Stella Burlacu Awards:  December 11, 2004

The Stella Burlacu Kick Ass Awards are coming to St. Louis, after a successful debut in Austin, TX, during January of this year. Twelve of the SBKA Awards will be given out at a public reception at Downtown’s vibrant Gallery Urbis Orbis on Saturday, December 11.

Celebrating those who contribute to the community on a regular basis, without always receiving just due, the Stella Burlacu Awards are named after a remarkable St. Louis woman. The Awards, though, were founded by Austin writer Spike Gillespie, a St. Louis expatriate. She met the namesake due to Stella’s working at a Webster Groves coffeeshop, one of her multiple jobs.

As Spike says, “Sometimes up to a year, or even longer, will pass between my visits to Stella. So I’ll see her for three or four days and then not. And surely she waits on thousands of people per year. But she never, ever has forgotten me. I walk in after being gone a long time, she sees me, she doesn’t hesitate, she lights up, she clasps my one (usually cold) hand in her two hands and asks how I’ve been. And then tears spring to my eyes at this small kindness and I can hardly tell her what I want. At some point, I decided I wanted to start the Kick Ass Awards in Austin, where I’ve lived for fourteen years now.

“So last winter, to celebrate my 40th birthday, I decided to turn the tables and celebrate other people, people who make a difference in my life and in the community but who don’t always get recognized for it. I designed this trophy at my local trophy shop; on one side of the pedestal is a horse’s ass and on the other is a karate guy. For the first awards, I had maybe 15 or so made and my friend Erin wore an evening gown and I announced the winners and it was a really big time. At the start of the ceremony, I told the story of Stella. By that time, I’d found out more about her. Hardships in Romania, the loss of her first husband… which just made Stella’s kick assedness all the more kick ass. I sent her a trophy, too.”

In that spirit, the St. Louis nominees for the 2004 SBKA Awards are an interesting, entertaining group, representing achievements in the arts, civics, nightlife, commerce and culture.