Cigar enthusiasts light up downtown street corner on Monday nights

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Cigar enthusiasts light up downtown street corner on Monday nights

Kevin Allenspach - October 18th, 2024

Ashley Green isn’t exactly sure when and where she first smoked a cigar, but she’s pretty sure she was 18.

“I think it was one of those Swisher Sweets, and I was probably trying to look cool with my friends,” said Green, now 36, who operates Green Thumb Etc., a corner shop in downtown St. Cloud, Minnesota that specializes in hand-crafted custom furniture and upholstery, as well as designer floral arrangements and giftware.

Ashley Green stands in front of her business Green Thumb in downtown St. Cloud.

Eighteen years after that first puff, she’s become a bit of an aficionado and unapologetic about what has become an occasional way to relax with friends.

“I don’t smoke cigarettes; I don’t vape, and I don’t smoke pot,” Green said. “There’s something peaceful and intentional about smoking a cigar. I’m not really doing anything to damage my lungs; I’m not inhaling, and it doesn’t alter my mental state.”

And she’s developed relationships, either among other business owners, shoppers or fellow golfers, to the point that she’s developed informal weekly meetings called “The Cigar Club” to which anyone, cigar smoker or not, is welcome to join. They began occasionally in 2022 and have since become a regular occurrence at 6 p.m. on Monday nights at the northwest corner of 7th Avenue and West St. Germain Street.

“We have more than a half-dozen regulars and many more people who will drop in,” Green said. “I’ve got some plastic patio furniture that I’ll bring out, or people bring their own chairs or sit on the sidewalk planters or even just stand around. We like to just socialize or contemplate all the issues in the world.”

Ashley Green stands in front of her business Green Thumb in downtown St. Cloud.

Green Thumb Etc. is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Mondays are slower for downtown traffic, and some other businesses aren’t open. For Green, who is the sole staffer at her shop, Cigar Club provides a way to relax toward the end of a workday and contemplate the week ahead with friends and even strangers she calls the “coolest cats in town.”

Her store is filled with greenery in the front and her furniture workshop is in the back. In the middle, is a selection of gifts — including a display of cigar accouterments, like cutters, humidors and lighters — even bar glasses specially spun with a notch in the side to hold your stogie.

Participants have to supply their own cigars. Green said popular places in the area to find quality stocked humidors include Cloud Tobacco and Vape and Smokin’ Deals. She would love to see St. Cloud open a shop like Tobacco Grove in Maple Grove. That’s the closest place she frequents where customers can not only buy cigars but there’s a dedicated and spacious lounge where they can light up seven days a week.

“I’m not sure if something like that could work in St. Cloud, though I don’t see why not,” said Green, a city resident with two teen children. “I think some of the regulations changed in recent years when you started to see hookah bars pop up. I know if you’re going to have people smoke indoors there has to be special venting. One way some places get around that is to form a private club. That’s certainly not on my radar, but (Cigar Club) is a way we can enjoy ourselves and, as long as the weather cooperates, it fits in well with the people who come to my store. I like to spend a lot of time here because I like my work. I’d like to cultivate a ‘Cheers’ sort of atmosphere where everyone is welcome.”

Cigar Club is set to convene at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21, (when the forecast is for partly cloudy skies and early evening temperatures in the 60s) and again on Oct. 28 (when the weather will be similar, albeit perhaps 20 degrees cooler). November gets to be dicey and the meetings usually go on hiatus during the winter but pop out again in April and through the summer and fall.

“Ryan Schepp (owner of Cream City Tattoo) is one of our regulars, and there have been times when we’ve sat out there with hats and mittens or even snow pants,” Green said. “Some people don’t even smoke, but they enjoy the conversation and like to remember what it smelled like when their grandpa smoked a cigar. And we’ll get people who will just walk by and join us. If they want to smoke THC or anything else, we tell them to keep on going. Otherwise, it’s just a very relaxing time to socialize.”

Green invites anyone interested in Cigar Club or who wonders whether it’s on because of the weather this fall or in the spring to contact her via her Facebook page.

Source: https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2024/10/18/st-cloud-business-owner-creates-cigar-club-meeting-weekly/75724671007/