We had the good fortune of connecting with Barry and Lisa Butler and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Barry and Lisa, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Tarpon Springs Florida is a Greek town. It’s motto is “visit Greece without leaving Florida”. It is also one of three designated Bahamian communities in Florida. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrants from both countries came to Tarpon Springs to harvest sponges and made the town the largest source of natural sponges in the world. A sponge blight and synthetic sponges seriously dented the natural sponge market in the mid 20th century, so the town turned to tourism. Tarpon Springs now welcomes over 1 million tourists to town each year.
The Tarpon Springs Distillery embraces this history. Our main distillery location is a converted sponge warehouse and our barrel aging house is a 130 year old church originally built by Bahamian spongers. We give tours and tastings to our visitors that include a discussion of the rich history of our community. We also make specific spirits to honor our past. The label on our award winning Papou’s® Ouzo tells the story of Stephen Katzaras, who opened his sponge business in our building in 1945, and the Greek sponge industry. Our Anclote® Conch Shell Rum label has the story of the Bahamians who came to Tarpon Springs and harvested sponges using long poles with hooks. Many of these men are buried in the historic Rose Cemetery, in graves marked only with a conch shell. We use these products to educate people, but also to give back to the community. We donate money from each bottle of ouzo sold to AHEPA, a local and national Greek philanthropic organization. We donate money from each bottle of rum to the Rose Cemetery Foundation.
We believe that honoring the past and our diverse culture helps people forget their differences and find common ground. Our world could use a lot more of that right now.
CLICK HERE to view the article.