Smoke-free tavern

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By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Brodie Cline, owner of The Blind, 1124 Commercial St., is pictured behind the bar of the smoke-free tavern

Emporia’s first smoke-free tavern, “The Blind,” opened last week at 1124 Commercial St. The building formerly was occupied by Johnnie’s Tavern, which closed in December.

Owner Brodie Cline said that operating a tavern was something that had been on his mind for a long time.

“I always thought I’d like to try it,” Cline said. “We’ve got a lot of friends that seem to go to the bar, and I visit with them down there.”

Cline incorporated his fondness for the outdoors into the bar’s theme, emphasizing the sports of hunting and fishing.

“I love to hunt, I love to fish,” said Cline, who also owns Brodie’s Full Service Station at 1102 Commercial St. “When I’m not busy with the service station and it’s fishing season, I’m fishing, and when it’s hunting season and the birds are flying, I’m chasing them.”

After cleaning and modifying the old bar, Cline brought in decoys, old shotgun shell boxes, a rod and reel, fish nets, photos, and other accouterments of the sports. One wall represents fishing; another wall represents hunting. Customers are welcome to bring in whatever memorabilia they want to display, Cline said, and they may take it back whenever they like; submitting photographs of hunting and fishing trips is encouraged.

“I’ve got a board — it’s called a ‘braggin’ board’ — and they can bring up whatever they got that they want to show,” Cline said.

In addition to the clean-up and modifications, he has replaced two small televisions that were in the old bar.

“We’ve got one small color TV and one 42-inch TV hanging on the wall so they can enjoy NASCAR and other sports,” Cline said.

Johnnie’s old jukebox is in place only until The Blind’s new jukebox arrives.

“We currently have on order the new Internet jukebox so you’ll be able to download just about any song,” he said.

The tavern also has WiFi access, a pool table, dart board and a countertop electronic machine that offers a variety of games on-screen, such as strategy, card games, photo hunt and others.

While the bar itself is smoke-free, Cline has made provisions for smokers, too, by placing ashtrays and benches in an area behind the bar that once had been a biergarten.

“They’re more than welcome to go out back,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of compliments ... for being the first smoke-free bar. I don’t want to run somebody down because they smoke. That’s fine.”

He said that while he has chosen to run The Blind smoke-free, his decision is not a condemnation of other bars and taverns that do allow smoking inside. His personal choice, he said, is to have an atmosphere free of cigarette odors, whether he is in the tavern or in his service station office, which also is smoke-free.

“I’d also like to emphasize, I don’t want to run any other bar owner down,” Cline said. “(Smoke-free) is something I choose to do. I’m not trying to draw anybody away from another bar.”

The Blind, which serves 3.2 beer, is open Mondays through Fridays from 4 p.m. to midnight and on Saturdays from 2 p.m. to midnight. Cline said he expects to adjust operating hours in the fall, when students return to college.

And while he will continue to run the service station during the day and will work at The Blind in the evenings, he does not plan to be there each night until closing.

“I’ve hired help to run the station. I’ve got help to run the bar,” he said. “Because I can’t be fishin’ and huntin’ if I’m working both places.”