Bill and Mat debate: Sunday alcohol sales

Pro: Commissioners should level the playing field

Bill Gamblin

Mat, you should run for an elected position because you make about as much sense as a politician.

Now you don’t live in Santa Rosa County, but that shouldn’t matter since you like to stick your nose into things that aren’t your business.

Take Sunday alcohol sales for example. Since you live in Escambia County, you just don’t see the big deal.

The fact is, the south end of Santa Rosa is classified as a “tourist district.” As such, Sunday alcohol sales are allowed there, even though they are forbidden everywhere else in Santa Rosa.

We call ourselves the ‘Canoe Capitol of Florida’. As a result, you’d think the central portion of Santa Rosa would be just as much a “tourist district” as the south and, as such, would qualify for Sunday alcohol sales. Yet that is not the case.

So why have a tourist district in the north side at all? It’s about as useful as you carrying a comb.

Those that come to Santa Rosa County need to get our rule books.

One book is for the north end, book two is for the south end, and the third book is for everyone else.

A prime example of this is our liquor laws. Some leash laws also exhibit this “multiple personality.”

South Santa Rosa is a tourist spot and can sell liquor seven days a week, while those to the north end are limited.

The look on the faces of visitors to Santa Rosa County is about as dumb as the one you keep on your face permanently, Mat. Tourists are simply shocked when they learn they can’t have a beer with their meals at Beef’O’Brady’s, Chili’s, Texas Roadhouse, or other places on Sunday.

What is even funnier is how they get up and leave after driving to a business from the Santa Rosa SportsPlex.

Where do they go?

Usually to Pensacola. Give those dollars to Escambia!

So what good does this do to the small businessman or woman in Santa Rosa County?

At election time, it is all about economic development, but those statements often are forgotten once in office when though decisions must be made.

I felt sorry for a businessperson one Sunday as customers got up and left when they learned they could not buy alcohol. Ironically, what they wanted (beer) is not even considered “liquor” by the State of Florida.

Still, how dare they want one on Sunday?

Mat you and the Santa Rosa County Commission have a lot in common.

Both of you mean well and talk a good talk when it comes to helping people, but in the end you look out for your own bottom.

Con: Even God took a day off

Mathew Pellegrino

Bill, it doesn’t surprise me you are pro-alcohol.  You’re sporting a bigger beer gut than Jack Black. 

I may have consumed my freshman year down the drain with my D minus grades and constant hangovers, but I took off on Sundays to recover from my weekend debacles.

You know, we are, after all, in the Bible belt or, in your case, the Bible suspenders. You of all people should respect the fact that there are people out there…including myself…who attend church.

In Pensacola, you can hop from bar to bar in search of hops to shove down your throat, but Santa Rosa County is a totally different situation; especially in the central and north end of the county.

People in this area know what Sunday is all about.  You heard their voices echo outside of the Pensacola Courthouse when Frank Lay was on the stand. You hear them every day on your way home from work screaming Bible verses in 95-degree heat to the people of this county.  And you continue to see them in church every Sunday.

The south end of the county happens to be a tourist spot for thousands of people every year.  And if I were on vacation, I’d want a cold one in my hand on Navarre Beach. But the north end is more of a family atmosphere and what’s a Sunday away from liquor for a real family?

I may not live in Milton, but I know the people in Santa Rosa County.  Don Salter for example: a true Chumucklan.  He enjoys the Farmer’s Opry House, the Sawmill Band and, more importantly, he bows his head at every prayer before every commission meeting.

The north end of the county is full of wilderness, not beaches.  If someone needs a Sunday beer that badly, send them to Navarre.  Better yet, save some money and stock up the night before desperation kicks in.

If they want it this way, the people in the north end have every right to have their Sunday free of alcohol.  That is what this area is all about.

You know, Bill, even I know that serving alcohol on a Sunday is never a good trend.

You might see the north end as a tourist district, but I feel north end tourists are somewhere in between avid churchgoers and canoe enthusiasts. 

They enjoy the downtown history, the trails and the rivers. Who wants a beer when they’re riding a bike or strolling around downtown? 

This area is built on Southern Hospitality. I may live in Escambia County, but I feel I can speak for Santa Rosans.

If people want their beer at Beef  ‘O’ Brady’s  or their margaritas at Chili’s on a Sunday, they can wait until 5 p.m. the next day when they clock out and realize they really need a drink. 

This area should stay high and dry on Sunday. If someone feels lonely enough to drink on a Sunday then by all means, drive to Pensacola.  And on their way back, they can pick up their mug shot at the Sheriff’s Office (after they get caught for drunk driving.)

Tell me Bill, when was the last time you went to a bar and found a Sunday date?  They’re all at home. Most of the people you see inside local restaurants on a Sunday are families. They are there enjoying their day off.  Rarely do I see a Sunday customer actually sitting at a bar…even in Escambia County.

Even God took a day off. 

Maybe you should do the same.