The Saint Augustine Toy Company & Jesterville Grille is a local place, a Mom and Pop place, a very quaint, special place in the hearts of many locals. The food is great, and the crew that operates the place is excellent. The business happens to be housed in a very important historical landmark, the old Woolworth’s building, a building now owned by Trinity Episcopal Church.

Originally built as a Woolworth’s Five & Dime in the 1950’s, The Saint Augustine Toy Company & Jesterville Grille building became a shoe store when Woolworth’s closed their doors all throughout the United States. Flash forward to 2001 and The Saint Augustine Toy Company & Jesterville Grille has moved from their location at 58 Spanish Street to the old Woolworth’s building, a place where owner Andy Fleming felt they would have enough room for all their toys and merchandise.

What is important to note, and sadly something our city tries to forget, is that the Woolworth’s Five & Dime was the site of a very important Civil Rights protest.

As the Saint Augustine Toy Company & Jesterville Grille website says, "The early ‘60s were a troubled time in St. Augustine and across the nation. In July 1963, the lunch counter was the site of a civil rights sit in. Seven juveniles and nine adults had come to the lunch counter to order a hamburger and a coke. Refused service they kept their seats until they were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. At the time, the juveniles were told they could be released if their parents signed a petition saying they would not be involved in any demonstrations until they were 21. Four of the juveniles refused to let their parents sign. After 70 days in the St. Johns County Jail, the four were adjudged juvenile delinquents by the court. The boys were sent to the Florida Industrial School for Boys and the girls to the Ocala Correctional School for Girls. The story took on national significance and it finally took an act of Florida Governor Ferris Bryant and the Florida Cabinet to gain their release, which occurred on January 14th, 1964." It was this protest, and several African Americans being denied the right to swim at a local hotel (which has since been destroyed to make way for a Hilton), that brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to Saint Augustine.

There is a plot to destroy this local, very historical, and important landmark. A group of men recently acquired half of Jesterville Grille from Trinity Episcopal Church, the current owners of the former Woolworth’s building, to open a T-shirt shop. Due to the slow season, and apparently financial problems, The Saint Augustine Toy Company & Jesterville Grille has been forced to sell its lease to this group of men. The real problem is this group of men, who my sources tell me are new to Saint Augustine. These men plan to destroy the historical landmark, tearing away the counter, a replica of the original that the African Americana’s protested at, tearing away the original stainless steel, and original terrazzo floor, and replacing it with a chain restaurant called Maui-Wowi.

Judging from Maui-Wowi’s website (www.mauiwowi. com), it’s some sort of cheap Hawaiian tropical smoothie and coffee monstrosity, a retro eyesore that mirrors a bad acid trip, attempting to make money off the sale of, what they refer to as, "gourmet smoothies," while presenting themselves on some sort of cheap knock off of a Gilligan’s Island set, complete with factory dried palm tree branches and imported bamboo from Cambodia. I have an important question to ask right here... Can anyone tell me why Saint Augustine really needs a Hawaiian theme tropical smoothie and coffee stand like Maui-Wowi? Do the people of Saint Augustine need their eyes to hemorrhage, and their brains explode from their skulls with every passing glance at this terribly stupid business? Or am I just crazy and this is really a great idea?

Saint Augustine is a historical town, and if we continue to allow this sort of corporate theme franchise to take over our historic landmarks, where will it end? Perhaps it will take a Boston Market on the Castillo De San Marco’s front lawn? Maybe a McDonald’s in the Lightner Museum? These people with no concept of our town and its history shouldn’t be allowed to destroy an important historical landmark just to try to make an extra buck. There are more important things than money, right?

There’s nothing we can do to save The Saint Augustine Toy Company & Jesterville Grille. After it is shut down, this piss poor theme franchise will replace it. However, I believe there is something that we can do to chase this corporate snake from our backyard. We need to protest. I’m calling the readers of The Collective Press to arms. Picket, protest, and don’t allow this terrible eyesore from hell to operate in our town. We don’t need corporate whores destroying our local businesses.

So, Dear Reader, what are you going to do? Let the corporate machine chip away at the fabric of America, swallowing up local businesses in their wake, or stand up for places like The Saint Augustine Toy Company & Jesterville Grille, The Prince of Wales, Pizzalleys, Ann O’ Malley’s, and many more who are threatened by corporate juggernauts and need the support of locals like you to stay in business?

I’ve reported the news, now it’s up to you to do something.