I would like to applaud the efforts of Sen. Larry Bliss in help overcoming a major issue with the state liquor laws.

After taking over ownership of The Thomas Room, now called Events on Broadway, due to a limited category of licensing available for caterers and banquet facilities, the one license that best suited our needs would not allow us to cater and serve alcoholic beverages at events we wanted to run on our own.

In bringing this ruling to the attention of Sen. Bliss, he quickly looked into the ruling and agreed with us that the ruling was outdated and needed to be amended, not just for Events on Broadway, but for the many other individual banquet and events locations throughout Maine. In working closely with the Maine Restaurant Association and along with several meetings and conversations with the state Bureau of Liquor Control, legislation was adopted and became law this past spring allowing us to run up to 100 events a year without the need of being sponsored.

I would like to thank Sen. Bliss for stepping up and working closely with us to overcome a state law that would have prevented us from being able to run our facility and causing undue hardship in an already tight economy.

Kevin Fallen
South Portland