Rochester Night Club and local hog farmer partner to boost business

ROCHESTER, Ind. - Rumors Nite Club in Rochester has been closed for almost two months now because of the pandemic and cannot re-open to diners until June. Hog owners have had  to put down their unsold  livestock because restaurants are not buying them. Rumors owner Lance Young decided to form a partnership that could address both needs.

He spoke with local hog farmer Richard Hisey who sold Young one of his hogs. Young then roasted the hog and sold the meat through curbside service to customers. He donated the profits from those sales back to Hisey and kept the profits off the alcohol sales for his own business. 

"We cooked it up the first day, and it sold out immediately," Young said. "Now, we've got an arrangement with him to basically buy all his hogs and sell them, and this might turn into a permanent item. We might go from being the longest continuously owned nightclub in Indiana to the longest continuously owned nightclub in Indiana and barbeque shack."

While closed, Young asked his staff if  they wanted to continue to work for him or if they wanted unemployment benefits. The staff unanimously voted to stay with Young to make Rumors Nite Club "bigger and better than ever." That included a complete renovation of the inside of the building. It now has new seating and new tables. Some of he walls have been replaced. Young said it's been redone "from floor to ceiling."

The rennovations were made with the idea being  to open back up on May 11th, but an amendment to Indiana's legal definition of what a bar put up a hurdle to that plan.

"They threw an amendment in which said that bars were designated those places which cannot serve people under the age of 21," Young said. "Once they did that, it made it clear that I was not going to be re-open."

With the success of the hog farmer partnership, Young said he might want to make it a permanent part of what Rumors has to offer. He said he is "thinking about" rennovating the building further to include a dining area specifically meant to serve the barbeque. In the meantime, Young said he will continue to serve customers through curbside service until Rumors is allowed to open its dine-in service in June.

In the interest of transparency, Lance Young is ABC 57 First Warning Neighborhood Weather Chief Meteorologist Tom Coomes' uncle.

ROCHESTER, Ind. - Rumors Nite Club in Rochester has been closed for almost two months now because of the pandemic and cannot re-open to diners until June. Hog owners have had to put down their unsold livestock because restaurants are not buying them. Rumors owner Lance Young decided to form a partnership that could address both needs.

He spoke with local hog farmer Richard Hisey who sold Young one of his hogs. Young then roasted the hog and sold the meat through curbside service to customers. He donated the profits from those sales back to Hisey and kept the profits off the alcohol sales for his own business.

"We cooked it up the first day, and it sold out immediately," Young said. "Now, we've got an arrangement with him to basically buy all his hogs and sell them, and this might turn into a permanent item. We might go from being the longest continuously owned nightclub in Indiana to the longest continuously owned nightclub in Indiana and barbeque shack."

While closed, Young asked his staff if they wanted to continue to work for him or if they wanted unemployment benefits. The staff unanimously voted to stay with Young to make Rumors Nite Club "bigger and better than ever." That included a complete renovation of the inside of the building. It now has new seating and new tables. Some of the walls have been replaced. Young said it's been redone "from floor to ceiling."

The renovations were made with the idea being to open back up on May 11th, but an amendment to Indiana's legal definition of what a bar is put up a hurdle to that plan.

"They threw an amendment in which said that bars were designated those places which cannot serve people under the age of 21," Young said. "Once they did that, it made it clear that I was not going to be re-opened."

With the success of the hog farmer partnership, Young said he might want to make it a permanent part of what Rumors has to offer. He said he is "thinking about" renovating the building further to include a dining area specifically meant to serve the barbeque. In the meantime, Young said he will continue to serve customers through curbside service until Rumors is allowed to open its dine-in service in June.

In the interest of transparency, Lance Young is ABC 57 First Warning Neighborhood Weather Chief Meteorologist Tom Coomes' uncle.