Boone voters overwhelmingly tipped up the electoral glass Tuesday, approving mixed-drink sales within the town limits by a tally of 1,106-408.
Early voting poured in 704 votes with 520 of those in favor of the measure which had already passed to the referendum stage by way of a town council vote.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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Wow!! Great news for all parties concerned. Except perhaps, for Blowing Rock.
This is great news to see Boone come out form under the thumb of the people who want to tell Boone's citizens whats right and wrong for them to choose.
everyone screams for freedom of speech/press blah blah but a lot of people in boone dont want us to have freedom of choice. if you dont like liquor by the drink, then dont order it but it still should be a choice.
Bottoms up Boone.
Cheers!
Though I probably won't be purchasing mixed drinks myself, I am glad this passed because it will hopefully mean more restaurants for Boone. We often go off the mountain to eat just to get more variety, so I'm hoping we won't have to do that in the near future if more restaurants come to Boone. What is crazy to me about all of this is I'm sure we'll see those who strongly opposed the liquor by the drink dining in any new restaurants Boone may get as a result of this new bill, because you already see them in their Sunday finest at places that currently serve beer and/or wine.
This is way past due. I think it is great that people will now be able to have a drink with their meal and not have to brown bag.
DT Native Wataugain
Satan wins another one and Boone continues to go to hell, thanks to the university.
Great for the town of Boone. Please all the people that have their drinks, stay in Boone until you sober up. No one wants you on the county roads.
Loretta Clawson......this is for you.
Your iron-clad church rule is over.
Welcome to the 21st century.
Wow, with a landslide like that it makes you wonder how the will of about 75% of the people living here had been oppressed for so long. Perhaps we should hold referendums more often.
Looks like Jeff Templeton and the people who formed the ABC Group in Boone are out of touch with what the citizens want.
Just curious, but how is this the university's fault when the BoE and Loretta went out of their way and then some to make sure (as they have EVERY time LBTD came up) that ASU's students didn't have a chance to vote, or a choice on a matter that does impact them just as much as locals? Never mind the many religious groups ASU does support.
Speaking as someone who has lived in Boone 27 years myself, this silly and petty rivalry between the locals and the campus doesn't help anyone.
And frankly I'm glad Boone didn't listen to the inane arguements from the "God will smite thee!" Or "It's not wine in the bible, it's grape juice!" crowd who don't even live in the town, but sure love to cause a ruckus inside it when we try acting all "immoral"
Maybe if they had come up with a better arguement the vote might have been closer?
Wow, way to go guys! It's about time we passed this vote. A lot of people are concerned for some reason that more people are going to be drunk.... we have been selling alcohol here for years! Just a different type! I hope that more restaurants will be willing to open in Boone now that this has passed.
Well Boone you are finally growing up!
Hi I'm from Fort Wayne, Indiana...I think it's great that the people of Boone have a choice in whether or not they serve mixed drinks...to the one who said, satan wins another and boone is still going to hell...,Maybe you should take the LOG out of your eye before you try to take the splinter out of your neighbors..choice is always good! Without it we are not AMERICA! SHelly
It amazes me the number of people who love Boone because of its small-town quality and mountain heritage. At the same time, many want to change Boone to be like everywhere else. It saddens me to see the referedum passed with such a low voter turnout. Had this been a county-wide vote, it wouldn't have passed. It's too bad. A large number of people in the county work in Boone and visit Boone for entertainment, yet, ASU and the town are the only ones who get a say on this important moral issue.
Well if thats the case, let the people of Avery County and Mountain City, Tn vote too.
They work in Boone, they visit Boone for entertainment.
HOw rediculous
I don't think its small town quality and mountain heritage people love about Boone. I think its the climate and scenery. I don't get the impression people give two cents about the history of any place anymore. The people here are nice and friendly though, so that helps people like it too. Lets try to look at each other individually. I'm so tired of 'this group' and 'that group' we're all lucky to be here! be thankful!
It's about time this passed. Good job.
EXCUSE ME DT Native! App State is responsible for the vote??? Big News: The students aren't here yet. Registration starts 8/22. Strange how I constantly run into several of the 'liquor objectors' every time I go to the steak house in Blowing Rock! But, whoever is responsible, CONGRATULATIONS! What a savings on gas the citizens will experience now that they don't have to drive to Blowing Rock and Banner Elk.
For those who have a grudge against ASU for changing Boone, you are ridiculous. During football season the games are played at 3:00PM or 3:30PM on Saturdays and a night game on a Friday this year. The fans will usually show up in Boone around lunch time. This allows for many restaurants to serve lunch and the when the game is over it is time for dinner. ASU does so much for this community, how dare anyone say anything negative towards my university. I love this campus and this town with all of my heart. I work for ASU and live in Boone. I can honestly say that Boone and ASU are good for each other.
As for the liquor by the drink goes I feel that it is going to be a good thing for Boone. The students of ASU have been waiting for this moment for years. I feel much better about my self walking to a bar instead of having to drive to Blowing Rock or Banner Elk. A majority of the bars are walking distance from campus which I feel will cut down of some of the drunk driving.
Liquor is more expensive than beer and the is a college town. Understand that a majority of student will not be able to afford to drink heavily every night. If someone is going out to get drunk, then they will with or without liquor.
It is great for Boone because larger food chains will start to move in because they can serve liquor by the drink. Outback is in Blowing rock because they couldn't serve liquor. With businesses like that moving to Boone, I see the community growing and becoming one of the more desirable vacation/living areas in the region.
To be a teenager and see this going on in your home town makes me sick! People say that teens are the most unsafe thing on the road but they let this so called great thing happen! I think that evaryone who voted for this will change their mind once they see what a mistake they have made! It Would make me resent my parents if i thought they ever had voted for anything like this! I would hate to have to stand before the judgement seat of Christ with this on MY HANDS!
Having lived in this town all my life, I see this as a good thing. Downtown Boone has suffered from a lack of nightlife, and this will drastically increase all business in the area.
People should have the ability to choose what they drink, and Boone has long suffered from the Puritan cloth that shrouds the town. There are so many other ridiculous laws and regulations that the Town of Boone has in effect, and seeing this pass gives me hope that maybe Boone will one day prosper. Boone is growing, and the people who run it need to realize that they stifle the local economy and businesses with inane rules and regulations that they enforce.
This could possibly be the first step in a series of changes that might actually keep the students in the area after they graduate. Maybe then, students will not be the town's largest export.
If drinking is wrong (which the Bible says nothing about, only drunkeness) then God will be the judge of that..not the self righteous ones who showed their ignorance of the bible and the christian faith at the public hearing when all this began..God gives us the power to choose and its foolish for someone who calls themself a Christian to try to take that God given right from anyone, saved or not.
To widows son's comments: God does give us the ability to choose how we want to live. That's true. I don't think I'd go as far as to say that it is a "God given right." And God gives us all the collective right to choose how we want to live. Many are opposed to drinking, and they have a collective right for their voices to be heard, and to keep alcohol out if they constitute a majority. Until now, their voices were louder, and there's nothing wrong with that. As far as the opponents are concerned, and I wouldn't call them "self-righteous" - don't judge them, lest you be judged.
Exactly, Boone is growing. And liquor by the drink is no worse in my opinion than the beer and malt beverages already available.
i'm not saying their voices should not be heard..I'm just saying the reasoning they gave is not logical, or correct. they were saying drinking is a sin..Which if you read your bible you will find that is not true at all. overdoing it is. but that is true with anything. Its like saying eating one extra piece of pie is a sin, so we should make pie illegal..The preacher who is eating that one extra piece of Ms. Maybelle's homemade apple pie is no less guilty then the drunkard if you take what your bible says literally.
Blake, don't blame the puritans for the attitude. The first thing they built when they settled was a brewery. Read your history. To the rest of you who see this as a 'christian' issue, this has little to do with christianity and much to do with moralism. Alcohol is morally neutral. The individuals self-control or lack thereof is not.
I am a county resident and am glad the vote passed. I do support responsible drinking and hope that everyone will think before getting into their automobile and arrange alternative transportation no matter what they have had to drink.
However, with only a 12% turnout it is hardly the will of the people of Boone. If the students cared about this issue they should have been here to vote for it or against it no matter what their school schedule was. There was at least one student group on campus organizing to get students aware of the voting date. I can only see a difficulty in getting freshman and others who plan to live in a dorm available for the vote as dorms are only available to move in just before classes start. Others students who reside in off-campus apartments surely have year round leases or at least ones that start in the beginning of August so there is no excuse why they could not have tried to be here to vote if this issue was important to them.
That also goes for the people who live in town. No matter what their opinion was on this issue it would have been nice to see them care enough to make a larger voter turnout. It is very disappointing to see that many non-student residents give up their right to vote.
I really don't think it will do anything on either side of the argument. All it will do is make bigger restaurants come set up shop and it will do nothing to the drunk driving problem. also to teenager or who ever it is who left as anonymous, I never here people saying teens are the most dangerous thing on the road, now teens with cell phones that's another story. Also to go as far to judge your parents for what they vote for? If they had voted yes you wouldn't disown them. Oh yeah and I'm a teen too.
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