Demolition continued today of the Kickapoo Paddle Inn building in Ontario. Substantially damaged in the August 2018 flood, the restaurant was a key fixture in the village starting with its opening as a root-beer stand in 1972. The current owners, Laurie and Tony Kelbel, took a FEMA buyout after the August 2018 flood. The Kelbels gutted and restored the restaurant after a flood in July 2017 only to have it destroyed again in the August 2018 flood. Also, the restaurant experienced significant flooding in 2008 and 1978.
Butch Pearson and Cindy Dobbs owned the business from 1972 until the early 1980s, when Marjorie Dobbs took over her daughter’s share of the partnership. Marjorie Dobbs also became a partnership in the canoe-rental business in the early 1980s, replacing Butch’s father, Pearl Pearson. In 2000, Dobbs and Pearson sold the business to Tony Kelbel.
