Some taverns reportedly violating stay-at-home order

A number of Shawano County bars and taverns were reportedly open for business over the last several days, in spite of the statewide Safer at Home order aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

While some were open only for food take-out, in compliance with the order, others reportedly had patrons inside eating and drinking, according to complaints received by the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff Adam Bieber posted an open letter to Gov. Tony Evers on his Facebook page last month implying he would not enforce the order.

Bieber urged Evers to lighten the restrictions and wrote that he “will not enforce rules or laws that infringe on the Constitutional rights of our Citizens.”

Bieber has not responded to repeated calls or emails from the Leader seeking to clarify his Facebook post.

According to Linda Van Gheem, president of the Shawano County Tavern League and owner of Da Swamp tavern in Seymour, Bieber has made it clear that taverns don’t need to worry about any enforcement from the sheriff’s department.

“He said he wouldn’t enforce anything,” Van Gheem said.

Bieber on Wednesday attended a meeting of the tavern league hosted at the Shawano Lake Golf Course.

On Thursday, the sheriff’s department received a complaint that bars along Lake Drive were open.

No action appears to have been taken by the sheriff’s department in response.

Sheriff’s Capt. Ty Raddant said the complaint was “taken for information at this time.”

On Friday, according to the daily incident report, the sheriff’s department received three more complaints about bars being open, including one caller who reported that “all of the bars in Cecil are open.”

It was not clear from the incident report what, if any, action was taken in response.

Raddant was not at liberty to discuss the department’s stance on enforcing the governor’s order.

“The sheriff says he is the only one that wants to respond to that,” Raddant said.

Additional calls were put in to Bieber’s office and cell phone numbers for a a comment. He did not respond.

The governor’s office also failed to respond to several calls.

County Board Chairman Tom Kautza said there was no discussion about the governor’s order or enforcement at a public safety committee meeting Wednesday morning.

Kautza was asked about Bieber’s open letter to Evers, which was posted April 17, and the county’s response to it.

“I don’t have it in front of me and I’d like to read it again before I make any comment on it,” Kautza said. “I’d like to read it and see exactly what he said.”

Anne Retzlaff, owner of Annie’s Campground and the Irish Pub and Grub west of Gresham, is adamant about keeping her bar open.

She said she feels the governor’s order to close violates her constitutional rights, and encourages other bar owners to open their establishments to the public.

“It is an active, peaceful way to protest,” she said. “I am proud to be standing up and fighting for our rights.”

The Shawano-Menominee Counties Health Department continues to encourage people to follow social distancing rules and state guidelines for stemming the spread of the pandemic.

“As Wisconsin plans ahead for returning business to normal, we know that we will be living in a ‘new’ normal,” health officer Vicki Dantoin said in a press release Friday. “We cannot forget that the risk for COVID-19 will continue and we will need to keep our social responsibilities and follow quarantine and isolation guidelines if necessary to help protect the public’s health.”

Van Gheem said she was not aware of what individual tavern league members were doing in response to the governor’s order.

However, she said, tavern league members are hurting.

“There’s a few that have the curbside pickup that are really stressing out about it because it’s really hard to accommodate everybody,” Van Gheem said. “They have to make sure they’re all scheduled right. Food has to go out at a certain time so you don’t have too many people at your bar.”

Van Gheem’s own bar is closed, she said, and she has been using that time for renovation.

“My bar is just a bar,” she said. “We don’t have food or anything. There are no carry-outs or anything like that. It’s hard to serve anybody out of a bar like mine.”

Van Gheem said she expects that some taverns will be re-opening on Monday, May 11, even though the governor’s order was extended to May 26.

“Evers doesn’t have the power to do that,” she said. “He only has it up until 60 days.”

That is one of the arguments being made before the state supreme court in a lawsuit brought by Republican lawmakers seeking to get the order overturned.

Van Gheem said her own bar won’t be ready to open by May 11 because of the renovations.

Van Gheem also said that some tavern league members are concerned that opening in violation of the governor’s order could get them in trouble with the public health department, even if the sheriff’s department is not enforcing it.

“I don’t think they’re going to reopen if they’re afraid of getting their licenses pulled from the state,” she said. “Then they won’t open, and the ones that aren’t afraid to, I guess they’re going to open. I don’t really know.”

Responses to the governor’s order and compliance with it has varied around the county.

“We’re still following the state orders, until we’re told otherwise that they’re either invalid or they change them,” Shawano Police Chief Dan Mauel said. “We encourage all of our businesses to adhere to that also.”

Mauel said there was been “great cooperation” so far from businesses in the city.

Wittenberg Village President Bill Switalla said he was grateful for the cooperation being shown by businesses in the village.

“Our bars gave no argument to closing at all,” he said.

The village board recently voted to waive licensing fees in light of the closures to provide some financial assistance.

“It’s tough out there,” he said.

Jason Resch, owner of Resch Lanes, 407 Howard St., Wittenberg, said the community has been very supportive.

But he expressed disappointment that so much of the government money intended to assist small businesses went to large companies.

“It was all gone before we could be considered,” he said.

Resch Lanes is closed for inside seating and will stay that way until the governor’s order on May 26.

However, Resch said, if he saw other bars allowed to be open without any enforcement, he would would also open his bar.

Rachel Rasmussen, owner of Rachel’s Roadside Bar and Grill, W17298 Spruce Road, Wittenberg, said the state restrictions are excessive and unfair to small businesses.

However, she is complying with them.

“I see the dangers they are trying to prevent,” she said.

Rasmussen also said there has been a lot of community support for the tavern’s carry-out food service and, like some other establishments, has used the down time to make improvements.

Hugh McAloon, owner of Tavern Front, 207 W. Vinal St., Wittenberg, said his business will not reopen until there’s an official OK.

“Of course we are concerned with not only the fines attached to an unauthorized early open, but also the public perception,” he said. “While we may not agree with everything happening, we do need to follow the rules and keep the safety of both customers and employees in mind.”