Town Turns Out in Support of Old School Cape Charles
Several hundred folks came out on a rainy Saturday night to enjoy local musicians, steamed crabs and clams, and support Old School Cape Charles.
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
July 22, 2012
Outside was wet and cool, but inside Wendell Distributors on Madison Avenue last night, the crabs were hot and the crowd was happy.
The occasion was a fundraiser to support Old School Cape Charles — the local group that has sued the Town over its pending sale for $10 of the old school, basketball court, and playground parking lot at Central Park.
A private developer intends to convert the school into an apartment building, but Old School Cape Charles is trying to block that with legal action. The group instead wants to turn the old school into a community center.
Several hundred folks paid $20 each for a night of local music, dancing, steamed crabs, clams, and corn, baked beans and more.
Freshwater Frank (Frankie Russell) and the Fish warmed up the crowd, followed by Heather & Nathan, Melinda & the Benders, and The Wrecking Ball.
Normally staid Cape Charles very nearly faced two competing festivals at the same time. Last week’s Applaud the Sun street party was rescheduled, due to weather, for the same time as the Old School Crab Feast. But Chamber of Commerce officials yesterday postponed the street party once again due to rain.
“Everybody’s here,” enthused one attendee — “except I don’t see a single member of Town Council.” But at least one Council member was certainly there: Frank Wendell, who provided his company’s warehouse for the occasion. Too bad about the others, because Council members are known to enjoy a good party.
And last night was a good example of how a community can enjoy a rainy Saturday night — if it has a community center.
Want to relive the party? Watch the 10-minute video below, featuring Heather and Nathan’s knockout rendition of Mustang Sally/Proud Mary.
Where’s the CCW report on the public meeting with the Echelon developer?
That was Sat morning at 10:00 AM.
Quite a turn-out for that event also.
To answer the question above, a report is in the works on the Echelon presentation. But the music was better last night, so we burned the midnight oil in order to showcase the festivities for our Sunday morning readers. And by the way — this is a good time to emphasize that the Cape Charles Wave depends on local volunteers. If you’d like to help out, you would be welcome! Send your letters, photos, and articles to [email protected]. Thank you!
GREAT FUN!
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.. objective journalism at its best .. Seeing that the audience response to the Echelon presentation was resoundingly favorable, don’t hold your breath waiting for the Wave’s report …
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.. obviously, a community center isn’t required for Saturday night enjoyment .. :-))
I don’t think anybody objecting to the OSCC proposal or lawsuit is against a “reasonable cost” community center .. but “reasonable cost” and “old school” just don’t go hand-in-hand. Anybody with an ounce of common sense and knowledge of remediation/renovation costs can recognize that …
In response to Mr. Wrucke’s comment, the Wave is pleased to note that the anticipated report on the Echelon presentation was published at 4:20 p.m. today — 14 minutes BEFORE he cautioned you not to hold your breath. The report even includes Mr. Wrucke’s question to the Echelon speaker.
Pardon our gloat, but we couldn’t find an emoticon to fully express it.
And ask the Chamber of Commerce if they would have cancelled their dance and fish fry two weeks in a row were there a community center to use in case of rain.
(But all kidding aside, we LOVE our readers and LOVE comments — so keep them coming!)