ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Former City Pier bait shop bartender Brian Blaine passed away on Aug. 4 at the age of 51.
The Bradenton resident is survived by his significant other of nearly four years, Jill Anderson. Brian, who never married, also leaves behind his 12-year-old daughter, Molly Ann Blaine, and his 18-year-old son, William Robert Blaine, both of whom live with their mom in Bradenton.
“He loved to take Molly to the Bridge Street Pier and she’d throw pennies at the heart-shaped rock in the water like a wishing well. She also loved going to the Moose with us. He loved that little girl like no other,” Jill said.
A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, Sept. 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Drift In in Bradenton Beach. Attendees are invited to bring a covered dish to share, along with their memories of Brian. Steve Paradis will provide the live music in honor of his late friend.
“The Drift In was like home to Brian. That was like family. We were there every day. We spent Christmas and Thanksgiving there. He loved that bar. Brian didn’t want a funeral service. He wanted me to spread his ashes at the City Pier and have a celebration at the Drift,” Jill said.
“Brian was a wonderful man and a good friend to all,” Drift In manager Doreen Flynn said.
Beer on the pier
Brian sold bait, tackle and beer at the City Pier bait shop in Anna Maria for about six years when Mario Schoenfelder leased the city-owned City Pier Restaurant and bait shop buildings. He was among those displaced from their jobs when the City Pier was closed in September 2017 and later replaced due to damage inflicted by Hurricane Irma, including the loss of the bait shop roof.
A few months later, on Thanksgiving morning, Brian, a former executive recruiter, and his former co-workers gathered at Bayfront Park to catch up and check in on each other.
“The pier is a magical place for us. It was my favorite place in the world. It’s the worst I’ve been paid, but the best corner office I ever had,” he said that day before passing out lottery tickets as holiday gifts.
The new pier opened in mid-2020. Under new management, the City Pier Grill and bait shop opened later that year but Brian never worked there again.
David Sork was the general manager of the old City Pier Restaurant and bait shop. He now works at the Ugly Grouper in Holmes Beach.
“Brian wasn’t nearly as interested in the fishing end of things as he was in entertaining folks and pouring beers,” Sork said. “We were a big family out there and a lot of folks became really good friends. We came together for a common objective: to make a living and have a good time. Brian was incredibly friendly. He built relationships with the customers and had a lot of regulars. He absolutely loved that job and he did it well. He’d serve you a beer and a smile and engage in conversation. He was a happy-go-lucky guy and I’m glad he walked into my life.”
In early May, Brian posted on Facebook a photo of himself, Sork and former City Pier Restaurant staffer Rockey Corby. He referenced Sork and Corby as “the two greatest bosses ever in my life.”
When discussing his final visit with Brian, Sork said, “Rock and I got together with Brian and Jill a few months ago at the Drift In. We had a good time and it was nice to reminisce and laugh. There was always a big smile on that boy’s face.”
Trevor Peres owns and operates the T-Bone’s Famous Smokin’ Bar-B-Que food truck at Keyes Marina. He also plays rhythm guitar in the famous death metal band, Obituary. After moving to Holmes Beach in 2010, Peres met Brian while fishing at the pier.
“The City Pier had that cool little bait and tackle shop with a bar where you could buy beer. He loved beer, I loved beer, he played guitar and I played guitar, so we hit it off immediately and became friends,” Peres said.
“Brian was cool and funny. When he was bartending, children would come over with their parents and he’d tell the kids knock-knock jokes. I found out he was from New Jersey so I started calling him ‘Jersey,’ and I’d say it with a New Jersey accent. He liked that,” Peres recalled.
Peres helped Brian record some of his own original songs at a friend’s recording studio near Lakewood Ranch.
“He was a huge Grateful Dead fan. I’m more Celtic Frost and Slayer,” Peres said of their differing musical tastes.
Peres, now a Bradenton resident, last saw Brian about a year ago at Danny’s Pizzeria.
“He was leaving and had a piece of pizza crust in his hand. Being silly like he was, he threw it at me and it hit my windshield. I never saw him again, but I talked to him on the phone two weeks before he passed.”
Love story
Brian was born in Newton, N.J. and grew up in nearby Sparta.
“He had some trauma and bad times and needed to get away. He got in his car and came here in 1998 and never left,” Jill said.
Regarding the bait shop and the pier, Jill said, “To him, that place was magical. He used to be a corporate headhunter. He made good money but it was high stress and he’d had enough. Working at the pier was the best job of his life and the happiest he’d ever been.
“We met at the Drift In on Oct. 23, 2020. By fluke, he was out at night. He was usually a day drinker. My girlfriend and I came on a trip from Nebraska. Our second night here, I walked through the back door of the Drift and he was standing by the women’s bathroom. I walked up to him, he put his hand out, I put my hand in his and said, ‘Hi, I’m Jill.’ He said, ‘I’m Brian.’ He kissed me and I fell in love right then and there.
“I took him to our Airbnb and we stayed up all night talking. He was so deep and I felt so comfortable with him. We had so much in common. It really was love at first sight and we were lucky to have found that love that most people don’t find in their lifetime.”
Jill returned to Nebraska, to her children, family and a successful hair and nail salon that included a boutique, tanning salon and massage therapy. Jill and Brian visited each other several times before she moved to Bradenton in August 2021.
“I’d been a hairdresser for 35 years, but I knew when I met Brian that’s who I wanted to be with the rest of my life. I didn’t want to spend 10-12 hours a day in a salon anymore even though I loved it,” she said.
“Brian loved the Grateful Dead and went to 49 of their concerts. He loved Jerry Garcia and that music helped him through hard times and good times. He loved “Ripple” and I played a lot of Grateful Dead songs the night he passed away at our home in Bradenton.”
Many years before he met Jill, Brian wrote a song called “Tonight,” which later became their song; and he played it for her at the District 10 gathering place in Linwood, Nebraska.
“Brian would come back to Nebraska with me to see my family and kids. He made so many friends there. He loved driving down the gravel roads and being around the cornfields.
“We were best friends, lovers and confidants. Neither one of us worked and we were together all the time. We had the most amazing and romantic times. He always described us as ‘One: Pure and true,’ and we were.
“Around 2019, he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. He had other health issues too. In 2017, he had that flesh-eating bacteria on his hand. He had neuropathy in his feet and gallstones. He was officially diagnosed with end-stage liver failure last October. A liver transplant was the only thing that would have saved him, but he believed the doctors were wrong and his body would bounce back. He knew deep down it was from the beer, but he enjoyed beer and what’s life if you can’t enjoy it? He never complained or felt pity for himself and he always said there’s people out there who have it far worse. He tried to see the good in people and he loved talking to strangers. Every day, he tried to do a good deed to make somebody’s day special.
“I always hoped I’d find true love like my mom and dad had. Brian and I only had four years together, but that’s what we had. I’m so thankful he was in my life. He was my world and always will be. I lost my life partner, my best friend, my everything. I feel such an emptiness,” Jill said.
