The local legend, Stubblefeilds Bar in Pullman, Washington has closed for good, which made the end of an era.
Stubblefields general manager and DJ for 18 years, DJ Goldfinger described the now-closed bar to the hit show “Cheer’s.”
“You know how when one of the characters walks in and everyone shout’s ‘NORM!’,” Goldfinger said. “That’s Stubblefields, it feels like a place where everyone knows your name.”
Despite the bar’s large space and packed dancefloors, many regulars and newcomers were encouraged by Goldfinger and the rest of the staff to feel a sense of community.
“It didn’t matter if you came on a great day, come on a bad day, we all came together to feel something together,” Goldfinger said. “In a great sense, Stubblefield fills you, no matter what your problem.”
Being the only large-scale bar and club in the area, the crowd was unique in its population. Students from many surrounding colleges came to the bar and intermingled.
“It’s organized chaos of people screaming and dancing,” Goldfinger said describing the 600 plus crowds that would gather many nights at the bar. “I want that Stubblefields feeling back but having that many people in a building is not the thing to do right now.”
Goldfinger recounts his time playing music, DJing and running the bar, creating relationships that were formed and broken on the grounds. The crowds lined up sometimes out the door, down the sidewalk and around the corner, Goldfinger said.
The general manager and DJ emphasized that inclusivity is what the bar expected and created. According to Goldfinger, that was the secret ingredient for creating a place like Stubblefield.
“You are welcome, always welcome, to come in and have a good time, the time you deserve,” Goldfinger said.
In the dawning of a socially distant era, the bar has been forced to close, unable to make it to the next chapter of the pandemic. It is still shrouded in uncertainty around public gatherings like bars, clubs, concerts and inside dining. Like many beloved local businesses, it says goodbye to its regular supporters and community members mournfully.
“When I found out (we were closing) I cried, I’ve cried a lot,” Goldfinger said. “It’s very much devastating.”
Goldfinger described his relationship with the bar as being synonymous with Stubblefields, also going as far as to say “if my body needed to be identified…they would send me to that building, they would have to know my name but they’d know where to put me.”
He described the music he played there for almost 20 years to be both “therapy” for the people who came to dance and himself.
“I just want to say thank you, I am so thankful to all of you,” Goldfinger said and elected to quote Biggie smalls saying “I am incredibly sad, but ‘it was all a dream’ and it was incredible to see and be a part of it all.”
Rebecca Pratt can be reached at [email protected].