By Teresa McDonald
It’s no mystery why “let’s go out for a Sunday night on the town” is uttered by very few lips, if any, in this city.
First, staying out late on Friday and Saturday has the advantage of Sunday’s built-in recovery time before Monday morning signals the start of the work or school week
Second, when R.J.’s Boom Boom Saloon boomed for the last time in 1999, so did its Sunday all-ages night and the city’s only late night venue for the underage population.
Understandably, bars are reluctant to turn away regular weekend adult crowds, complete with pockets full of cash to spend on over-priced alcohol. Giving the city’s youth a place to hang out might be good hearted but it’s not practical for profit.
In the spirit of problem solving, sometimes schools hold dances to entertain restless and forgotten teens.
While the effort is graciously appreciated, social gatherings of the 50’s sock-hop variety just aren’t cool for everyone.
The break down of a school dance goes something like this: student councils spend hundreds of dollars to hire a disc jockey and the required security.
Then there is the effort to convince teaching staff that standing around an empty gym is a good way to spend a Friday night.
Ultimately the too-loud bass pulsating from gigantic speakers into a hazy oblivion isn’t enough to make school a viable place for livening up social calendars.
Where are the stories of endless nights spent dancing and romancing that characterized the 1940s generation?
In the “good old days” when my grandparents wanted a night out on the town, they headed for the Masonic Temple in downtown Toronto.
Everyone went there on Friday and Saturday and the biggest threat of intoxication was puppy love or a sugar rush from too much soda.
In Ottawa, the Georgian Club provided swinging tunes and space to cut the rug during Saturday night dances at St. George’s Anglican Church on Metcalfe Street.
I don’t think Ottawa should resort to a black and white nostalgic time warp but letting bored youth sneak into alcohol-saturated clubs, isn’t exactly a remedy either.
Combing community calendars, there seems to be a myriad of dances for seniors, singles, and widowers.
But for those too young to drink, shopping malls and movie theatres are their only meeting grounds.
Leaving youth with nowhere to go to listen to their music and mingle with peers sends a strong message that fun can only be had over cocktails or beer-slopped bars.
And what about next year, when Ontario’s university bound will be younger than ever?
The hordes of bored 17-year-olds created by the double cohort will still have a full two years before they can leave Ottawa’s bleak non-scene for teens.
Since all-ages-nights just open the door to awkward moments shared between the thirty-something crowd and the kid-sister crowd, why not have clubs with a cut-off age of 19?
No alcohol of course, but good music and all the magic of Saturday night.
I’m not suggesting a resurrection of the big band in church basements.
But at least, and I can’t believe I’m admitting this, that generation knew Friday and Saturday was designed for partying until wee hours of the morning and embraced it.