After 36 years at Gavan’s Hotel in Quyon, owner Nick Matechuk is stepping out from behind the bar to begin his retirement.
The iconic tavern located on rue Clarendon in the heart of the town was sold to Matechuk in 1983 by Lennox and Marguerite Gavan, who had purchased the hotel in 1947. After a large fire, Lennox rebuilt the hotel in the early 1950s and added what’s now known as the Shamrock Lounge in 1961.
Matechuk said that he has worked to keep almost everything the same as it was when he purchased the building, right down to wooden panelling and quarts of Labatt 50 in the fridge.
“What you see is what you get, it’s pretty well untouched,” he said, noting that he had made some fixes to the roof and renovated to keep up with fire and building codes.
He said he kept the name because by the time he bought the business, it was a well known music venue in the Ottawa Valley.
“Everybody knows Gavan’s before they know Quyon,” he said. “It’s just as simple as that.”
Matechuk purchased the hotel in 1983 after a career with Algoma Central Rail as a machinist and union rep in his native Sault Ste. Marie. He said that with the recession, the job was getting too stressful and he was looking for a career change.
“I used to drink in them, that’s all I knew about bars,” he said with a laugh.
His wife, Laurena (née Robinson), was from Quyon and when Matechuk was down visiting the family, he found out the hotel was for sale. Lennox and Marguerite’s daughter, Gail, recalled that her father put a lot of faith in Matechuk to keep the tavern close to its roots as a traditional music venue.
“When my dad put it for sale there were various people interested,” she recalled. “One guy was going to turn it into a strip joint and my dad didn’t want that … [Lennox] was very proud of Nick because he had such a work ethic. My dad knew Nick would look after the business well.”
Matechuk admitted that there was a steep learning curve when he first took over management.
“The first five years were tough here,” he said. “I didn’t know anyone here in Quyon.”
One of the traditions that Lennox had established was a St. Patrick’s Day party that featured plenty of authentic Irish music and dancing. According to Gail, he had grown up in Nichabau, Qc., the youngest of 13 children and was an avid singer and storyteller. Marguerite was no stranger to the hospitality industry either, as her brother, Fred Meilleur, owned the hotel in Chapeau.
“My dad loved music and he was so proud of his Irish heritage,” she said, adding that he continued to attend the St. Paddy’s party at Gavan’s until he passed away in 1989. “We know we’re a little wee town but we’re proud of our roots in the Pontiac.”
Matechuk said that the annual bash is his biggest event in the calendar by far, and brings people from all over the country. Gail has upheld the family tradition by hosting the party, sharing the stage with local legends like Louis Schryer and others.
Gavan’s was inducted into the Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, a testament to the amount of talent that has graced the stage in the Shamrock Lounge.
Lennox had long promoted the local music scene, even going so far as to stock a guitar and fiddle behind the bar for impromptu jam sessions.
“It got to be known for that, people could just come and play on a Tuesday afternoon,” Gail recalled. Back in those days, bars in Ontario were closed on Sundays, and many made the trek across the river to hear some authentic Valley voices.
“Sundays used to be our biggest day in Quyon for years,” Gail said.
She recalled when famous Irish singer Liam Clancy of The Clancy Brothers came up to Quyon in the 1970s for a show, after playing the NAC.
“He wouldn’t leave, he stayed for a week,” she said with a laugh.
Local musician Mick Armitage recalled the Valley music scene back in those days.
“Not many places like [Gavan’s] lasted very long,” he said. “It was a unique place how it was situated right on the border.”
Armitage attributed Gavan’s success to its musical roots and to Matechuk’s dedication as an owner.
“In that business you pretty well have to get everything written out, but with Nick, if he said it on the phone it was the deal, you know? He was good to people,” Armitage said.
One of the fondest memories Matechuk had was back in the early 1990s when members of the Ottawa Roughriders football team came up to play in the snow against some of the local Quyon boys.
“Soupy Campbell was a friend of mine, he was a football player, so I said we should get a couple of lads [from the Roughriders] to come up and play,” Armitage explained. “[Future Hall of Famer] Damon Allen, he was in there with his wife, some of the lads are up playing in the band with me, we’re down at the fairgrounds playing football … Imagine trying to do that today.”
Matechuk is still looking for a buyer for the hotel, but said that if he doesn’t find one, he will have to hire a manager. His heart is already back in Sault Ste. Marie with his family.
“My daughter and her husband and three grandchildren just moved there last August,” he said. “My grandchildren are there, that’s where I want to be.”
Long-time Gavan’s patrons can wish him well at this year’s St. Patrick’s party on Sunday, March 17, starting at 1:30 p.m.
