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History Of Beer In Holland: Blue Laws

In 2007, a group called Citizens For Progress began a movement within the City of Holland.  Their aims were to repeal a ban on alcohol sales within the City Limits on Sundays.   A true grassroots movement, they posted letters from the Holland Sentinel, as well as letters to individual city council members, on their Blogspot.

It was in the 1980s when the City of Holland decided to ban alcohol sales in the downtown area specifically.  Meanwhile in the rest of the state, Ottawa County itself allowed sales of spirits and mixed drinks in bars and restaurants (but not beer or wine in bars and restaurants); and the whole State of Michigan had a ban on any alcohol sales in stores or shops at any time on Sunday (I can recall more than one instance in college where we were shooed out of the liquor aisle precisely at midnight).

Citizens For Progress had a specific list of benefits for the City, should they repeal the prohibition on Sunday sales:

-The City of Holland and its businesses have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make Holland an attractive and a great place to live.
-Holland has the potential to continue to develop as major shopping and dining destination. Progressive planning and recent changes like permitting outdoor dining, street side cafés, and live entertainment have added to the flavor and appeal of downtown and the city. We must now further this appeal.
-The present Sunday alcohol prohibition is discriminatory and unfairly penalizes licensed City of Holland restaurant owners. Our businesses should have the same opportunities to succeed as businesses in neighboring communities.
-The present Sunday alcohol prohibition has a detrimental effect on all merchants in Holland, but especially those in our Downtown, which on most Sundays are virtually empty of shoppers and tourists.
-The present Sunday alcohol prohibition is sending tens of thousands of dollars out of the city every weekend. Those potential dollars are being spent at destinations as close as two miles from our Downtown.
-Ultimately, we believe this is an issue about adding value to the City of Holland. Having City Council repeal the current Sunday alcohol prohibition will help attract a diverse group of citizens to work, shop, play, and live in this great city.

Even the Convention And Visitors Bureau got in on the action, by pointing out that our tourist town was losing tourism dollars because the high-dollar business clients couldn't have a Sunday cocktail hour at the end of a hard work week or business convention at a local hotel.

To look around the Downtown area in 2021, it seems hard to imagine - as Bloody Mary Bars and Mimosa Bars dot the storefronts, and groups like Pub Theology continue to prove that you won't, in fact, burst into Hellfire flames for drinking alcohol on a Sunday - that these were, at one point, actually illegal.


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