Let's all celebrate!
Before the days of smoking bans, Bob Atchisson and a group of gentlemen gathered at Sam's Steakhouse in Grantwood Village once a month for cuisine, conversation and cigars. The group regularly sat at table 36, and the staff knew when they were coming.
"People based their car insurance budget and things like that on our night out," Atchisson said, referencing the bill and tip the group left for their usual waiter. "Then the smoking ban happened and we were moved out. The owners hated it."
The crew couldn't smoke their cigars at the restaurant because the 2011 countywide ban barred smoking inside public workplaces and businesses whose sales of food amounted to more than 25 percent.
While the bans may be rooted in public health, Atchisson, who founded and presides over local cigar distributor Table 36, said laws that ban smoking in public negatively affect not only the cigar industry, but also small businesses.
Without places to light up, Atchisson said fewer people turn to the habit, which in turn affects the stores, restaurants or bars they would have patronized. That's why he and fellow cigar enthusiasts decided to recognize March 6 as National Smoke a Cigar Day.
