Jewett’s BrightSide Tavern open for business

BY SHAWN DIGITY (twitter@DIGITYnodoubt)

The BrightSide Tavern had its ribbon-cutting on Friday, Oct. 8. The name might sound familiar, and that’s because it’s an expansion of the BrightSide Junction. While the two businesses are under one roof — and both owned by Paul and Bobbie Prevot — they are separate. But on the other hand, while they are independent entities, they share something other than a kitchen: a focus on serving the community.

According to Paul, Jewett took several blows over the past four to five years, and COVID-19 worsened matters. “It was difficult to live in Jewett. For ice, milk, gas, anything, you were driving somewhere,” Paul explained. The grocery store, gas station, and pizza shop couldn’t stay open on their own. So the Prevots went into the business-building process with all that in mind; if one area struggled, they could still have sustainability elsewhere: “We wanted to include as much as we could.”

The BrightSide Junction opened in December 2020 with the gas station and convenience side of things. And the expansion comes right on the same building, but it offers something different from the Junction: a friendly bar and restaurant environment for people to hang out, socialize, and grab a bite to eat.

While the project was pandemic-fueled in large part, the Prevots really started planning around two years ago. It might’ve begun with the gas station, but the bar was always in the plans for the couple. But while parts of the expansion were easier, the Prevots set themselves up for smooth sailing for the Tavern by accomplishing the heavy lifting for the Junction. And while the two exist independently, they are still meant to play off each other. “We didn’t want to ruin a good thing,” Bobbie shared, “We wanted to enhance it.” So the bar is bolstering the kitchen and vice versa. And that feedback system is bringing in new fryers, which means a more extensive menu for both convenience store and tavern customers. The menu applies to either side, after all.

But with an expanded building and an expanded menu, there’s the need for expanded staff. It was “all hands on deck for Friday,” but the Prevots felt good about the staff they have built so far. Although they’re still looking for a few more team members, the Prevots were given the time and flexibility to work on the Tavern themselves with the confidence they had in the Junction team. And the Prevots are grateful for that since their staff allowed them to spearhead the tavern project. “We have a great staff. Without the staff, we would not have had the time to do all this work ourselves over here,” added Bobbie.

And the Prevots are also grateful for the community; people lent tools, others ran errands, and some just showed up ready to help out. Jewett and other nearby residents stepped up to offer their support to the BrightSide duo. “The community’s been great in their support. Just amazing in the support we get, even from surrounding communities,” said Bobbie. “They’ve been fantastic,” Paul added.

For the Prevots, the community has become a massive driving force for the Junction and the Tavern. Jewett’s businesses have been through the wringer in many ways over the past several years — and certainly during the pandemic — but the Prevots want to bring something back. “We just want to give the local people somewhere to go to feel at home,” Bobbie stated. “Community is our main focus.”

The BrightSide Tavern will be open seven days a week, closing at 11 p.m. on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. The Tavern will open at 11 a.m. every day.

A look on the BrightSide

A lot of people have asked the Prevots about the name, and there’s some historical inspiration behind it. The southern side of Jewett used to be called Brightside, which was a smaller subdivision of the village. The

Tavern and Junction are planted between two branches of the Conotton Creek, and driving over the northern branch of the stream goes into Jewett proper. Now the name of the junction, it’s where Paul grew up. So it represented a part of his personal history: “We wanted to bring something back. We wanted to bring the name back.”

Caption 1

While the Prevots had to outsource much of the work to contractors, they built their own bar. Additionally, they set up a draft system, which will have four beers on tap.

Caption 2

As the tavern opened last Friday, the Prevots were grateful for the community support they received. But they were also thankful for many of the vendors that chipped in with bar signs and donation items for a Chinese auction.