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A Good Time Is Brewing

JAY CONNER/staff

Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse stained glass hanging near the entrance inside the coffeehouse located at 4819 E Busch Blvd.

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By LENORA LAKE, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 23, 2008

Updated: 01/21/2008 08:34 pm

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NORTH TAMPA - Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse owner Karen Lowman plans a new tack with the 11-year-old business that runs on coffee and creativity.

She hopes to have the coffeehouse designated as a nonprofit educational and cultural center. She also would like to move to a location that is bigger than the current 1,800-square-foot space at 4819 E. Busch Blvd.

"Even though we have been for-profit, we haven't made a profit," said Lowman, 40, who started the business at age 29. "Nonprofit would create more possibilities and better reflect the purposes we serve in the community,"

Lowman said the coffeehouse is "a space where everybody's welcome, and it fosters their creativity. The coffee is just a prop."

Sacred Grounds, which hosts events such as musical performances, poetry readings and group discussions on social and political issues, also provides a meeting place for knitting and crochet groups.

The coffeehouse includes reading areas with sofas, a library with a meeting table, aquariums, eclectic displays of art and a coffee bar, where tea, coffee, shakes, lattes and orders of veggie wraps are prepared. Most items range between $4 and $6, and a one-drink minimum is requested.

"The couches are threadbare," said Lowman, a Seminole Heights resident, "but it's stuff you don't see that means something to people."

To assist with the costs of applying for nonprofit status and other expenses, a fundraising concert and poetry reading, Mango Fandango, is set for 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday at the coffeehouse. A covered-dish dinner is part of event, where all participants are donating their time and talents.

Ed Lehmann, 53, who hosts a folk music show Saturday mornings on radio station WMNF, 88.5 FM, is coordinating the event.

Lehmann also is a bass player for Parson Brown, a folk-rock group that will perform at the fundraiser. This will be the group's second appearance at the coffeehouse, having participated in the 11th anniversary show Nov. 11.

"For local singers and songwriters, it doesn't get better," said Lehmann, a Terrace Park resident, who by day is the purchasing manager for Palm Harbor Homes.

"Hopefully we will raise a little money and bring some folks here that haven't experienced it."

Joe Ferrandino, known as "Dr. J," host of a '60s music show on WMNF, will open the event by playing guitar. It will close with a performance by the Pickford Trio, a bluegrass trio of members from the group Pickford Sundries. Performers throughout the evening will include Rebekah Pulley, Kevin Spivey and Happy & Patty. James Tokley, Rhonda J. Nelson and others will give poetry readings.

Ferrandino, a University of South Florida professor of rehabilitative and mental health counseling, said venues such as Sacred Grounds offer "unique, alternative performances. They are places were people can play guitars and jam."

A Lutz resident, Ferrandino said such places "brings more soul to culture."

On a recent Sunday evening, Elizabeth Donelan, 18, of New Tampa, visited Sacred Grounds for the Reiki Circle, an energy-healing group.

"It's so peaceful, beautiful and restful here," said Donelan, a college student, who said she likes alternative and natural therapies. "I love the coffee here, and I love the environment."

Lowman said that with the nonprofit status, she wants to start a food cooperative to help people buy vegetables at lower costs. She also would like to have classes in growing and preparing vegetables.

"I never gave Sacred Grounds an option to fail," Lowman said. "I probably put in 20 years of work in the 11 years."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse

WHERE: 4819 E. Busch Blvd.

WHEN: Opens daily at 6 p.m. and stays open until 1 a.m. Monday through Friday and until 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. A special event, Mango Fandango, is from 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday; there is a suggested donation of $10 (free for children accompanied by an adult and $5 for college students); attendees are encouraged to bring a covered dish to share.

INFORMATION: Call (813) 983-0837 or visit www.sacred groundstampa.com.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Share your thoughts on visiting or performing at Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse by visiting northeast .tbo.com and clicking on "View Forum" to the left side of the page. Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 865-4851 or llake@tampatrib.com. Share

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