A Sense of Community

We had a car show in Superior Saturday night. The Chamber put on its second annual "Cruisin' Main" and old cars and (mostly) old people turned up to look at them and get nostalgic. It was a hot day, 104 or so, and was taking a toll on folks. A lot gathered in the shade, but still lingered to check out the old cars. Every once in a while, a group would pull away from the curb and drive showily up Main Street, letting us all get a gawk at what Once Was.

We found Bert out in front of his Toast Bistro, preparing to grill some special bleu cheese and chorizo hamburgers for the supper hour. He'd been open since eight that morning and normally doesn't keep the restaurant open that late on a Saturday. But since this was a special Saturday, he was going to serve supper. We promised to return.

Since Bert opened Toast in December, he's been experimenting with his menu and times he's open. A good deal has to do with his own stamina but it's been a tough five months, opening his new restaurant right at the darkest economic times we've seen in decades. One of the things he's dreamed about was keeping the place open in the evenings for the locals to come in and enjoy some of his offerings and talk and catch up with each other.

Well, he achieved it Saturday night. When we got there at six thirty, all the tables save one were filled. And except for one table, all of them were filled with folks from the community. It was Party Time at Bert's Toast and a spontaneous, easy time was enjoyed by everybody, even the group that had only shown up for the car show. Folks were talking back and forth from the tables and chatting and carrying on, all the while enjoying these hot grilled chorizo burgers melting with bleu cheese and served on Bert's singular artisan rolls.

It was sublime. It was great fun. And it's what a lot of us have envisioned for Superior and thought maybe we'd never see again. A bustling downtown spirit, a place where the locals can dine and hang out and share their opinions and a great sense of community. And it looks like, at least at certain moments like these on Saturday night, that we can achieve that which some thought might never be again. Superior rising from the ashes of what Once Was and regaining her rightful place, as Main Street America.

I'm going to hang around for more!