WEEKEND: Plantation Creek Inlet

Plantation Creek Inlet

Photo by Ron Wrucke (Published November 23-24, 2013)

ORAL HISTORY:
Lloyd Kellam Recalls Growing Up in Cape Charles (Pt. 1)

Lloyd Kellam remembers "the way we were" in Cape Charles. (Photo: Connie Morrison, Eastern Shore News)

Lloyd Kellam remembers “the way we were” in Cape Charles. (Photo: Connie Morrison, Eastern Shore News)

November 23, 2013

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  The Cape Charles Historical Society has for more than a decade been recording oral histories of the area’s earlier days.  In 2002, as one in a series of lectures sponsored by the Cape Charles Library entitled “The Way We Were,” Cape Charles native Lloyd Kellam shared the following account.  In 2012, funded by a grant by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the recording, along with 14 others, was transcribed. The Historical Society has now made it available for readers of the Wave. All the transcriptions are also available for reading at the Museum.  In Part 1 below, Mr. Kellam recalls the German P.O.W. camp in Oyster, as well as the day a Cape Charles policeman accidentally shot and killed Mrs. Barban.  Mr. Kellam, now 79, is a long-time pharmacist who reopened his Shore Pharmacy this year in Exmore.)

My name is Lloyd Kellam. And those of you who lived here knew me before as “Brother.” Some guys in here knew me as “Sly.” Those were some of my nicknames. Everybody here during that time had a nickname, and I mean everybody! I can’t think of some people’s real names!

But anyway, it’s hard to do this, but it’s easy. One of the reasons is that I’ve had this love affair with Cape Charles all my life. And I just can’t seem to shake it, it’s like a good woman, I guess. But my thoughts of Cape Charles are maybe not the same as yours because you’re going to see my memories through a child’s eyes. I think my thoughts begin when my father went in business downtown and stopped when I went to college. Daddy opened his business in Cape Charles downtown in 1938. We had an apartment over the store. A lot of things I’m going to tell you, you’ll have to visualize. We had an apartment and when we were in the living room we looked out and saw the ferry traffic. We saw the steamers. We saw the ferries’ comings and goings. [Read more…]

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SUNDAY 11/24: Yard Sale on Strawberry Street

Yard Sale — 208 Strawberry Street, Cape Charles, 9 a.m. Sunday, November 24. Mostly kitchen items, some tools, some books, plus odds and ends.

OLD SCHOOL: Messages From and To the Mayor

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is a message from Mayor Sullivan reprinted from the November 20 Town Gazette. It is followed by a message to the mayor from Old School Cape Charles.)

November 21, 2013

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

I am pleased to report that the Supreme Court of Virginia has rejected both petitions for appeal of the decisions rendered by the Northampton Circuit Court filed by Old School Cape Charles, et al. We are looking forward to the developer now moving ahead with the historic rehabilitation of the former school property into an asset that contributes to our economy.

I am hopeful that we can continue to move forward in improving our Town.

Thank you,

DORA SULLIVAN

MESSAGE TO THE MAYOR FROM OLD SCHOOL CAPE CHARLES

The wheels of justice grind slowly, and Old School Cape Charles LLC has not given up the fight to save Central Park property from the hands of a developer who would turn the largest public building in town into an apartment house.

Old School Cape Charles still has the option of requesting the Supreme Court to review the decision of the Writ Panel that rejected our appeals. The question of “standing” looms large in the rejection. Circuit Court Judge Revell Lewis ruled that a community group formed for the sole purpose of saving a public asset does not have standing to question the decision of Town Council. Judge Lewis also decided that he did not have jurisdiction over the case involving the sale. So Old School Cape Charles plans to ask the Supreme Court to review the decision of the panel.

Then there is the question of the Town staff’s ignoring Historic District Guidelines which state that a parking lot should not be allowed in front of the building. Madame Mayor, you have refused to identify the front of the building, but we believe that the Virginia Department of Historic Resources will be able to locate the front even without your assistance. [Read more…]

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THURSDAY 11/21: Town Council to Review Sewer Plans, Old Library, New Trail

Cape Charles Town Council meets 6 p.m. Thursday, November 21, at St. Charles Parish Hall. On the agenda are updates on the PSA Regional Wastewater System, former library building, and multi-use trail. [Read more…]

SATURDAY 11/23: Tool Mania Raffle at Cape Charles Fire Station

3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, November 23: Cape Charles Volunteer Fire Department’s 8th Annual Tool Mania. [Read more…]

SUNDAY 11/24: More Beethoven Sonatas at Palace Theatre

Join Arts Enter Cape Charles November 24 for the second of three classical music concerts featuring 10 sonatas of Beethoven for piano and violin, presented by Dora Mullins and Stefan Dulcie. Each concert will take place at the Historic Palace Theatre, 305 Mason Avenue. [Read more…]

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: Artisans Guild Open Studio & Vineyard Tour

Artisans Guild Open Studio & Vineyard Tour Thanksgiving weekend 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. [Read more…]

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