Cheers to the Bluebird

As you stroll into the charming town of Leland, Michigan, you might notice something missing. The spot along the river at the center of town where the Bluebird Restaurant and Tavern sat for decades is now a construction site. A construction site—for the new Bluebird Restaurant. The building will be new, but the amazing food and welcoming atmosphere will stay intact. That’s third-generation owner Skip Telgard’s vision: to tie together the history and future of the beloved Bluebird Restaurant with an extensive remodel project.

Family has always been a big part of the Bluebird story. Generations of Telgards have grown alongside the restaurant. In 1927, Martin and Leone Telgard opened up the Bluebird as a snack and soda shop. At the time, it was just a three-story house where they also raised their family. After Martin passed, Leone began running the restaurant alone—until their son Jim rolled up his sleeves to join the family business. Jim and his wife Nancy became the Bluebird’s second-generation owners. They ran the restaurant for years, expanding and growing the business. In 1996, Jim’s son, Skip, and his wife Lynn took their turn at the helm of the family business, managing the Bluebird Restaurant and Tavern—as many know it today.

It’s not often we hear about local businesses successfully passed on through three generations. Skip says his experience growing up in the family restaurant business played an important role when it comes to how the family has approached the restaurant over the years. “Of course, naturally being around, you automatically absorb a lot of things about how the restaurant is run and the trials and tribulations,” said Skip. He fondly remembers the restaurant like home. When he was younger, he would spend evenings after school in his grandma’s apartment upstairs while his parents managed the dinner rush. As he got older, he started helping out around the restaurant, from earning two cents a case clearing the beer shoot to bartending when he was older and everything in between. He learned the ins and outs of the restaurant business before he was given the reigns to run it. It’s that experience that prepared Skip and Lynn to continue this historic establishment’s legacy.

Skip and Lynn take pride in the family nature of their restaurant, running it with the same principals of respect and understanding they learned from their parents. They never ask someone to do something they wouldn’t do themselves. Skip even added, “If the dishes need to be done, I am going to be the first guy in there taking care of them, and my wife is the same way.” Skip says that he learned how to treat people with respect from his parents. It shows in the way both employees and customers have cultivated that sense of belonging and investment that makes the Bluebird feel like home.

There is a clear reason why everyone has a story, memory, or connection with the Bluebird to share when they see Skip at the grocery store or around town. From the food to the people, the Bluebird has “cast a wide net,” according to Skip. Everyone is welcome and respected when they walk through the restaurant’s front door. You can feel that atmosphere when you take a bite of their famous whitefish or the notorious peas and peanuts. It just feels good. There is a comfort in knowing that it is good food, made by good people who have created not only a business, but a community. Skip calls it the “Cheers thing.” At the Bluebird, everyone might not know your name, but someone will. It’s not the kind of thing that just happens; it comes from decades of passion passed down from generation to generation.

Over three generations, the Bluebird has cultivated not only a huge following, but also a large footprint. That is one of the things Skip and Lynn are addressing in their remodel. There will no longer be over 300 seats, nor will it be two different dining areas as it once was as the Bluebird Restaurant and Tavern. The restaurant will now be set up with 100 seats inside and 100 seats outside, with the addition of a larger patio that takes advantage of the riverfront property in a way that the Bluebird never did before. However, this progress does not take away from the restaurant’s rich history. “It is very gratifying and a big help every step of the way,” Skip said about continuing to have family involved. The Bluebird stays firmly in the hands of the Telgard family, with both of Skip and Lynn’s children playing a huge part in the renovations.

The future is bright for the Bluebird Restaurant. Just ask Skip what the future looks like he’ll be quick to tell you they’re keeping the fundamentals in place. “We will never forget how we got where we are,” said Skip. You will see it in the restaurant’s signature whitefish, the nostalgic cinnamon rolls, or the way they persevere through hard times. The proof is in the community. A community that Skip is looking forward to having back together when the restaurant is finished.

Cherryland Electric Cooperative understands the value of a good old-fashioned family business and is impassioned to help community staples like the Bluebird succeed. That is why the cooperative is proud to help out with a zero-interest revolving loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Economic Development program for the rebuild of the Bluebird Restaurant. This was not the only funding that made this project happen; Venture North Funding and Development also assisted in raising capital to make this project a reality.

While support from community partners like Cherryland and Venture North help a project like this, it’s the generations of Telgards and the community they’ve built that will really bring historic Leland’s Bluebird Restaurant back to life. The smells of whitefish and pizza will draw customers through the doors to be welcomed and served by the Telgard family for generations to come. There is excitement in the community to cheers once again at the Bluebird.