'Still standing' the Overland Hotel was an iconic Galt hangout

As a young lad growing up in Galt during the '50s at 23 Albert St., I'd bolt out the door for a quick foot race down Elliot to Concession then on to Ainslie to pick up newspapers at the Evening Reporter for my daily paper deliveries.

On my downtown route in the late '50s, the Overland Hotel was my last customer drop, ending at the beverage room lunch counter.

Radio station CFTJ was always playing a popular song and the lady behind the counter would be lip syncing the words while making a coffee and a toasted sandwich, hamburger with fries for a half a buck.

I remember that a friend of my dad, Lloyd Richardson, was the cook there for many years.

The Overland Hotel had a lot of local history. It was first known in the late 1800s as the Western and then The Bernhart.

It was one of Galt's first hotels along with the Imperial Hotel and the Albion on Water Street. The Western Hotel group in Canada were usually built close to the railroad stations.

Over the decades several owners/operators ran this hotel; Frank Bernhart, Roy White and, later on, a Toronto man named Les Hollinger owned the hotel.  

Today the Overland Hotel and most of the main structure is still standing and occupied at the corner of Water and Concession streets.

Back then, can you image all the foundry workers filling the beverage room after shift from Sheldon’s, Southworks Babcock and Wilcox, CMC along with workers from businesses like Barlow’s, Turnbull's and Muir's Coal and Fuel Yards?

They all arrived covered in a hard day of work grunge back when Galt’s coldest beer sold for seven cents a draft glass served post haste by the tray fulls by well-known employees like “Shadow” Gerald Tremblett and “Cap” Laporte. They sashayed around the tables with a fervour.

There were lots of outbursts caused by team rivalries and some led to fisticuffs that ended before the police were called. 

The hotel had nicknames like the old No-Tel Hotel, the Pigs Ear, and the Bucket of Blood, coined because of its infamous history of rough-and-rowdy patrons fueled by many glasses of beer.

Lots of people also lived in the hotel over the years and you might be familiar with "outdoorsman" Kelsey Chapman hanging around out front just as the workforce was arriving for a hand out.

Owner Roy White's son Art White was quite a well-known lawyer in town.

He could always be seen at the Hornet games standing down on the floor in his Hudson Bay coat with his old horn getting the crowd to chant "Go Hornets Go."

Later he's bring his game friends to the Overland and they'd order several table trays of beer.

This was one of the local hockey and the baseball clubs’ favourite hangouts.

After the evening games, players would pack the beverage room back. Everyone threw two bucks in the center of the table and “Shadow” kept the trays of draft coming.

Shadow was a great waiter. Give him a tip and his famous line was “stay all night.” 

The Galt Overland Hotel softball team was named “The Homebrews.” Lots of us remember the team players and the evening entertainment with the many local bands in The Stage Coach Lounge.

The area had a lot of night clubs to choose from back then, including The Matador, Carl's, The Iroquois, The Sulphur, The Highlands, The Yellow Rose and Lulu’s but the Overland had a cult following right till the last band played.

If we were to put all the area group band member musicians that played a gig here at Overland together, they represented a very interesting cross section of the music genre. I’ve heard these bands belt out tunes by Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater, Tom Jones, Devo, Hank Snow, Stompin' Tom, Elvis, The Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Some of these guys are still jamming out the tunes today. 

The Overland's original restaurant lunch counter was just inside the main door and served a century of customers before it became Bo-Bo's Chinese.  

A couple Suzy and Henry owned Bo-Bo’s and ran it for years. The food was always fresh and tasty.  

I recall a cook named Jim who would take the orders from people who stuck their heads through the cubby hole or out call out an order for those tasty three-piece chicken wings for 25 cents!

Bo-Bo's egg rolls, wontons and the wings were all great table appetizers; cheap and cheerful finger food that most of us remember how good they tasted.

At the end of an evening of partying, I used to order a take home late-night combo plate of Bo-Bo’s honey garlic ribs, black bean, jar-doo chicken wings, fried rice and a few egg rolls. I still have my Chinese New Year personal set of Bo-Bo’s chop sticks for being a regular customer.

Back then, chicken wings were just beginning to become a popular menu item. 

I remember seeing the wings being prepared there in a wok instead of the deep fryer and this big tub of chicken wings marinating in a black bean, dark soy sauce and chili sauce.

Here is that recipe:    

Bo-Bo’s Black Bean Jar-Doo Wings

A good wing is always appreciated and when having a few friends over, chicken wings make a great inexpensive snack.

Using a wok or cast-iron skillet heated to medium heat, toss the wings with equal portions of melted butter, dark China lily soya, and black bean sauce with an extra good pinch of cayenne for the blast of heat if needed.

Use less butter if you wish.

I like my wings first marinated for an hour or two then dusted with salt, pepper, garlic powder, tapioca or cornstarch, tossed together then placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a very hot oven at 450 degrees cooking for the first 15 minutes.

Then baste again and return to continue to cook for 10 more minutes.

Keep chilled for later or a quick deep-frying, re-dusting of the marinated wings for another 5 minutes of frying.

Toss in your favourite sauce like barbecue or honey garlic and serve promptly.

Chicken wings are one food that is very personal. This is a simple way to get a good wing from the oven and then make them crispy deluxe in the skillet or air fryer!

Chef Wayne Conrad Serbu writes monthly for CambridgeToday. The former executive chef also shares recipes and memories from his more than five decades in the hospitality industry on his blog, the kitchenman.