When Norma Thomas quit her job as a stockbroker in Anchorage in 1976, it was to accept a temporary position catching up the books for the owners of Tips bar in Eagle River. Thirty-three years later, Thomas, 70, is still working from her original desk in the back office of the Tips building.

Tips bar, on the Old Glenn Highway, in Eagle River has seen Alaska through its boom and bust years. Photo by Mary Wasche

During her first 24 years at Tips, Thomas' duties expanded as she helped owners Jim Welch and Palmer Hogelie, who were her good friends.

"I used to do everything," Thomas said. "I managed the bar, bought supplies, did payroll. I worked seven days a week for months on end."

She said that during the pipeline days, the place was packed all of the time even though Eagle River, with a population of only 2,500, had four other busy bars.

"Sometimes, there'd be four or five fights a night. One guy got part of his nose bit off. Then there was the bell. If somebody rang the bell, he'd buy drinks for the whole place. It was about $700 for a round. That happened several times a night."

They also had to "86" quite a few customers. Thomas explained that "86" is a general bar term for customers who are constant troublemakers.

"The bartenders kick 'em out and keep a list. Those people can't come through the door again," she said.

Thomas remembers that when she and her husband, Hollis, moved to Eagle River in 1967, there were only hills through the middle of town, with a single house at the top. She also recalls when the female owner of a neighboring bar, Izzy's, was killed by a shot through the ear during a robbery. Thomas remembers that the North Slope bar and restaurant, a trailer house at that time, "served the best hamburgers you ever ate".

The Eagle River Inn, a bar and motel at the top of a hill, had to be torn down in 1975 when the divided highway went in since it was located right in the divider between the new lanes.

Another bar and restaurant, Paradise Haven, where the Eagle River Nature Center is now located, was accessible by snowmachine.

Thomas lived on a dead end street only four blocks from Tips.

"It was only woods behind me. Once when I came home after being on the slope for a month, they'd widened the road and cleared the trees. I thought I was in the wrong town!"

Norma Thomas has worked at Tips bar in Eagle River since 1976, when she quit her job as a stockbroker in Anchorage. Over the years she's done everything, including payroll, managing the bar and buying supplies. Photo by Mary Wasche

In those days, Eagle River residents could grocery shop at Procter's Grocery store or Carr's and had a choice of three or four gas stations, but had to go into Anchorage for doctor visits or other supplies.

In 1978, Pete Estep bought Tips, selling it in 2002 to Howard and Spring Shim, who had been running the kitchen for 10 years. Over the years, the building grew to include 10 apartments and three sleeping rooms.

Thomas said business has changed, too. From the days of being open a rowdy seven nights a week, with four cocktail waitresses, three bartenders and a bar back up person, Tips now has a reduced staff and hours and the crowd has settled down.

"It changed over the past few years. Older people moved or passed on and we have new regulars. Most are over 30 and are nice men and women. The young rowdies go elsewhere. Since we started the live music, we've been getting busier," she said.

Thomas books bands every other Friday night to supplement the online juke box that allows patrons to get any kind of music they like. Her desk faces a multiscreen camera so she can keep an eye on the liquor and beer rooms and back hallway.

But Thomas feels business would be even better if the Chugiak-Eagle River area had taxi service.

"It doesn't make any sense not to have a cab out here," she said. "There's lots of elderly people who don't drive. And our customers would use it. At least one cab company in town should have a couple of cabs stationed out here. They're not going to drive out from Anchorage for an eight or nine block fare. It sure would be better if we had a cab."

Thomas is a fixture at Tips, and very comfortable behind her desk or anywhere else in the building. Patrons and fellow employees know her and turn to her with concerns, questions and ideas.

"I used to do everything. I enjoyed it," Thomas said. "Now I'm semi-retired. In my mind I don't feel old, but my body tells me I am."