The Little Cafe That Could
The Little Cafe That Could
Once upon a time, there was a little cafe in a little town in
Michigan. The little cafe had a name and it was AJ’s Cafe. It was
named after the man who started the cafe. His name was AJ O’Neil.
AJ was a roofer, before he got the cafe. He was a roofer because
that’s what he knew, how to roof. He’d be up on the rooftops all day
long, day after day, year after year, just roofing away.
He got good at roofing, doing it so much. So much so, that once he got
started on a job, he could just about do it without even thinking
about it much. Every day, he roofed. This went on for 17 years.
AJ would roof and when it got so easy as to really not take much
mental effort, he’d think. What would he do when he no longer had the
youth and agility it took to be a roofer. Like an aging athlete, he’d
have to get another profession, after his roofing days were over.
AJ would dream of ideas on what he could do. Always hoping that
something would maybe find him. What does a washed up roofer do
anyway, he wondered.
Then one day, he was really high up on the roof when a storm suddenly
came in on a hot day in July. The wind kicked up and the rain started
to fall. AJ knew that he’d better get down off that roof quickly.
But as he got onto the ladder, it slipped. AJ lost his balance and,
even though his brother and roofing partner Dennis, did all he could
to keep the ladder steady, it fell. AJ went into a free fall from 35
feet, straight down and onto the driveway below.
Lucky to be alive and badly injured, AJ’s roofing days were over.
As AJ recovered, he wondered what he could do. Roofing was out.
Then one day, he got a call. Would AJ like to run a cafe? It seemed
there was one for sale not far from home.
This Cafe was already established, and it had become a sort of
community gathering place. It was the local hang-out where meetings
were held and lattes were sipped while listening to the locals who
liked to play music.
And so, with every last bit of money he had, AJ bought the cafe.
Because he was so short on cash, he decided to name the Cafe, AJ’s,
because that was only three letters long, easy to make a sign for.
AJ opened the cafe on April 1st, April Fools Day! He thought that was
very fitting, because he’d never run a cafe before.
And, just as he opened, the economy in Michigan went into a deep
slump. The biggest industry around AJ’s Cafe, by far was all related
to the domestic 3, automotive field. Whether you owned a bakery, cafe,
clothing store or barber shop, you made your living, or not, based on
how well Ford, General Motors or Chrysler did. Where AJ’s Cafe was,
when they hurt, everybody hurt.
Stores began closing all around. People were losing there jobs in
record numbers. Everything, except unemployment lines were grinding to
a halt.
AJ’s started to feel the crunch too, like just about everyone. What to
do, AJ wondered. His friends, neighbors and customers all began to
feel the pinch. Something had to be done. AJ’s couldn’t run without
customers!
One morning, in December of 2008, one of AJ’s customers came into the
cafe and was very worried. “Do something, AJ, he said. I’m going to
lose my job”! But what could AJ do? After all, AJ might have gotten a
small name for himself by having some pretty quirky events at the
cafe, like a fifty-hour Danny Boy marathon, and a democratic primary
for the presidential election, but AJ was just a small guy with a
small cafe in a small town near Detroit.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, AJ said; if anyone makes a promise that, on
their honor, the next car they buy will be a domestic 3, Detroit-born,
Ford, General Motors, or Chrysler, I’ll buy them a cup of coffee.”
And the next thing you know, everybody started talking about the cup
of joe for a promise to buy a Detroit-born car, pledge.
IPledgeAmerica was born.
newspaper reporter asked him how many pledges he thought he could get,
AJ shot back, “15 Million!”
Geez, AJ only had about 1000 IPledgeAmerica pledges when he made that
my honor, the next car I buy will be a domestic 3, Detroit-born ,
Ford, General Motors, or Chrysler”
Well, if we are going to get attention for our IPledgeAmerica pledge,
a concert! AJ’s cafe is the perfect place to have a musical concert
that can bring awareness to the Detroit automotive industry, AJ
thought.
And that day, AJ got an email from the Guinness Book of World Records.
The email suggested that AJ’s Cafe could attempt to set a new world
record for the” longest continuous concert by multiple artists.” The
current record stood at 216 hours.
AJ knew that the city of Detroit and the surrounding area was teeming
with musical talent. He had seen personally the great talents of so
many performers at his own cafe. Why not, AJ decided. We’ll do it!
And so, AJ called his friend Butch and they decided that they would
call there effort “The Assembly Line Concert.” It was a perfect name
to pay tribute to the hardest working, grittiest and most determined
group of people anyone could know. The domestic 3, Detroit born,
American automobile workers. The musical talent would be equal to the
quality of cars they build.
On October 17, 2009, there was a party at AJ’s Cafe. The party was
called; “The Guinness World Record Recognition Party.” Officially, the
“Little Cafe That Could” DID! The new Guinness World Record for the
“longest continuous concert by multiple artists” is a whopping, 288
non-stop hours; held by a little cafe in Ferndale, Michign, USA called
AJ’s Cafe for “The Assembly Line Concert.”
That would be a wonderful and inspiring story in and of itself, that
is, if that we the end of the story.
It is not.
Because no one, aside from the thousands of volunteers and performers,
really believed that the little cafe could do it. Not that you could
blame them, who would. And besides, the Detroit automotive companies
line. They couldn’t give a little cafe very much attention.
And, because of that, although our concert was seen by millions and
followed in the press all over the world, our IPledgeAmerica message
did not get the 15 million pledges that AJ vowed he’d get.
So AJ, that quirky, lovable cafe guy is doing it again. He and his
band of talented believers are going to try to break there own record!
They are having another concert and they’ve named this one fittingly.
“The Second Shift.” After all, this is an Assembly Line! They’re going
to try for 312 hours, adding one full day to this one. This one will
take place March 21-April, 2, 2010.
And they are confident that a lot more people will believe in them this time.
AJ thinks he can get enough sponsorship this time to really get the
IPledgeAmerica message out there. He’s driven enough, just like the
of everyone this time, because as AJ says, “we’re all in this
together.”
15 million IPledgeeAmerica pledges, please!
American, that it is in all of our best interest to strongly consider
purchasing a domestic 3, Detroit-born vehicle when that decision
presents itself.
We need your sponsorship and your support, very much.
We’ll provide the music and lattes!