By SHAWN PIATEK
The Tribune-Democrat
April 12, 2008 12:13 am
—
His face might be familiar to anyone who has enjoyed a cold beverage at Harrigan’s Café & Wine Deck at the Holiday Inn-Downtown Johnstown.
Bob Berger is the smiling face behind the bar. He’s known by regulars to always offer a good-hearted joke and engaging conversation.
“I’m a regular, real person,” said Berger, who also serves as manager on duty at the hotel once or twice a week.
“I don’t know everyone or everything. So I find it interesting to talk to people about who they are and what they do – really get to know them and about them.”
Berger’s so well liked that he’s twice been named Johnstown’s “Best Bartender” by the readers of Johnstown Magazine. In a humble moment, he will tell you he feels the honor should have gone to his co-worker and friend, Sam Baez.
But the Holiday Inn is only a small part of the 36-year-old Ferndale man’s life. He’s only worked there since 2002, a year removed from his return from Atlantic City, N.J.
Berger spent eight years in the gambling capital of the East Coast. He went there to chase a career as a casino card dealer, but those plans never panned out because he learned it would take almost a year before he would be qualified to deal.
“I’ve always played cards since I was a kid,” Berger said.
“I was always good at card tricks, so I thought it would be an interesting job.”
The problem Berger encountered was that he needed immediate cash flow. He left his hometown for Atlantic City without a car – or much else, for that matter.
He initially took a job at the Sands Hotel and Casino working security. About a year into that job, Berger said his manager learned that he didn’t drink and asked him to work in the establishment’s liquor warehouse.
Berger spent the next seven years in that position. It wasn’t the most glamorous spot, he admits, but he did have a chance to meet and acquire autographs from a number of celebrities.
It was the pursuit to meet a former Pittsburgh Penguin, Rick Tocchet, that led Berger to his greatest celebrity experience.
Berger, a longtime Penguins fan, signed up to work as a caddy for a Pro-Am celebrity golf event at New Jersey’s Greate Bay Country Club in hopes he could get placed in a foursome with Tocchet.
But his plan was foiled when Tocchet pulled out at the last moment.
Instead, Berger found himself caddying for an amateur in a grouping with Donald Trump, who Berger said is quite funny and engaging. Initially, he had the opportunity to caddy for Trump but turned it down.
“At first, it sounded great and I wanted to caddy for him,” Berger said. “But then I realized that I don’t know anything about golf, and I didn’t want him to think I was an idiot.”
It is stories such as his meeting with Trump that Berger shares with his guests at Harrigan’s.
But his favorite topic is his five nephews and nieces.
Berger is both single and without children – both by choice, he noted. But he relishes his time with family and getting to play the role of the “cool uncle.”
“Spending time with them makes me look forward to my days off,” he said.
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