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Allen sells Waterhole building to Munley, returns ‘#3’

From left, Kiki Sarko, Eric Munley, Billy Allen and Susan Conroy pose at the Waterhole in Saranac Lake. (Photo provided)

SARANAC LAKE — Eric Munley, who plays mandolin in the Blind Owl Band, has worked and performed music at the Waterhole for the past nine years or so. He’s invested plenty of hours into cleaning, serving drinks, performing, managing, booking bands and hanging posters, and now he owns it.

The original name for the building when it opened in 1971 was Waterhole #3, taken from the 1967 comedy-western movie of the same name. It’s considered to be a spoof of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns and stars James Coburn from “Our Man Flint” and Carroll O’Connor, who played Archie Bunker on “All in the Family.”

When Munley and his partner Kiki Sarko took over management of the business a few years ago, owner Billy Allen removed the “#3” from the sign, stored it in his father’s house and said he’d give it back the day the couple buys the building.

“I don’t think we’re going to change the name again,” Munley said, “but I think we’re going to find a nice place to hang up the number three in recognition for the bar’s roots.”

In the past few years, Munley and Sarko have fixed up the inside of the building and painted the exterior walkways. Next summer, he said they’re hoping to redo the patio and put in more seating. Munley said he doesn’t see any revolutionary changes coming soon, but he feels like a certain weight has been lifted.

“When you’re leasing a building and you go in two years at a time, there is always some concern in the back of your head that something could go on and we could get the place taken away from us or get bought out by somebody, etc.,” he said. “So now we’re assured that we’re in control of our own destiny.”

Allen said signing over the Waterhole was a bittersweet feeling.

“It was like losing a son or the house or something,” he said. “We had a lot of good memories there. We had our time, but now it’s someone else’s turn.”

Allen bought the Waterhole in 1985 and made it a place where local bands from the North Country and Burlington, Vermont, could perform and get exposure. He’d also get some big-name acts in there, too, such as the Del McCourey Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones with Sam Bush, New Riders of the Purple Sage and Commander Cody.

“We had some pretty good musicians in there,” Allen said.

Munley has kept that tradition alive, so one night you might see the Saranac Lake band Crowfeather and the next you’ll see the Felice Brothers or third-wave ska group the Slackers.

“We’ve really been trying to build up a reputation with bands and agencies, have them trust that coming to Saranac Lake is worth it,” Munley said. “Being such a small market in the corner of the country makes it a challenge. There’s another small-market venue, and it’s real famous, called the Purple Fiddle in West Virginia. It’s in an area where there’s nothing else and it’s sort of the halfway point in between the South and the North, so it’s a famous stop for musicians. We’re up and out of the way, so it takes building confidence with the industry for people to trust us. It’s a lot easier to get contacted by a band and book them than it is to come out of the blue and try to get them.”

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