St. Louis Musicians Support South Grand’s Gelateria With Benefit Show At Off Broadway
Perhaps you are familiar with Gelateria on South Grand. Or perhaps you’re not. Should you not already have enjoyed their fantastic coffee, a sandwich or a cup of their house-made gelato in their cozy space, you’ve really missed out. I typically head there to write, do admin-y things (finding health insurance, for example) or just hang out and enjoy a nice afternoon on their patio.
Sadly, the future of The Gelateria is in a precarious position. On Friday, March 7th, Gelateria proprietor, Andrew Fair, received a call at 3:40 in the morning informing him that a fire had totally gutted the basement and first floor.
“We are totally devastated…We’re grieving. The staff is grieving. The community is grieving. Every day I wake up and miss it,” said Fair.
As I’m sure you can imagine, Andrew and the rest of the staff face an uphill battle on the road to reopening. With that in mind, many of their neighbors, individuals, people and businesses have rallied the cause to help raise money for Alex.
“The outpouring of support we’ve received has been humbling and overwhelming. It is keeping us motivated,” Fair said, when asked about the community’s response.
The latest effort to help Gelateria comes from Off Broadway with additional sponsorship from Urban Chestnut Brewing Company and 4 Hands Brewing Company are hosting a benefit show this Thursday. The event is titled, “Melted Ice Cream”. A $10-$20 donation is suggested with 100% of admission proceeds going to Gelateria. Doors open at 7:00 with DJs Boogieman and Blvck Spvde spinning until live music at 8:00 by Ace of Spit, Direct Measure, Sir Eddie C, Flying House and Smidley (playing an acoustic set). There will also be a 50/50 raffle.
There is also a gofundme set up where people can make donations.
In the meantime, Andrew hopes to find other ways to stay engaged with the community. “The road back is going to be long and difficult,” continued Fair. “We will need your support (and maybe some cleanup days)!!! We’re fortunate to have great friends like these who can put together a rad event like this to help bring back our little shop. Stay tuned for pop-ups here and there.”
