04/12/2025
To our amazing Hangover Hut customers, friends and family.
Do you believe in signs and messages from the universe and that everything happens for a reason…..I DO!!! The past year has been a prime example of both these phenomenons for me. Everything that seemed to make me sad, mad or bad has been explained and justified by the universe….because everything happens for a reason!!
So it is time that we let you in on some of what has been happening with us. On December 28 2024, Bruce was in a very significant motorcycle accident when he was run off the road by another moto and robbed. An amazing family came upon the scene, stopped the robbery, called for help and when they tried to load him into a van to go to the hospital, Bruce regained consciousness and asked them to call me. I rushed to go get him and take him to medical care.
Bruce took some time to recover from the impact, head injury, significant road rash and had surgery for a shattered wrist on December 31st. He did start coming back to Hangover Hut and resuming some of his routines but then a few weeks into his recovery, Bruce took a turn for the worse neurologically.
I completed our season to the best of my ability without him. Thanks to my amazing staff, we held it together and had our best season yet. So thank you to all of you for helping make that happen. I did however know all the way through that we faced losing our lease in April. Our landlord passed and the land had been inherited by the beneficiaries of her will. Things were extremely uncertain. I was having to make a lot of tough decisions on my own while Bruce investigated and tried to recover from his medical challenges.
I was unable to reach an agreement with the new landlord. I had found a new location for us but two days prior to HH closing it fell though. With Bruce’s outcome still uncertain, I made the tough call to pack it in and temporarily shut down. Best decision I could have made as it turns out. Bruce and I needed that time to negotiate his health challenges. The lane construction would have been devastating to our business as well. If I had made that deal we would have been paying a huge amount that we couldn’t really afford and still not be able to open, even now.
In the meantime, I was offered the amazing opportunity to help the community with a secondary venture at the John J Woods Sportsplex that we named Home Run Hut. I jumped through many hoops, over many hurdles and faced many complications trying to get it off the ground. The delays however, as stressful and frustrating as they were, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In August, Bruce took another unexpected turn and I almost lost him, again, to septic shock secondary to the residual neurological issues from his accident. The complications he faced has prompted a new full neurological work up to see what is happening.
In the meantime, I had already entered into talks with with the new owner of the other side of our original parking lot to return right where we were. That was the “Big Reveal” I was planning for you all and it would have been an awesome announcement. That is where I still currently stand. We are in negotiations based on whether or not Bananarama Lane will indeed be pedestrian only and when the road will actually be complete and open again. Even if we were to strike a deal right this minute, we cannot get down there to rebuild. Rebuilding is also costly so we need to secure the spot for enough time to make that money back.
Bruce continues to navigate medical evaluation and will be completing neurological work ups to see the extent of his injury. It appears based on this last issue arising that there is more going on than we thought. We have been told he requires neuromodification and we have no idea what exactly that will look like yet.
This uncertainty with Bruce and the lane is what drove the final decisions for me to back out of the Home Run Hut project and to put Hangover Hut’s relocation on hold. Sorry I know this isn’t what we all wanted to hear but it has become a very necessary step for us.
We will remain in talks to return to our original location once we are certain of the fate of Bananarama Lane. This also gives us time for Bruce to get a more accurate diagnosis to see what life is going to look like for us going forward. I am listening to the signs the universe has been sending this whole time to slow down to actually see what the future holds for us. Bruce is my priority…period.
Once I FINALLY bit the bullet and made these calls, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The last 11 months have extremely stressful and exhausting for us both but it has taught me a lot about myself, our staff and our amazing customers and community. When things like this happen you find out who really has your back, who your true friends are and who truly supports you, no matter what. Thank you to so many people that have been here to support Bruce and I during these challenging times. You will never truly understand what your support has meant to us.
This is where we currently stand:
1. Home Run Hut will not be opening as a new addition to Hangover Hut family. The project however does plan to continue. If anyone is interested in finding out more please send a direct message and I can put you in touch with the right folks.
2. Hangover Hut is officially delaying its reopening until the lane is complete and hopefully we can reach mutual agreement with the land owner. We do have other locations we could go but where we were is the best case scenario for Hangover Hut’s future.
3. During this down time we will be able to wrap our heads around Bruce’s medical outcomes and what will be best for his recovery going forward. As disappointing as it is, this break is a blessing.
4. I am looking forward to the first winter season on the island we do not have to work and having some extra time for volunteering in our community. I have missed a lot of community events and projects this year because we have been so busy/tired and now more than ever I am grateful for the community’s support and I would like to pay some of it back
5. Keep following our page for details and updates, you never know where we and our new merchandise line may “POP UP” during the next couple of months. 😉
Thank you all for your understanding!! We are around and would love to see you all and catch up so don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know you are here. Please know that when we do get all this sorted and land back on our feet, we WILL Rock da Hut once again and it is going to be one heck of Re-Opening party! We will have so much to celebrate 🥳🥳
Cheers from all of us at Hangover Hut.
