The Kozy Tavern is cozy in so many different ways. Before the tavern doubled in size by pushing through a wall, I played against a Kozy team in my dart league.
The dartboard was next to the men’s room, and believe me, saying “Excuse me” every five minutes for three hours was a pain in the neck. But the folks on the Kozy team were so nice that it more than made up for the lack of elbowroom.
The Kozy crowd is proving again how nice they are, as they have for the past three years, by helping a family at Christmas. They are gathering food and gifts for a family that includes young children named Quinton, Calab, Austin and Madyson.
Kevin Nortz / The Herald
Last Christmas, Santa John Nagle, the weekend bartender, delivered a couple of truckloads of food and gifts, and $1,600 cash, to a widow with seven children.
“The look on their faces,” Nagle said. “Especially the kids.”
He was at the tavern Tuesday morning, on his day off, sipping diet soda. Regulars at the bar were having coffee, soda, orange juice and one beer. Bernie Jonnson, the Kozy’s day bartender, said her customers are like one big family.
To help the Kozy group, folks are invited to an auction at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the tavern, 2718 Hewitt Ave. in Everett. If you would like to donate an auction item, just drop off the goods. The Kozy also plans a chili cook-off and chain-saw exhibition at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Unofficial tavern historian Jeff Smith said the Kozy is the last beer-only tavern on Hewitt Avenue. All the other over-21 spots also sell “hard pop” these days, Smith said.
Back in the 1960s and ’70s, drinkers made the “Hewitt run,” having a beer in every bar.
“I went on several beer runs,” Smith said. “We celebrated quite hardily.”
You could meander up and down Hewitt to taverns named the Blue Diamond, Broadway, Castle, Cave, Commercial, Deroo’s, Evergreen, Gem, Joe King’s, Milwaukee Club, My Office, New Deal, Norway, Orient, Palms, Paul’s Place, Pines Beer Parlor, Rainbow, Rainier, Riverside, Roxy’s, Tony’s, Twin Seals and Windsor.
To prove that claim, Smith, 61, a retired construction worker and gold and silver dealer, showed me a 1950s phone book that listed all the taverns on Hewitt.
One tavern, the Ripple, was famous for serving nickel beers, he said.
As a former Teamster, I appreciated that Kozy bartenders belong to the hotel and restaurant employees union. On the beer cooler is a sticker that says “American by birth, union by choice.”
Nagle said only two taverns in Everett are still unionized. The Kozy draws union customers because it’s an organized shop, he said.
Regular customers get birthday cards. Someone had their wedding reception at the Kozy, and even a baby shower was held there. Historic beer cans line the shelves, including a can that reads “Help fight cerebral palsy with Schlitz.”
The window on Hewitt has an old Brew 66 sign that came with the tavern when Linda and Tito Baca bought it 17 years ago.
The regulars include Terry Hanby of Monroe, who drops by several times a week. Hanby said the Kozy patrons have grown on him. He is a huge University of Washington sports fan, as is Johnson, the day bartender.
Talk along the bar ranges from sports to current events back to sports, although the big topic lately has been the new ban that has forced smokers out the back door.
Johnson, who said she sometimes feels like a Cub Scout den mother, nevertheless said she never gets tired of hearing about her patron’s troubles, and just wishes she could fix everyone’s problems.
The expanded dart and game room at the Kozy features an old-fashioned shuffleboard table. It’s feels cozy, but there is plenty of room for friendship.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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