A happier St. Patrick’s Day. Barkeepers reflect on ‘helluva journey’ a year after COVID shutdown

A year ago, on St. Patrick’s Day, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order that shut down bars, restaurants and other businesses because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a 30-day order that turned into a couple of months for restaurants and more than half of 2020 for bar owners. Many of the bars, especially the Irish bars, were gearing up for their annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration when the governor’s order forced them to close at 5 p.m., without a lot of warning.

“It was heart wrenching,” said Dana Rothgery, one of the managers at Clancy’s, 6218 Cortez Road W. “This is our livelihood, so to be told you are basically losing your job, you don’t know anything that is about to happen and you don’t know for how long, it was very scary.”

A couple of months later, DeSantis began easing restrictions and allowed bars that served food to conduct minimal business again while reopening outdoor dining. Clancy’s adjusted quickly and expanded its outdoor seating area.

Slowly but surely, restrictions eased and some businesses like Clancy’s were able to see a bit of normalcy return, albeit with ongoing adaptations.

“When we came back, there were still a lot of restrictions, so the focus was on following on the rules,” Rothgery said. “We are very fortunate to have this outdoor space and did do the expansion, which helped us tremendously. Our business has been great lately. We follow all the protocols, but I think it’s getting a little back to normal. Obviously, we know there is still a pandemic, but it’s been pretty good.”

While DeSantis eased restrictions on restaurants, he didn’t lift the order for bars until mid-September.

“It’s been a helluva journey,” said Thomas Stynes, co-owner of McCabe’s Irish Pub, 302 Old Main Street.

Stynes was busy preparing for his annual St. Patrick’s Day party one year ago when the news came. He took it in stride and said it was probably the right thing to do to help keep people safe.

He still feels that way today, despite the business challenges.

“Honestly, to give the governor credit, I think he did an extraordinary job,” Stynes said. “What he’s done getting businesses back open as fast as he could, making smart, informed decisions that were good for people and minimizing the risk for people, I think that was fantastic. I think he deserves a lot of praise, him and his staff. I mean, who wants to make those kind of calls? You are damned if you and damned if you don’t.”

Stynes also co-owns Tom’s Bad Ass Cafe and the Main Street Market. He was able to open the restaurant within a couple of months while McCabe’s remained closed for several more months.

“I’m like a lot of people, especially small business people where initially it was shock,” Stynes said. “We weren’t quite sure what we were dealing with, how bad it could get, so the concern was for the people out there, especially the elderly people. We were very lucky to have the restaurant to at least keep the lights on through all of this.”

Stynes said he knows many mall business owners in the area who didn’t survive the closures.

“The catastrophic effect it’s had on small business is hard to comprehend,” he said. “So many people are gone, they’ve lost their business and they won’t be coming back. It’s been a difficult year for everybody, it really has.”

Stynes wouldn’t necessarily say business is back to normal, but it’s getting there. He’s just glad to see people getting out again, whether it’s at local businesses or just fishing off the Riverwalk.

“Social separation is a helluva thing,” he said. “It’s been a helluva roller coaster ride, it really has. Life goes on at the end of the day. It’s good to see people out again. It’s great to see. We need that.”

Dietra Fredrick was on duty behind the bar of McCabe’s last St. Patrick’s Day and was at her station again this year.

“It feels better than last year,” Fredrick said. “Last year there was just so much uncertainty. We didn’t know what was going on. When we were told we had to shut our doors at 5 p.m., no one really knew if they could even do that. People were filtering in around 4:30 just to see if that was really a thing.”

It was, unfortunately, and the bar closed on time.

“They said 30 days and it proved to be much longer than that,” she said. “But no one’s ever dealt with something like this in our lifetime. We didn’t know how to handle it. We just did what they said. Now it’s getting better, and we made it.”