Cafe Jo's
From Cafe Jos
Contents |
Historical overview
Cafe Jo's was created by Joanne Boone in 1995 and it protected many of us from the world until it closed in August 1998. It was a coffee shop with an ambient din of conversations and constant door clanging which was was located in Grand Falls during our adolescence. It is remembered now for its tables, interesting employees and the unique atmosphere of acceptance that formed there, allowing a generation to take their steps towards independence and adulthood in a safe and forgiving environment - such a privilege is granted to few.
Welcome
Approaching the shop most regular clientele describe a feeling of coming home. It was a place where you belonged in an age where many of us felt we belonged nowhere. For a lot of us family life, school life, church life and even our sex lives were trying and Jo’s was a place and a group that let us feel at least somewhat understood, with all our particular troubles. The only real rule was a sense of open-mindedness which was enforced by patrons - bullies and harsh judgments were unwelcome. A 30 minute time limit was also added, but went largely ignored.
The first thing you noticed was that the parking lot was busy with teenagers smoking, playing hackey sack and listening to music from their cars. People would often race outside in groups for various sudden events, like wrestling challenges.
The front of the shop had two large signs, one above the window reading simply "Cafe Jo's" with a small picture of a coffee cup and the other standing on the ground in front of the window which told us that the shop was open ‘til 11 most of the year and ‘til midnight during the summer months.
Walking through the door you would be greeted by the foliage of plastic plants, the cigarette smoke cloud, the smell of coffee and baked goods, radio music and the smiling of familiar faces - at least during the day. At night you could very well find yourself cheered, tackled or even picked up off of the floor in a group hug while the various classic rock albums played.
Environment
The shop is probably best described as pretty. It was painted green and covered in pictures of coffee and flowers. For most of its existence it had a floral wall-paper boarder, which was replaced with painted sunflowers in 98, the final year. The windows looked out on Central Pharmacy, the hospital and the back lot respectably and had floral patterned curtains. The walls had several items hanging upon them, including wreaths and coffee imagery on poster board. During the holiday season you would find Christmas lights and a tree as well as other seasonal decorations attempting to create a festive mood.
The floors were a large checkered pattern. The smoke heater that chugged along in the porous ceiling panels was overworked. Staff members reached to press its buttons with the handle of the broom which was usually kept in reaching distance of the staff table.
Tables
The tables, which were once blank except for cacti had been painted by 96. Many of them had been painted by the regulars, among whom were many young artists, poets and musicians. Upon the tables were scattered coffee cups and well used ashtrays. The regular customers helped the staff and would clean the tables - picking up dishes, dumping the ashtrays and even washing the tables down with the spray bottle located on the edge of the counter. In many cases the lines between staff and customers became blurred as everyone worked, drank coffee and chatted together.
The staff however did have their own territory. It was the table by the counter in the smoking section. Once a regular was welcomed to sit at that table they had been quite clearly welcomed into our large, rambunctious family. The ultimate privilege was to be able to sit at that table one-on-one with Joanne herself and talk about the issues. Few reached this level and to achieve such acceptance was to be a part of the shop, like furniture.
Counter
Once at the counter you were often greeted with what you were about to order as many of the staff already knew what you wanted before you asked them. The counter was littered with pastries and other food that most of us could rarely afford. Behind the worker’s isle there were brightly colored italian soda bottles, various cooking appliances and the white board menu, written colored markers. Listed on the menu were the various fancy coffee and hot chocolate drinks which many of us experimented with developing life long addictions. This board was later rewritten in calligraphy by Kev.
At the far end of the counter was the cabinet containing the CD player and CDs. Some of the staff would allow us change the music ourselves and this added to our claim that this was home. The phone was also up on this end of the shop and it was not uncommon to get a call from someone asking for you, or asking the staff who was there before venturing out for their visit. There was often talk of getting a pay phone to accommodate our communications, but nothing came of it.
Back area
Finally, at the far end of the underused non-smoking section was the door to the washroom. The washroom was overused for socializing and other non-washroom related activities. It was visited by the police at least once for illegal substances that had been left behind. A wasteful crime which lacked carefulness and was not looked fondly on by many regulars who had come to appreciated their freedom. In later years the same washroom would be use nostalgicly by those who frequented the Jive.
Beyond the washroom was the backdoor. It was often used at night during the summer months as many of the patrons went out back to hang out around the dumpster and the short cement stairs, gaze up at the night sky and wonder.
The legacy
Jo's was a unique environment due to its mixed clientele who came from as much of a variety of walks of life as Grand Falls offered. Around a table would sit people of different spiritual beliefs, sexuality, social standing and style. While there was debate, there was little cruelty and this made it different from other mixed and integrated hangouts frequented by local teens. The shop took our social lives beyond our high schools, which for that place and time was not only unusual, but special.
Cafe Jo’s in now gone, but it has become a part of our shared history. It is a space and time in our lives which becomes mixed with our memories of where we came from and now we reconnect through it. We took steps to becoming who were are by asking each other questions over coffee. And maybe it's on the surface that we miss Jo's and below we remember people who would let us be ourselves when we hadn't yet figured out what that meant. We remember not feeling alone during what could have been the most painfully lonely time in our lives.
The internet and beyond
The website came about because we missed the culture that we had helped create. We realized that other's teenaged experience was not so protected and often far more typical. The #goodtimes regulars wanted evidence and a chance to reconnect with the great people we had known and lost. The website came about as a means of recreating what we could, finding what we had lost and remembering what we had forgotten. It was designed to allow you to both reminisce about your past and write your own history, as honestly or ideally as you want. We wanted the internet to keep some of the community that we had known and loved alive.
The popularizing of Facebook saw the project expand, bringing more of us together. The wiki allowed users to contribute directly and changed the site's direction, accommodating other elements of our youthful adventuring. The summer of 2008 saw the next step, as some of the Cafe Jo’s veterans hung out again after internet contact. We have now seen the full extent of what this project could be - giving us back some part of a marvelous era of our youth in our adult lives.
