Irish Eyes Were Smilin’ At Brownie’s Lounge
They really know how to throw a St. Patrick’s Day party at Brownie’s Lounge. Bagpipers playing traditional Irish tunes, patrons decked out in green were tipping back pints, and over 800 lbs of corned beef were cooked and ready to be served to the hungry St. Patrick’s Day revelers.
Claire Brownie, the colorful longtime owner of Brownie’s Lounge, was all decked out in a St. Patrick’s Day outfit…kilt and all. I asked Brownie, “Are you Irish?” He said, “well, hell yeah I am”.
Brownie’s Lounge owner Clair Brownie poses with patrons at the annual St. Patrick’s Day party.
Tim Taormina came to Brownie’s with his wife because Marie Calendars on Freeport sold out of corned beef. “That’s why we’re here”. He said. He just had to have corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day! An Italian tradition, I guess. There was some question whether or not Tim would actually get to fulfill his mission of corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day. At first Brownie’s told him they were sold out. Tim said, “I’m Italian/Sicilian, I forcefully demanded I get the last two dinners”. It worked because they relented and Mr. Taormina got his corned beef and cabbage dinner.
Tony Soprano would have been proud.
The City Of Sacramento pipe band, led by music director Liz Tubbs, was playing Garyowen while weaving through the packed house with the other bagpipers at Brownie’s Lounge. Garyowen is known to have been used by Irish regiments as a drinking song, which is really what most folks were doing;
“Instead of spa we drink brown ale
And pay the reckoning on the nail
For debt no man should go to jail
From Garyowen to glory”
Liz and her husband Bill were wearing “his and her” kilts while Brownie’s grand-daughter, Jessica Bach, was following behind with the big tip jar full of cash.
Jessica told me, “I grew up here at Brownie’s Lounge. I actually see more of my family on St. Patrick’s Day than I do at Christmas”.
Just then the bagpipers started another traditional Irish tune, “Wearin’ Of The Green”, and Jessica was on her way to get more tips from the crowd inside the bar.
The bagpipes weren’t the only music at Brownie’s Lounge on St. Patrick’s Day.
Doug Meredith belts out some Irish tunes at Brownie’s Lounge.
As soon as the bagpipers left, Doug Meredith and his one man band started up on the tiny Brownie’s Lounge stage. Doug strummed the guitar and played a wide variety of music from country, R&B, rock, and of course some good ole’ traditional Irish tunes. The bar was definitely heating up with a packed house and the corned beef cooking. Doug Meredith was feeling the heat as he sang “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” with a trickle of sweat pouring down from his brow. The backdrop was a giant cardboard cut-out of Clair Brownie in a kilt surrounded by flashing green lights. The evening had a surreal feel to it.
The crowd loved it. Corned beef, cabbage, kilts and a little bit of kitsch at Brownie’s Lounge.
Shopping Cart Retrieval Service
Sometimes I drive down the road and notice an abandoned shopping cart. What happens to it once somebody removes it from the store?
Who you gonna call? David Fisher’s Cart Retrieval Service, of course.
I actually stumbled upon David while he was returning abandoned shopping carts to Vic’s IGA from parts unknown.
It all started back in the 90’s when David worked for a grocery store in North Sacramento. He picked up the carts for the store. One day he was running some errands out in North Highlands and he saw a recycling center that had numerous abandoned shopping carts. He stopped by to see if any of them belonged to the store he worked at.
There were quite a few that belonged to the 98 cent store. Then a light went off in his head.
David decided to talk to Gary Cino, the owner of the 98 Cent Clearance Centers, and ask if he was interested in having him pick them up and return them to the stores.
Cino agreed and offered a dollar a cart.
April 1st of 1998 David got his business license and made it legal. He’s been returning shopping carts to their original owners ever since.
David, who is a South Land Park resident, usually gets between 50 to 100 carts a day. He also covers the Woodland and Davis area, too.
‘I just put ‘em in there and strap ‘em down”. He said.
He’s also helping out the community. He gets calls and texts about shopping carts abandoned on the side of the road, down an embankment, or abandoned in an apartment complex. Several Neighborhood Associations have put his contact information in their newsletters.
I asked David if he feels bad about taking a shopping cart from a homeless person. He said, “I used to, but you have to remember they’re in possession of stolen property.”
And the shopping carts aren’t cheap. According to David, the smaller ones that Rite-aid or Walgreens have are about $80 each. The carts Winco, Food Co and Raley’s use can run as high as $200-$250 a piece.
That’s why stores want to hire somebody like David to go pick them up. Dollars and cents. “If a store losses 20 carts a month that could be $5,000 a month they’ve lost in revenue”. David said.
At the Wal-Mart in Woodland David told me he “picks up at least 40 carts a week. These carts run about $150 so if I didn’t bring these back and Wal-Mart had to replace them they’re looking at 6,000 dollars a week to replace shopping carts”.
David told me Wal-Mart has the most shopping cart theft of any other store in Sacramento.
So if you see a lonely shopping cart on the side of the road give David Fisher a call or text. He’ll be glad to pick it up and return it to its rightful store owner. Call 916-812-3885 for David’s cart retrieval service.
The spots the abandoned shopping carts end up are recycling centers, apartment complexes, and certain neighborhoods. “You learn the hot spots”.
He also gets calls from the City of Sacramento, Sac PD, ‘They all have my phone number.
He’s the go-to-guy for abandoned shopping carts.
I find carts for Raley’s Bel-air, Winco, all those stores.
He rarely gets into confrontations with the people who are stealing the shopping carts. Although, one time a guy was throwing stuff at David because he didn’t want to give up the cart. The guy tried to sick his dog on him. “I played it smart, I had some of my lunch left so I took part of my hamburger and gave it to his dog. The dog and I became friends”.
David Fisher’s Cart Retrieval Service can be reached at 916-812-3885.
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