Grandma Helps "Grandparents Happy Hour" Bill Get Passed in MN

Photo: ViewApart/Depositphotos (Not a photo of the actual people in the story.)

A glass of wine goes down easy for a lot of people across different demographics. This, of course, includes many seniors, who enjoy a little merlot or some chardonnay on a sunny afternoon. An 82-year-old woman named Anita LeBrun is one such wine lover. When the grandmother learned her Minnesota nursing home couldn’t offer her her favorite Barefoot Pinot Grigio, she got to work. Now, she has helped pass a law allowing her state’s assisted living facilities to serve alcohol.

LeBrun’s fight began last year, when her nursing home, Amira Choice Champlin, wanted to throw a party with some sparkling wine. However, they needed an additional liquor license for that, which would run from $1,000 to $6,700 annually. And according to the Minnesota House of Representatives, there wasn’t even a liquor permit that suited the facility’s particular situation.

While the residents could still drink their own wine, LeBrun wanted the nursing home to be able to serve alcohol, believing that seniors in assisted living deserve to the same rights and options as anyone else. Despite not considering herself a public speaker, she pled her case at the Minnesota state legislature, where she addressed the lawmakers twice. “Just because we’re older and live in assisted living doesn’t mean that we should have fewer freedoms than anyone else,” she said before the Minnesota House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee.

LeBrun also spoke to the state’s Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, listing the benefits alcohol has to people her age. “My friends and I love happy hour just like many of you do, I’m sure,” she said. “Over a shared drink, we get to reminisce about parts of our life, military service, raising a family, the loss of a friend, and celebrating the golden phase of our lives, too. Allowing our facility to coordinate this happy hour affords us and our families the peace of mind that we can enjoy life but not be out slipping on the ice to stop and get our own box of wine.”

With her efforts, LeBrun got a bill provision known as the “Grandparents Happy Hour” passed. Part of a larger liquor bill named SF2511, it was signed into law by Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, during a visit to Amira Choice Champlin. “Growing older shouldn’t mean giving up the freedoms you’ve enjoyed your whole life,” Walz wrote on Instagram. “Today we toasted to Minnesota’s new law allowing nursing homes to serve alcoholic beverages to residents—whether it’s birthdays, anniversaries, happy hours, or everyday moments together.” As for LeBrun, she just said, “Today we raise our glasses, not just for happy hour, but for independence.”