HELENA — “If I’m going to work as a partner with somebody, I’m not going to do it just halfway. I’m going to make sure that I’m all in,” and that is exactly what Brett Wiensch, owner of 1889 Coffee House does for Helena’s local athletic teams.
1889 Coffee House supports all of Carroll College athletics as well as the Helena Bighorns, a team Wiensch has supported since 1995. His employees are able to wear 1889, Bighorns and Carroll gear while on the clock.
“I think as a local business I should be supporting local people, local businesses, athletics, and all of that. I also feel that especially the younger that are playing in this- it’s very important for them to have as much popularity and recognition as they can because they really young kids will look up to them just as adults we look up to our pro athletes. To me, it’s just important for the community to have all that growth building,” said Wiensch.
He had been out of the hockey scene for a while, but it was the Bighorn's new ownership that reeled him back in.
“Mike and Jed have just done an amazing job in the community and throughout Helena to build these young men- I call it a little empire that they’ve built for themselves, and I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
Wiensch supports the Bighorns so much that he’s even opened up his house to their players in the past as a billet family for the players that move to Helena to pursue their hockey careers. He’s also dedicated a 1 lb burrito to the team at the coffee shop. The Bighorns burrito has sausage, ham, egg, cheese, and maple syrup in it.
“I knew that Mike and Jed were going to be all in with the Bighorns this year so I wanted to make sure that we were all in. So I was like ‘hey would you guys allow us to make a food item with this’ and with the word big, it’s gotta be big, and so we made a 1 lb burrito,” he said.
As for future plans to support these teams, he already has ideas in the works. There will be a new 1 lb food item to support the Bighorns next season, but he isn't willing to give away what it is just yet.
