WESTHAMPTON — The sale of alcohol has been banned in Westhampton at least since Prohibition. But that hasn’t stopped Outlook Farm owner Brad Morse from brewing and selling beer and wine.
But he’s no bootlegger. Morse is licensed as a farmer-brewer by the state, which means he’s allowed to sell the beverages he makes on his farm — despite Westhampton’s status as one of only eight dry towns left in the state.
Customers can take home bottles of various alcoholic beverages, from hard ciders to peach wine, from the farm at 136 Main Road.
But now Morse wants visitors to be able to enjoy his brews on-site. And for that to happen, the law must be changed.
Residents at Town Meeting on May 14 will vote on a measure that would allow Morse to get a pouring permit issued by the town that would allow him to serve his beer and wine on his premises.
The Select Board will hold a meeting at Town Hall at 8 p.m. Monday, where Morse will deliver a presentation explaining his business plan.
Morse’s effort comes after a long history of prohibition against serving alcohol in the town of 1,600 – and the many attempts in the last 50 years to lift the ban.
Morse said he does not intend for Outlook to become the center of Westhampton’s nightlife scene. Instead, he hopes to serve his products at the farm’s monthly Sunday festivals and at special events such as weddings.
If a majority of residents approve the article, the Select Board would petition the state Legislature to pass a law authorizing Westhampton to grant Outlook the pouring license. Morse would be unable to transfer that license to any other person or location.
Morse said he sees beer and wine as another agricultural offering, similar to his apples or sausages.
“If you take the alcohol out of it, we’re just putting another farm product out,” he said in an interview in Outlook’s peach tree grove Thursday. “It’s another way to be a viable farm.”
Morse’s current effort is much different than the many other attempts to make Westhampton wet. The town is becoming a rarer and rarer breed, as many communities have in recent years opted to bring in alcohol after outright bans.
As of 2012, the alcohol-free towns in western Massachusetts are Alford, Hawley, Montgomery and Mount Washington. There’s Dunstable in Middlesex County and Gosnold and Chilmark in Dukes County, which comprises Martha’s Vineyard and neighboring islands.
In 2000, there were 20 dry towns in the state.
The question whether to begin issuing beer and wine licenses to retail stores in Westhampton appeared on nine election ballots between 1968 and 1994. The efforts failed each time.
Town historical records indicate that alcohol has long been controversial in Westhampton, according to Gazette stories.
Residents in an 1863 Town Meeting voted that there should be no liquor agency in town, directing the Select Board to pay off the liquor agent and dispose of all intoxicating spirits.
But two years later, Thomas Davenport was appointed to that position — and his wares were to be used strictly for medicinal, chemical or mechanical purposes. And it was at an 1889 Town Meeting that residents voted 73-2 that the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor to be used as a beverage be prohibited.
Prohibition’s 13-year nationwide tenure began in 1919 with the Passage of the Volstead Act.
After the ban was repealed, the question of whether to allow alcohol sales in Westhampton automatically appeared on ballots during statewide elections until 1966.
A law passed that year required that a petitioner gather signatures from at least 10 percent of a town’s registered voters in order to have questions placed on the ballot.
After two earlier failures, the 1974 attempt failed 258-78 with a 70 percent voter turnout. That was the first of a string of attempts many by various owners of the now-empty Loudville Store on Loudville Road. It was long the only retail store in town, a slot now filled by Overlook.
The 1980 referendum was sponsored by Peter “Red” and Alice Buscemi, who bought the Loudville Store two years earlier.
If it passed, the town would have been granted two licenses for beer and wine, which Red Buscemi argued would be a great economic tool for the town.
He said that it would bring business into Westhampton and help residents who were forced to drive at least five miles to the nearest store save money on gas.
The measure failed 344-189. The failures continued in 1982 and 1984.
Opponents at the time argued that the licensing of package stores was a step toward granting full liquor licenses to retail stores and the opening of bars and restaurants, would increase drunken driving and make more work for the town’s small police force.
Several residents said they feared the proliferation of neon lights.
Those for lifting the booze ban argued that it would help bring tourists into town during the winter months and make things more convenient for town residents.
Meantime, Buscemi said it would bring much-needed business to his country store.
The Buscemis sold the business in 1985 to Germaine Motyl and Bonnie Emerson of Easthampton and Marie LaBrie of Southampton.
A joint effort emerged in 1986 by the owners of the Loudville Store and the Morses of Outlook Farm.
David Morse led another attempt in 1988, which was defeated 466-254 with a 92 percent voter turnout.
By that time Westhampton’s population had grown such that five possible licenses were on the line.
Brad Morse picked up the tradition in 1990, though he failed to even get the question on the ballot after he came five signatures short of the required 10 percent of registered voters.
The last attempt was in 1994, again led by Morse, which failed 412-246.
Richard and Janice Tracy were vocally opposed to several of the past efforts to bring alcohol to Westhampton. As the question has changed this year, so have their opinions.
Richard Tracy said when he first heard that Morse was selling beer, he thought it was OK because he was making it himself.
As to whether he supports Morse’s effort to get a pouring license, Tracy said he’s unsure.
“I’d have to think on it and see if it will ultimately be detrimental to the town.” Tracy said. “I don’t think being dry has hurt the town in any way — so why change it?”
Tracy said he recognizes that people still drink in Westhampton, but he says alcohol hasn’t caused many problems in town thanks to it being dry.
His wife, Janice Tracy, said she’s willing to weigh the pros and cons of Morse’s proposal, though she’s concerned the pouring license could be a step on the road to more alcohol in Westhampton.
“I like a dry town,” she said.
Resident Tad Weiss, who moved to Westhampton some 25 years ago, said he would likely vote yes on the proposal if Town Meeting was held today, though he’s not strongly for it.
He said he’s concerned about the effect that having alcohol available in town would have on traffic safety, especially for young people — but he’s not sure if there would be a link.
“I don’t know how much that would affect safety in town, just because all the neighboring towns are not dry,” he said.
And Weiss said the unsightly parts of his walks through the town’s otherwise pristine forests provide small reminders of the fact that dry Westhampton is not immune to the negative effects of alcohol.
“I walk in the woods all the time and we’re forever picking up beer cans and beer bottles,” he said. “All of those are coming from neighboring towns.”
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com