Posted on 02/11/2008 4:04:43 PM PST by rhema
LAKE MILLE LACS - On a night when wind chills were expected to reach minus-40 or below, revelers hunkered down for a night of drinking at Barnacle's Resort, a popular winter redoubt for ice fishermen and snowmobilers on the north shore of Lake Mille Lacs.
Helmets and jackets were stuffed everywhere. A plastic kiddie pool full of crushed ice held red meat, which was raffled off throughout the night. Two tables of Texas Hold 'Em were full, and someone was telling the story of the night Minnesota Vikings fullback Jim Kleinsasser sat there - right there - in that very stool. Smoke wafted through the bar.
Wait ... smoke? As in cigarettes?
On this Saturday night, and every Saturday night going forward until someone tells them to stop, the owners at Barnacle's are allowing their customers to light up. It's not so much an act of civil disobedience against the statewide smoking ban as it is exploiting an exception that allows smoking as part of a theatrical production.
You see, all those people drinking and smoking and laughing and telling the government to mind its own business? They're really actors.
"You are looking at a stage. You are looking at a playhouse," said Mark Benjamin, who cooked up the idea. "Those are not cigarettes - those are props."
Obviously.
The night was a big hit with patrons - er, actors - who bought $1 buttons that said "ACT NOW!" to denote that they were part of the production. Playbills were printed up, and the local police were notified. Sheila Kromer, Barnacle's co-owner, said the police told her they wouldn't visit unless someone complained. Charlie and Sylvia Tapelt live in the area and are regulars at Barnacle's. Charlie said it was great to be able to smoke in a bar again instead of standing outside in the cold, a notion his wife seconded - even though she doesn't smoke.
If customers don't want to drink in a smoky bar, they have the choice to go somewhere else, Sylvia Tapelt said.
"People should be allowed to decide," she said.
John and Vicki Kurkowski were visiting for the weekend from their home in White Bear Lake. Asked what it was like to smoke in a bar again, a wide smile spread across John Kurkowski's face.
"It's great," he said.
Since the smoking ban went into effect in October, compliance has been good. However, when the final version of the ban was hammered out last year, state lawmakers inserted a provision allowing smoking as part of a theatrical production. But they never defined the meaning of a "theatrical production."
That's where Mark Benjamin comes in. A lawyer and nonsmoker, Benjamin said he was a partner at a big firm making big money until he started growing his hair long and wearing an earring. He knew about the theatrical exception, but it wasn't until he was at the Renaissance Festival, an annual event where people dress in medieval costumes, that he had his epiphany.
If Shakespeare was right - that all the world's a stage - why can't a bar become a theater? And does it matter if the "actors" don't have to memorize lines? After all, who's to define the meaning of art?
"We're telling the Legislature when they convene (Tuesday). They can either get rid of this exception, or they can listen - actually listen - to the small bar owners who tried to be heard last year," Benjamin said.
Amid all the Vikings jerseys and snowmobiler jackets, Benjamin and two friends worked the bar in Renaissance costumes, making hourly announcements about the "production." Their garb bothered no one - they may as well have been dressed as nicotine fairies, for all anyone cared.
Benjamin had been looking for a bar to take him up on his idea for some time before he found Barnacle's. Owner Kromer said she also knew about the exception and had been looking for a lawyer to see what she could do about it - "some way to celebrate it, I guess you could say."
Kromer said business is dramatically down this winter, the busiest time of the year for the bar. She said she testified against the smoking ban, to no avail.
"Several of the legislators said, 'You know, you've got to be innovative. Come up with something to get the people in your bar.' Right? OK. What's wrong with a theater night? Is that not being creative? If it can bring business back into my bar (it's good). There are a lot of bars that are hurting," Kromer said.
For this night at least, Kromer said, the customers were back.
Good for these folks!
ping
I love it...
Reminds me of when Casselberry Florida tried to shut down “gentlemens clubs” and the biggest one started staging nude Shakespeare...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1968264/posts
Here’s what’s happening in Cleveland. Notice they brought up the smoking ban law.
Bravo!!!
LMR <=== standing ovation & applause at such a BRILLIANT performance outmaneuvering the Nico-Nazis
Prohibition never works. I guess we have to re-learn that every 100 years or so.
Truly funny.
While I can’t stand to be anywhere around smoke and smelly smokers, I do like the way this guy thinks.
Hell, no! Why, this is America, the Boards of Health should have the final say.
Soucheray had the lawyer that’s batting for these folks on his show this afternoon. He knows his stuff and he’s in it to win it.....
I don’t care for smoking either. But banning smoking in bars is like banning fornication in whorehouses.
Now how about a SRO opening of a long-run Wyatt Earp production? Everybody wear their shootin’ iron, gambler-stripe pants, and silver-dollar boots. Roll Camera!
Now how about a SRO opening of a long-run Wyatt Earp production? Everybody wear their shootin’ iron, gambler-stripe pants, and silver-dollar boots. Roll Camera!
G_D! Where did she get such an idea?
Good for them...
Glad to see there's still some Americans in America.
“All the world’s a stage, and its people merely players.
“They have their entrances and their exits.
“And in his life, a man plays many parts.”
(BTW, I’m a non-smoker but not an anti-smoker)
Let’s see how the nannyfascists handle this one.....
Hehehe! I gave up smoking 12 years ago after 30+ years of the habit. I absolutely HATE the government telling me which establishments can or can’t allow smoking. It is up to ME to decide if I want to spend my money there - not some government entity!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.