theESTABLISHMENT Friendly people, good stories


BEST-LOVED WATERING HOLES


By TERRY RYAN This issue of Bounder takes me out of Ottawa


and into the Seaway Valley − Smiths Falls, to be exact − to the Lee Tavern. The Lee was purchased by George “Knotty”


Lee. Knotty Lee was largely responsible for bringing professional baseball to Canada. “Knotty” came from his father, who said his boy could tie a knot in a baseball. Born in Toronto in 1877, he was a left-handed hurler, organizer, scout, manager. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in June, 1998. He had quite the career in baseball. There is ample info on the internet if you want to find out more, starting with the following link to the hall of fame at: http:// baseballhalloffame.ca . Recently I met with Lawrence, son of Knotty,


one of six boys, and with Terry, grandson, now manager of the Lee and the Imperial Hotel in Perth. Lawrence still goes in every morning to get things ready for opening. He is on his third generation of regulars. Nine times out of 10 he knows the grandparent of the person walking in the door. In 1941, at age 65, Knotty Lee decided to


retire from baseball and bought the Palliser Hotel. The building itself has been around since the mid 1800s. He wanted to change the name of the Hotel to the K. Lee, but government officials couldn’t seem to understand that and registered it as the Klee Hotel. He thought perhaps a simpler


approach was needed and changed it to the Lee (they understood that). The location was great. It was right across from the train station where 32 passenger trains stopped. (Today only four stop). At that time, thirsty troops would be going through on the trains, and there were a lot of thirsty railway workers as well. Lawrence remembers when he was 15 and


every Friday he had to skip school to work in the tavern. He would pour the beer into the bell tops and place 10 glasses on each tray (remember those glasses? The ones with the white line on them – and the foam could not be below the white line?) and Knotty would hand them out to the troops for $1 a tray. The Inspector came in and threatened to close them down. He insisted that a 15-year-old could not be serving beer. Well, Knotty told him he had three sons


overseas and if he could arrange to send one back to help out in the Tavern there wouldn’t be a problem! The Inspector never mentioned it again. Of the anecdotes Lawrence shared, my favourite has to be this classic: Some officers of the troops came in asking if they had a room separate from the enlisted men for them to drink in. Knotty told them that if they didn’t think the men were good enough for them to drink with they could get the hell out of his hotel! There were tough times back then. Beer was


rationed, but hotels had to be open at least once during the day – except Sundays – or risk losing their license. Lawrence remembers that some days


they would be open only for a half hour in order to manage the beer so that they could be sure to re-open the next day. None of the hotels were open in the evening during that time. They couldn’t afford to run out of beer. It’s hard to even imagine that in 2012. My favourite story was that


when trains stopped with troops headed overseas they wouldn’t let the men out, but would call Knotty over to give him three cheers! Today, times are still tough, but for very different reasons. The smoking ban took its toll here, too, and Smith Falls has had quite a kick in the economic groin with the icing on the cake being the closing of the Hershey plant. Lawrence has seen a lot


of change in his town. He was involved in public service for more than 24 years as a councillor, and as Mayor for nine years, while also working with his brothers running the Lee. However, in spite of it all, the


Lee perseveres and the Tavern is classic, starting with the building itself, which is really a fine example of 1800s architecture. The lights at the door are from “retired” cabooses and it is full of paraphernalia on the walls and history. The menu is typical pub fare and the beer is cold. Drop in to a tavern that is


friendly, where you will definitely be welcome, and where a pint costs $4.25. If you are lucky, maybe Lawrence will be there to share a story or two of a time in history that none of us should forget.


26 BOUNDER MAGAZINE www.bounder.ca www.bounder.ca BOUNDER MAGAZINE 27 Sales Representative Direct. 613.327.4409


1 Antares Dr., Suite 110, Ottawa, ON K2E 8C4


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33