Here's the Madville Times morning scoop: no malt-beverage license for the Jaycees' street dance. Reader Jackrabit1 reports that "from what it sounds like, the commission was looking for any excuse to pull the plug" on the street dance. Geez, and someone once called me a CAVEman....
The Madville Times welcomes comments from others privy to the commissioners' thinking! We can still hope the Jaycees will find another way to offer some Beadle Days entertainment for the community, preferably without alcohol. In the meantime, as Jackrabit1 notes, all you hepcats with itchy dancing feet can always head over to Chester on the 14th to boogie to the cool sounds of Eclipse. Just remember: if you're driving to Chester, hands off the hooch! You don't need booze to have a blast.
My issue is that there seems to be a small group of people that feel they know what's better for me than what I do. Now I'm not by any stretch of the imagination a drinker. 1-2 beers and that's it for me.
ReplyDeleteGranted, there were concerns about disturbances... but you go to any small-town street dance and there will be the minor disturbances. But for the most part, it's just that, MINOR. Besides, that's what the security and the insurance is for!
And if there's such a concern from the City and these individuals about promoting drinking, why do we have the Fireman's dance? Why allow liquor to be served at the Playhouse for receptions and wedding dances? Why allow bars to hold liquor licenses? It seems to me that a very hypocritical attitude is being expressed.
As for the liquor license, the Jaycess were NOT going to sell booze, just allow people to have beer outdoors at the dance. The bars would take care of all that, PLUS they had the extra benefit of people being carded at the gates. Card at the bars, and you've got a double layer of security. But apparently the City is so gun-shy, that that wasn't enough.
I like a good street dance. But I also like not having my life dictated to as well. This decision is all to similar to "Footloose", with John Lithgow preaching fire and brimstone for having a dance.
Folks, a street dance isn't a den of sin! When run properly, it's a great way for the community to get together and have some good clean fun. Apparently the NIMBY swarm has landed in Mad-town, too!
And on a separate note, Cory, thanks for quoting me... not sure how impartial I am in the whole thing, but you're more than welcome to stop over to my Jackrabbit's Den anytime!
A note on tactics for all you activists out to get your way with the city commission: evidently there isn't strength in numbers. KJAM reports that the Jaycees brought a number of members to the commission meeting last night, much as Don Grayson brought dozens of Rosebud employees to the planning commission and ciy commission meetings to urge a vote in favor of letting Rosebud expand to Main Street. Within a couple weeks, we see two examples of the board saying no fair-sized crowds.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if that's good or bad. In a way, we could be glad our city commission doesn't succumb to mere peer pressure. And it does suggest that if you want something from the commission, you don't need to exert yourself to round up a crowd; just go and sell the idea on the merits. But I wonder: is there a certain size crowd that would sway the commission? Surely Rosebud Mfg. and the Jaycees are wondering thesame thing.
Thanks for the comments, Jackrabit1! And don't worry -- I don't require impartiality here. I'll leave our man Hunter in charge of the certified, objective journalism. I just want folks to say what they're really thinking about our fair city.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree -- there is more than a whiff of a double standard here. We hand out all sorts of liquor licenses, and we happily take extra tax dollars from alcohol sales, but we balk at a street dance? Are there really any more fights or rapes or any other brutish behaviors that result from street dances than result from any typical busy Saturday night of drinking at the Four Corners?
Tonight's MDL elucidates the commission's thinking... sort of. Madison's men in blue, represented by Officer Pulford, opposed the street dance, citing their concerns about trouble after midnight. (The Jaycees planned to run the dance from 9 p.m. until 12:45 a.m. and had insurance, experienced security volunteers, and a security outfit from Sioux Falls lined up.) Commissioner Jerry Johnson said his main concern was over the fact that the Jaycees didn't have a band lined up yet. Was Johnson worried the Jaycees would bring in some nefarious polka band? Besides, the Jaycees replied that they couldn't line up a band until they had the malt-beverage license to ensure the event would happen.
ReplyDeleteThe final vote was 3-1, Mayor Hexom absent, only Commissioner Nordberg (youngest member of the commission, by my guess) cutting the Jaycees some slack. She said the city had already set a precedent granting similar licenses to the firemen for their dance and DSU for tailgate parties.
I am pleased that my friends Tony and Crystal Benning spoke up at the commission meeting to suggest a no-alcohol dance. The option is still there, Jaycees! You could get some support for that! Skip the alcohol, stage the dance further up the street, or maybe along the street by the courthouse (close to DQ for ice cream and the jail for troublemakers!). Even change the hours: run the dance from 7 to 11, turn off the music at a relatively decent hour for the neighbors, and let the folks who still want to party head to the bar as usual. No alcohol and earlier hours could mean a lot less hassle for the Jaycees and the cops, and a good time could still be had by all.
Actually, they had a few bands in mind, but couldn't really commit to them until all the stuff with the city was cleared up.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've seen the no-alcohol dances... unfortunately they are usually a bust.
No-alcohol dances a bust? Why? Remember, you're talking to a teetotaler, so I'm a little out of the loop on why so many people find alcohol essential to having a good time.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the idea that people are forbidden to do something, and that they'd rather go somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow teetotaller, I also do not see why the booze is necessary for the fun. I do agree there seems to be a double standard with the firemen and Jaycees, but find it really sad that they cannot do fundraisers without the alcohol. I would agree with the Bennings. We are preaching to our teens not to drink, but then turn around and seem to be saying that adults cannot have a good time without drinking. Also, I do not see how Commissioner Johnson's concern about the band or lack of one has anything to do with the alcohol issue; am I missing something?
ReplyDeleteDJ
Again, in my never-to-be-humbled opinion, I think the Commission was looking for any reason to shut this down.
ReplyDeleteAnd to reiterate, I think there is this attitude that a street dance is some henious act of debauchery. And as for "setting an example" or concerns about drinking... this was to be a 21-and-over dance, which meant there would be no underage kids getting in.
And as for the drinking part... most people I know are very responsible about their intake. I know that there are those that don't drink and I think that's great. But most people I know are pretty responsible about their limits... it's not like a street dance is a live-theatre version of "Animal House!"
Of course, if you want to make everyone happy, you can have an early "all-ages" show, then the adults only later on. Of course these are the ramblings of a sleep-deprived Jackrabbit!
"No-alcohol dances a bust? Why? Remember, you're talking to a teetotaler, so I'm a little out of the loop on why so many people find alcohol essential to having a good time."
ReplyDeleteA Ballade Of An Anti-puritan
by *****
They spoke of Progress spiring round,
Of light and Mrs Humphrey Ward--
It is not true to say I frowned,
Or ran about the room and roared;
I might have simply sat and snored--
I rose politely in the club
And said, `I feel a little bored;
Will someone take me to a pub?'
The new world's wisest did surround
Me; and it pains me to record
I did not think their views profound,
Or their conclusions well assured;
The simple life I can't afford,
Besides, I do not like the grub--
I want a mash and sausage, `scored'--
Will someone take me to a pub?
I know where Men can still be found,
Anger and clamorous accord,
And virtues growing from the ground,
And fellowship of beer and board,
And song, that is a sturdy cord,
And hope, that is a hardy shrub,
And goodness, that is God's last word--
Will someone take me to a pub?
Envoi
Prince, Bayard would have smashed his sword
To see the sort of knights you dub--
Is that the last of them--O Lord
Will someone take me to a pub?