Broken Spoke To Close For Laconia Motorcycle Week

The biggest biker bar in the area won’t be open during Laconia Motorcycle Week, which begins Saturday in the New Hampshire town. “The Laconia Daily Sun” has the story:

By Adam Drapcho, The Laconia Daily Sun

LACONIA — With Laconia Motorcycle Week approaching, you might expect that bars in the Weirs area would spend this week preparing for a surge in business.

At least one bar, though – and the biggest biker bar in the area, at that – is going in the other direction. The Broken Spoke Saloon will close for all of Motorcycle Week, citing the additional requirements the state is imposing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Alicia Turner, operations manager for the Broken Spoke, said she felt it would be “impossible” for her staff to attend to their normal duties as well as ensure that patrons were following the rules that the state was expecting. Those rules include no standing at the bar or any other areas, remaining seated at their tables, and no mingling between groups.

In an industry circular letter issued on Aug. 11, the state’s Liquor Commission made clear that any establishment found to be in violation could pay a steep penalty.

State To Enforce Regulations

“The Commission will not hesitate to suspend the license of any licensee who fails to properly adhere to the reopening guidelines and creates a risk to public health and safety,” the circular warned.

It might be one thing to say that in a letter. But, Turner said, it’s another to be the waitstaff who are trying to enforce those regulations on a busy night.

“Asking multiple bikers to sit down is not an option,” she said. “Honestly, I think all the bars should do this together.”

Turner said she didn’t consider the closure a form of protest, but a logical conclusion after considering what the business stands to lose.

“It’s the risk,” she said. “We’re trying to eliminate any risk of losing our license.”

For the remainder of the story, click here.