Men, women (and everything in-between) gather at the Balaton Municipal Liquor Store for some good-natured fun for a very worthy and personal cause
There were a handful of bartenders or barbacks slinging drinks and stocking coolers at the Balaton Municipal Liquor Store on Saturday night, working without respite to keep the booze flowing and everyone smiling.
Ashley Haroldson, the bar manager, wasn’t one of them. She had a rare Saturday night off — not because she needed the break, but because she was the guest of honor.
Haroldson was diagnosed with hormonal breast cancer last December — she was told it was Stage 3 a few weeks later — and the reason the bar was filled wall-to-wall this past weekend was to support her, both financially and emotionally.
“It’s very overwhelming,” Haroldson said after finding some quiet office space in the liquor store to chat. “I don’t think I can put into words what it means to have everybody here for this.”
A din seldom experienced at the bar was the result of a community showing how much it cares about one of its own. Indeed, the bar was filled, not just with bar flies looking for a buzz, but with friends who genuinely care about their dear friend.
“I don’t know how people get through something like this — or any other life-threatening disease or medical issue — without a couple years. Photos / Per Peterson
support system,” Haroldson said. “It’s a call from me at 3 in the morning saying, ‘I can’t do this’ and somebody picking up and saying, ‘It’s fine, we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna get through this.”
Haroldson underwent 12 rounds of a chemotherapy drip in Sioux Falls and is now on a second round with another more aggressive chemo drip. She had her port put in her hand on Jan. 15, and received her first transfusion Jan. 17.
“I was numb” upon having received the diagnosis. “My daughter (Tina, who donned a bright pink wig Saturday) was with me when we were told, and she basically had to step up and be the parent, ask the questions. I couldn’t even think about it. But a lot of family and friends have stepped up with calls and texts — the support is crazy.” Good friend and one of the organizers of Saturday’s party, Dar Sherman, who knows a thing or two about personal struggles, was not surprised by Saturday’s turnout.
“She’s my adopted daughter!” Sherman said. “It doesn’t even have to be a health issue, or what I’ve been through — it can be a storm before July 4th when the whole town helps clean up the town so we can have our parade. Everybody just pulls together, they don’t even have to know you.”
Her diagnosis is a more serious leg of her difficult recent journey. As the manager of the liquor store, Haroldson has been at the forefront of a battle to keep what has been a struggling liquor store open. A lack of consistent attendance pushed the business to the brink of closing before the Balaton EDA offered a $30,000 loan/ mortgage to the City to get everything back on track.
“It’s amazing to see these guys show up for everything — not only for this, but everything that we throw at them, they keep showing up,” Haroldson said. “You can tell they love their bar and they love their town.”
Haroldson’s mantra during all of its struggle was that the bar is a family, and that showed in spades Saturday.
“And they have showed that they are more than just family,” she said, fighting back tears. “Everybody stepped up to help.”
Haroldson added that her staff has been amazing since she told them the news, doing things like taking shifts when their boss had a doctor’s appointment or simply had one of her “run-down” days.
“I would put my bar staff against any other in the world — they are just that amazing,” she said. “All the people in there (Saturday), my staff is handling it. I can’t thank them enough.”
Three of those staff members took part in Saturday’s Ms. Tootsie contest, which was won by Haroldsons son, Tucker.
“I will never be the same after that,” Haroldson said. “I just want to thank everybody that came and had a great time.”
Besides the muchanticipated “pageant,” there was a split-the-pot raffle, and a potluck meal was served for a freewill donation that raised $9,164 to go toward Haroldsons medical expenses.
