BUSINESS
Business 24
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | AUGUST 31, 2022
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@AhwatukeeFN
www.ahwatukee.com
Ahwatukee tattoo shop embraces suicide prevention BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor
T
erry ‘Wookie’ Hoffman, owner of Wookie Style Tattoos in Ahwatukee, knows firsthand the pain of loss from suicide. Between 2007 and 2017, he lost 12 people. Some were friends, others relatives. It is this experience that spurred him to begin a suicide awareness event when he opened his family-friendly tattoo shop, Wookie Style Tattoos, at 4142 E. Chandler Blvd. four years ago. Their fourth Annual Suicide Awareness Fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 17 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., midway through National Suicide Awareness Month. “Everyone in our shop has been affected by suicide,” Hoffman admitted. “I firmly believe before our generation, just talking about suicide was taboo. Nobody would
The team at Wookie Style Tattoos in Ahwatukee includes, from left, Terry “Wookie” Hoffman, Barbi Blattenberger, artist Kris Cagle and apprentice Megan “Kappie” Wilson. (David Minton/AFNStaff Photographer)
address the issue. “When I opened my own business, I felt I had a platform I could use at my discre-
tion, and I chose to do this event. Our kids, Tatum and Tanner, plus our nephew Tim, have helped every year because they’ve
been affected as well.” As in years past at this fundraiser, Wookie Style Tattoos offers free semicolon tattoos from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Walk-ins are treated to a tattoo black and white punctuation mark that has become a symbol of suicide prevention and mental health awareness. (A picture ID is required for any tattoo.) Wookie Style Tattoo’s co-owner and operations manager Barbi Blattenberger said the event has been a fundraising success since day one. “Since 2018, our annual fundraiser has been an amazing day of hope and healing for those affected by suicide, raising over $11,000 for charities,” she said, adding: “This year we will continue our mission to raise suicide awareness, remove the stigma associated with mental wellness,
see WOOKIE page 25
Rebounding from the pandemic, Thirsty Lion helping PTOs BY KEN SAIN AFN Staff Writer
C
handler’s Thirsty Lion Gastropub had just opened and was excited about its future at Frye Road and the Loop 101 freeway. And then the world shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Chandler had been open two weeks,” said Julia Thorn, the marketing director for Concept Entertainment, Thirsty Lion’s parent company. “So that was a pretty big hit, you know, to open and then have to close down.” Life isn’t quite back to normal, Thorn said, but it’s getting there. They recently opened two new Gastropubs in Texas and plan to open another at Westgate in Glendale in the fall of 2023. During September, Thirsty Lion will donate a portion of its sales to local parent/teacher associations (PTA) at area schools who register by the first week of
Julia Thorn, director of marketing for Thirsty Lion Gastropub. Thirsty Lion, has partnered with local schools to raise money for their parent teacher organizations with the return of their Dine-to-Give fundraising program. (David Minton/Staff Photographer) the month. The promotion is running at all four Valley locations, including Tempe, Gilbert and North Phoenix.
To participate, local PTAs need to be one of the first 10 to register with the Gastropub near them. Anyone who visits
a Thirsty Lion during September needs to tell their server they want to donate to that PTA. Asked if business is back to normal, Thorn said, “We’re hoping that fourth quarter that we’ll be back. It’s a new business normal.” Thorn said that some things from the pandemic will continue even when COVID-19 becomes a bad memory. For one, Thirsty Lion did not offer takeout or delivery service before the pandemic. She said they’ve had such success with it that it will continue. “We had a really great response for our managers and staff that wanted to come back,” Thorn said. “Of course, there were those that, you know, chose to go a different path during all of that. We struggle like everyone else with getting staffed back up.” Thorn said Thirsty Lion does about a half dozen charity events each year.
see THIRSTY page 25