Department of Agriculture codes and regulations became more strick and the Great Falls Meat Packing plant chose to close rather than invest in an outdated building. Not many people travel that road that begins at the tracks on River Drive North and ends on the extention of Giants Springs Road that climbs above Rainbow Falls and then goes by the back entrance to Malmstrom AFB. When the Ozark Club burned, a man named Johnny South (or North?) Opened a club in the old Great Falls Hotel building on 1st Ave South. When the enforcement pressure grew strong downtown, he moved into some remodeled barracks on the Road to the meat plant called the Four Lights Barbecue. It did most of its business after 1:00 AM. Major, the bouncer from the Ozark club ran the kitchen and cooked. He made the best gumbo. I often worked grave yard shifts with a break between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM. I did not like to go home for a couple hours so I would frequent the after hours venues to pass the time. One night Johnny had to leave the crap table he was running to take care of a beligerent customer in another part of the business. He asked me to run the crap table for a while. He grabbed a revolver and headed to the back of the building. When he got back, I had taken in a couple hundred dollars so he paid me his past due balance on his pest control bill. Hows that for a bill collection story? A few years later Johnny threw out a man I had pumped gas at Save-Ur-Sef Service with in 1959. This guy came back to the Four Lights with a rifle, raised a commotion until Johnny came out on the porch, and he shot Johnny dead. Anyone want to hear about other after hours venues over the years?
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 17:41:29 +0000
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