ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 20, 1996 TAG: 9602200039
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Reporter's Notebook
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY
I went to an exotic dance club for the first time in my life weekend before last.
As the reporter that Saturday, I was the one-woman show, the person who writes about anything that comes up on the horizon.
On this weekend shift, the big news was the opening of an exotic dance club in Bumpers Cafe - a formerly homey Radford bar just down the street from the city's Chamber of Commerce office.
The Radford City Council was considering an ordinance that would force the dancers to put on some clothes - which incidentally passed the next week on the same night Montgomery County passed its own rules to govern obscenity.
But that is getting ahead of this tale. After writing about the club's quiet reopening from the office Saturday afternoon, I realized I had to check this place out for myself.
Bumpers would be in the news again, and to cover it accurately, the newspaper needed to know what was really going on.
I admit it, there was another reason to go to Bumpers. I had never been to an exotic dance club. I hadn't even been to Hooter's, a restaurant infamous for more than its chicken wings. It's not that I've ever particularly wanted to skulk around in such places. But it's hard to write about such a nightspot if you've never set foot in one.
My heart was pounding as we drove past the bright green awning on Norwood Street that advertised Bumpers that Saturday night. From the outside, it looked like the pub it had always been - except for the black curtains that covered the front windows.
As a friend and I walked to the front door, I began wondering why I was spending my precious Saturday night watching exotic dancers. Couldn't I go see "Mr. Holland's Opus" again? Read a book at my favorite coffee shop? Play darts at a local bar?
After taking a few deep breaths, we walked in with embarrassed smiles on our faces.
There she was, right there on the small stage next to the door - an exotic dancer. She had clothes on, but was dancing suggestively on the stage alone. A few men stared vacantly.
Then off came her shirt. Her breasts were covered only by small pasties. My friend and I, now sitting at a table several feet from the stage, looked away in embarrassment
After she danced around the stage a bit clumsily, another more experienced dancer from the big city - Richmond - replaced her. Wearing only a G-string and pasties, this dancer was more of a contortionist than anything else. Call her an exotic gymnast, if you like.
Midway into the second dancer's act, I began to look around the bar. The walls were decorated like a log cabin. There were pool tables in the back. This is an exotic dance club?
Aside from two reporters, four policemen and several Bumpers staff members, the club was practically empty. The owner said it was mobbed the night before - opening night.
Maybe the novelty wore off after that; maybe no one knew about the new entertainment option. Or maybe this club is not as threatening as public reaction would have you believe.
As the dancing continued, our embarrassment wore off and boredom took over. Big deal, I thought.
The concept of an exotic dancer did not seem so exotic. If this is what people want to do with their Saturday nights, fine. I went home to read.
More than a week has passed since my fated visit. Since then, the exotic dancing concept has been nixed from the entertainment offerings at Bumper's Cafe. Owner Troy Lawson said the obscenity ordinance passed by the Radford City Council was too constraining.
What would have happened if the market had driven whether Lawson's restaurant succeeded or failed? I suppose we'll never know.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB