Bar's sign stirs Cedar uproar

CEDAR CITY — Several Cedar City residents are threatening to picket a bar on Main Street if its owner doesn't remove a sign advertising a "pimp and ho" New Year's Eve party.

"We are hoping he'll be a responsible business owner and take it down," said Amy Bates, who said she has talked with a lot of mothers who are also offended by the sign. "So far, he's refused. We're going through the proper channels, but we will picket his business if we have to."

Butch Mitchell, who owns the Sportsmen's Lounge at 900 S. Main, said those complaining about the sign hanging on his business should be more "open-minded and liberal."

"This is gong to be like a Halloween party for New Year's Eve," said Mitchell, adding he is ready to prosecute any pickets who don't obey the law. "I'm having a theme night and they're assuming there's going to be all kinds of bad things going on. I am not having a nudist gathering, and that's what some of those people think."

The 4-foot-by-8-foot sign is attached with ropes to the outside of the building facing Main Street. Mitchell said he polled bar patrons for party ideas before selecting the New Year's Eve theme.

"The sign was up there for about 10 or 12 days before I heard from anyone," he said. "It isn't like the sign went up and 20 minutes later everyone complained about it."

Myra Kartchner lives near the Sportsmen's Lounge, which is about a block away from Cross Hollows Intermediate School.

"Everyone I've talked to thinks the sign is very inappropriate,' she said. "Children see that sign twice a day while riding the school bus."

Kartchner also took issue with a drawing on the sign that shows "a scantily clothed woman with a huge bust."

"I think most people see Cedar City as a very wholesome, beautiful place to live and raise a family," she said. "And we don't want anything to detract from that."

Sherri Brower said she became aware of the sign after her 10-year-old daughter saw it while riding the school bus home a few days ago.

"She asked my husband, 'What's a pimp and ho?' and he said, 'You better go take a look at that sign,' " said Brower, who has two other children, ages 9 and 7, riding the same bus route. "When I saw the sign, I was just appalled."

Brower said she talked to Mitchell and asked him to put a new sign on the front of his business or move the offending banner inside the building.