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September 2, 2024
PICKEREL – Perry and Kelly Siebers got married April 20, 1996 – 10 days later, they opened the Northwoods Inn on the corner of Highway 55 and County Road A in Pickerel (N8905 Highway 55).
“Let’s start a life together, let’s get married, raise a family – and let’s start a restaurant,” Perry said to his bride-to-be. “It’s kind of the way it went down. It’s a nice way to propose.”
Today, the Siebers entity occupies a three-acre footprint that includes the Northwoods Inn & Restaurant, an entertainment pavilion, a Shell gas station, a store and parking lots.
“We work together, live together – pretty much do all things together,” Perry said. “That is our running joke – I think she still likes me.”
When the couple took the jump into small business ownership, neither had any prior restaurant experience.
Perry said he grew up in a small family business and then worked in a machine shop, while Kelly worked in the dental field.
“That (machine journeyman) job was not what I wanted to pursue for the long term,” he said. “Then I met Kelly, and we got along so well.”
‘We’ve come a long way’
Perry said his connection to the Pickerel community goes back to when he was a baby when his family vacationed in the area.
When the couple bought the property, they said it was a basic diner with a 1970s decor, including baby blue walls.
Perry said it needed a lot of work – and over the last 28 years, it has changed quite a bit.
“I could write a 400-page book about it,” he said. “We started with the interior, for starters, a couple of years into the ownership.”
Northwoods Inn, Perry said, celebrates two things near and dear to the people who call the Northwoods home – food and family.
At the restaurant, the Siebers offer breakfast, lunch and dinner items from eggs benedict, to a black and bleu burger to the classic Friday fish fry.
In 1998, Perry said they took a big step – which he said was scary since they had only owned the property for a couple of years at that point – and took out a loan.
“We went to the bank and asked for a big chunk of money in order to put in the Shell station, along with a 27,000-square-foot parking lot and a small retail store,” he said. “We continued to improve the interior and landscaping, and then we built a home nearby.”
In 2010, Perry said they dreamt up another project – an outdoor entertainment amphitheater and bar area, which turned into the Bucktails Lounge.
“The amphitheater is a three-tiered 32-foot-by-24-foot stage,” he said.
The space also includes a 3,300-square-foot stamped concrete patio with concrete bars; a concrete kitchen area; a 20-foot tall outdoor fireplace and a 26-foot waterfall that circulates 8,000 gallons per hour.
The entertainment line-up at the Bucktails Lounge, Perry said, does not disappoint – especially the Fourth of July Celebrate America event.
He said they sold 800 tickets for the event and hosted a fireworks display lasting more than 30 minutes.
“It makes your hair stand up,” he said. “I do all the fireworks myself. It takes two and a half weeks just to wire it. We bring in some top-of-the-line bands like The Crown Jewels and the Mia Brown Duo.”
Perry said Northwoods Inn is known for hosting family and corporate events, fundraisers, weddings, dinner shows, comedians, illusionists, live music and corn hole tournaments.
The Siebers’ daughters – Makayla (23) and Jenna (20) – are both involved in the business as waitresses and bartenders.
Perry said Jenna has picked up skills in the kitchen, while Makayla – who is musically inclined – has opened for a number of their bigger events.
Makayla, he said, is also a registered nurse, and Jenna is finishing up her schooling at Nicolet College in Rhinelander studying criminal justice, with plans to be a probation parole officer.
The Northwoods Inn family
On average, Perry said Northwoods Inn employs eight workers, expanding to 12 during the peak season.
“There is a unique longevity and loyalty to the employee team,” Kelly said. “They typically start working for us at age 14. They generally start in the back and learn the prep work and dishes. Then they move out to the floor and begin waiting tables. Whether they cook or wait tables, they stay with us for 10-11 years. We have one worker who helps out and is now 26 years old. She started working for us when she was 14.”
In an industry that has recently struggled securing help, Kelly said “we’re very fortunate.”
“I don’t know if it’s just the way we operate the business,” she said. “We’re always there for our employees. We run a very organized operation.”
Kelly said they’ve had employees who become attorneys, nurses and other professional roles – all finding success in the world.
“There is value to exposing kids to the service industry,” she said.
Kelly said they continually see personal growth of their young employees.
“These kids come in and before we know it, they turn out to be a great product to society,” she said. “They learn respect. They learn how to communicate… They’re waiting tables and know everybody’s life story and customers know theirs, too. It’s all part of being in our family, our Northwoods Inn family.”
Like many other businesses in the industry, the Siebers said they are facing inflation issues every day – namely the cost of goods and increased insurance rates.
“It’s hard for us to push that off to our customers,” Perry said. “We don’t want items on the menu to get too expensive for our customers.”
Looking back
Reflecting back, Perry and Kelly said they are grateful to have taken the leap and to have grown the Northwoods Inn for more than 28 years.
“Through thick and thin and tough times, we have stayed together through it all, and raised our two daughters, too,” Perry said. “We have taught a lot of kids neat things about life and what a dollar is worth and how to make it (in the world).”
Kelly said Northwoods Inn’s customers hold a special place in their hearts.
“The friends and customers that we’ve accumulated over the years are just incredible,” she said. “It’s family.”
Their connection to the community, Kelly said, extends beyond owning a successful business.
“We have been able to not only raise our family to have such good morals and a great work ethic in the family business, but they also learn so much from it,” she said. “On the weekends, they were working and were fortunate enough to have a good start in life. There are so many big benefits from working hard as a family.”
Hard work and dedication, Kelly said, are the key elements to their success.
“We have just refused to give up all of these years and that has paid off for us,” she said. “I mean, we obviously lost money a lot of times, but you just stay with it – because you have to have passion.”
Kelly said it’s been our pleasure serving the Pickerel community for 28 years.
“Our customer base – they appreciate us,” she said.
Perry said they make time to build friendships with their customers.
“There is this older couple who has been customers of ours from the very first day of our business,” she said. “I was talking to them about our interview with The Business News and they both got tears in their eyes, and it got really emotional. They said, ‘you guys are just phenomenal people.’ It is so nice to hear those things. When you put your heart and soul into this, you really feel like you are making a difference for people.”
Driving down Highway 55, Kelly said the Northwoods Inn is the first introduction travelers see when entering Pickerel.
“It’s a ‘welcome to Pickerel greeting’ of sorts,” she said.
The Northwoods Inn serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
They are open every day except Tuesdays with 24-hour fueling at the adjacent Shell.
For more, visit northwoodsinnpickerel.com.
