by Beth Riner, Messenger Staff Writer

Shenanigans, the grande dame of Sewanee Village, turns 50 this September, but anniversary festivities kick off early with the second annual April Fool Fest and Crawfish Boil on Saturday, April 6.

Festivities run from 4 p.m. to midnight with food, drink, games, and live music. All ages are welcome. Tickets are available at <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a...;.

A $45 full-day pass includes a Cajun boil crawfish meal plus veggies and trimmings as well as a wristband for all the bands, upstairs and down. Music-only passes are also available. Advance tickets are highly encouraged because they went fast last time.

“It’s a big anniversary year for us,” said Bill Elder, who’s owned Shenanigans for the past decade. “This is probably the most historical building outside of the University that is still standing — this one and Ken Taylor’s. I’m told since Rebel’s Rest burned; this is the oldest standing wood building in Sewanee.”

“There are three big, big things for our 50th — one is the kitchen buildout, two is The Back Room at Shenanigans, and three will be our anniversary celebration sometime in September,” said Elder, who’s dated the anniversary back to Sept. 14, 1974.

“There is a newspaper article that we have framed from 1974 from The Sewanee Purple that says Shenan-wich Hits the Mountain,” Elder explained.

In his 10 years with Shenanigans, Elder has strived to create a place that could provide people careers and a chance to spread their wings.

“That’s one reason why I wanted to do all these different things — a big new kitchen that we can run catering out of, I did the upstairs so that we could have a music venue, we’ve got the food truck: all of this was an attempt to build a place to work where we can be serious about working here and know that there’s opportunity. That was always a big thing for me and continues to be.”

Elder said his staff of about 30 is slowly growing into the new kitchen.

“I’ve always had this saying — and I still say it every day — I don’t tell Shenanigans what to do — she tells me. With this new kitchen, me and Shenanigans are in a bit of a tug of war. I think the old girl is reluctantly coming around, but we absolutely had to increase our efficiency here,” he said.

The impetus for the bigger kitchen came during the pandemic.

“When Covid happened, we had to get a lot of people outside, which had us getting all this patio furniture, all the deck furniture,” he said. “We wanted people eating outside, so we could continue to be a business and, more importantly, so that we could continue to serve the community — to feed this mountain spicy turkey melts.”

As Covid restrictions eased, Elder realized they’d substantially increased their capacity.

“If we were full in here, full out there, and full upstairs, then that’s three times what we were used to doing, and that little kitchen could not keep up,” he said.

Elder asked the University for permission to expand the kitchen — like everything else on the Domain, Shenanigans is on a leasehold.

“They were awesome,” he said. “They wanted Shenanigans to be able to evolve naturally, grow to meet the needs of the community, and grow the business community in the Village in such a way that more people were coming down here.”

Elder said that once the University gave its approval, he was pretty much locked into expanding the kitchen.

“They kind of called my hand,” he laughed. He began looking for a replacement hood.

He said all of their kitchen operations have changed since the expansion.

“It’s a full-on, legitimate commercial kitchen that can do anything,” he said, admitting it was bittersweet to see the old kitchen go.

“I remember the day we tore that thing down that I was just so sad,” he recalled. “Part of the charm and grit of Shenanigans is that we were able to pull things off in a laid back environment. That went along with the vibe here — it’s Shenanigans. It’s quirky and not necessarily going to win a James Beard award, but we’re going to provide a great vibe, a great meal, and lots of smiles and comfort to people.”

“I grew up coming here, and I was an absolute fixture,” he said. “I remember being a kid here, I remember being a college kid here, and, no matter what the quality of stuff was throughout the years, it was still Shenanigans — you could walk in, you could breathe it in, and you could feel the vibe and smile.”

“I view Shenanigans as the perennial cornerstone of the hangout vibe in Sewanee — this big blue building on 41 that everyone stops at and says, “oh my god, I’ve got to go there.’ And when you walk in, we totally deliver that mom-and-pop homegrown, non-corporate vibe every time.”

Something new that Elder is excited to bring to Shenanigans soon is a back bar with a speakeasy vibe. He and his staff started working on it when frozen pipes burst, forcing a temporary three-month shutdown. That space had previously housed an art gallery and later, overflow seating.

“We thought it could be a cool back bar with proper cocktails — it’s going to have a separate entrance,” he said, noting capacity will be about 25 to 30. About five of his current employees are training to bartend. Elder looks for The Back Room at Shenanigans to open mid-to-late April.

Plans are already underway for a huge Shenanigans-style anniversary celebration this upcoming September, and Elder couldn’t be more enthused about the celebration and the quirky place that he’s loved for most of his life.

“I just pinch myself every day being the current steward of Shenanigans,” he said with a grin.