By Sam Knodel
Eugene’s Pizza was first opened by Eugene Barger in November of 1962. Back then, Glasgow was rumored to be the first town in Montana with a population under 10,000 to have
a pizza place. Pizza first hit the “scene” in Montana in about 1958, so Eugene’s Pizza wasn’t the first pizza place, but it was right there in the running! Pizza was so new to our area that I remember my Aunt Barbara saying how she had never heard of pizza? When the time came and someone asked her what kind she wanted, she thought for a minute and said, “Onion I guess?!”
I’m sure things like Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon and other “new ingredients” were probably foreign sounding back then?
Eugene operated “Eugene’s House of Pizza” (as it was called for most of our history) until about September of 1967. Our Dad, Arlie Knodel, was working for Sinclair Distributors.
They supplied loaf-style cheese, shortenings for frying, vegetables and such. As a salesman, Arlie would regularly call on Eugene for orders. As it goes, Arlie and Eugene became friends, and the eventual conversation became… “Arlie, why don’t you buy this place?” After a little thought, Arlie and Mary Sue decided to buy Eugene’s. They elected to keep the name, and on October 1, 1967, Arlie and Mary Sue opened for their first day of business.
Soon after opening, they purchased a second oven, adjusted the menu for efficiency and changed the hours for sanity (Eugene stayed open until 3:00 am back then, to catch the bar crowd). Over the years, Eugene’s ran like clockwork with just a handful of faithful employees. As time went on and business increased, Arlie and Mary Sue added new people, young mothers, high-schoolers, nieces, and even their own kids!
With Glasgow being the social hub for dozens of small towns, Eugene’s couldn’t be busier. People came from near and far for the wonderful flavor of Eugene’s Pizza!
In 1992, Jeff and I knew that our parents were ready to step away, and on October 1, 1992, we opened for our first day of business. Arlie continued to help when needed, by mixing spices, answering the phone and even slinging a few pizzas! Dad was a fixture at Eugene’s, sitting in “his chair” at “Table 10” drinking coffee with all the other “9:30 regulars” until 2010 when we lost him. But Mary Sue (good ol’ Mom) apparently missed the memo and signed on for another thirty-three years… unbeknownst to her! I don’t know if that was ever her plan, but she hasn’t missed a beat in thirty-three years, and at 88 years old, she still comes in every single day. I call Mary Sue, “The Hardest Working Mom in America!”
With every year, we’ve just become increasingly busy. As for employees, we have more than a handful now! Our employee schedule climbed to about forty-eight at one time, but we’re down a little from that today. We’ve probably hired and trained well over 600 people in our 58-year history, and our Mom has made a huge impact on each and every one of them! We’ve made a few changes over the years to maintain our sanity as well, but overall, everything is pretty much the same. Jeff and I have a pretty good work schedule figured out, so we’re able to get a bit more time off here and there, and with Mom and some other “key” people, we always have someone willing to step in where needed and help us all they can. One day, Mom and I were talking down at Eugene’s. Looking around, she said, “As taxing as it is, just look at what you guys built…not everyone can say that!” She’s really proud of the work we do, and we couldn’t do it without her!
Eugene’s Pizza… fifty-eight years in our family and sixty-three years total! That’s quite a run, and we’re so proud of that and very thankful to all our loyal employees, customers, and friends!
People ask us, “What’s the next chapter look like…who’s going to take over Eugene’s Pizza?” To that question, Jeff and I just shrug our shoulders and say, “Not sure…?”
Eugene’s Pizza is located at 193 Klein Avenue in Glasgow, Montana, or call (406) 228-8552.