Re: spiffy

spiffy:
We're sorry you were offended at the Open Mic on August 21st. Why so many people--including many under 21--chose to stop at the Lazy Dog without dinner reservations on that particular evening, we don't know. As you said, "there was not enough room to fit everyone". All tables were occupied and the standing-room-only crowd was blocking walkways and exits. There also weren't enough Lazy Dog staff "supervisors" (as defined by the PLCB) to allow minors who were not seated at table with adult/parental supervision to stay in the coffeehouse. It was our concern for the safety and comfort of all our guests--plus building code and PLCB requirements--that forced us to ask unseated guests--including unsupervised minors--to leave.

As a business, we want the Lazy Dog to be about great hospitality, great coffee, great food and great music. We want people of all ages--especially coffee-, food- and music-lovers--to be a part of the Lazy Dog all day and every day. On Friday & Saturday nights, guests help us to support live music in Schuylkill County by paying a cover charge to hear professional bands and by buying food and drink. On Thursday nights, guests support Open Mic & Karaoke by contributing to the hat-pass--with the requested $2.00 contribution used to buy & maintain Open Mic & Karaoke equipment & advertising--and by buying food and drink. We're committed to continue Open Mic at the Lazy Dog as an opportunity for local performers, fun-lovers and friends to try new material & enjoy one another as long as our guests continue to support Open Mic. But, we're also committed to comply with building-, health- and PLCB-codes (yup, BS!) that will keep our guests safe & legal...and will keep us in business.

Consider this: It may be possible for us to arrange an Under-21 Night on a Sunday evening to accommodate you and the others who were inconvenienced on August 21st. It would involve significant effort on our part: contacting the PLCB to receive written authorization (yup, more bureaucratic BS) and scheduling & paying Lazy Dog kitchen, counter, serving and sound-tech staff . It would involve significant effort on your part, too: lining up the performers and finding an audience who's willing to contribute to a hat-pass and to buy food and drink. Let us know when/if you'd like to discuss something like this. In the meanwhile, we're still sorry that we couldn't make room for you and so many others in August. Please consider calling ahead to make dinner reservations for the next Open Mic.., and please introduce yourself to us. We'd like to meet you.

Thanks for taking time to sound off.
Denyse Wasilewski
Lazy Dog Coffeehouse