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But the Club 219 had recently closed, and C'est la Vie was struggling there were few customers, with about the only regulars being a few young gay black men who continued to put on occasional stripper shows. Shortly before his death, he had passed on management of the bar to Marty (Martin Belkin), who pledged to keep the business going for at least another year. In September 2005, after a short but serious illness, Clarence passed away. To keep up, the bar became less of a mainstream bar and became a speciality bar: its shows were either drag shows or young-men (almost boy) strippers. The neighborhood also became gentrified, with condos and art galleries moving into the area these detracted from the closed "gay neighborhood" feeling, and also greatly restricted availability of parking. The Club 219, which for a while was THE largest and most popular gay dance club in Milwaukee, was eclipsed by La Cage and the gay/lesbian bar to the south began to go through several ownership changes as well. In the 1990's the bar went into something of a decline, mostly due to the neighborhood. Within a few years however, both of those businesses moved out, partly because of the poor condition of that building. The 1980's also saw the bar's owner (Clarenece aka John Clayton) become something of a gay mogul in the city: he leased a building just to the south of the bar to both the Cream City Foundation as a community center space, and to the In Step newspaper. The August 1976 issue of the local "GLIB Guide" describes the business as follows: "Mixed traffic. Throughtout, the bar was also known as a pickup place for young boys being sought by older men and John's own prediliction of hiring the cutest and youngest men he could find certainly didn't detract from that reputation! The upstairs of the bar was also available for lodging, and many the young man saw his start in the gay community in Milwaukee by taking a job at C'est la Vie and living immediately above the bar. When there was a cover charge, it was modest compared to the cover charge of Club 219, and often included a drink in return- pretty much no cover if you had at least one drink. Many younger guys met up with friends or otherwise started the night at C'est La Vie for a few drinks (and maybe a look at the strippers or the drag show) before moving on the the dance clubs, primarily Circus-Circus or Club 219, and less frequently The Phoenix. It was during this period that the bar was most popular with a wide range of men. The bar had an active dance floor, good music, and a party atmosphere, with occasional shows. The bar's heyday was in the 1980's, when it was relatively popular and at the hub of an area of several gay bars (for many years it was one of 4 bars in a 1 block area: also including Gary's/ Circus/ Club 219 and BallGame, both just to the north, and The Phoenix just to the south). The C'est La Vie was founded and operated for many years by Clarence Germershausen, known to most in the community as "John Clayton". C'est La Vie- Bars and Clubs: Businesses in the History of Gay & Lesbian Life, Milwaukee WI History