Buffet á la George's cancelled after letter

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- It was supposed to be a Thanksgiving buffet with a particularly nostalgic touch to it for those who have mourned the closing of George's Ballroom decades ago.

Tables seating 150 persons were set up in what was George's bar area, and cornstalks and pumpkins adorned one corner of the room where the buffet was to be set up. It would be like taking a step back in time, eating where George Neuwirth held court for so many years.

At least, that was what Joni Ahlness of Joni's Restaurant & Catering was trying to do until the building's owner, Randy Danielson, received a communication just two days before Thanksgiving telling him the event could not be held in the ballroom building. It was signed by Karen Swenson of Brown-Nicollet Community Health Services in St. Peter.

It came as a surprise to both Danielson and Ahlness because not only did Danielson have a state inspector's approval and the fire marshal's OK, but he contends he had verbal approval from Swenson, as well.

"She told me that because the food and beverages were being catered she didn't have authority over anything else," Danielson recalled.

Ahlness' recollection of her contact with Swenson bolsters Danielson's story.

"When she came to visit me, we talked about the situation. She recommended a couple of changes that I had been planning to make but it had nothing to do with holding the buffet at George's Ballroom," Ahlness said.

"The letter didn't even give a reason. When I contacted her about it, she finally said it was because I had lied to her in not telling her asbestos was an issue at the ballroom," Danielson recalled.

"I told her I hadn't lied. I said it wasn't an issue because most of the restaurants in town have asbestos in one form or another. I told her I had a state inspection report that all the asbestos in the building is contained, and I had a verbal ruling from a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency official that if the asbestos is not exposed, then it is best not to disturb it by trying to remove it because that's when the fibers get into the air."

Swenson was not available for comment on the decision to stop the event from being held in George's Ballroom.

The fire marshal told Danielson he had enough space to handle a crowd of 150 without violating fire codes.

While Ahlness found another venue for her buffet which actually could handle more people, she said she was disappointed it couldn't be held at George's Ballroom.

"I had several cancellations when they found out it wouldn't be in George's," she said.

But, Danielson and Ahlness were determined that those who were expecting to "dine ala George's Ballroom" not experience a total meltdown.

Danielson left the front door open during the day Thursday so people could come in and imagine what it would have been like eating in George's Ballroom once again.