FREE BBQ GOT SHUT DOWN

We had the 4th BBQ for customer appreciation on Friday and it was turning out to be the most successful one so far this year.  The location of this one was at our newly relocated branch on 910 W Boone.  This office is located in the downtown area closer to the courthouse and all of the government offices.  In some ways it is a perfect location with all of the attorneys offices and the bails bonds offices to partner with for our type of client.  Schrader & Murphy Insurance does cater to the individual with multiple tickets, dui's, accidents and the younger drivers that have difficulty obtaining decent insurance rates elsewhere.  So, location wise, this is a perfect fit for our office.  Except for the fact that we had our 8th annual FREE CUSTOMER APPRECIATION BBQ and with giving away about 120 sausages, chips, cookies, and sodas in the first two hours a friendly visitor from the Health Department walked by and saw that we were having a FREE FOOD TO THE PUBLIC  PARTY and shut us down!  Apparently after having these occasions for 8 years we were informed we needed to have a permit, which cost $480.00 to give free food away to the community.  Now which part of this makes sense?  We pay for the food, supply everything for the ocassion, introduce our friends and neighbors of the community to our business and now they want us to pay an additional fee to enjoy a fun summer BBQ in our parking lot!!! Wow!  We ended up getting fined $175.00 for the ordeal and after two hours and 4 promised hours left we could do nothing about it.  We lost a possible 50 new clients due to the shutdown and we had to turn people away left and right.  Just does not seem right!  You try to do something good for the Community and you are penalized for it!  Good grief can't the government go somewhere else and make their money?  Apparently Not!! Watch for the next free BBQ in the coming weeks.  We will be abiding by the Heath Departments rules and we will go forward with a bigger and better event to make up for the pure disappointment of this party.  SCHRADER & MURPHY INSURANCE is there for the community and we will be back stronger than ever.