Yankee Brew News Archive

Letters

Originally Published: 04/96

Letters

Disappointed by Skeeter's Tavern

Dear YBN:

Based on a review of Skeeter's Tavern in the YBN February/March issue, my wife and I stopped in for a beer on a Saturday afternoon. The details of our visit are, in a word, unflattering.

If YBN is to maintain credibility as an authority on quality beer establishments I suggest you send out an unbiased staff member to follow up on local reviews. In this case I believe you would have found that many of Mr. Yannone's plans for his bar have yet to be realized.

Sincerely,

Dean Booth

Woonsocket, RI

via the Internet

Skeeter Responds

Dear YBN:

Having just read Dave Wedge's article entitled "Skeeter's Tavern" in the YBN February/March issue, I am disgusted, angry, and hurt. Wedges' shoddy characterization of Skeeter's Tavern, indicating three short years ago, our tavern was "Just another dive bar know in past years more for drugs and prostitution than its beer" and "Housed in the century-old Bryant Hotel, the neighborhood bar was struggling against a notorious reputation for being a flop house" is simply inaccurate and untrue.

How thoughtlessly nefarious of Mr. Wedge to write such rubbish! The only establishment in our neighborhood that might fit such a presumptive description is the West Elm Hotel located diagonally across the street from the Bryant Hotel. This is not the first time Brocktonians have confused our Bryant Hotel with the West Elm Hotel, nor will it be the last. But it's one of the more hurting for me personally because it was done by a professional writer, in our hotel for the first time the night of the interview, who opprobriously described my life's work in one offensive and insulting paragraph.

Together with my wife Carol and our son 'Chip' we own and proudly operate the Bryant Hotel and Skeeter's Tavern and have continually for the past 25 years. In all that time we have never been cited for a single violation. NOT ONE! We have never allowed a drug or prostitution element in our tavern or hotel. Our vigilance and security measures dealing with these factions are well known. Yet Wedges' perfunctory article would have the reader believing otherwise. A simple telephone call to Brockton Police Chief Paul Studenski will clear up any confusion as to which hotel deserves the infamous notoriety perpetuated by such a weakly-researched article. We just wish that Wedge had made the call before he picked up his pen.

We are not interested in a verbal contest with anyone, especially one who writes for a living. Nonetheless the inexactness of his quotes and indisputable crudeness in certain parts of the article are just too insulting and hurting for us. (The Yannone family) to ignore.

It is written (probably by Dave Wedge) that Dave Wedge's beer-drinking exploits are the stuff of song and myth. Perhaps the scrupulousness of his diminishing belletristic skills are the result of those exploits. What should have been an informative--positive article on a new microbrew pub in the area turned out to be one writer's disfigured view of how a hard-working family has finally got its business on the right track. How dare anyone, especially a career writer, indict so carelessly?

Sincerely,

Arthur G. Yannone, Jr.

AKA Skeeter

New Hotel Bryant, Inc.