the hum / By Bob Doran

Trouble in Sunny Fortuna

(March 1, 2007) Trouble, oh we got trouble, right here in the Friendly City! With a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pool, that stands for pool. We’ve surely got trouble! Right here in the Friendly City. Gotta figger out a way to keep the young ones moral after school! Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble…

… with apologies to Meredith Willson’sThe Music Man.

While the scamming “Professor” Harold Hill of The Music Man warned of the danger of billiards corrupting the youth of River City, and offered musical instruments as an alternative, the town fathers of Fortuna (well, City Manager Duane Rigge and Police Chief Kris Kitna, anyway), don’t seem troubled by the pool tables at Out of the Sun, the youth hangout just off Fortuna’s main drag. They’re worried about rock ‘n’ roll, heavy metal and the troublesome rhythms of hip hop.

Last week, city officials sent a letter to Tina and John Taylor, owners of the indoor game space/pizza parlor/music venue, terminating Out of the Sun’s permit to have bands play there.

“The city realizes that you and your husband have taken numerous steps to keep night time activities to a level where young people can have fun and yet the neighborhood is not seriously impacted,” the letter notes. “Nonetheless, a determination has been made by the city manager in consultation with the chief of police that continuing problems arising from the nature of the bands, the numbers of young people involved, community complaints and required police intervention has reached a level that cannot continue.”

The Taylors, who have two kids, ages 7 and 11, opened Out of the Sun about a year and a half ago, at first just as a game room. A DJ dance thrown for the local middle school was followed by a request by a band to play there. “Next thing we got a call from another teenage band from Fortuna wanting to do a show. We started doing it once a month, and the demand grew,” said Tina.

She sees the venue as an alternative for kids who might otherwise by getting into trouble at private parties. “We don’t sell beer or wine here. We don’t allow anyone to attend our shows if we think they’re intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. When we created this place, we wanted to make a place for kids to come, a safe environment. A lot of them have nowhere else to go. A place like this keeps them away from drinking and doing drugs. For some of them it’s an escape from drugs and violence at home.”

Word spread beyond the local bands that played there. A number of touring bands prefer playing all-ages shows, and not a lot of venues offer the opportunity, particularly for heavy metal and hip hop.

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