We Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends
The 1922 vintage building that houses the Pavlas Tavern sits at the south end of the two-block strip of buildings that compose downtown Moulton. It supposedly entered life as a saloon and has remained so throughout the nine decades. In 1959, George and Vlasta Pavlas purchased the business which became known as Pavlas Tavern, where Vlasta worked for 58 years proudly serving the public and friends. A family oriented establishment; kids had crayons, coloring books, games, and various toys for them to play with and the adults generally behaved themselves. The youngsters even had their own couch to sleep on when they got tired.
In 2018, Willie Pavlas took over his Aunt Vlasta’s business. The early 1900s structure has suffered very little modernization as witnessed by the cracked plaster walls revealing the original tile brick structure that people pay big bucks to replicate. Willie and his wife, Michele, have kept its old school flavor with domino tables, the original mirrored bar, wood floor, and authentic beer sign décor. Willie’s father, Willie, loved all things Czech, the food, the music, and the dancing, which the younger Willie has honored his memory by having various signs in Czech scattered throughout the establishment.
Willie and Michele have weathered the various symptoms of a 99-year-old building and the Covid shutdown which put a severe crimp in the operation of the Tavern. As they are emerging from this temporary setback, they were looking at ways to improve the Tavern without losing the old school charm. Willie decided that he needed a juke box to complement the pool and domino tables.
Willie Finds a Jukebox
Aunt Vlasta had leased a jukebox (as was the way it worked businesswise) for many years but she had let it go when business slowed. Willie remembered that a family member, Marvin Kasper, had a jukebox at home, so Willie asked him if he was still using it. Marvin said no, it was just taking up space, and would Willie like to have it?
The jukebox that Marvin graciously donated was a 1982 Rowe Model R-86 that holds one hundred 45 rpm records or 200 songs. The juke box came with the last selections of records, most of which clashed with the Czech ambiance of the room. The Pavlas’ knew they would love to have Czech polka/waltz music filling the room, but where could they find the music which was so prevalent in the area, without spending a fortune in time and money. They decided to use the strength of their community of friends that makes a small town so pleasurable to live in by letting their Facebook followers be aware of their predicament.
Looking for 45s
At the bottom of the next Pavlas’ Tavern FB page advertisement for an event, he added on “Looking for old 45s for the new old Jukebox!” Not really sure what to expect, the network of music and Pavlas Tavern lovers quickly kicked in and soon Willie had a large stack of Old Time Polka and Waltz and classic country 45’s ready to spin.
The selections donated was from the Joe Patek, Henry Brosch, Adolph Hofner, Gil Baca, Ernie Kucera, Al Grebnick, and other favorites. Classic country music 45s showed up ala The Moods of Country Music, George Jones and Merle Haggard. The Pavlas family would like to thank Rudy/Bea Patek, Gerard Jalufka, Michael Gest, Jason Saldana, Howard Gloor, Dennis Ellinghausen, Wes Matus and Gary E. McKee for their donations. The generosity and commitment of the clientele of Pavlas’ is a fine example of the small-town atmosphere that Pavlas’ Tavern exemplifies.
The next time you visit Pavlas to do a little Czech time traveling and a little beer drinking, your visit will be enhanced by a soundtrack from the Pivo and Polka time period.