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Not everybody is taking it lying down:
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…
Originally posted by Pioneer Press
Smokers give bar's 'production' rave reviews
At Lake Mille Lacs tavern, cigarettes are merely props used to act out an exception in smoking ban
BY JASON HOPPIN
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 02/11/2008 12:03:29 AM CST
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
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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.
At Lake Mille Lacs tavern, cigarettes are merely props used to act out an exception in smoking ban
BY JASON HOPPIN
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 02/11/2008 12:03:29 AM CST
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
Advertisement
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.
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