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Come Thanksgiving, folks sit around the family dinner table debating their preference for breast or thigh.

Turkey, of course.

But after dinner, maybe not.

Several local strip clubs report they keep their doors open at Thanksgiving. And many customers pay a late-night visit - when dinner's over, or when their families are too far away to reach.

"It's not a huge night for us, but it's worth our while to be open," says Gary Santabarbara, who runs Delilah's Den in Pleasantville.

As has been tradition since 1990, the club will open its doors at 7 p.m. Thursday - later than usual, to account for the dancers who have to duck out of their own family gatherings to get on the pole.

Time was, those spectator seats around the pole might have included Len Johnson.

"I know those clubs are open Thanksgiving - I know that for a fact," he says with a wink.

Johnson doesn't hang around strip clubs anymore - he's married, and he admits to being a bit of a homebody now. "I just like cooking, eating, then spending time relaxing after the meal," he said.

But back when he was single, relaxing might mean a trip to those gentlemen's clubs in Atlantic City.

"It makes sense - we'd wanna stay out late, get to a club and have a few drinks," he said. "'Cause the next day's Black Friday - and then you've got the whole looong weekend!

"You go there to celebrate. People ain't going to work the next day. So it's not like a regular Thursday."

Others say that's true - and not only for the preweekend party atmosphere. It's also because Thanksgiving can be a lonely time for many of the area's casino and entertainment workers - who work on or around the holiday and can't risk traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway to jet up north or interstate to visit distant family.

"I grew up here - but my co-workers can't get back home easily if the roads are jammed," said Johnson, who works at a casino.

Santabarbara says he's seen the crowd on Thanksgiving night reflect that.

"It's not bachelor parties - bachelor crowd is strictly weekends, really," he said. "If you do come in, what you'll find is it's often single people, mostly guys by themselves.

"They don't live near family, and that's one day of the year when everyone else is at their family's."

Not all clubs stay open on the holiday.

Mike DeCicco, who runs Volcanic Eruptions in Mays Landing, closes his doors on Turkey Day itself. But to grab the expected huge business, DeCicco will organize a second annual contest between 12 of the club's dancers Wednesday night. It's even got a Thanksgiving theme.

"They wrestle each other in pumpkin pie," he said of the event.

Contact Juliet Fletcher:

609-272-7251

JFletcher@pressofac.com

 

2 comments:

• strippersrhookers (1) posts 1:39 pm

  "Sorry I can't stay for dessert Grandma, I have to work tonight giving jelly tugs to married men for crack money."

• executioner1 (307) posts 11:51 am

  Who cares.Spend quality time with your family and community. Why print this piece of trash.

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