"This will help get us through the winter," co-owner Dennis St.Pierre said. "When it is finally time to reopen, this will make it possible. Otherwise, it would be a toss of the coin. It would be like starting all over again."
St. Pierre and Bob Cellana, co-owner and longtime friend, were forced to close the State Street Tavern's doors in March once COVID-19 hit a critical mass in the state. Only taverns serving food could remain open at the time, and then only for takeout. Even when the rules were relaxed during the summer, food and outside dining were required for serving alcohol.
"I think the last night we were open was a Monday. Nobody wanted to leave. It was like leaving your family," St. Pierre said. "It was sad shutting the lights off because we did not know if they would be coming on again."
The State Street Tavern, or the T, does not have a kitchen and is quite small, or as Bob would say "cozy." Under the governor's COVID-19 guidelines, it is virtually impossible for the tavern to reopen in any form.
Shuttering the T is something Mingo's General Manager Morgan Leveque does not want to see.
"We don't want to lose a community staple," she said. "I know a lot of our fundraisers at Mingo's, everyone, at the end of the night, says 'let's go to the T.'"
Leveque said that ownership and the management team decided to extend a helping hand to the T and host a to-go pasta dinner on Monday, Dec. 21.
Tickets can be purchased at Mingo's, Moulton's Spectacle Shoppe, and even at the T. The next two Saturdays Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, Cellana and St. Pierre will be holding "office hours" from 9 to noon for those who want to stop in, say hi, and, most importantly, purchase a ticket.
Those who stop will notice a much quieter barroom than remembered. The Christmas lights are off, the whirring coolers have been shut off to conserve funds, the heater has been minimized to a base temperature, and the jukebox is unplugged. There is no banter, no laughter, no familiar sounds of bottles being popped or rocks glasses hitting the bar.
This is especially strange to see around the holidays, typically a busy time at the T. Those returning home for the holidays often make the T their first stop hoping to reconnect with friends before venturing home.
But beyond missing these busy few weeks it is still a year gone: No Fall Foliage Parade, no class reunions, no holiday parties, and no karaoke for an entire year. Beyond the financial loss, Cellana and St. Pierre miss their patrons, their community, their friends, and their family.
"I miss all of the guys arguing," Cellana said. "A lot of our customers haven't had a drink since we closed so maybe we did a good thing for them."
They still visit the T every day to check on things. St. Pierre, said and the T is still on people's minds. They people in and say hi, sit on the bench outside, or look in the window just to get a glimpse of the space that functioned as almost a living room for many.
The longtime friends have never been far from the State Street Tavern and, as kids, they frequented the then convenience store in the Italian neighborhood.
"It was a mom and pop store we used to come in here when we were kids," St. Pierre said. "We would come in and buy penny candy. It was all right here."
Sometime after that, it turned into Bill's Tavern. It became a regular haunt of for the friends when they came of age.
"This was our hang out when Bill owned it," Cellana said. "He would always say, 'why don't you guys buy the bar.'"
And they did just that, purchasing it on Oct. 1, 1983, as a side project. With reliable jobs at Arnold Print Works, the State Street Tavern was more of a passion project.
However, soon after their acquisition of the property, Arnold Print Works closed its doors after a disastrous fire, and Cellana and St. Pierre were faced with a tough decision: follow the textile work down South or find another job.
But they firmly agreed they weren't going anywhere.
The original Gateway Club group photo inspired the State Street T Neighborhood Kids.
"Before we even got into business, they closed the doors on us down there so we either moved down South to follow the trade or stay here. So we decided to stay here and do this full time," Bob said. "...Sometimes you wonder if you made the right choice, but I think we made the right choice. We didn't want to pack up and move down south. Our families are here."
The core group of bar patrons couldn't imagine a North Adams without the State Street Tavern, Bob, or Dennis. Some would point tourists to landmarks like Natural Bridge, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Hoosac Tunnel while a T regular would point them toward 167 State St.
The T became a generational meeting place. Cellana said old friends, veterans, business leaders, politicians, college kids, motorcyclists, artists, doctors, and professional athletes have frequented the bar.
This includes Steve Blass, a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates who played through the 1960s and 1970s. St. Pierre remembered one time some of the patrons asked who the man at the end of the bar was. He asked Blass if it was OK to tell the regulars who he was, and he immediately took off his World Series ring and handed it around the bar for the guys to try on.
Boston Red Sox infielder Frank Malzone was also a regular. St. Pierre said his son went to college at the then North Adams State and when he and his wife visited, Malzone would stop at the T.
"He would come down here. I put his picture over here because that is where he would sit all of the time," he said. "He would come in and have four or five drinks and say, 'I guess I gotta go make an appearance.'"
The walls are covered with photos, some historic, acting as a living archive of the bar and city's past. Friendly faces of those long gone mark the neighborhood and family history.
St. Pierre said people are always excited to be put on the wall. He said visitors come from far and wide to see family members on the walls, and that he always takes time to give visitors the grand tour, acting as a docent in a museum.
Legacy is important to the State Street Tavern and generations of St. Pierres and Cellanas have bartended and collectively helped keep the place going. This fits right in with Dennis and Bob's belief in community, and for 30-plus years, they have raised money to fund trips and events for local kids.
St. Pierre said he and Cellana looked back on their own childhood. Their families did not have a lot of money, but they were still given opportunities.
Dennis said early in the bar's history they decided to keep this spirit alive.
"Way back some of the guys at the bar were talking. They were looking at this picture it was the Gateway Club," he said. "They used to do that for us so we thought you know what we should do that. Someone always looked after us and brought us all over."
Mirroring the Gateway Club that shuttled neighborhood kids all over the region, they created the State Street T Neighborhood Kids.
St. Pierre said he went to businesses throughout Adams and North Adams raising funds and promoting a trip to Boston. They were firm believers that every kid in North Adams should be able to visit Fenway.
Fundraisers became more elaborate with the Beast Feast and the Pig Roast but at the heart of all fundraising efforts was a sense of community, togetherness, and pooling resources to provide local children with fun meaningful experiences that the owners had enjoyed as kids.
The State Street T Neighborhood Kids participated in fishing derbies and went on trips to McCoy Stadium and regular trips to Fenway Park.
Through the years the T made more connections in Boston and St. Pierre said they became friendly with the Fenway groundskeeper who collected a bag of practice baseballs to hand out to the State Street T Kids marked green from being hit off the Green Monster.
St. Pierre said one year they had game programs with Roger Clemens on the cover and were in line to get them autographed by a centerfielder.
A passing Clemens saw his teammate signing his autograph over his own photo.
"The center fielder said, 'This guy has a busload of kids, and I am going to autograph these programs,'" St. Pierre said. "Clemens said, 'give me those things that is me on the cover.' He didn't want someone else's name on his picture so he signed them all."
Cellana noted one year they made the mistake of purchasing tickets for a night game so they found themselves in Boston with 40 kids with nothing to do
"That was a long day," he laughed.
He said they rang in a favor from then-Superintendent of Schools James Montepare who made a few calls and got tickets to the Boston Aquarium and the Omni theater.
"By the time we got to the game I think some of the kids were looking after us," St. Pierre said.
Cellana said many of the kids from these trips have their own families now and often stop in and say hi and find their picture on the wall.
Leveque said this history of community engagement struck a chord with the Mingo's management team. She felt it was important for Mingo's, a family-owned business with similar principles, to give the T a shot in the arm.
"Our ownership has always stressed that giving back to our community is a huge priority. The bowling alley and Mingo's were bought to preserve a family-oriented establishment here in North Adams" she said. "The management team has always thought about their place in the community. We have done a ton of fundraisers ... last year we probably raised over $100,000 for community-based nonprofits."
Leveque said already the community has responded and many tickets have already been sold. Even more surprising, she has received donations from people throughout the country who, although no longer live in North Adams, felt the need to help an establishment near and dear to their hearts.
"It has been insane everybody that has walked in the bar over the past few weeks has mentioned it," she said. "It is all over Facebook and we have received a lot of donations."
St. Pierre and Cellana said they were humbled by the outreach and believe with a little help from Mingo's and the community they will have a fighting chance once better times are upon us.
"After talking with you guys at Mingo's I went home with a tear in my eye," St. Pierre said. "To think so many people cared so much about this place."
Meals can be picked up Monday, Dec. 21st from 4 to 7 at Mingo's at 41 Roberts Dr. in North Adams.
Reporter Jack Guerino is a member of the State Street T family and has put in his time behind the bar.
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