Our Story
The story of Great River Pizzeria is a story of unexpected opportunities and of hope. In the Spring of 2005 Bob and Julie Bush came to Cass Lake and happened upon an auction located at 226 2nd St NW. Bob had not been looking to buy anything but in the end was led to buy the building and some of the equipment. Now all that remained was for Bob to figure out what to do with the building.
While the plans for the building changed over the course of time, the common thread of restoration remained. Built in 1905 as a bank, much of the original tin ceilings, cedar walls and tile floors had long been covered over and were in need of restoration. The once vibrant Business District too was in need of restoration due to the forces that many other small towns have faced of changes in economies and in the highways. In time Bob encountered Jason Decker, a charismatic young man with a gift for connecting with people, and later on Will Cloutman, a very faithful and hard-working Business Finance Major at Bemidji State University. As the three of them worked on the building, the vision for the building began to take shape amongst them and the idea for a restaurant was born.
The need for someone to oversee the menu and to manage the restaurant remained. In the Fall of 2005 Bob was introduced to John Pinkerman who had learned the fine art of making pizzas during his time on the North Shore of Massachusetts. The focus for the restaurant Shortly thereafter Jason conceived the name for the restaurant based on one of the Ojibwe names for the Mississippi River and expounded upon this in what we refer to as the River Story.
Rivers have always been at the center of life for our peoples as long as we have existed. Rivers have divided and brought together nations and sustained life in places where nothing else could. And even our community has been brought to life by one of the greatest rivers of all- the Mississippi.
The River has been known by peoples for more than five thousand years but the first recorded discovery was by Hernando de Soto on May 8, 1541 who called it the "Rio de Espiritu Santo" (River of the Holy Spirit). Since then many other explorers have made a name for themselves on the river, such as Joliet, Marquette, Beltrami, Schoolcraft and even Mark Twain.
For the Ojibwe people, the river has many names including Miskwaawaakokaa-ziibi (Red Cedar River) as it flows out of our Cass Lake. But the most notable and most fitting is, Gichi-ziibi (Great River). We at Great River Pizzeria still see the Gichi-Ziibi as a source of life for our community with the same life giving Spirit flowing with righteousness and justice through our community like the Mighty Mississippi.
Many challenges still remained, not the least of which was to try to fill Will's shoes as he moved to Kansas City to pursue another career. After many months of hard work, finally on December 15th, 2006, Great River Pizzeria opened its doors.
As with all of life, with each new phase of the restaurant new challenges arose and also new opportunities for growth. In 2007 Jason's health kept him out of the restaurant for significant periods of time. Delivery was added in the summer. At the end of 2007 Jason decided it was time for him to go another direction. In 2008 the opportunity arose to help Cass Lake-Bena School Activities through working with their concessions to sell pizzas. The much needed city sewer and street project in 2008 nevertheless posed a challenge for customers to come to us and thus led to the expansion of our delivery area as well as our lunch buffet options. New opportunities continue to arise and we certainly look forward to what the future holds.
From the beginning our focus at Great River Pizzeria has centered on giving our best to the people of Cass Lake so that we might be a small part of fostering a sense of pride in the community. This focus comes out in our standard, because good enough isn't good enough for our customers. They deserve the best. This focus is reflected in our motto: world-class taste with local flavor. This phrase goes beyond offering what some of our customers describe as the best pizza they have ever eaten. Whether it is through looking at the photos of the past and the great things the people of Cass Lake have done, focusing on the great things that are currently happening here or getting the community involved in one of our recipe contests, in everything we strive to present the best of Cass Lake.
This is our story. We look forward to hearing yours.
Call Great River Pizzeria today at 218-339-7609 for delivery or browse our website for more information regarding Our Menu or Our Mission. Download our Restaurant Menu.
