In a world without Jimmy Buffett, parrotheads keep up the music, and the giving

“We got a good reason to cry and we got a good reason to party,” Lucy Buffett told a cheering throng Wednesday evening at The Hangout. “Welcome, Meeting of the Minds, to Gulf Shores 2023.”

The 31st Meeting of the Minds, a gathering of an expected 3,000 Jimmy Buffett fan club members from around the country, had just been called to order by Billy Brehm, president of Parrot Heads in Paradise. As the opening remarks were made to a crowd that packed the Hangout courtyard and the restaurant itself, a band stood ready to launch into a tribute set of Buffett cover tunes. But for a few moments, it was all about gratitude and giving back: Gratitude to Buffett for the escapist idyll he’d shared, and demonstrating that charity was as much a part of his legacy as pleasant beachy fantasies.

Brehm himself opened with a note of thanks: “He is the reason we party with a purpose,” he said. “He’s the reason we have clubs. He is the reason we get together and we live the lifestyle we live. So for all of that, we always have to look up and thank Mr. Buffett for all the years. Thank you.”

A representative of USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park was on hand to lead a moment of silence, and to talk about the two planes Buffett had donated to the park, with his identity as the donor kept secret until after his death on Sept. 1.

But the late sister’s singer had the warmest welcome for the crowd. She said she spends part of her time in Key West, where the Meeting of the Minds was long held, and that she’d been surprised and thrilled to hear a year ago that it was relocating to Gulf Shores, at least for 2023.

When she opened her original LuLu’s restaurant 25 years ago, it was parrotheads who “helped me get through,” she said. They then supported her move to Gulf Shores, where LuLu’s became a destination dining and entertainment spot. “It’s the parrotheads who have always supported me and this area,” she said. “So I hope for the new people who are seeing this area [for the first time] that you go, ‘We’re coming back.’”

“One thing that I do know is that Jimmy would be so, so thrilled with all of the love that has been expressed and how he had touched so many lives including mine, including so many people that you never knew,” she said. “He touched those people’s lives and his legacy are all of you, and how we live our lives. And he was very emphatic about having a good time.”

Jim Brogren, Midwest regional coordinator for Parrot Heads in Paradise and the president of its charitable arm, the Lone Palm Foundation, surprised the head of Buffett’s philanthropic Singing for Change foundation with a $10,000 donation. The presentation provided a window into the emphasis on charity in Buffett’s world.

“This is something that is at the core of every single parrothead is a desire to give back,” said Judith Ranger Smith. “And I, and I don’t know whether you guys know this, but I helped write the charter of the parrothead clubs and I asked that volunteer service be part of the charter. But I had no idea that you guys would become this massive nation of do-gooders. And I’m just, I’m about to cry, this is so awesome.”

A few minutes later, the band kicked into “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” the first of many Buffett tunes to come over the course of the next few days.

The Meeting of the Minds continues through Sunday. The three main venues are The Hangout, LuLu’s and the Flora-Bama, though performances and other related events take place at additional venues. Most of the performances and other events at the Hangout are open only to registered attendees, but the Flora-Bama, Lulu’s and other participating venues will remain open to the public. The public also is welcome to take part in charitable activities such as a 5k and fun run fundraiser for breast cancer research, taking place Saturday morning, and ongoing blood drives.

A full schedule of events can be found at motm.rocks. On-site registration also is available, with general registration starting at $172.22.