He was robbed during his 50 years behind the bar - once bound and gagged for six hours after a stickup by three men who were never caught. A friend wanted to take him to the doctor, but Mike said, "The hell with the doctor, how's the cash register?" Mike had always lived modestly in several rooms behind the bar and no one seems to know for sure how he amassed such a fortune. His attorney said the estate in*cluded $1-5 million worth of stock in Lucky Food Stores; real estate and other assets ~ unknown value. Plus the $38,000 Rolls Royce. (His crypt in the Mount Shasta mausoleum bears Mike's name, birth and death dates, and a photo of his Rolls Royce immortalized in ceramic.)
Mike never married. During the last years he kept the bar open simply because he liked to have people dropping by. He liked to tell stories of by-gone days when he had, through the years, entertained everybody from madams to duchesses in this bar, and once had even had a romantic fling with a movie star. In the old days all of the "night people" would gather at Mike's after hours when all the other places' had closed, and Mike would cook steaks for everyone. They came from all over the county every night. Mike's Place. Tucked away for over a half century against a pine-studded cliff, loaded with atmosphere and the faded nostalgia of- another era. And it's a funny thing - you get this feeling that he's still there. Still standing short behind his bar, 78 years old and sharp as a shot of' tequila.
Habitues of the old Castella saloon will be happy to know that nothing has been changed since it has reopened under the -manager Marion Rose, former front desk manager of Redding's Red Lion. Marion held the grand opening a couple of Saturdays ago and the bar was packed like it was in the old days. Mike would - have liked that
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