It is hard to believe that it’s been six years since Laurie Whittaker and her partner of 18 years, Jennifer Morales, took over the space once occupied by the defunct Club Circuit on Wilton Drive.  Even more difficult to believe is how they reformed the failed dance club into Sidelines—one of the most popular sports bars in all of South Florida, and into a nationally-known LGBT destination spot.

“Once Circuit closed, we contacted the owner of the property, because we wanted to make a plan [to occupy the space],” says Morales, who in addition to being Whittaker’s significant other, is the marketing guru behind the club.

“We wanted a State of the Art sports bar,” Whittaker added. “Something like no one else would have. We also knew that we were going to be involved in the LGBT community. We were not just going to sit here to serve drinks—we really wanted to serve the community.” That has translated over the course of six years to close to $500,000 that the pair and Sidelines have donated back into the local community.

Those dollars have been poured into local charities and service organizations, including the Florida AIDS Walk, the Smart Ride, The Poverello Thrift Store and Food Bank, Tuesday’s Angels, and many other causes. “The community becomes your family and, frankly, you have to take care of your family,” says Whittaker.

Morales, who, as previously noted, tackles the job of promoting and marketing the concept bar to the outside world, says that her and Whittaker’s efforts have paid off with respect to branding and name recognition. “We’ve been featured on ‘Deco Drive,’ and we’ve had local news anchor Adam Kuperstein, who had a great time,” Morales brags. “We’ve been featured on the Bloomberg Business Report, too. We’ve been very blessed with great press,” she adds.

Whittaker is equally proud of the House that Time and Patience Built. “Do you realize that when we opened, there were only six LGBT sports bars in the country? Now there are more than 30,” she notes proudly. “We sort of set a standard for part of the industry.”

That standard includes providing lots to do for the bars valued patrons, including 16 widescreen televisions, three pool tables, darts, and other amusement activities that keep guests having fun and coming back. Add entertaining bartenders to the mix, and you have a formula for success.

Morales and Whittaker note that it isn’t just LGBT patrons who come to Sidelines to enjoy a “gay old time.” “We have one group of Green Bay Packers supporters whose mix is roughly 70 percent straight,” says Morales. “They come in for every Packers game, and they have a blast. Fred Belgie heads this group—and they pack the place”—but what would you expect from Packers fans? The bar also reaches out to other local groups, as well as to those who are “just visiting.”

“This year during ‘Fleet Week,’ we had at least 12 men in uniform come in, and they commented ‘What a great place,’” Whittaker reports. “Of course, they all took turns showing how butch they were at the boxing machine, which has become one of our most popular amusements,” she notes.

Morales says that hospitality is the key to Sidelines’ warm, friendly, and convivial vibe. “All we really want at the end of the day is for people to come in, relax, talk with each other,” she offers, adding with a smile, “and of course it’s always nice to turn a little profit so that we can continue to support our community.”

the Gold Coast Pool League. Sidelines Team #1 came in 2nd place and will now face off the team from Flossie’s for the championship at Flossie’s in Dania Beach.

Sidelines Team #1 players Debbie Weisinger, Laurie Whittaker, Betina August, Shari Becker, Dee Kraft, Cathy Josie and Val Jackson shot with accuracy and grace to get to the playoffs (the team has placed in almost every season since they began playing).
Sidelines Team #2 came in 3rd place and while they didn’t win their playoff match against the team from Cloud 9, the Sidelines’ team

shot like pros. Team Captain, Jo Anne McCann, praised her teammates Felena Talbott, Joanne Diederich, Maureen “Mo” Mockler, Victoria Arrua, Susan Merkle, Stephanie McCoy and Jesse Mixon. They finished third in their division with a record of 11-7.

“It’s great to see some pretty sharp pool playing from the ladies. We are so very proud of each of them!” stated Laurie Whittaker, owner of Sidelines.

WILTON MANORS, FL – Sidelines Sports Bar’s owner, Laurie Whittaker, and her partner of thirty-one years, Jennifer Morales, have been named as this year’s recipients of the prestigious Jamie Bloodworth Award by the Board of Directors of The Dolphin Democrats.

According to the by-laws of the Dolphin Democrat, each year the Board of Directors presents the Jamie Bloodworth Leadership Award to any self-identifying female who has shown excellence in leadership and/or sponsorship of issues improving the human rights

of the GLBT community at large.

“We are incredibly honored and proud to receive this award. When we opened Sidelines Sports Bar over five years ago, our focus was as business people working hard to be successful while giving back to our community. It was never our intent to receive such accolades and high praises, but it certainly is nice to be recognized in this way. Thanks must also go to an incredible staff of dedicated and hard working people who each day step up and make us look good!” stated Whittaker.

The Dale Russell Network, part of the Atlantic Properties International realty empire, is the exclusive listings agent for Forest Trace, the luxury senior living resort community in the Lauderhill subdivision of Inverrary (does the name Jackie Gleason ring a bell, or is Open for Business getting old? – don’t answer that). According to realtor Dale Russell, whose credentials as an LGBT business and community leader include past Presidency of The Pride Center at Equality Park, the adult retirement community offers “luxury resort-style amenities and services for active adults who want more out of life.” For a monthly rental fee, residents experience an active lifestyle with meals, activities – including access to the Inverrary Golf Club – and entertainment all converging to give every day an almost vacation-like feel. And Russell says that the owners, who have historic ties to the Catskills’ legendary Grossinger’s resort, are hoping to make inroads into the LGBT market, opening their amenities to a diverse community of residents.

Russell’s partner (and, you know, partner), Jan Carpenter, says the gay community isn’t the only group Forest Trace is friendly towards. “They are very Realtor® friendly,” says Carpenter, noting that the management of the senior living community is paying renewals to Realtors® in a very timely manner. “We are talking three year, five year renewals – a residual income that they are very consistent in paying.” Open for Business can’t help but think how pleasant it is that there is someone else with a vested interest in the good health and long life of Forest Trace’s residents: their real estate professional.

Feelin’ Groovy

From our Get Well Soon Department (and Don’t Gimme Any Lip About It): Sidelines Sports Bar co-owner Laurie Whittaker has been somewhat speechless of late. After recent episodes of recurring laryngitis, an ear, nose and throat specialist discovered that the Wilton Manors saloon owner and North Miami attorney had two large polyps growing on her vocal chords. Following surgery that went without incident, biopsies found no signs of cancer. Asked by Open for Business how she was feeling, Whittaker responded in her usual soft-spoken manner (and with tongue planted firmly in cheek): “Why does anybody care?” Laughs her partner (and Sidelines marketing director), Jennifer Morales: “I guess that’s the modesty that I fell in love with thirty-plus years ago,” then adds, impishly, “Imagine, a bar owner and an attorney with no voice!”

Everyone Knows its Wendy

The Depot Cabana Bar and Grill has secured the legendary DJ Wendy Hunt to spin poolside this Sunday, July 31, for their Sunday T Dance. Featured at LegendsofVinyl.com, Hunt is known as the Queen Mother of DJs, and is among the longest (and hardest) working of her profession, beginning her thirty-sixth year at the (electronic) tables, and a diverse music playlist featuring everything from Disco to Electronica. Hunt was also pivotal in turning Provincetown into a legendary gay party Mecca. Foregoing nursing school for the turntables in the 1970s, she had her first gig in Boston at Club 1270 (“known as the 12 to regulars,” she reminisces). “You have to have a passion for the music,” says Hunt. Depot co-owner Marc Scharphorn says “that passion will be on display for all to hear and enjoy this Sunday. We are VERY excited to have Wendy spin at The Depot.”

Bless Me, Father, for I have Sinned (Correction)
A photo caption appearing in this column three weeks ago (Open for Business, July 7, 2011: “Cross to Bear”) incorrectly identified Maroone Ford as having purchased a car for Father Bill Collins of Poverello Thrift Store and Food Bank as part of A.J. Cross’ 2010 fundraising event; the caption should have stated that the Ford Focus was purchased thanks to a sizable donation from City County Credit Union. We regret the factual error (but not as much as Florida Agenda creative director Dave Griffiths, who got taken out behind the wood shed by publisher Bobby Blair and editor-in-chief Alex Vaughn, but not in the way he prefers).

By the Numbers (Governor Rick Scott Edition)

According to estimates based upon American Community Survey data, among the states, Florida has the second highest population of LGBT residents, with a +/- 609,219 gay population (representing nearly 5%, or slightly less than 1-in-20, of statewide population), and the Miami/Fort Lauderdale metro area comes in at Number 8 among cities with the highest percentage of LGBT residents within city limits (representing +/- 183,346 person or, again, nearly 5% of total population statistics).
According to data collected by City-Data.com and the U.S. Census Bureau, total spending of LGBT individuals was $712 Billion in 2008.

That same data also revealed that average adjusted gross income for Florida’s LGBT population was $50,523 per annum; median household value was $218,699; median age was 38.7; and average household size was 2.5.

In Broward County’s predominantly gay zip codes (33301, 33304, 33305), those numbers are $87,812 per annum for average adjusted gross income; median household value was $522,158; median age was 40.0; and average household size was 1.9.

If you’re “Open for Business”, you can contact Business Writer and Director  of Sales, Cliff Dunn, with your story at Business@FloridaAgenda.com

The valet parking fee is $5 and is open to the public and available seven days a week beginning at 4 p.m. The $5 valet fee allows patrons to park for as long as they wish.

For some time, the owners of Sidelines, Laurie Whittaker and Marty Kildea, have heard the complaints from their customers about the difficulties of finding nearby parking along Wilton Drive. They decided to organize and pool the resources of nearby businesses to employ a valet parking company.

“Now, customers won’t have to keep watching the time to know when to feed the parking meters and will be able to relax and enjoy their time at Sidelines,” commented Laurie Whittaker.

It has been four months since Wilton Drives’ Sidelines has gone smoke free.  How has it affected profits? Positively, according to Jennifer Morales, the marketing director of the famed sports bar. She said, “While the economy still seems to create a challenge to small businesses in our area, we have noticed an incremental revenue uptick since we went smoke-free.

We are optimistic that this trend will continue in the coming months.”

The announcement to go smoke free was announced last year and went into effect on the January 5^th of this year. At the time, Sidelines owners Laurie Whittaker and Marty Kildea stated that, while a number of small businesses across the country face difficult and challenging times due to the nation’s harsh economic conditions, Sidelines has remained unaffected and has been able to ride the storm and remain solvent. They recognized, however, that in order to sustain economic health and continue to grow, Sidelines must continue to improve and evolve. Whittaker and Kildea said that they held discussions with their staff, customers and other business people and decided to “bring a breath of fresh air” to Sidelines.

“It must be reiterated that these changes in no way affect the ‘sports theme’ that has made Sidelines the repeated award-winning entertainment venue of Fort Lauderdale since their opening in 2006,” said the bar in a statement. “The only things that will not change are the fun and friendly staff, the demand for a high level of customer service and a passionate desire to provide Fort Lauderdale’s LGBT community a pleasant and comfortable environment in which gay sports enthusiasts can come together in a place where they can feel at home.”

This has clearly worked.  As Jennifer Morales said, “We are so delighted by the response received from our customers thus far. We have seen new faces come to Sidelines – and even seen some old ones that are returning – because of the changes we’ve made. The outdoor patio area is very popular amongst our smoking friends, and they have welcomed the change. “