‘It’s a legend’: Remembering the Moosehead Inn in Kenosee

One of the biggest gathering spots in a southeast Saskatchewan has been reduced to ash.

The Moosehead Inn in Kenosee burned to the ground early Saturday morning.

The nightclub and restaurant will be fondly remembered by people who live and vacation in the southeast.

Steve McLellan, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, was a partner in the Moosehead back in 1989.

He was very sad to hear the news that it was destroyed.

“There were so many memories, so many couples that met there (and) so many relationships and friendships that have been sustained from there,” he said.

“It’s a legend.”

He remembers it being absolutely packed, with people coming to visit from all of the surrounding communities.

“There would be people lined up on long weekends for six hours … Since those days, drinking habits have changed, but it was, at one point, a huge gathering point for thousands of people each weekend,” he recalled.

He also made plenty of friends during his time there.

“We had lots of different staff over the years. I’ve seen some of them (and) still keep in touch with some,” he said.

He said one of the main attractions was its excellent, world-famous pizza.

“The magic of the Moose Mountains, I think, is what made it unique,” he said.

“It became very, very famous … I think there’s probably been a million pizzas sold out of that facility over the last 45 years.”

While it’s tough for him to see, McLellan hopes that someone will, some day, rebuild on the site of the restaurant.

“Like all good things, something will come of the ashes,” he said. “We hope to see a Moosehead 2.0 some day.”

Brad Chapman is from Estevan. He now lives on the east coast as a member of the Royal Canadian Navy, but he spent a lot of time at the Moosehead in the ’80s and ’90s.

“It’s pretty surreal. It’s a definite shock. The one thing that we’ve all agreed on is that the memories will always last longer than the building itself,” he said.

“It was just such a great place to be … It’s just such a shame to see such an emotional landmark be lost that soon.”

Some of his favourite memories include seeing legendary Canadian rock bands, like April Wine, Streetheart and Trooper, perform at the Moosehead.

It was always a place where he could get together with and meet people from other towns.

“It was our home away from home for a lot of people. In the surrounding areas, I came from Estevan, there were people from Wawota, Carlyle, Kennedy, Kipling. Just that whole area,” he said.

In all of his time living in Saskatchewan and elsewhere, Chapman says he never found a restaurant that made him feel quite the same way.

“I’ve always tried to find a place to compare to it. I’ve never been able to find that yet,” he said. “It was just such an atmosphere, a different vibe. It wasn’t state of the art or anything like that, but it was just a place, a clubhouse for all the ages.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Joseph Ho