish line. Now more than ever is the best time to stop by and join in on the festivities. And don’t forget, the hunt for memorabilia starts now!
“We are open from 10 a.m. – 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and Noon – 10 p.m. on Sunday,” Bell said. “We always like to see new faces.”
