She might be Atwater’s favorite bartender and she doesn’t even drink. Why she’s saying goodbye
Lucy Penrod got her first job working in a bar when she was 21 years old. A single mom, with young children and no child support, Penrod was looking for a way to take care of her family.
Little did she know, that first job - at a bar called the Gay Nineties in Livingston - was the start of a 50-year career in the bar industry that would include purchasing her own bar in Atwater. She bought the bar in 2001 and named it Lucy’s Studio Lounge.
Penrod worked at the Livingston bar for eight years until a fire burned it down.
“I liked it,” said Penrod about working in a bar. “I’m a people person. People were good to me, a lot of them have become like family.”
Penrod, 72, retired last month, selling the bar to her niece Chris Silva and her husband, Junior, who have renamed it the Whiskey River Saloon.
Penrod worked in just three bars during her career. After Livingston, she worked at a bar named Harold’s Club in Winton for 25 years before opening her own place in Atwater.
“Customers love her,” said Debbie Dautrich, who has worked as a bartender for Penrod the last five years. “She’s a psychiatrist, doctor, mother, counselor, friend, she’s played every role for people in the bar.”
Many of Penrod’s customers over the years are regulars. She’s grew to know them like family. Some have followed her from bar to bar. She has a great ability to connect with people.
There’s a reason people have used her bar in Atwater to throw birthday parties, funeral receptions and even weddings.
Penrod said, “It means the world to me,” that people would choose her establishment to host big, lifetime events.
Penrod is known for going all out on holidays. Her bar would always be decked out for Christmas or Halloween. Her biggest party was saved for St. Patrick’s Day.
“One of my dear friends (Tom McIllhattan) is from Ireland,” Penrod said. ”My ex-boss in Winton taught me how to make the corned beef and cabbage. It’s to die for. People from all around from Sacramento, Modesto come here on St. Patrick’s Day.”
Penrod raised five children as a single mother for 8 years until she married Ron.
As a single mother, it was tough, but her customers were always willing to help out.
“I worked close to home,” she said. “My customers were great friends and they would check on the children. They would take anything I needed to the house. They took care of me like I take care of them. There was always someone at the home taking care of my babies.”
She was married to Ron for 40 years until he passed away in 2017 after a battle with cancer.
During Ron’s fight with cancer, Dautrich offered to watch after the bar, working for tips only, so Penrod could be with her husband.
“That girl helped me at a time of my life when I was going through hard times,” Penrod said. “She let me be with my husband during his final days.”
To show her gratitude, Penrod bought Dautrich a truck for Christmas.
“Who does that? She gave me a used truck that she bought for me. She’s the most amazing person I know,” Dautrich said. “That was the best thing that ever happened in my life.
“She told me, ‘I could never pay you back for what you did. Here you go,’ and she tossed me the keys. She’s been a blessing in my life.”
Despite working in bars for most of her life, Penrod hasn’t had a drink in nearly 40 years.
“I wasn’t a good person to get drunk,” she said. “When I got drunk it would take me two weeks before I could drink again. It’s just not my cup of tea. People ask why the hell do you own a bar then?”
Penrod was also very strict about not letting people drive home drunk. If you were going to stay in her bar for a while and drink, your keys were turned over to her.
“When they walk out of here, they are my responsibility and I’m not going to let anything happen to them on their way home,” she said. “I’ll drive them myself or my bartender can give them a ride home and they can pick up their car the next day.”
After her husband died, it became tough to maintain a home, where she has more than five acres.
“When I lost my husband of 40 years a little bit was gone from me,” she said. “There was a void that nobody could replace. Without him, I had a hard time keeping up with everything. When he was around he would take care of everything at home. I knew my niece was interested in buying the bar.”
For Penrod, it was time to step away.
“People still come in here and ask where is mom at? People love her,” Dautrich said. “She’s taught me everything I know. She’s just an amazing person. She the best thing that has happened in my life.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2019 at 7:45 AM.
