Eagles Club under new management

The New Rockford Eagles Club is under new management.

Grace Kelley and Brett Ehni have officially taken over at the Eagles Club, and are looking forward to helping further the organization's long history here in New Rockford.

Kelley, a native of Kalispell, Mont., is the Eagles new kitchrn and gaming manager.

She was previously the head cook at the Eagles Club for years, and steadily accrued more and more responsibilities as time went by. When the previous manager, Sierra Hillius, stepped away about four months ago, it was only natural that Kelley take her place and officially step into management.

"For the last year and a half before [Sierra] left I had been assisting her with gaming and just doing it with her to help her out," said Kelley. "I just started coming and hanging out with her and then it just progressed where I just helped her out and then went on from there."

Kelley said her new position entails managing the employees, as well as the restaurant, bar and gaming machines.

"I get to grow my position and I'm available to have more experience in this aspect of life," said Kelley about what she's enjoyed about her new position.

Assisting her, meanwhile, will be Brett Ehni, a native of New Rockford and also someone who's long been a part of the New Rockford Eagles Club.

Ehni, a member of the Eagles Club board, started as the gaming and bar manager on Monday, Sept. 25. As a member of the board, Ehni had previously been volunteering his time to help with bartending whenever a shift needed picking up.

Now, Ehni said he'll continue to bartend at least twice a week, in addition to picking up a number of other roles as their newest manager.

He'll be helping plan events, working with those who'd like to use the Eagles Club for an event, and also helping to plan bar and kitchen specials.

"So last Thursday was the first day we did it, where we're doing a 10-piece wing special and then a pitcher-of-beer special for $12," said Ehni.

Now that he's a manager, Ehni said he's looking forward to the increased responsibility and to continue helping the Eagles support their community.

"It's something that I've never done before and I figured I'd give it a shot," said Ehni. "I like the bar and I like everything I do with donating money to organizations that need it."

This October, the Eagles Club has a number of events coming up, such as the Park District Homecoming Taco Bar on Tuesday, Oct. 5, and the Eagles Auxiliary Fall Craft and Bake Sale on Saturday, Oct. 28.