Collegiate Times

It's time again to turn back our clocks for daylight savings time.

At 1:59 a.m. on Sunday morning everyone will gain an extra hour, but the question remains whether bar hoppers and late night partiers will be granted another hour for more Saturday night celebrating.

Joe's Diner manager Sean Uren said that they will be open 24 hours a day this weekend. Gumby's Pizza will also be open that extra hour.

"We'll be open until about 3 a.m.," said Conrad Lawson, manager at Gumby's Pizza. "We're normally open until about 3:30 a.m. on Saturdays anyway."

However, for the downtown bars that many students and Blacksburg community frequent, the answers vary on whether they will remain open for that extra hour on Sunday morning.

"Usually once Halloween is over, it's over," said Stephanie Rogol, owner of Sharkey's. She explained that if Halloween falls on a Monday, partiers usually will go out the Saturday before, but because it fell on a Wednesday this year, it's iffy.

"It depends," she said. "If it's busy, we'll stay open another hour. Historically, people get too trashed, and then they might do something they shouldn't. We'll stay open so people can hang around, but if they're looking for trouble then we'll close early."

Rogol also said that she'd be prepared if people are still celebrating.

"If it turns out that people do celebrate this weekend, then we'll keep giving away prizes; I have a whole bunch of stuff," she said.

Sharkey's gave away prizes as well as free T-shirts at their heaven-and-hell-themed night on Wednesday

Ryan Rugerro, daytime manager of TOTS, said that the answer is also indefinite.

"It's usually kind of a last minute decision," he said. "It's up to the manager that works at night and, in the past, it depended on the crowd and how everyone was feeling."

Ruggero said that they also look after their employees when considering staying open that extra hour.

"Usually it depends on how busy it is, but also on how all the employees are feeling: whether they want to stay open or not and how the customers are acting - if we're fed up with them, then we'll close at (the old) 2 a.m.," he said.

Big Al's, however, will not be open until the new 2 a.m.

"We're definitely not staying open an extra hour," said Seth Saleem, bartender at Big Al's. "We don't want to stay the extra hour. Bartenders work a lot, like 10 to 12 hour shifts, so we want to close up."

Hokie House is closing as well. "It's our policy just because people get really drunk anyway, and the extra hour makes them go really nuts," said Oliver Marks, manager at Hokie House.

He also explained that this policy is in consideration to employees as well.
"Our people go nine hours, so that's why we don't do it."