Patio season long and lucrative

The longest-running patio weather -- seven months -- is finally over. John Kolevris, owner of Saffron's -- the biggest patio restaurant on the Corydon strip, says, "I had the best year in 24 years of business. It was very warm in March -- and I had double the usual sales that month. Except for a cool spot in April, it stayed warm until mid-September."

With eight heaters in the fall, he got seven full months of Winnipeggers on his deck at Corydon Avenue and Hugo Street.

"But it is really finished now," he says. "One day it was 20 degrees -- and now we have England weather," he says of the clouds and cold rain this week. Kolevris says he noticed other changes on trendy Corydon this summer -- a much younger crowd after 9:30 p.m. "And it was quieter. No crime this year!"

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Osborne Village will see hundreds of wild things in fetish costumes on Saturday night streaming to the Ball -- formerly the Black 'n' Blue Ball -- at Ozzy's, 160 Osborne St. The BDSM crew and wannabes will celebrate the biggest dress-up bash of the year -- several hundred at the Halloween Ball in the basement of the Osborne Village Hotel.

Why the big numbers? Curiosity-seekers can slip in unnoticed, wearing sexy Halloween costumes. Gawkers without costumes are discouraged by a $40 surcharge at the door.

Not for the faint of heart, many people wear breezy outfits and leather gear, some have whips and chains, love slaves on leashes and total masking for well-known folks, who have gone underground for the night.

Ball newbies discover unisex washrooms, an expo of special-interest tables and toys and erotic spankings for a price. One indignant spankee in the lineup at a previous ball was heard to complain: "I've been waiting 40 minutes for my spanking!" Doors open earlier, but few creatures of the night show up until about 9:30 p.m.

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HELLNIGHT: A week later in the same venue, on Oct. 27 at 8 p.m., the Winnipeg Goth gang celebrates with a costume Halloween party called After Dark's Hellnight 2012. Local Goth devotees, such as alternative model Michael X, who has eyes tattooed on the back of his head, are spending megabucks importing kinky costume pieces from cyberspace this month.

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Patio season long and lucrative