Cigar Weekly

The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind., Kevin Leininger column: Pro-freedom, not pro-smoking club

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Kevin Leininger

Apr. 15--A few weeks ago I tried to illustrate the silliness of Fort Wayne's no-smoking law by enjoying a cigar at a south-side bar.

It worked. Several readers basically suggested I be taken out and shot for daring to use a legal product in an adults-only establishment -- with the owners' blessing!

Members of the Tri-State Pipe & Tobacco Club, on the other hand, aren't really interested in civil disobedience. Since its inception seven years ago, the club has gathered each month to talk and share their passion for a culturally rich but politically incorrect hobby that has rendered them vagabonds in their own community.

"We used to meet at a number of places in Fort Wayne: the Liberty Diner, Covington Bar & Grill, Bob Evans, Munchies," co-founder Andy Spencer said as he puffed on a perfectly legal pipe in the Trion Tavern in New Haven -- the club's home away from home ever since Fort Wayne outlawed smoking in bars, restaurants and most other public places last June 1.

"We're all pretty conservative, and we view the smoking law as part of the liberal agenda to create a nanny state. It's a slippery slope."

The irony of that statement was not lost on Spencer and seven other club members at last week's meeting. Fort Wayne's mostly Republican City Council was supposed to be conservative, too, but passed one of the toughest smoking bans in the state.

"We're not a drinking club, and we're not really pro-smoking. We're pro-freedom," said Larry Hubartt, who said pipe smoking is something he chooses to do -- not something he is compelled to do.

Prohibitionists who simplistically view all smokers as addicted wretches who want to be saved from their own worst impulses will never understand club members, who see smoking as almost an art form -- and a fitting companion to spirited, thoughtful conversation.

To club members, a pipe is far more than a nicotine delivery device. "I'm not trying to get a buzz. A pipe gives you one-seventh the nicotine of a cigarette. It's a way to calm down," Spencer said. But to Spencer and other club members -- who own an average of 30 pipes each -- their hobby provides lasting rewards, not just momentary pleasure.

They collect pipes the way other people collect coins, stamps or art. They compare shapes, materials and style, sampling tobaccos of various blends and flavors. They know a pipe must be carefully seasoned, packed and cleaned to be properly enjoyed. In their hands, pipes become treasures to be savored now and heirlooms to be handed down to future generations. They practice technique, staging contests to determine who can keep pipes lighted the longest.

You and I may not understand why somebody would pay hundreds of dollars or more for a pipe, or devote so much time and energy to their hobby. But club members clearly consider the time they spend together valuable, which inevitably leads their table talk into political waters. "I'm just so disappointed by the Republican Party in Allen County," said Spencer, who last year made it a point of voting against City Council members who supported the smoking ban -- some of whom were defeated. Nevertheless, council has shown no willingness to amend or repeal the ban, and club members can see through the haze well enough to know it's only a matter of time until all of Indiana goes smoke-free. If that happens, meetings will be at members' homes -- unless that's outlawed, too.

And even then, it will have to be outdoors. "I don't smoke in my house," Hubartt said.

That's his choice -- just as the Trion's owners choose to allow the club to meet there. In Fort Wayne, however, bar owners have no choice at all -- special-interest groups and subservient politicians have made the decision for them.

Whatever the health benefits of the ban -- and they are dubious at best -- something has been lost, too. In a city as large and diverse as Fort Wayne, there should be room for people who enjoy good conversation, new aromas, the feel of a well-carved pipe and the traditions of a practice older than America itself.

I did smoke a legal cigar that night at the Trion. But I don't think I used my seat belt on the way home.

Like I said. Shoot me.

Kevin Leininger's column reflects his opinion, not necessarily that of The News-Sentinel. Contact kleininger@news-sentinel.com, or call 461-8355.