Bayou Sara Brewing Company - STV: 27

Marc welcomes Doug Cochran, Steve and Amanda McKinney of Bayou Sara Brewing Co. for a delightful conversation about craft beer, delicious food, and the vision behind this inviting St. Francisville gathering spot. Together they reflect on teamwork, community, and the joy of building a place that brings people together. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Greetings, y'all. This is Mark Charbonnet, and today I'm visiting with you on Steve the Ville, our podcast here in St. Francisville. I have three wonderful people here. I'd like to introduce them. I have Steve and Amanda McKinney. And I have Doug Cochran. And his lovely wife, Abby, is not here today. She's taking care of her dad. Welcome, y'all.

SPEAKER_04 0:28

Thank you. Thank you all. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

You all have really helped change the face of town by picking the old Ford dealership and opening Bay You Sarah Brewery. It's really been a wonderful addition to the town. And you have some fun things that go on there. I went to one of the song bingo games and it was really interesting. I enjoyed it. I know it's it was a dream. Is the dream a dream or a nightmare? How do y'all feel about it?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Uh enjoy it most of the time. Um there are times that that get trying a little bit here and there, but um as I tell folks, you know, it's the the the dream was always the the brewery. We as we evolved through things and turned into a brew pub more than just a pure brewery. Um that changed, but for my heart um was the brewery piece of it. And so, you know, like a couple of months ago, I was sitting in the brew house. It was early in the morning, 7 30. Nobody's around, and I'm kegging beer that has been brewed and cleared and decarbonated, and behind me there's a little bubbling going on from another beer I have in progress that's fermenting and bubbling away. And I think to myself, for a split second, I'm like, this is the part I signed up for. Everything else comes along with it. So we, you know, we we we do enjoy it most of the time. There's a handful of times here and there where it gets a little trying and struggling, but you know, it is it's good.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

So it the you both are you the both couples are partners in this.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

And what do you uh do with the business?

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Uh on on I uh st as I call it, Steve does the uh smart work and I do the uh cleanup of uh messes that he makes in the sense of brewing. And I try to help out as much as I can. I don't he does 95% of the brewing and cleanup and all that, and I help as much as I can. But uh uh Abby and I are there mostly on extremely busy nights. Uh and uh that's one of the things that I actually enjoy about it is um I I get yelled at by the bartenders because they're like, go go go enjoy yourself. I'm like, no, I'm I'm cleaning the glasses so that you can then fill them up again. And I enjoy sitting there cleaning the glasses and talking about it. And visiting with everybody. That's the part I've really liked.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Totally understand. Visiting's my favorite sport. And what do you do? I always see you in there eating with people.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

I wish I was eating in there more. Um, I help with the marketing end of things and the uh menus and you know, all that. And then I'm also diving in when we've when we're busy and trying to just keep things moving. And on our end, Abby and I try to help come up with ideas to bring people in. Music bingo has been that's huge that you mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

And um anyway, so just and uh uh Amanda is uh the owner and operator of Temple Design.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

And Temple is your maiden name.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

Correct.

unknown 3:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

And so I guess that goes hand in hand with working with the brew house because you print the menus and the all of the new new things that are coming up.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

All the marketing end of things, yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

I mean, she did all the logo design, she did all the merchandise design and layout and everything with all that.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

So So do you do you have any new additions to the menu? The food's really good. Do you have any new additions?

SPEAKER_00 4:18

We do. We're um we met a half hour ago about a few things that were met last week on some stuff on the menu. We kind of clarified a few things about a half hour ago, literally, in a meeting. Um we are adding um a lighter side to the menu. So we're gonna have a couple of things, a couple of examples. We're gonna have a grilled chicken salad, we're gonna have a grilled chicken sandwich. Um we're going to uh uh look at um doing some things with like some example again, a basmati rice bowl with some maybe chopped up chicken and broccoli and cauliflower.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Um that'll go over well because so many people are kind of diet conscious.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Um I've got some Thai green beans that I was playing with the other day. Um and uh might tweak that recipe a little bit before we publish it, but we're we're shooting for an updated menu um right around the first of June. Um we're gonna have some chicken wings on the menu. Okay. Everybody's been asking for that a good bit. Sure. Probably about three different flavors, plus some naked wings just seasoned. Um what else am I forgetting? We're adding a kind of stand, we have our our our charbrolled and our bayusera burger um that are two really thin patties um with cheese and and one with regular cheese, one with minted cheese. And um, we're gonna add just kind of a standard, nice, decent little burger, one patty, but a decent size. Um what else am I forgetting? Some of the vegetables on the lighter side sides. Yeah, we're gonna, I'm gonna do a uh a garlic butter, uh broccoli and cauliflower. Oh, that sounds good. Side dish there. And uh talked about the green beans. So yeah, a few different, a few different additions on the menu coming up right at the beginning of June.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

I don't know if you've had the we've just started the frozen lemonade, uh, vodka lemonade, which is very tasty. It's not too not too sugary and not too uh it it's refreshing.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Do you sell a non-alcoholic version?

SPEAKER_01 6:26

No, because it's pre-made. Oh, okay. But we do have friends to drink.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

I do, so a quick side note on that. So we do have a couple of mocktails, um, as people call them. But I also we do have a selection of commercially available non-alcoholic beer. Um, this is a bit of a tangent, but I'll say it anyway. I was getting ready to produce a non-alcoholic beer in the brew house. And then I was reminded by my vendor who sells me all my ingredients. So he was basically shooting himself in the foot on a sale saying, Do you remember the Brewer Association article from a year ago? I was like, you know, Chris, yeah, I do. Thanks for reminding me about that. But it basically talks about how alcohol is a stabilizing factor in fear that keeps it from essentially going bad, getting bad and making people sick. Um, and so to do a non-alcoholic beer, you need to have high-dollar professional pasteurization equipment and everything. And so I said, Well, y'all sell that too. He says, Yeah, but you're talking about about 50 grand investment, Steve, right now. He says, I said, okay, I'm gonna get some commercial stuff. So I do have non-alcoholic beer, it's just not mine.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

I like non-alcoholic beer. I would like to come in and have some of that. You know, it's it's just fun to have, especially with the menu.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

It is. Well, and one of the things, too, that I I tell my the the the folks that are working there that, and I hope they adhere to this, is you know, somebody comes in and gets a non-alcoholic beer, pour it in a glass, please, because everything else is on draft. And I don't want somebody with their non-alcoholic beer the only one with a can or a bottle in the corner. Pour it in a glass. They're just part of the crowd now, you know, and it's to me that's an important thing.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

That is important. My favorite uh item on the menu, I have to tell you, is the chili because it's not like any other, it's like a it's really more like a beef stew that's just beef. It's really superb, and I just love that you get a really good shot of protein, and it's not full of filler stuff. It's basically just as delicious that's Steve's creation.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

I love it. I appreciate that. I mean, it's it's a brisket chili, so it's made with real brisket. I'm not having fillers of little meat and everything.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Well, it's not full of beans or I mean it's just really delicious brisket, my favorite thing.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Well, I appreciate that. That's very kind.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Very good. Tell me you uh, Doug, what is your favorite menu item? The chili. The chili. And what about you, my dear?

SPEAKER_04 9:03

One of my favorites, uh, but I can't do it all the time, is the fried green beans. Everybody loves the fried green. Those are fantastic. They are delicious. And then I'd say second would be the Baye Sarah burger, the pimento cheese.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

I get the uh uh grilled cheese, add brisket and with the soup. Absolutely fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

That sounds delicious. And what about you, Sarah?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Probably the Kiwi Pilsner. Food-wise, um I don't know. I mean, like the I'm I'm obviously biased on the menu. 95% of the stuff on the menu is all stuff that Amanda and I have cooked for years, and I cook things the way I like them, and I hope other people do too. Um and I've I brought it all there. I mean, that this everybody loves everything. The stuff on the the specials that we do, the lunch specials that we do, and the brunch specials did come from my kitchen manager, Willie Wallace. Um but you know, all that stuff is stuff that I've cooked for a long time and I like it all.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

I mean, I let me interrupt and ask because I did not ever have brunch. I didn't even realize you all did brunch. That's that that's a is that a recent kind of thing that you've had? We've been doing it for a few months. Um tell tell me about it. Like, what do you offer?

SPEAKER_00 10:26

So the the two, I'll tell you the the two of the biggest sellers um are uh it's a brunch bowl. Um it's basically gouda grits. Um and on well, the gouda grits are on top of tater tots, and then we do some eggs and we do some uh eggs how you like them on top of that. And it's also covered in a what Willie calls a bacon debris cream sauce, which is really awesome. Um and another one we do that's unique. Oh, it it's I mean, it's really good.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

What do you call it? You call it the breakfast bowl.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

It's a breakfast bowl. That's really it's a brunch bowl, I guess. Anyway. Um, and then the breakfast tacos are also a really big hit.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

What well tell me about them. I like tacos.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

It's basically, you know, your standard kind of breakfast tacos, scrambled eggs, some shredded cheese. Um, it also can have you can add that bacon debris cream sauce on it and everything, but those are a big hit. Um folks really like those. Uh, we do a we do a uh French toast bread pudding um that is really good. It doesn't seem to hit as well because I don't think people understand what it is, but when they get it, they love it and they come get it again and again.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

Um so anyway, but we we've So is it a French toast or is it more like a dessert?

SPEAKER_00 11:49

So it's a bread pudding that is then slightly battered and cooked down like a French toast.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Ah.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

So that sounds delicious. It's fantastic. Yeah, it's got some fresh berries on it. We sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and yeah. And um, but so those, and then one of the things, yeah, we talked about the adding things to the menu. Um, one of the things that we are adding to the menu also, we recently did the moo's and mimosas celebration thing, whatever you want to call it. Let Manda talk about that. But one of the items that we had for their brunch, um, one was the the uh the French toast bread pudding. The other choice they had was uh a plate with uh fritata.

SPEAKER_04 12:38

It was a bacon tomato basil soup.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

But it was what was the fritata was bacon and spinach and feta, I think. But anyway.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Oh, that sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Um, so it was a fritata, a cup of tomato basil soup, and a little side Caesar salad, and we are adding that to the permanent menu also.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

That sounds delicious. So I I've heard about your lunches. I haven't been for one, but tell me about what that menu is like that you do. Is it a special meal every day?

SPEAKER_00 13:07

So we we have the regular menu on every day. Yeah. Um, and then typically, so Saturdays um and Sundays from we're doing the brunch. Um, Mondays we have red beans and rice and fried chicken.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Um, Tuesdays we have a pot roast served with uh green beans and rice. So good, yeah. And you know, pot roast and and gravy over rice.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

All the hours for these lunch specials.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Well, it we'll when we open at 11 on most days and we'll sell it throughout the day until we run out.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

So a lot of times it'll go till two or three. Sometimes they'll make it into the evening a little bit, but um if you like the chili, you're gonna like the pot roast.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

Oh, I bet.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

I love a good pot. Wednesdays we do um a pork chop special with dirty rice and green beans. Thursdays we do a hamburger steak um with mashed potatoes and peas. Fridays we go back to the fried chicken, but we do with macaroni and cheese instead of red beans and rice.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

That is really good. What do those lunch meals run about?

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Um probably between 14 and 16 dollars. That's it. No, I think it's wonderful. Most people leave food behind.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

It's so nice to have a different menu as opposed to, you know, I love the mag and I I enjoy Petra, but it's nice to know that there's like a real lunch, and I love the idea of a lunch special. Um, I know a few people that would like that. I'm gonna talk to. We have this little lunch thing that goes on. I'm gonna have them go in there for that. They'll enjoy the idea of that. So you, Miss, tell me all about the mimosas and what was it?

SPEAKER_04 14:48

Mumus and mimosas. Mumus. So that was a a friend of ours who's a teacher came up with that idea. And she told us, like, y'all need to do this. And so we got very excited about it. We ended up, so many people were telling us they were coming, it became a little frightening that we were scared we weren't going to be able to handle the crowd. So we decided we need to sell tickets, and we ended up selling tickets and selling out at 150 people.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 15:16

So if we had not done that, there we probably would not have been able to handle every everything.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Like when do you do this?

SPEAKER_04 15:23

We did it at the end of April. Yes, April 26th. And um So now it's an event. It is definitely an event. And we were people came dressed up. They had a blast. We had Kateoke, our friend Katie does karaoke, and oh, that's when all the ladies were in there dressed up.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Yeah, that was hilarious.

SPEAKER_04 15:43

We had karaoke. Um, we had the brunch items that you could choose from, and um mimosas. Um, and anyway, everybody had an absolute blast.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

The pictures, the pictures show it.

SPEAKER_04 15:57

Yes, they had a great time.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

A good time.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Yes. Yeah, a lot of people were like, man, I saw you missed that. I'm like, no, I didn't miss it. I was just in the kitchen feeding 150 crazy women. Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

So you close at nine, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:12

We close at nine, Monday through Thursday. Um, we clean and and when I say we close, we close the kitchen. If there's still, you know, some folks hanging out in the bar and it's enough folks that we'll stay open later than that. But Monday through Thursday, we close at nine, Friday and Saturday at 10. Um, Sunday, we've always had shortened hours. Um, we open a little bit early to try to catch a church crowd, and then we close at three because Sunday afternoon St. Francisville, as you know, are pretty darn quiet. So um, but anyway, that's current hours. Yeah. Friday and Saturday is a little bit later. Um, but you know, it depends. I mean, we have live music every Friday um evening, and now we're doing live music every Saturday afternoon, too. And so um it depends, you know. I mean, there's been times where we've been in there till midnight on Friday because uh everybody wanted to hang out, and the musician wanted to keep playing, and they did, and so we hung out. But most of the time it's uh around 10:30, 11, we're done.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

The other night y'all stayed open because of the wedding party wanted to come afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

We had a we had uh there was a wedding and a reception was out at Greenwood Plantation, but the mother of the bride had contacted Amanda and then me beforehand and said, Look, you know, we're they're gonna close us out at 10 o'clock, but we're not gonna be ready to be done. Would y'all be willing to hang around? And on a normal night, Saturday night, we would have looked at the bar crowd and said, Yeah, there's two people here. Last call, 10 o'clock, kitchen closing, we're done. But I talked to a couple bartenders. I said, Y'all just hang around. There's gonna be about 40, 50 people show up. Sure enough, about 1020, about 60 people showed up, and we hung out and stayed open for them. Um how long? We were there till we they probably they all probably left right about midnight. We got out after clean up about 12:30 or so. So, you know, they they got to extend their night with the everybody that was visiting and traveling into town for the wedding and everything.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

And they were nice people. I gave a couple of tours. Yeah. My ghosted by you, Sarah tour. Yeah, it was yeah, they were nice.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

So, I mean, it worked out for everybody. You know, we stayed open a little late. My bartenders got a few extra tips. We sold a few more things, and they got to have a little bit of an extra party.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Yeah, it's nice, you know, that's nice for those young people to have that extra. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

And we've got I know we've got another one um on May 30th that we're we know we're staying open late for. Another wedding party that's gonna be right at the mallory next door, but they're gonna be up there and they've asked us to stay open, so we're gonna do it again.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Excellent. I was telling somebody how that stretch looked like bombed-out Beirut for so long. And I mean, the mosses, y'all, and the Charlets just turned that whole strip into something really magical. It's remarkable. I mean, people that haven't been here in a while come back and they're like, what is this? It's really interesting.

SPEAKER_04 19:18

Well, and the town planting the trees in that area too has just been it just kind of softens everything as well. So, you know, thank you to the town for for doing that. And um the St. Francisville beautiful group, but um, that whole area just has softened a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

It really is, it really is. And you know, the Charlet's green space is really nice. Oh, it is it's it's like a park. It's very nice.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

It really is. And watching kids playing around down there and everything. And and it's I mean, two two comments that you just triggered in my brain about um one with the trees from the town in St. Francisville Beautiful. So there's four trees planted right in front of the brewery right now. And I have to give a shout out to Dwayne Cleveland because he personally donated those to St. Francisville Beautiful to have planted there um along that strip by the brewery. So um That's really nice.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

And yeah, and it I think it cost he had to basically pay for one twice because of a problem. But anyway, he donated those personally, so I just we want to give a shout out there. The um the other thing that just triggered in my brain is making sure that people realize that we are a family-focused environment, too. I mean, talking about kids playing in the green space.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Oh, yeah, kids are in there having a good time.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

I mean, I've got kids' games, I've got, you know, a big Connect 4, I've got Jenga games in there for kids and families to make sure I've always seen children having a good time in there.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

So I just I think it's nice that they can, and you know, it's it's not like a restaurant where a kid might aggravate you because it's just such a mess.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Open up and run and play. I mean, there's there was one kid in there the other day. I'm like, he's gonna sleep well. He was just running laps around three tables for like 20 minutes. He just running laps. Oh my.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Last weekend, the number of kids that were out in front in the in the where the uh handicapped parking is was there was like 15 kids out there walking along that rail.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Oh, yeah, walking along the railing and everything.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

It was it was it was good to see.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

But yeah, because so many, I mean, you know, we're still new and people are getting used to us and everything, but there's still so many people who walk in and like, I mean, people who live in St. Francisville go, I didn't know you had food. Yeah, I have food. And then it's like, oh, okay, kids can come in here? Yes, please.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Children are welcome. Yes, young and old. Now tell me, because it's an interesting sequence of events. Nobody knew Bennett Ford was closing. I remember uh Brandon Branch at the St. Francisville Inn bought a truck and uh he said to me after, I didn't know those people were closing. Then they closed. And uh So did would you all know that and you all were going to use the space? Or did you find out they since they were closing, then you asked about using this? How did that work?

SPEAKER_00 22:08

So I I heard what? I I mean I just heard that they might be thinking about retiring. Um and so or did where did we hear that?

SPEAKER_01 22:24

We were somewhere and I think Amanda called it and heard it and said hey, this is coming up. And that's when we were like, So yeah, I But you all had been thinking of something.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

So we were originally planning a uh what I call a production brewery operation that would be in distribution and everything else. We had bought 12 acres of property down the highway. Um we were literally about to break ground, and in I think the plan was that we were starting construction in April of 2020. Well, in March of 2020, we know what happened. So it was like everybody stop, yeah, breaks. We don't know what's happening in the world, so stop. Um and I think it was about a year later as we were starting to come out of things around March or April of 21. We heard that they might be retiring. Um so I approached the Bennett's Jones Bennett um and said, you know, what are y'all doing? Would you be interested? And it indicated there was some interest. And I made an offer on what we would lease it for, and um a couple of weeks later they called me back and said, You got it if you want it. So we signed a long-term lease. Um, they weren't ready to sell it yet, they're still not, which is fine. But we have a long-term lease in there. Excellent. And um we started making our plans.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Parking lot, you know, the parking is so premium here.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

But we changed our plans, we sold that property.

SPEAKER_04 24:12

And they've been very supportive and everything.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Incredibly supportive, yeah. Um, so it's again, we've been very fortunate with the number of win-wins that we've dealt with. I mean, every time we turn around, I feel like I'm saying, yeah, that was a win-win, and that was a win-win. And so that was another one.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

No, it's wonderful. It's it's just uh I know friends that come here, they have houses for the weekend from New Orleans, and they love that it's there because it's unique. You know, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, uh, like some places, and uh you're open in the evening, which is really nice. Uh it it works out well for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Another win-win.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Yes. And uh it's amazing that you all did this. I mean, I was walking by the other day and I looked at it and I was trying to remember what Bennett Ford looked like. And I it was really hard to f imagine. Because I used to I had an escort, so I was always going there for some reason. And it was so d did you have to get rid of all that stuff that was in there?

SPEAKER_01 25:21

I mean it was amazing the amount of work that to begin with, Steve put in dismantling everything, which is what you were asking. You know, he he was he he was a destruction team. Uh and it was it was amazing. And then it the amount of people that we still see that come into the brewery that we met while we're working in the parking lot and showed them around the half-built building that have come back. I wanted to see how this, you know, everything turned out. It was a that was a uh a lot of uh a lot of hours and a lot of sweat and a lot of sunburns. Um and uh when I I still walk in there and go, man, one, how many, how many uh dumpsters full of stuff did Steve fill up?

SPEAKER_02 26:18

Well, I mean, I know because I I had driven in there for you know brake tags and other things, and it was full of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

I mean, the front was I'm the only one in this conversation that understands a brake tag, by the way. Inspection stickers, y'all.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

I knew I knew what that was.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Well, I'm showing my age.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Well, Mark, if you I got it. I was that's what we used to get in the world.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Mark, if you look, the uh the the front little uh station where the napkins and in and uh checkout thing is, and then in back where the napkins are, those are um toolboxes from Bennett Fort. Oh wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Doug took those.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

I gotta notice those the next time I go in.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

Doug took those and stripped them down and made them nice and presentable, put new tops on them and everything. And they're really cool. I mean, they were like he just saw something in them that's like we can use these for something. So he went and sandblasted them and sealed them up and then put new tops on them. And they're they're they are very useful and they're just cool looking. Some of the old toolboxes, like you said.

SPEAKER_04 27:21

A couple of things come to mind with what you just said. I do miss Bennett Ford, I have to say, because I drive a Ford and it was so nice to just drive my Ford in there, walk back to work, and then Bill would call me and say, Your car's ready, and I'd walk back and pick it up. So I do miss Bennett Ford. I'm thrilled that we have had this opportunity. But also in what Doug was saying about people walking through the parking lot, I cannot tell you how much help we got from friends in doing what we did as well. We have uh above the bar, we took some of the old windows that uh came out of the back side um where we put the kitchen in. We had these big stain window frames, I mean stainless steel window frames. And our friend Mike Lemming, who's now uh our uh our chief, um came and welded those together for us to hang over the bar, and it's what we have all the lights hanging on.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

And I mean, Mike just was who came up with that idea?

SPEAKER_04 28:21

Um I don't know amongst us all. A lot of times, yeah. Doug and I sometimes come up with things that aren't necessarily we are um Abby and Steve are the ones that try to keep us like this, and then we come up with these other things.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Um Mark, that one was that that above the bar. Uh so Mike Lemming welded it in the middle of June last year. Oh, yeah, the middle he's sweating like crazy for five or six days, and Steve's figuring out how to hang this thing, and then Steve's figuring how to you know get it up to how many people we needed. How many people we needed. Amanda and Abby send out a text to about 12 people.

SPEAKER_04 29:00

About 12 guys were like, we need y'all's help because everybody would come up to us and say, if y'all need help, let us know. And so I was like thinking, okay, this person said they would help them.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

And in about 15 minutes, everybody said yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, we'll be there. So 45 minutes later, literally.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

No, it was we scheduled it.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

I thought it was that afternoon.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

But it was, and they brought their spouses because they they wanted to see what was was going on. It was and it was neat.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

So anyway, whenever it was scheduled, it was this big lift of business. 25 people showed up to help, basically. And it's an I mean, if y'all notice the next time you go in, look at the lights above the bar in the no, I I have seen it.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

I thought it was really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

It's an edifice in itself. But I had the it came in it, it's in two pieces, and each one took uh six big ratchet straps to lift them up, and I had two people on every strap, and then I was in a scissor lift, and when it all went up, they all lifted it up. I sat there and ran around and put them into the little stirrups that I had already hung there.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

And and we had, well, I did two of them on a scissor lift, and two, we had people on stationed on ladders above, and they popped them in. We did the next one, all that work, and we lifted it in less than 25 minutes.

SPEAKER_04 30:24

Just to say there's just we had a lot of help and good friends who were very supportive in the whole thing as well, and still are.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

That's wonderful. I don't know if you know our um uh brother-in-law Chinky. Uh Chinky the amount of woodworking that he did and assisted with was phenomenal. And he just did it. And when do you need me there? And and so that's just an example of the the help that we got.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

It's really remarkable, you know. Different subject, but very similar but very apropos. When somebody's sick, the way people turn up for them in town. Or when somebody's just has been in a car accident or something, it's remarkable the community, the sense of community that that happens in this town. So I'm not surprised to hear that. I'm more charmed. Um, but it's true. People are so incredible. Owen Kemp says St. Francisville is a kind town. I think she's right. Well, I want to thank you all very much. I wish I could do this for longer, but I try to keep these at about and around a half an hour, a little bit more, a little less. Um, and I'll let you know when this comes out.

SPEAKER_04 31:42

Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. Thanks, Mark.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

We appreciate it. Yep, thank you. Thank you for listening. I know I enjoyed this podcast. I hope you did too. Today's episode was brought to you by Ellen Kennan Design and full spectrum paint LL C.