| CRBJ Charter Member: |
|
|
| CRBJ Home > October 2006 | ||||||
Those Fireside folks have some trippy ideasPamela Cotant
But son Rick Klopcic has sometimes wondered if maybe this time his dad was pushing an idea that was just too crazy to succeed. Like the time in the 1980s when the senior Klopcic came back from a trip and announced the Fireside would cure its slow winter months by putting on a Hawaiian show. It would feature Christmas carols. Sung in the Hawaiian language. In January and February. Even the people he hired in Hawaii to come up and perform the music thought he was crazy. This was just another idea Dick Klopcic found on a trip where he scouts for new ideas. "I'd say to my wife, 'Boy, he's been on a trip again,' " Rick Klopcic said. "But I'd have to say, most of his ideas always worked." The Fireside wound up selling out two shows a day for nine weeks for the Hawaiian bit. It ran for eight years. This is one example where Rick and his younger brother Kim, who previously worked in the business, have learned to respect their father and take advantage of his experience. "My brother and I didn't have that much experience so we had to go with our dad and he hasn't been wrong yet," Rick Klopcic said. Betty Klopcic had a hand in the restaurant's unconventional ways. She pushed for an unusual design for the restaurant, which was constructed in a pyramid shape in a former cornfield. Built in 1964, it originally sat 120 people. The bottom foot of the restaurant was glass that was illuminated with fluorescent lights, giving it an almost floating-spaceship look at a time when reports of UFO sightings were common. A fireplace made of enameled metal culverts reached 48 feet to the top of the pyramid in the center of the dining room. It has since been replaced with a three-level stone fireplace with a waterfall. "As long as we were building a place, we wanted it to be different," Betty Klopcic said. It became even more different in 1978, when a former gift shop attached to the restaurant was remodeled to become a 435-seat theater-in-the-round -- a jaw-dropping move. Dick Klopcic came up with the idea after hosting a play for nearby UW-Whitewater and other shows after that. Dinner was served in the restaurant and then guests moved to the theater for the show. Like others, Ed Flesch, the theater's artistic director, thought the idea was crazy. Now the theater is synonymous with Fort Atkinson. It's also one of Wisconsin's top tourist attractions for motor coaches drawing people from 15 states. Other expansions and renovations occurred regularly, adding gift shops and more seating, bringing the number of dining chairs to nearly 1,000 and theater seating to 730. The Klopcics have continued to add unusual features to the restaurant such as a creek running through the dining room. Fireside commissioned local high school art teacher Bob Hase to create a huge red steel sculpture to signify the "flame of friendship," symbolic of the restaurant inviting patrons to the Klopcic family "home," one of the restaurant tenets. The Klopcics recently were recognized as "America's Best Restaurant Family" by Jones Dairy Farm, a sausage company also of Fort Atkinson. The award came after Jones Dairy Farm received hundreds of nominations from restaurant goers across the country. The Klopcics' children -- Rick, Kerry, Kim and Lisa -- each started working when they entered high school, starting with jobs like busing and setting tables, checking coats, cleaning pots and pans, and hauling ice to the bar and stocking it. The boys even helped build the restaurant. The children moved on to cooking, supervising or waiting on tables. Rick, 57, the oldest child, said he eventually made it back to the kitchen and learned all of the cooking positions alongside head chef David Wolfram, who has been with the Klopcics for nearly 50 years, starting at the Shamrock Bowl, the first Fort Atkinson company owned by the Klopcics. Rick Klopcic earned a bachelor's degree in business administration at Carroll College, where he met his wife, Jane, who is a certified public accountant and has a business degree. Rick is now a hands-on president who owns the company with Jane, who runs the five gift shops in addition to handling other duties such as play selection, marketing strategy and keeping up with industry trends. Rick and Jane Klopcic now often spend vacation and leisure time checking out other shows and restaurants. Rick Klopcic said getting into the business was a "natural progression" after growing up in it. Kim Klopcic worked at the Fireside, mostly managing the floor and helping plan the menus, for about 10 years after graduating from college. Then he ran a playhouse the family purchased in Ohio and owned for about eight years. He now runs his own successful restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland, the Yin Yankie, and is opening a second one in Bethesda, Maryland. The Klopcics have attended some family business seminars and about 30 years ago, Dick Klopcic hired a consultant to help with succession of the business. The consultant who worked in the hotel and restaurant business wound up being a mentor for Rick Klopcic. Dick Klopcic has been semi-retired for about two years but hasn't stopped looking for new menu items and shows when he travels. He still introduces the shows, attends meetings and helps select the plays. "I still have interest in it because it's been our baby," said Dick Klopcic, 78. "The final decision is up to them, you know, but they listen." Through the years, Dick Klopcic often bounced ideas off Betty, 77, who served as hostess until about 15 years ago. The family runs the business from a Christian perspective. It affects what shows they choose. "We don't do any shows we wouldn't invite the Lord Jesus to," Dick Klopcic said. They also hold Christian concerts and a Christmas show. The Klopcics ask for God's blessing at the beginning of every show. Rick and Jane Klopcic's children -- who are ages 29, 27 and 23 -- also have worked in the restaurant. The middle child, Ryan, has expressed interest in working for the business and went back to school to get a master's degree in marketing strategy. His wife, Kristi, works in human resources. Rick Klopcic said his dad was from an era when sons were expected to join the business, but times have changed. Rick Klopcic, who is a member of the World Presidents Association, which is made up mostly of people who have family businesses, said others in the organization had their children first work out in the field to get a good grasp of what's happening in the world. Members also advised Rick Klopcic that it's best to wait to have your children ask about the business rather than try to push them toward it. "So that's what I did," Rick Klopcic said. "They have to have a passion for it or it's not going to work anyway." Pamela Cotant is a Madison freelance writer. pcotant@mailbag.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
|
|||||
