In a bustle of organized chaos, cafe owner Caitlin Cunningham and event hosts Drew Anderson and Hannah Anderson rearranged tables and chairs in preparation for The Dandy Lion Cafe’s first open mic night. The event was held at the Ashland cafe Friday evening.

Cunningham, before starting the business, was a public schoolteacher for 10 years. They said they aim to provide a safe space and resources for “anybody who comes into the community and feels lost.”

The hope is that no one will walk out of the cafe without “learning something new or growing as a person,” Cunningham said.

Before beginning renovations in 2021, Cunningham gutted the cafe, located off Main Street, “completely, all the way down to the two-by-fours.” The space that was once a “handyman shop” has since evolved into the eclectic space it is today.

Cunningham stressed the importance of cultivating an atmosphere where acceptance and imperfection are not only welcomed, but encouraged.

“It’s really nice that there’s food and beverages here,” Cunningham said, “but the real purpose of the Dandy Lion … is that we’re here to connect with the community and to provide a safe space for those who maybe haven’t felt like they could connect with the community to now have a place to do that.”

Throughout the evening, attendees ordered drinks and offered up rounds of applause to individuals brave enough to perform. The Dandy Lion also on Friday worked with the Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services to offer optional mpox vaccines to those who wanted one.

Mpox, a viral disease, is caused by a virus related to the one responsible for smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include fever, chills, headaches and other respiratory illness.

Two registered nurses with the health department, Christy Thompson and Gayanna Kinkade-Bohlmeyer, set up a table offering vaccinations and informative handouts. To decrease some of the stigma associated with mpox, the nurses said they were open to having conversations with community members to address their concerns and questions.

“It’s good to be aware but not just afraid of everything,” Thompson said. “You don’t get it by just passing by one another, sitting with people, having normal interactions like we’re having right here.”

Although Thompson and Kinkade-Bohlmeyer stayed at the cafe for more than an hour, no one opted to get the vaccine. Nevertheless, they left flyers and offered to come back to other events in the future. Kinkade-Bohlmeyer said they would return when people begin to express more interest in the vaccine.

With roughly 40 guests in attendance, the space was near capacity. While various musicians performed songs, both originals and covers, Cunningham worked the bar, offering a variety of local beers, coffees, sodas and mixed drinks.

Although the cafe’s laid-back, open ambiance put customers at ease, Cunningham recognized the growing threats that exist to spaces of acceptance like the Dandy Lion.

“There’s a loss of our third places. We have work, we have home, and then we have these third places, and there’s a loss of those right now that’s only being exacerbated by the pandemic, and now all of this hate and vitriol,” Cunningham said. “If you don’t have the light, then the dark takes over, right?”

As part of the LGBTQ+ community, Cunningham said they “live in fear all the time.” For them, a “safe space” means that “anybody who comes in those doors automatically feels welcome and that they are in no danger at all.”

They want to continue to be a presence in the community, regardless of that potential for violence. Cunningham said this offer of a safe space applies to same-sex couples looking for a place to be openly affectionate, parents searching for resources on neurodivergence, transgender people seeking community and everyone in between.

“If one life can be made better or easier, or there can be a slight breath of relief from the community as a whole that, ‘OK, at least we have some representation. I have a place I can go if I really need to.’ Then that’s something,” Cunningham said. “That’s the success. That’s the goal there.”

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