Join us in this episode and step inside the Ray Gibson Caballeros Club with Tim Person (President & CEO) and Ms. Ellen Smith (Manager).In the 1950’s, two trailblazing African American men grew weary of exclusion from downtown Tacoma’s restaurants, concert halls and bars. They envisioned a member-owned, private club for the city’s Black community. A founders group next acquired real estate for this purpose in the form of an inconspicuous house on a dead-end street in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood on acreage heralding sweeping views of Mount Rainier. About twenty benefactors soon mortgaged their private residences to fund expansion of that building into the Caballeros Club as we know it today; with splendid spaces supporting diversified membership that includes women.If the “Cab’s” walls could speak, they would voice this episode’s heartwarming stories: Tales of dedicated civic leaders rubbing elbows at the downstairs bar for decades, of friends swaying to live music, of earnest charitable projects, of hearty food served with piquant cocktails…within a private Pacific Northwest haven abounding in joy and camaraderie.

"One of the things that makes us proud…is that it is our club—we are not renting the property. We’ve purchased it. So, it has the feeling of ownership; you are not going to take this away from us. This is ours.” ~Ms. Ellen Smith

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥.