Vermont Extends Saturday Night
Bar Hours

by Paul Olsen

135, in Burlington, is one of the GLBT establishments in Vermont that will benefit from the extended hours. photo: Jason Whipple

     Burlington, Vt.- “Buzz kill.” That’s how Robert Toms, owner of Burlington’s only gay bar, 135 Pearl, describes Vermont’s requirement that he close his bar at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Shortly after 1:00 a.m., the lights come up and everyone is gone.
      Since most patrons of 135 Pearl arrive at the bar around midnight, they only have one hour to drink. Visitors from out of town laugh when Toms announces last call shortly before the mandatory 1:00 a.m. bar closing. “They think it is hysterical,” he says. “I say you can have a soda and hang out and dance.”
      The good news for Toms is that there will be no more buzz kill at 135 Pearl. Under a new state law, bars throughout Vermont are permitted to stay open an extra hour and close at 2:00 a.m. on Sundays. The original law mandating early closings on Sunday dates back to prohibition when the government wanted people to be home early so they could attend church services. The 2:00 a.m. closing went into effect on July 1.
      Although Toms did not personally lobby for the change in law other bar owners did. “There is a collective of bar and restaurant owners who collaborate to push for certain liquor policies,” said Toms. “They’ve been pushing for this change for years.”
      From a business perspective Toms welcomes the extra hour of business on Saturday nights. “This will hopefully increase revenue,” he said. “This change is just catching up with the rest of the world especially when you can drive across Lake Champlain (to New York) or 90 minutes to Montreal and party all night.”
      Patrons at 135 Pearl also welcomed the law change. Drag queen Naomi G was excited about an extra hour at 135 Pearl on Saturday nights. “With one extra hour the alcohol has hit a little more and Naomi looks even more beautiful by 2:00 than she did at 1:00,” she said. “I’m pleased to see the law change on that issue.”
      The extra hour of business for 135 Pearl coincides with the opening of an additional bar at the Burlington landmark. Dubbed the “Love & Light Lounge,” Toms says the new space can hold an additional 25 patrons and will be a quieter “chill out” space serving top-shelf liquor and micro brewed beers.
      Lawmakers who supported expanding bar hours in Vermont cited the economic development of communities that rely on tourism as a key reason for modifying the law. H.150, the bill originally introduced to change the hours bars could operate, was intended to “make hours of sale of alcoholic beverages consistent throughout the week.”
      Although the change in bar hours won approval of both Vermont’s House of Representatives and State Senate, the law went into effect without the signature of Governor Howard Dean (D). Citing concerns about drinking and driving, Dean declined to sign the law but did not veto it.