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Business & Tech

Moonshine, Beloved Neighborhood Haunt, Will Be No More

Locals mourn neighborhood fixture, invite friends to celebrate final night.

On a typical Thursday night, the bar at local watering hole is lined with regulars.

Typical though an evening may feel, a recent announcement has decreed that such nights are numbered, and as of September 17, Moonshine Bar will be no more.

In what is rumoured among patrons as a private sale, the fate of the bar is murky at best, although none of the resident bar tenders will be employed here and working the taps after closing day.

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With the owner unavailable for comment, employees and patrons alike are left to develop their own theories about what will become of the space. Speculations include the building being converted into condos, fueled by the fact that tenants of the building were refused renewal of leases, the possibility that a ghost bought the building, or that a new bar will open in its stead.

Patron Steven Chalmers, who visits Moonshine weekly to catch up with friends and enjoy a drink, is not happy about the prospect of his favorite bar closing.

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"The general consensus is it sucks! Keep Moonshine open - please!"

Satsuki, another regular to the bulldog-decorated bar, voiced her disappointment.

"This is the best bar I've known," she said. "It's going to be so sad to not have it around."

The kind of place that stays open during hurricanes, flooding and other crises, Moonshine is a lively fixture in the local community.

Faced with an uncertain future, staff and regulars are determined to go out with a bang in a celebration to end all celebrations on the 17th, when the bar will open at 2 p.m., with each of the four bartenders working one last shift until closing time at 4 a.m.

Announced on the bar Facebook page as "The last day to shine", the party may not lessen the blow of closing, but it will give everyone a chance to revel in a rich past, one last time.

"It's going to be epic," one employee has said. "Bring your own meat, and bring your own party."

"It's sad - it's kind of like hearing your parents are getting divorced," another employee has said. "We're sad, and of course we'll be out of our jobs - but if a new bar does open up, we hope you all keep coming. Hopefully the new owners will be nice."

Any evening spent at the Columbia Street bar is a testament to the community it has fostered over the years. Even on quiet nights, the atmosphere belies the kinship both patrons and employees share, where regulars come to watch ball games and catch up on news throughout the week, sharing bar-side gossip or recovering from a rough day.

"If there is one thing to describe this bar, it is 'comeraderie,'" said Hag, a writer who lives a few blocks away. When asked about his plans for the 17th, he didn't hesitate. "I'll be here."

Artist and musician Andrea Lee is also saddened about Moonshine's impending demise.

"Moonshine was my initiation into the neighborhood," she said affectionately.

"For someone new to the neighborhood, it couldn't have been a better one. All I can say is I am really going to miss having a place where I can see neighborhood family, whenever I need to."

Lee, who relocated from upstate New York before she called the Red Hood area her home, is greatly saddened by the prospect of no longer meeting at Moonshine.

"Most of the people I know here, I've met in this bar," she added.

For the time being, Moonshine is as lively as ever, although a visit to the business' Facebook page reveals a count down of the numbered days the bar will remain in business.

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