| In Memory of Steve Smollin |
| If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again Author Unknown |
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| The Georgetown Saloon 1982 |
| Steve was bartending the second shift i had at the Saloon. I was a bus girl. Though I was old enough to serve liquer, i was terrified to speak to people at their tables. Bussing was much easier. All i had to do was remove plates and empty the ashtrays. Heather ordered me to go get her shrimp cocktail and bring it to one of her tables. I was told that 'bus girls' were not allowed to deliver drinks or food because the tips are based on the delivery of food and drinks by the waitress. Bus girls were being 'used' to do the waitresses work if they were being asked or told to bring such an item. Since it was the bosses wife, i obliged. Shear panic. The voice inside my head said "where do i get a shrimip cocktail? could this be a drink? i thought my mom had served shrimp cocktails before at her monthly dinner parties....and the shrimp hung off an icecream dish with red sauce in the middle..." My mind wanders but time is running out. Heather is running past me and yelling at me to bring the shrimp cocktail. I ran to Steve in the bar. If it wasn't a drink, Steve would surely point me in the right direction. Steve was slammed. Annoyed, he looked and me and said 'You want a what?' My voice turns into a child...'I need a shrimp cocktail'. Steve gives me another annoyed look and says 'you have to go into the kitchen, it will be on the counter near the bar door'. Ok, i ran into the kitchen to the back wall where not only is the counter Steve is referring to, but another entrance to the bar. But there is no shrimp cocktail. It must be a drink. The bar door has a cubby hole in the middle of it. I stick my head through it...'SMOLLIN!.....I NEED A SHRIMP COCKTAIL!' It was all over. Steve looked at me about ready to bite my head off and stopped in the middle of his emotion and started laughing. That's when i knew.. As Steve came storming torwards the door to expose me, i started begging him not to do it. Not a chance...Steve and the kitchen staff was in hysterics. The story goes down in the Saloon history books. Every customer that walked through the door heard the story and they still hear it today. |
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| My friendship over the years with Steve had many more laughs as you'd expect. But not just because we worked together. Steve escorted me to a Todd Rundgren concert at the Ritz in New York City in 1988. We had a slow night at the Saloon one Saturday night that both Steve and I were working. We both opted out to decrease the staff headcount and drove into Manhattan. The show started at midnight. His exact words to me were 'if you buy, i'll fly'. I moved to California in 1989 and would see Steve at the Saloon bartending everytime i came back for a visit. In 1994, I arrived home for vacation with a british girlfriend, Ellie. We took the Saloon by storm for three weeks and Steve joined many of our excursions as you can see in theses pictures.... |
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