Sporty's marking 25 years of business

MOSES LAKE — The morning after St. Patrick’s Day, Sporty’s owner Dick Lowry was drinking a cup of coffee inside the Moses Lake business.

Lowry, 64, helped tend the bar during the previous night, which is one of the busiest times of the year.

He admits he’s a bit “stoved up” from working the night before and says he’s trying to slow down.

Even so, after nearly 25 years in business, Sporty’s still attracts a standing-room only St. Patrick’s Day crowd.

At lunchtime that day, people were pouring into the business to drink green beer and eat corned beef and cabbage with friends and family.

“Everyone celebrates,” Lowry said. “You don’t have to be Irish.”

He estimates they went through 240 pounds of ground beef for the occasion.

He owns the business with his wife, Jackie. It was previously owned by the late Wayne Bennett.

Their daughter, Debbie Black, and her daughter, Ashley Ragan, a college student, also work there.

He also mentioned longtime employees Paul and Chantel Smith, as his “main go-to people” and cook Candee Nuss. She has cooked at the business since it opened.

“We have a lot of good help,” he commented. “Several people have been here a long time.”

He also credits the business’s success to his customers.

“Basically, it’s just the people,” Lowry said. “You run into people you know, people you haven’t seen in a long time. You make friends and they remember.”

“We really appreciate our customers,” he says. “There’s been some really good people.”

“I think we’re pretty satisfied with what we have now.”

With so many years as a business owner, Lowry says he’s seen new generations of customers.

“We have people whose parents and grandparents come in,” he says.

Sporty’s even honors some of its deceased customers by posting their photo on a bulletin board reading “Thanks for the memories.”

The business is also active in the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Ducks Unlimited, he said.

Throughout the years, there were changes with the menu and building expanding. But some of the changes weren’t by choice.

In 1996, an early morning fire destroyed the business and it was rebuilt from the ground up. The business reopened several months later in October.

“It was pretty bad,” he said. “We knocked it down and started over.”

With the new building, the kitchen and entire building were enlarged.

The business evolved throughout the years, with different focuses, owners and food. At one time, chicken dinners were served there. It’s also the site of a former dance hall.

When Lowry took over the business, there was just a pressure cooker for chicken. They added a machine for hamburgers.

The menu currently features an array of burgers, sandwiches, salads, appetizers, steak, lobster and breakfast items. Friday’s clam chowder continues to draw customers, too.

People mainly gather at Sporty’s for dinner and drinks, but there’s also two different coffee groups who meet there.

Retired schoolteachers, retired farmers and a former mayor are also among the customers.

“One of our logos say ‘Where good friends meet.’ It’s not just a spot for drinking,” Lowry said.