Features
Shakin' Your Shooka Dookas
Shakin' Your Shooka Dookas
New Gay Bar Opens in Rutland
Co-owner Brett Rousseau
by Euan Bear
No
one would mistake Rutland for a particularly gay-friendly town. But there
it is, just on the edge of downtown, Vermont's newest gay bar: Shooka
Dookas. Head down Route 4, turn onto West St. Go past Merchant’s
Row, and look for a small street on the left, called Evelyn Street. If
you ask directions, just ask for where "Ollie's" used to be.
The front-of-house proprietor is Brett Rousseau (and say it "ROO-so,"
not like the famous French philosopher). He's a Vermonter born and bred.
He and his three brothers, including a twin, were raised by their dad.
"Yup," he grins, "I've been cooking meals and doing laundry
since I was 8 years old." He graduated from Otter Valley High and
tried college in Rhode Island before deciding it was not for him.
He "knew" he was "different"
- well, gay - at a very early age, he says. But "I only acknowledged
it recently." Like two years ago, when he turned 30. "I just
decided that it was time for me to live my own life." And that's
when he began studying on how to open and run a successful gay bar. You
could say he came out with all rainbow flags flying!
When I worked in Brandon, I saw Brett
every couple of weeks at the Brandon National Bank, where he still works
days. And yes, this soft guy with the wild neckties set off my gaydar.
But we never connected. When I mention it, he says he wouldn't have known
how to respond back then.
Brett has no prior experience in running
a bar - his background is in retail and banking. "But I've been to
a lot of bars..." His grin takes the place of the rimshot he'd get
from a drummer onstage. "Seriously, this town has needed a place
like this for a long time."
He talks about opening the bar as
if it were almost a whim, a fancy. "I always wanted to work in a
bar, so why not own one instead of working for someone else?" But
that belies the two years of study and work that went into the planning,
the permits, the figuring out whether there were enough gays and lesbians
in Rutland and southern Addison counties to make the economics work. He
worked with Rutland's economic development office on a marketing study
that included checking census reports and rooms and meals tax proceeds
before he was reassured the effort would be worth his while.
As for why Rutland, home of
some of the most conservative legislators in the state bent on denying
recognition to gay and lesbian relationships, his answer is succinct:
"We're here, get used to it. We're coming out of our closets."
Shooka Dookas is a homey neighborhood
bar, unpretentious, no flashing lights, no disco ball. I'm here on what
will in an hour or two be-come Karaoke night - Thursday. Friday nights
are for dancing with a DJ doing top-40s. Saturdays are "name"
nights: the first Saturday is women's night, the second Saturday for the
leather crowd, third for singles, and fourth for Bears.
It's too early in the evening to tell
what it will be like later - the place doesn't fill up until after 10
pm - but Brett says there's usually a good mix of women and men. Terry,
the woman tending bar, says she's kind of "amazed" at the "age
diversity," everyone from the barely legal to the drinkers, dancers,
singers, and pool players in their 60s and 70s.
The front room is long and narrow,
with a blond bar taking up one side and a pool table centered in the rest.
The back room is where the music and dancing happens, or private parties,
from birthdays to wedding or civil union receptions - after the place
gets its kitchen up and running. "We're waiting for an inspection
for our fire permit," Brett explains.
That's the only part of the process
that has not gone smoothly. He submitted all his paperwork, Rutland's
Board of Aldermen reviewed the proposal, it was shifted to a subcommittee,
and the permit was granted at the following meeting. Brett says he identified
the business specifically as a gay bar right up front. Shooka Dookas opened
in May.
There was a rock thrown through the bar's window after a story about it
appeared in the Sunday on July 4th. But when Brett reported the vandalism,
the police told him that several other non-gay businesses were attacked
the same night.
"Right now, we're doing pretty good,"
said the proprietor. His secrets for staying out of debt? "Save a
lot of money before you open." Find a partner to invest (his is a
lesbian named Terri Davis). Keep your day job. Lease the premises fully
furnished. "I keep my inventory low. I can get almost anything I
need within a day, maybe two," he adds.
About that name: "A bunch of
friends and I were playing cards and drinking, and then we all got up
to dance, except for one. He's sitting there on the couch and says, 'Look
at you, all shakin' your shooka dookas!'"
Meanwhile, Brett says, the market
is growing. "I gave myself six months to a year to break even. I
guess I'm ahead of schedule." Pretty good for a guy who came out
two years ago.
And by the way, he's single.