Raising the bar: Massive walnut slab moved into Kingsley Local Brewing Company

Jul. 13—KINGSLEY — Answer: Fifteen.

Question: How many plaid-attired 'lumberjacks' does it take to to move a 30-foot piece of walnut weighing more than 700 pounds down a street and into the Kingsley Local Brewing Company?

With "The River Kwai March" playing over a loudspeaker, 15 people moved the massive wooden bar top off a flatbed truck down East Blair Street, around the corner and into the front door of the 121 Brownson Ave. business. A September opening date is in the forecast for Kingsley Local Brewing Co. the second location for Traverse City's Workshop Brewing Company.

The Workshop Brewing Company founder and owner Pete Kirkwood said it was a marvel to see the people get the slab off the truck, down the street, in the front door and in its proper place. Police and first responders briefly blocked Brownson Avenue briefly to get the job done.

Kirkwood asked Kingsley Village Manager Dan Hawkins for assistance, who turned the endeavor into a "parade." Hawkins encouraged people to wear plaid and stocking caps, what he said was a nod to the community's heritage, which at one time included seven saw mills and three working lumber yards.

"They say many hands make light work," said Kirkwood, who was positioned in the middle of the live-edge walnut. "That's a 740-pound bar of something that was effortless for this many people. What better embodiment of our community values could you have then a whole bunch of people coming together just because we asked them to to help us and just joyfully lifting up a bar together and bringing it into town.

"I hope that's a symbol of what our future of our business is here and the future of Kingsley in general."

"We're celebrating raising the bar in Kingsley," said Hawkins, who later said his grandfather was a lumberjack in northern Michigan before he got married and became a farmer.

In another nod to area history, there is an Adams Fly embedded in a knot of the new bar. The Adams Fly was designed by Leonard Halladay from Mayfield in 1922, at the request of his friend, Charles Adams, according to Wikipedia. An original Adams Fly is housed at the Kingsley Branch Library and a festival is held in the village annually.

After getting the bar into place, Kirkwood poured glasses of The Workshop Company's new non-alcoholic beer, Nail Gun, and toasted the endeavor for those who helped and the dozen or so spectators on hand Monday morning.

"Cheers to Kingsley, cheers to this entire community and sheers to a bright future together," Kirkwood said.

Both Kirkwood and Hawkins said they weren't surprised by the turnout for the mid-Monday morning event.

"This community has been so supportive of this project from the very beginning that I actually was not surprised," Kirkwood said of the turnout. "It's a real tight-knit community and we've been feeling the support since we started on the project here. I just kind of expect it, there's so much love here."

The namesake behind Joe Buteyn Design turned the piece of walnut into what will be the centerpiece of The Kingsley Local Brewing Company. It will clearly be the focal point of the microbrewery.

"We bought this beautiful walnut tree that was down in Traverse City four years ago, just knowing it would be a beautiful thing to use as a bar," Kirkwood said. "It turned out to be a great choice. It's an incredibly beautiful piece of wood. It's going to be an icon. It will be well-worn and well-loved throughout the years."

A September opening is in the forecast for the Kingsley Local Brewing Company. Kirkwood said there have been some delays "typical of the challenges everyone is facing in any kind of construction." The Workshop Brewing Company General Manager Virginia Hanna, who lives outside of Kingsley, said there have been other unpredictable hurdles associated with completely renovating the old building.

"We are really looking at September," Hanna said, who added a chance to work at Kingsley Local Brewing helped attract her to the GM position. "Probably at this point it's late September. That's the goal."

"We've been hustling on the building," said Rich Gunn, in charge of the design of the interior. "Once this is in, we're about halfway done."

"Everyone is always asking and I'm asking myself," Kirkwood said. "The answer is, 'as soon as we possibly can.' But it's looking like summer or early fall. We're optimistic, but there's still a lot to be done."

When the Kingsley Local Brewing Company is open, Kirkwood and Hawkins said it promises to be much more than a bar with seating at tables and another dozen in front of the walnut slab. An outdoor beer garden adjacent to the business should be ready next year, adding another space to gather.

"We want to be a place for community to come together," Kirkwood said. "One of the thing that's core to our mission in Traverse City is we want to be a venue where culture happens in real time, where human beings interact face-to-face with other human beings. We think that's a very healthy thing for a community to have those kind of places where you encounter people that you know and people that you don't know and get different points of view and interesting conversations."

"A well-run, outdoor brewery is not only good for business, but is the new safe place for family congregating and interacting," said Hawkins, who said he doesn't imbibe. "You don't have to be a drinker to enjoy this place."

Kirkwood said its one of the reasons he tasked his staff to create a non-alcoholic beer before the Kingsley opening. He said it's on-tap in Traverse City right now.

"We know this is a small town and there aren't necessarily a ton of options for people who want to go out and enjoy themselves, spend time with their community members here," said Kirkwood, who said beer will be brewed and shared between the two locations. "I didn't want people that are trying not to drink for whatever reason, I didn't want them to be excluded from that. I wanted everyone to be able to join the party."

That's why surrounding places like The Rock of Kingsley, a youth center directly to the east, and the Kingsley United Methodist Church at 113 Blair St., didn't have objections to a microbrewery springing up in the village.

"I don't think it's going to cause any problems," The Rock of Kingsley Founder and Executive Director Diane Walton said. "It's not a bar; it's a workshop. He's going to have so many activities."

Rev. Colleen Wierman, pastor of KUMC, said the church's administrative council had to have a vote since it is so close to the Kingsley Local Brewing Company.

"We sat down with our administrative council and it was unanimous, 'Please come,' " Wierman said. "This is going to bring business to the community.

"Besides, people don't always gather in church, they sometimes gather in bars. We do our ministry outside the (church) building and this is one way to do it. Church doesn't just happen in a building; church is the people."

Kirkwood said the community wanted a microbrewery in its downtown and the community will drive the activities inside it, whether it be live entertainment and "culture happening in real time — whether that's book club, church group, knitting group or trivia — whatever the community wants, we'll try to provide that."

Kirkwood stated what he's tried to establish at his first Grand Traverse County microbrewery will be part of the second. The new Kingsley location doesn't have a kitchen or plans to serve food, but sees a symbiotic opportunity with other establishments, especially being directly across Brownson Avenue from Papano's Pizza Kingsley.

"The Workshop Brewing Company and now the Kingsley Local are just embodiments of my personal philosophy about the role of business in communities," he stated. "That really, to me, is to leverage the power of commerce that improves quality of life and gives people a sense of community and to provide meaningful work for my staff.

"It's about nature, community and craft. That's our motto and those are our three driving forces. Business is just a tool to try and promote our agenda on those items."