Downtown Book and Video came to Winona in October of 1999. It is the only bookstore in Winona that offers sexually explicit material.
The city planning commission and the city council have attempted to draft and enact an ordinance that restricts adult businesses in the city while respecting the rights provided by the Constitution, but so far remain unsuccessful.
On any given day, Winona residents can see Frank Yakish around the downtown area holding a sign that says, “On 9/6/06 the pornography store’s time limit of 5 years has expired. When will it go?”
Born in Winona, Frank Yakish says he has always been fond of its surroundings.
He moved to Milwaukee for a few years and has traveled around the United States. His military experience brought him to a variety of places before he retuned to his roots of Winona, where he works for various cleaning operations in town.
Frank Yakish has been faithfully holding his sign for seven years with the support of his peers and local churches.
Yakish can be found year round for about an hour each day holding his sign outside of City Hall, the Downtown Book and Video store or across the street from Blooming Grounds.
“I try to go where there are a lot of people,” said Yakish. “Once in a while I will get another person to stand out here with me.”
Yakish hears verbal abuse on a daily basis, which he said is far worse near City Hall.
He said he mentally blocks out the words, but there have been incidents where his sign was taken out of his hands and one incident where a truck driver swerved to hit him as he was carrying his sign through an ally.
Yakish has had the police called on him once when he was standing in front of the actual store, but they cannot do anything because of the right to free speech.
Yakish first got the idea to protest the store after talking to his dentist about the changes Winona was facing with the store coming to town.
He also met and talked with the owners of the variety store that was located next door to Downtown Book and Video.
“The owners of the variety store had to sell. So many people kept coming in thinking it was the pornography store,” said Yakish.
Letters to the Editor were published in the Winona Daily News and the Winona Post concerning the Downtown Book and Video store. These letters also inspired Yakish to do something about it.
Yakish attended informational meetings about the issue at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church.
When the Community Bible Church moved across the street from Downtown Book and Video, they joined the quest to get rid of the store.
Yakish said three businesses have left the block of Downtown Book and Video since the store has moved in.
He plans to carry his sign every day until Downtown Book and Video leaves Winona.
“It takes a while…and many Supreme Court decisions,” said Yakish. “But [the sign] does give people in Winona hope.”

Questions or comments?
Contact Jessica at
JLLarsen0487@winona.edu