Saving the Stockman
Rural Montana Community Steps Up Again
Rapelje, MT
Written and photographed by Kayla Walker
Rapelje, Montana may not make the list for an entrepreneur seeking their next site for a booming service business, but the small farm town at the end of the highway is the location of a close-knit community. So close, in fact, some who live there even call it a “family.” And, as with any “family” a place to gather, enjoy fellowship, and socialize is critical.
That’s why the community has fought to keep the Stockman Café open over the years. Whether it be through fundraisers or tapping into a long list of volunteers, the locals have done what it takes to keep the doors open to serve the Lake Basin area.
“This community is a family, and we look out for each other,” Don Herzog, Chairman of the Board of the Stockman Café and longtime local farmer and rancher, said.
Another victim of the tumultuous year 2020, the café, which served as the only place to grab a burger within 25 miles and the sole social site for the town’s 105 residents, was shut down.
“Of course, everything got shut down initially,” Don said. “But then they weren’t going to reopen, and we said, ‘wait a minute, we need this for our community.’ So, we had a community meeting, and everyone really came together.”
Agency grants and donations from locals flowed in, which kicked off the initial round of improvements in 2021. Volunteers showed up to get their hands dirty and make the renovations happen.
“We started remodeling and it was much more extensive than we knew,” Don said. “It needed a total kitchen remodel.”
But, by December 2022, the Stockman was once again open for business. Early board members Mike and Cindy Erfle helped guide the group in reopening as they had over a decade of experience with the business.
To those who knew Rapelje decades ago, The Stockman was synonymous with the town’s only bar which burnt down. At that point, today’s home of the café was a Farmers Union Service Station. After the fire, the bar was shuffled across the street to the service station and opened as a bar and café under the ownership of a Billings resident, who unfortunately couldn’t keep the small-town bar operating and packed up and left one night, leaving it to sit vacant for years after.
As it’s known today, The Stockman was first opened in 1999 after Mike’s father took out a loan to purchase the old, run down bar.
“It’s just an extension of my ministry, it meshes with being a pastor. It’s a community thing, and I love being involved in this community. These people are wonderful to serve.”
“We had to purchase it at fair market value the first time,” Mike recalled. “And we didn’t have the financial backing then. But my dad had that ‘let’s make it happen’ attitude.”
Like the recent story, volunteers from the community pitched in, gutted the building, and cleaned and painted it.
“We opened having no idea what we were doing,” Mike said. “But we knew we needed burgers worse than we did beer, so we opened it as the café.”
Starting with debt on a restaurant in a small community like Rapelje was tough.
“We had to innovate to get outside money in,” Mike said.
That’s where the gopher hunting derby and mountain bike races came in, some of the “dumbest ideas” Mike thought he had heard, at first. Turns out, though, the 24-hour mountain bike race would put Rapelje on the map.
A 15-mile course was designed through pastures and bikers from across the nation came to ride “through the sagebrush and past the snake dens,” Mike said. Soon enough, it was drawing 150 to 200 riders along with their families. Over the race weekend, Rapelje would host nearly 500 to 600 people, complete with steak fondue in front of the café on a celebratory night. This event helped bank money to operate and serve the quiet community the remainder of the year.
There was one paid employee at that time and the rest was volunteer help. Mike and his late wife rarely missed a Sunday serving at the café for nearly 15 years before deciding they had earned a well-deserved break in 2014.
Still, the Erfles were happy to assist the current Board in reopening once again. Mike said one advantage for today’s café is the financial start it got, with the building being turned over after COVID for just $1. He added that the community is much larger today compared to the population of 60 back in the early 2000s.
“It’s a lot bigger community today; ten years ago, we didn’t have the young couples we do now,” Mike said as he smiled at his son, Jay, and his wife, Karlee, and their new baby girl sharing the round table with him.
Seeing families and neighbors convene, whether it was in 1999 or today, is worth all the effort the many volunteers have put into keeping The Stockman open. Don agreed that, for him, seeing young families come to share in fellowship is the highlight of his efforts. That’s why the local pastor has made it a part of his role to promote the menu, organize the volunteers, and serve as Secretary of the Board as well.
“It’s just an extension of my ministry, it meshes with being a pastor,” Pastor Dave Hixson said as he slowed down from bussing tables to share his comments. “It’s a community thing, and I love being involved in this community. These people are wonderful to serve.”
