Posted on 07/02/2009 6:44:47 AM PDT by Daffynition
For many, bikini-clad women and fireworks stands are sure signs that summer is here.
But some Puyallup citizens say the two don’t belong together.
Taking a clue from the area’s proliferation of bikini espresso joints, a stand called Nearly Naked Fireworks opened June 28 on the corner of North Meridian Street and Fifth Avenue Northeast.
Neighbors who live on the north end of downtown Puyallup are not happy. As of Wednesday afternoon, a total of 17 people had contacted Puyallup city officials to complain about the bikini fireworks stand.
One resident, Annie Starwich Claeys, said the main issue is the stand’s close proximity to Grayland Park, a popular destination for parents and their kids. The park is less than a block away from the fireworks stand, which occupies part of a Walt’s Auto Care Center parking lot.
The sign for the business – which reads “Nearly Naked Fireworks” in block letters, flanked by female silhouettes – is particularly offensive, Claeys said.
“We have lots of young families with young children who are walking past that every day to go to the park,” said Claeys, who has three children under 16. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate by a grade school or a park. It’s just tacky.”
Puyallup City Manager Gary McLean said city officials aren’t wild about having the bikini fireworks stand on Meridian, the city’s main thoroughfare. But there aren’t any laws under which the city can regulate the stand or its attention-grabbing sign, he said.
“Simply put, nudity is prohibited, but wearing a bikini is not,” McLean said. “Local governments are not allowed to regulate speech in the private sector, so we can’t censor the name.”
Business owner Rikk Martin said he decided to open the stand this year after noticing the success of coffee stands that employ bikini baristas.
“It seems like it sells coffee – it should sell fireworks,” Martin said Wednesday.
He said he thinks people who are upset about the business are overreacting.
“You see girls dressed as scantily clad as mine at any park you go to,” Martin said. “It’s nothing obscene.”
Outside the stand on Wednesday, one bikini-clad employee stood on the street corner holding a sign that read, “Discount Fireworks.” A few cars honked at her as they drove past.
A sign inside the fireworks tent read, “Don’t be afraid to stare... That’s what there here for [sic].”
One employee, 26-year-old Tiffany Shull, said she was happy to work in a bikini to beat the heat.
“On a day like this, you don’t want to be all geared up,” said Shull, who has an 8-year-old son and studies radiology at Tacoma Community College. “It’s very nice to wear this instead of sweats and a tank.”
Walt’s Auto Care Center, which owns the land the fireworks stand sits on, has received two complaints about the business, said Ken Pierce, a district manager for the auto care chain.
Pierce said enough citizen complaints could cause the company to reconsider whether to approve a lease agreement with Nearly Naked Fireworks next year.
“Any time you get people who are concerned, we take it seriously,” Pierce said.
The fireworks stand will close for the year the evening of July 4. Martin said he’s not sure whether he will open a fireworks stand with the same concept next year.
Steve Shores, another Puyallup resident who wrote the city to complain, said he thinks the fireworks stand gives people a negative image of the community as they drive down Meridian Street.
“It is the gateway to Puyallup,” Shores said. “We need to put our best foot forward there. Are we really doing that?”
Sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and listened to 500,000 Proud Americans scream, ohh and ahhh, as the fireworks went off.
Love it and done it 4 times.
If any posters have never been this is an absolute on the things you must do before you die.
My mom thinks the funniest partof a year is when a newscaster comes from out of state and they can’t pronounce the words even remotely close. They sound like robots.
I give them a pass on Miami. Those Okies sure got funny ways ‘bout them.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area now but I love to drive and I think that light house was one of my weekend “let’s just see where this road takes me”.
I do it all the time. The country is more interesting when you discover it by accident.
You said — I live in the San Francisco Bay Area now but I love to drive and I think that light house was one of my weekend “let’s just see where this road takes me”.
—
Wow.... I think that may be about a 5-600 mile drive up there... :-)
Very nice. I abhor crowds, so it wouldn’t exactly be my thing. But I’ve enjoyed all your highlighted venues separately, as I have four family members buried at Arlington.
Happy a super 4th Vendome ... to you and yours! ;)
Have you driven the road from Swakopmund to Okaukuejo? You pass through Otjiwarongo and Outjo. If you go left there you’ll end up in Khorixas. Take a right and and you can circle around to Tsumeb and Grootfontein. And I’m not kidding.
You're kidding, right?
I stood there in my hotel/motel, they don't have anything nice there, and here was my friend making fun of me. What a friend.
Never go there again. If I didn't speak Spanish it would have absolutely Boring.
The only part I liked was driving back and looking at field, after field of Wheat or something. It was gorgeous.
Stopped to look at the Three Sisters, part of the Cascades and even found the Stonehenge of North America. Just cuz I saw some sign. I even went to some Volcano lake. I forget the name.
I love to drive.
Where is that?
You said — Stopped to look at the Three Sisters, part of the Cascades and even found the Stonehenge of North America. Just cuz I saw some sign. I even went to some Volcano lake. I forget the name.
—
Oh yeah..., I know them all. That Stonehenge replica was built by Sam Hill, and his “house” (actually “mansion”) he built is now Maryhill Museum (very close to that monument). You crossed the Columbia River on U.S. Highway 97 at Biggs Junction. The Stonehenge replica was on the Washington side of the river. There are only a few places to cross the Columbia River and that is one of them.
And yes, the Three Sisters, I’ve been through that area (not climbing it though...). And the lake was Crater Lake (at least that’s the one I would think of). That used to be what was Mt. Mazama (not now, though, it’s just Crater Lake).
I like driving like that, too. But, these days, it can get to be expensive, not like it used to be. One time, I got off work and just decided to “drive” (was in Portland) and I ended up at Mt. Rainier... LOL...
Hope you have many more trips like that. It can be fun...
Namibia.
Happy 4th JR!
Rhymes with “giddyup”, right?!?
It’s pronounced:”Pee Allup”
Okay... as best as I can reconstruct it here... (in print)... it’s “pew-y’all-up”, with emphasis on the second syllable...
All wrong. The pronunciation of Puyallup is easy to remember. It is pronounced as if the 'y' and the first 'u' were switched: "Pyu-allup".
Question then...
how many syllables are you pronouncing there, and on which syllable is the accent?
I still like “giddyup”! (I’ve never been there - I’m just a wise guy trying to be funny!)
ROFL!
Time to celebrate the 4th....
We need some good marketing down here in SoCal...
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.
