BRADENTON – The annual Turkey Crawl event, held the night before Thanksgiving, is one of the biggest events in downtown Bradenton. However, last year’s leftover debris, overcrowding and underage drinking left some members of the Bradenton City Council with a bad taste in their mouths. Liability issues threatened the event from reoccurring. After much debate, it was unanimously approved with a stern message to business owners – any overcrowded bar will be shut down.
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Fire Marshall Kenneth Langston has the authority to be ”judge and executioner“ if any business owner violates the law, and this year he plans to set a standard.
”The Turkey Crawl is notorious for overcrowding,“ said Langston. ”I have shut them so they can’t let anyone else in the door and they don’t listen -- it’s time to set a precedent.“
This year, the city council is warning bars ahead of time about the possibility of closure if a facility reaches overcapacity.
”If a bar gets closed down on the busiest night of the year, you can rest assured it won’t happen again,“ said councilman Gene Gallo.
However councilman Bemis Smith didn’t support the drastic reprimand. He thought a new rule banning beer from being sold on the street directly contradicted the overcrowding problem.
Beer won’t be sold on the street because of what occurred last year. Last Thanksgiving, at approximately 9:00 a.m., councilwoman Marianne Barnebey started receiving phone calls. There were beer bottles, trash and pumpkin remnants all over Old Main Street in Downtown Bradenton and the city had to foot the bill to clean it up.
”Last year we were duped,“ said Barnebey. ”We were led to believe that the Turkey Crawl event was being hosted by the Old Main Street Merchants. We didn’t require a second security deposit and we had to front the bill for clean up.“
The Old Main Street Merchants Association is a group of local venders that host the monthly Get Down Downtown events. Cork Miller, president of the association, assured members of the board that a repeat of last year’s atrocities would not happen again.
”I am appalled at what happened last year,“ he said. ”The sanitation problems were horrendous.“
Last year the Old Main Street Merchant Association was not involved in the event, which was supposed to end at 11:00 p.m. At that time, the city sanitation department cleaned up and venders headed home– but between 11:00 p.m. and closing time – things got trashed.
Bars were overcrowded and beer bottles were smashed in the street. It is the responsibility of the event host to hire the sanitation department. When the board asked Miller if he’d be open to keeping the department on until 2:00 a.m., he said he’d have to ask his association.
When members of the council hesitated approval, Miller presented a valid argument for closing the street.
”Turkey Crawl is largest single night for merchants,“ explained Miller. ”There are all these kids home from college and it’s crazy. But without shutting down the street, there will be a huge safety issue. The kids will be there whether it’s shut down or not.“
Bradenton Police Chief Michael Radzilowski agreed with Miller.
”Closing off the street and allowing people to have open container on the street is necessary for events of this size. There is just no way to enforce open containers,“ said Radzilowski.
Councilman Gene Gallo recommended policing on horseback. Other members wanted two extra police to enforce the issue of underage drinking on surrounding property and prevent people from bringing bottles in from outside. Bottles are generally not allowed outside of businesses, contents are supposed to be dumped into plastic cups before the customer travels outside.
”You get what you wish for – we’ve wanted success downtown,“ said Gallo. ”Now we have it and you have to understand there are problems that go along with that.“
Over an hour was spent on the Turkey Crawl matter at the city council meeting on Wednesday, but the issue wasn’t even on the agenda. It was added at the ”last minute.“
”There is not enough time to tweak the event when it’s brought forward at such a late date,“ said Barnebey. ”At this point, we have no choice but to approve it -- otherwise there is no event.“
The city council is looking to set standards regarding the downtown events, which may include closing Old Main Street every weekend.
”We need to let owners know what we want,“ said councilman Bemis Smith. ”We need to set universal standards and that way the events' hosts won’t surprise us.“
Known as "Big Wednesday" in the bar and nightclub industry, the night before Thanksgiving is typically the most profitable date of the year, surpassing even New Year's Eve for most establishments who count on the revenue to offset slower times during the holiday season.
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