Pour one for Jim

Observer photo/Mike Lange  A COLD ONE – Jim Jardine pours a draft beer at the Lakeshore House.

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

MONSON – When the Lakeshore House in Monson added draft beer to their beverage selection earlier this month, Jim Jardine was delighted.

Owner Rebekah Anderson even asked Jardine to pour the first ceremonial glass.

“Jim has a long history with draft beer,” she said with a smile. “And he’d love to tell you the story.”

Jardine’s restaurant – the Log Cabin in Greenville Junction – was the first establishment north of Bangor to offer draft beer. “I took over in the spring of 1954 and the beer taps were put in the following year,” said Jardine. “We had Schlitz at first and then added Budweiser.”

Jardine, 82, lived in Greenville most of his life and relocated to Monson when his wife passed away two years ago. Although his eyesight is failing, he’s a prolific storyteller with fond memories of the Moosehead Lake region.

“When we bought the restaurant, I was 22 and my wife was 21. We were only married for six months,” he recalled. “We were open from 6 a.m. until midnight or whenever the last customer left. Eventually, we decided to close at 10 p.m.”

To save money, Jardine, his wife and five children lived upstairs over the restaurant. “We didn’t have a kitchen, so we ate in the restaurant,” he recalled. “Eventually, we built a house so we could get away from the businesses for a while.”

He credited Tom Murray, the first chef he hired, with teaching him the finer points of running a restaurant. “I was a grease monkey,” Jardine said with a laugh. “I worked in a garage doing minor repairs.”

One day, a Metropolitan Life Insurance district manager, Bob Mountford of Dover-Foxcroft, stopped in for lunch and struck up a conversation with Jardine. “He asked me if I ever thought about selling insurance instead of running a restaurant seven days a week,” Jardine said. “The open territory was Rockwood, Greenville, Shirley and Monson. So I asked him how I was going to make a living, but he convinced me I could.”

After 13 years of running the restaurant, Jardine became an insurance agent. “I have no regrets at all,” he said. “A lot of my clients still keep in touch with me.”

Jardine, a frequent customer at the Lakeshore House, recalled that draft beer systems have changed dramatically since he sold his first keg in 1955. The old barrels had to be tapped by pushing a brass rod to break the seal. “One time, the rod came back up and whacked me,” he said. “It took out my two front teeth.”

Today, customers can enjoy Pabst Blue Ribbon, Dogfish 60-Minute ale, Allagash White, Downeast and Guinness stout at the Lakeshore House.

And if they stop in the afternoon, chances are they’ll meet Jim Jardine, who’ll be glad to share a few stories.