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Flora-Bama's longtime co-owner Pat McClellan has died, venue says. He 'built a legend.' 43%
By MARTHA SANCHEZ64%
7/24/2026, 10:16:00 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 17 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, Appeal to Emotion, and Unattributed Quote, with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 44.4% saturation with 130 hits. Analysis detected 572 faulty-reasoning hits from 293 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 46.8% and a BS Rank of 43% (12,475 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 57.00% of the article peer group.
Pat McClellan, who helped transform the famous Flora-Bama Lounge into a legendary Gulf Coast landmark, died at age 77 on Wednesday evening.
The venue announced his death in a social media post on Friday, saying McClellan died “peacefully in his sleep.”
“Some people own a business,” the post said.
“Pat McClellan built a legend.”
McClellan became a co-owner of the bar in 1984 alongside Joe Gilchrist, who died in 2022.
The partners transformed the roadhouse honky tonk into a hub for singers and songwriters around the region.
The venue also credits McClellan with creating its signature events, including an annual New Year’s Day plunge into the Gulf and the iconic Flora-Bama Interstate Mullet Toss.
Early in his life, according to the venue, McClellan spent four years as a public affairs and special services officer aboard the USS Lexington.
He later bartended, then became general manager at the entertainment complex Seville Quarter in Pensacola, Florida.
He also co-chaired Pensacola’s first Mardi Gras committee.
Partners John McInnis and Cameron Price joined the bar’s ownership in 2009.
McInnis told WEAR-TV in Pensacola on Friday that McClellan “just had a very kind spirit about him."
“He was not pretentious, wasn't overbearing and just a very kind man,” McInnis said.
“He was the life of the party — everyone just wanted to be around him.”
The bar on Friday honored the spirit it said McClellan helped cultivate.
“If you've ever thrown a mullet, toasted with a Bushwacker, danced barefoot to a band you didn't know you'd love, laughed with a stranger who became a friend, or watched the sun disappear over Perdido Key,” the bar’s statement said, “you've experienced a little piece of Pat's heart.”
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