The coffee shop stuck out like a Cadillac full of drag queens trying to park at a Ku Klux Klan rally. There was no doubt that the artsy, cultured space was out of place in the small town of Waldo (only 10 minutes North of Gainesville), a town famous for its flea market and speed traps. And there was no doubt it took guts for Roland Wise, a middle-aged, but youthful, gay man, to open up 301-24 Coffee right in the heart of its downtown.
Perhaps he didn’t know what he was doing? Or maybe he wasn’t familiar with the town?
No.
Actually, Wise grew up in Waldo and left the minute he was able. But he still chose to come back after 20 years, opening himself up to the scrutiny he’d fled years earlier.
After seven months, Wise has seen his fair share of controversy. Once, not long after opening, a tall man came in with a scowl on his face. He was the stereotypical rural resident - slightly clean cut with a Southern twang and set in his ways.
“Is this a gay place?” he demanded.
It took Wise only a split second to compose himself.
“Oh Lordy, I’m sorry, were you offended here?” Wise responded. “I hope no one offended you. It’s okay to be gay here, sir.”
“But I’m not gay!” the man shouted.
“It’s okay, sir,” Wise said, seemingly sympathetically. “We don’t pass judgment here.”
“I’m not gay!” the man insisted. “I just don’t know why ya’ll have to come to these small towns and stir things up.”
Wise assured him that if there was any place on this planet he felt privy to come “stir things up,” it was in Waldo.
“I’m from here,” Wise told the man. “And there ain’t much gay stuff going on. I mean, look around you, sir.”
Then the man stormed out of the shop in a huff. But a few weeks later, he was back. At first he just came in to sit down. Then he would spot a magazine on the coffee table that agitated him, like The Advocate or Out, and he would leave. Eventually he started ordering drinks, but never with a smile, just a tight grimace, as if he were participating in something dirty just by being inside the place.
Now he brings his daughter from time to time, visits the coffee shop regularly “wanting to talk politics, for God sakes,” Wise says laughing - a large victory in a small town.
After Wise graduated from high school, he went on to seminary, where they kicked him out for being gay after he confessed to a school counselor in confidence. He then moved on to get his bachelor’s in sociology and his master’s in counseling, but he didn’t see himself using these degrees.
“Instead of studying counseling, I should have been in counseling,” Wise said. “It would have been a hell of a lot cheaper.”
So he opened a landscaping company and later went into house refurbishing. All the while, he wrote as a freelancer, produced different forms of art and dabbled in the film industry.
But the death of Matthew Shepard (a gay college student brutally beaten and murdered in Wyoming) 10 years ago changed his life. Wise just happened to be in Washington D.C. when demonstrators, including Ellen DeGeneres, marched on the Capitol Steps seeking justice for Shepard. Ever since, he has dedicated his life to gay rights and advocacy.
Not long after the Shepard demonstration, Wise witnessed a hate crime first-hand and decided to do something about it. While driving in Denver, he saw a man in a military uniform pull a gun on a man parked along the street, screaming “fag” in his face over and over. Then the gunman shot the man. Repeatedly.
“I could not believe I was actually seeing this,” Wise said.
When the gunman jumped into his car and drove off, Wise hit the gas and chased him down, a chase that eventually ended in a crash totaling several cars and the ultimate arrest of the gunman.
“After that, because the victim was a prominent gay man in Denver, everybody knew me,” Wise said. “People were coming up to me and saying, ‘Aren’t you that guy who chased down that gunman?’”
This led Wise to become one of the founding members of the Angel Action Protest, an initiative dedicated to fighting hate-centered demonstrations like the one at Shepard’s funeral, which eventually led him to Los Angeles.
But soon Wise tired of his life in LA. So he ventured on a cross-country trip with a friend in search of a place to settle down. After searching in vain and trying on a variety of cities for size, he landed in his hometown - Waldo. Wise described seeing the old Bank of Waldo building for sale and everything just falling into place for him after that. He put his refurbishing skills to work and opened up 301-24 Coffee.
301-24 is much more than a coffee shop. It’s also an art gallery featuring different artists, a restaurant and a music venue. And it’s also a great study spot (free Wi-Fi) with plenty of space to spread out and get comfortable.
On Sundays, Wise serves all you-can-eat brunch (anything from omelets to chicken enchilada lasagna to pan-fried potatoes to breakfast quiche) for $12. On Saturdays, EVOLTUS and Speak Easy Productions host private dinners (by reservation only) in the courtyard, often with live music.
But Wise wants to keep the place intimate. He generally insists that customers call him the day before so he can prepare something special for them, especially vegetarians.
“It’s always good to know who’s coming out so I can make them what they want,” he said. “I mean why the hell want something if you can’t have it, right? I want to be here, meet people and infuse the place with the energy that it needs.”
Wise has big future plans for his life in Waldo. There’s a reality show on the horizon for 301-24, although he’s very secretive about the details of it. He also plans to run for public office in the town, but once again he’s short on the details.
“I don’t really expect to win anything,” Wise said. “But at least I’m making a statement. I guess right now you could say I’m gathering material for my E! True Hollywood Story.”
