Twenty-Six Years Behind the Bar - Lee Anne Birka
Lee Anne's Sonoma Journey - I Helped Build page
This is the third of three stories about Lee Anne's relationship with Sonoma.
🟩 A Village Fair and a Fifth-Wheel Trailer - Chapter 1
🟥 The Little House on Buena Vista Avenue - Chapter 2
🟦 Twenty-Six Years Behind the Bar - Chapter 3 (You are reading this story.)
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Lee Anne Birka found her place in the community behind the bar at the Jack London Saloon in Glen Ellen. What began as three shifts a week became a twenty-six-year career. From behind the bar, she welcomed residents and visitors, watched friendships form, and saw local businesses come and go. Lee Anne retired about a year ago, but her decades at a neighborhood gathering place remain an important part of her Sonoma Journey.
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My longest connection with the Sonoma community began because I stopped for a cocktail after work.
I was working in the kitchen at Viansa Winery, but I did not feel that the job was right for me. I would sometimes go to the Jack London Saloon in Glen Ellen after my shift.
I had bartended before, and one day I learned that the saloon had just lost a bartender.
I said, "I can do that."
They gave me three days a week. I kept working two days at Viansa until I could get a fourth day at the saloon. Then I left the winery and made bartending my full-time work.
I stayed at the Jack London Saloon for about twenty-six years.
A neighborhood bar is more than a place where people order a drink. It is a gathering place. Regular customers see one another there, visitors meet local residents, and the person behind the bar becomes part of the rhythm of people's lives.
I watched Sonoma Valley from that position for more than a quarter century.
Working in hospitality, you see businesses come and go. You remember the restaurants people loved and still miss, such as Uncle Patty's. You appreciate the places that endure, including the Swiss Hotel and other longtime gathering places.
You also see how the community changes.
Traffic increased. Tourism became a larger part of life. Cell phones and the internet changed how people made plans, found businesses, and communicated. Online shopping changed what people expected from local stores.
Then COVID brought a completely different kind of change. For a time, the traffic and activity disappeared. For someone who had spent decades in hospitality, it was another reminder of how much local life depends on the places where people gather.
I never described my work as a formal community role. I was doing my job.
But twenty-six years in one local establishment means becoming part of the community whether you plan to or not. You meet generations of customers. You learn the personalities and stories of the people around you. You help create a place where people feel comfortable returning.
I retired about a year ago.
Looking back, the Jack London Saloon gave me much more than the job I happened to find after leaving Viansa. It gave me a way to know Sonoma Valley from the inside.
I came here in a fifth-wheel trailer because of someone else's construction project. I stayed because I found work, a home, and people I enjoyed.
For twenty-six years, I helped welcome those people from the other side of the bar.
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Lee Anne found her bartending job after mentioning her experience when the Jack London Saloon needed someone.
She gradually moved from part-time work at the saloon to a full-time hospitality career.
Lee Anne remained at the Jack London Saloon for approximately twenty-six years.
From behind the bar, she witnessed changes in tourism, traffic, technology, restaurants, and community life.
Her work helped sustain a local gathering place where residents and visitors could connect.
Although she retired about a year ago, her years at the saloon remain central to her relationship with Sonoma Valley.
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This story was created from a recorded conversation between Lee Anne Birka and Don Lundgren as part of the Sonoma Stories project. The conversation was edited for clarity and length while preserving Lee Anne's experiences, reflections, and voice. Once published, Lee Anne may request changes at any time or ask to have the story removed.
