last time i was in Bradenton was at the StumbleInn in 73...
Posted on 04/15/2007 9:49:18 AM PDT by dukeman
BRADENTON -- Five years ago, Arlene Sweeting -- noted activist, radio host and unabashed free thinker -- opened a tiny cafe near McKechnie Field.
In time, Fogartyville Cafe became something more than a hole-in-the-wall joint that served tofu, organic coffee and "No War" bumper stickers.
It became a refuge for aging hippies, would-be radicals and part-time poets, a liberal landmark in a decidedly conservative city.
But now, as Sweeting and co-owner Dave Beaton prepare to sell the cafe -- to focus, in part, on a small radio station in Sarasota -- the community that Fogartyville fostered is trying to save it.
"We have to," said Billy Johnson, a stained glass maker from the Village of the Arts and candidate for mayor of Bradenton. "We cannot let this place close. It's too important."
Alas, though, the task of saving Fogartyville is bigger than it seems. For starters, Sweeting and Beaton are ready to move on, to forge ahead with WSLR 96.5 FM and a fledgling nonprofit group, the PEACE Center, that hopes to make "peace education" part of the public school curriculum.
"We're ready to move on," Sweeting said Thursday night, as she flitted from table to table with veggie wraps and bean soup. "But we're also willing to listen to everyone's ideas about what should happen to this place."
So it was on Thursday night that two dozen people gathered at the coffeehouse, in a hardscrabble neighborhood that surrounds the baseball stadium, to do what they do best: think and speak freely.
How, one woman asked, are they supposed to raise $600,000 and buy the place outright? What about the folk bands? The tofu? The folk rock?
"There is no other place for us to go," said Barbara Tomsik, a Fogartyville Cafe regular. "Not in this town anyway. I don't know many liberals in Bradenton."
The ideas came and went, some more quickly than others:
- Maybe they could host a fundraiser, though not with a $10 cover charge for bands that most people in Southwest Florida have never heard of.
- Perhaps the regulars could start a co-op. Nah, they decided, there aren't enough of them.
- Perhaps Fogartyville could be rented out. "That's an idea," said another regular, Karen Fraley.
- Maybe they could lobby an investment firm for the cash. "Only if they promise to think like us," Tomsik said.
In the end, though, as people started fidgeting and the coffee got a bit cold and the ideas got a bit dry, a tall man with a deep baritone strode confidently to the stage with an announcement.
Robert Atkins, a smooth-talking broadcaster and sometime actor, said he had arranged a group of investors to purchase Fogartyville and transform it into a playhouse, theater and restaurant.
He listed his accomplishments -- which include a failed nightclub venture in Sarasota and at least two unrelated lawsuits -- and said he had the money and the backers to keep Fogartyville alive. All he was asking "is that you guys keep coming."
"I'm not a benefactor," Atkins said. "I'm in it for the long haul, but I'd also like to pay the mortgage."
Few seemed to believe him, and Atkins' recent history is certainly checkered: He once was arrested for grand theft, got sued after a botched real estate deal and couldn't keep afloat a 24-hour jazz club in Sarasota.
But Atkins insisted that the cafe offer was legitimate, and that Fogartyville Cafe would soon be his.
"We'll see," Beaton said.
Whatever the outcome, one thing seems certain: The small cafe that was famous for tofu and folk rock is never going to be the same -- nor will the people who saw it grow.
In a way, Fogartyville was the magnet for this region's progressives, a liberal nook in a conservative city.
"It really took on a life of its own," Sweeting said.
*Sigh*. Havent we hurt the kids enough with condoms and non parental consent for abortions..??
The owners are going to start a non-profit organization, sounds like they already own one. If it’s sooooooo good, why can’t some one else buy it and operate it at a profit?
Man, ossified hippies, desperately trying to cling to any vestigae of community support that they can muster amongst themselves.
Ahh well, at least the woman and her business partner had enought sense to take the money and run. These folks may need to catch onto that little clue.....
Excellent idea. Put yourselves in the hands of a known con-man. Stupid hippies. It’s just too bad none of these clowns have any money to give the crook.
I say everyone chips in a dollar to help relocate these left-wing losers to Berkeley....in other words, buy them a one way bus ticket.
"I know! Let's put on a play!"
I’ll bail ‘em out if they promise to change the name to Loserville Cafe....
I call it the cold, hard facts of life. My Mom would have called it Life-101!
“This is your brain. This is your brain on tofu.”
Well, I guess you're just SOL, then, aren't you?!?!
Mark
“Hey, if we all got REAL jobs for a while instead of making stained glass or singing folk songs for tips, we could pitch in and buy the place ourselves instead of expecting someone else to provide us with our platform”......”nah, never mind”
Free thinkers?? This story is hysterical. These people are perfect, stereotypical over the hill flower children.
Honestly, this story reads like a piece of satire.
last time i was in Bradenton was at the StumbleInn in 73...
I hope they are planning on going to the Middle East to teach Muslim terrorists that blowing up oneself is not in the interest of peace. It is easy to teach peace to peaceful people - it’s the insane people that are difficult.
Liberalism is, indeed, a mental disorder.
Hey! The left coast has enough loonies!!!
Where's Eric Cartman when you need him?
Mark
I bet their chosen solution is to write impassioned letters to wealthy liberals to give them the money to buy the building.
The funniest thing to me is that they have absolutely no concept of the notion that a business, be it a restaurant or whatever, has no independant right to exist. If they have supporters, they will survive. If they don't, they won't.
Hey..it worked getting Clintoon elected twice.. eheheheee!
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