By Ian Cheesman
God, I hate ribbons.
Think about every gift you’ve received—birthday, Christmas or otherwise. The contents are obviously the star of the show, but let’s not give the wrapping short shrift. If the gift is the filet, the wrapping is the smoky, sizzling sear that ensnares your senses. It’s flirty and sheer, just barely obscuring what lies beneath. Whether you opt to savagely tear it away or methodically draw it back, it is an inextricable part of the experience…until you hit that damn ribbon.
The ribbon is an imposition. It’s the clumsy belt buckle or quadruple-hooked brassiere that rebukes your passion. It may have all the luster of wrapping, but its disproportionate tensile strength serves no other purpose than to complicate the extraction of your prize. It’s not a part of the ride—it’s the line to get on it.
I know this rabid anti-ribbon propaganda may feel a little out of place for most San Diego Beer News readers, but I’m not alone here. I’m pretty sure the family behind Five Suits Brewing agrees with me.
Consider the evidence. Last week, Five Suits celebrated their membership in the Vista Chamber of Commerce with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony. Co-owners Nick and Kandy Corona were flanked by family, friends, local dignitaries, and whatever bucket I land in, as they sacrificed a ribbon in full public view as an offering to the gods of capitalism. It was as savage as it was beautiful.
Now I’ll remain open-minded here and consider that the intentions of this event might not have been rooted in a hatred of ribbons. Five Suits certainly deserves to celebrate. Frankly, any business that managed to survive one of the COVIDiest years on record has earned the right to a public sigh of relief. Still, having the audacity to open amid all that uncertainty requires a noteworthy victory lap.
The timing of the ribbon-cutting may seem a bit odd for a brewery that has been in operation for over a year, but if 2020 was unified by anything, it was a serial disregard for things that were supposed to happen. Heck, Five Suits didn’t technically hold their grand opening until their one-year anniversary in July when they finally had a window to feel grand about something again.
For attendee Paula Millis, Membership Development Specialist for the Vista Chamber, the sentiment was more important than the timing. “It’s an opportunity to just congratulate brand-new business owners and send them off and on their way for success,” she shared.
In truth, this event felt less about ceremony and more of a consideration of Five Suits’ DNA. Nick’s (post-ribbon-slaughter) address to those in attendance leaned heavily on family, relationships, and the bounty of contributions needed to bring his business to fruition. Corona deeply valued the mom-and-pop haunts of his youth spent in North County and believes others sharing that sense of value for community was pivotal to Five Suits thriving in onerous times.
French novelist Romain Rolland once noted, “A hero is a man who does what he can.” I’d wager Rolland didn’t include pinpoint beanbag-tossing in that calculus, but in the case of Five Suits it would be an oversight. When the American Cornhole League found themselves in search of a regional space to hold weekly competitions in late 2020, Corona’s embrace of the local community converted anemic Monday evening business into a bumper crop. “They think that I’m doing them a favor, but they don’t recognize or realize that they’re actually doing us a favor,” he said.
Ultimately, I could not get Corona to echo my ribbon-based vitriol. Instead, he chose to focus on the validation the event implied. “With the entire world being placed in a holding pattern throughout our first year in business, we’ve missed out on so many opportunities to truly celebrate our accomplishments,” he said. “To finally host city officials as well as our close and accomplished friends along our sides for an official ribbon-cutting, it just means the world to our family.”