Local bar to celebrate decade of libation

One of Wrangell's watering holes will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary this weekend.

Rayme's Bar owner Reme Privett had purchased the establishment – then the Brig Bar – back in 2007, reopening its doors on September 14. The Brig's longtime owner, Lawrence Bahovec, had been running the bar since 1962. Though he had just turned 90, Privett recounted Bahovec still worked in the bar six days a week. He was looking to get out of the business as Privett was hoping to get into it, and he approached Bahovec with a proposal to buy the bar.

"What got me into it was I was working for my dad, and I wanted to do something different," Privett explained. After haggling over a price they could agree on, the next step was for Privett to get his licensing with the state liquor control office.

"It took me about a year and a half to get the bar in my name," he recalled. "It's not an easy process. Everything's got to be documented, cut and dry."

Privett had to submit and resubmit his paperwork several times, and had to navigate the process of approval with Wrangell's then-council. When it seemed sure to pass through, Privett worked on renaming the Brig Bar. Rayme's new signage – an iconic oversized mug above the front door – was the work of his father, Bill Privett, and Frank Rice at Svendsen Marine.

"They put it together for me," the bar owner said. Built from aluminum, it took an Alaska Marine Lines forklift and a number of bolts to get the mug into place. "At the party we're going to have some pictures."

As soon as his license arrived by fax, Privett put together a grand opening for Rayme's Bar. "It was the day before moose hunting, and I can still remember to this day that about every guy that went moose hunting was absolutely ticked off at me."

As well as changing the name, the old Brig also took on a different look inside. Along the walls the bar has accumulated a number of racks and trophy displays. Some have sentimental value, such as the moose rack Privett received from his uncle.

"The buffalo head, that came from my sister when she was bartending at Sturgis," he said, pointing it out. "The ram, that was my grandpa, Doc Floyd's."

Friends and well-wishers have donated a number of deer antlers, some of which were signed by the gift-givers. Over the bar, Privett does not quite remember who gave him the stuffed and mounted whitetail head and posterior. "They just kind of showed up one day."

One of things that hasn't changed about the place is the old bell mounted over the bar.

"It's from well before my time," Privett noted. "When I bought the bar it was here. It's fallen down a couple of times, it's been ripped down, the cord's been cut off. But it's the same one."

Commonly found in many bars in Southeast Alaska, ringing the bell means buying a round for everybody inside. As Privett explained in rhyme: "He who rings the bell in jest buys a round for all the rest." Travelling abroad though, he has found the custom to be less practiced. While in a fishing community on New Zealand's North Island, he finally found a bell in a local tavern. However, it was behind the bar and was rung whenever tips were received by the bartender. The owner had never heard of the Alaskan tradition, but was intrigued by it.

"We came back in two weeks and he'd moved that bell out. And he goes, 'I've made more money off this thing, it's crazy!'" Privett remembers.

Running his own establishment for the past decade, he is glad to have made the investment. "It's a lot of work. There's no doubt about that," said Privett. "It's a labor of love. But I'm happy with it. I mean, with any business you've got days where this is a lot of fun, and then there are days when you're like, 'Why do I have to go in to clean bathrooms?'"

To celebrate 10 years, after the work week ends on Friday the bar will be serving Bill Privett's reknowned ribs and pulled pork for do-it-yourself sliders. It will be a potluck as well, so people can bring a dish or side to share.