Cape Charles Business Association Presents Fall Festival

fall festivalBy GEORGE PROTO
President, Cape Charles Business Association

October 5, 2013

“Oktoberfest, Products of the Shore” is the theme of this year’s Cape Charles Fall Festival next Saturday, October 12, from 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. downtown along Mason Avenue.

The festival is aimed at promoting the Town of Cape Charles and enlightening visitors as to the things produced on the Shore and in the immediate area of the Chesapeake Bay.

Various service organizations will be on-hand to publicize their activities and raise money to continue their valuable contributions to our community. Participating organizations include the Cape Charles Volunteer Fire Department, Citizens for Central Park, Cape Charles Christian School, New Roots Youth Garden, and Rotary Club.

An underlying goal of this festival is to establish a format on which the Business Association can produce future festivals as a way to provide ongoing education to visitors and others as to who Cape Charles is, what we make, and what we do.

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Various local craftsman and artisans will sell their wares on Mason Avenue, and there will be a Farmers’ Market featuring local products, as well as a competition for the best jams, jellies, pies, and pickles.

Activities include an Oompah Band, the Shore’s own strolling musicians Malcolm and Carol, Spectrum Puppets, Face Painting, Side Walk Chalk, and various Oktoberfest and Shore foods, plus beer and wine.

The live entertainment is made possible in part by the “Our Town” grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In addition, the Cape Charles Business Association has funded bringing the LOVE installation to Cape Charles in an effort to attract a wider group of visitors and spread our town’s name throughout the state. The LOVE display will be at the “Point” at the corner of Bay and Mason Avenues October 11-16.

The Fall Festival is the latest in a series of efforts by the Cape Charles Business Association to promote the Town of Cape Charles and assist in making this jewel of the Chesapeake better known and helping it grow in ways that benefit the entire citizenry.

Some additional recent efforts of the CCBA include:

— Supporting the new Cape Charles by the Bay website and Arts Enter “Our Town” project;

— Organizing various promotions to entice visitors to come to town and frequent our businesses. This includes merchant-provided incentives for the Blessing of the Fleet and for Cherrystone Campers, and running a storefront competition during the Pirates and Wenches Festival;

— Organizing a presentation by Bob Panek, Assistant Town Manager, on the proposed PSA Wastewater Treatment Line. The CCBA subsequently urged the Town Council and Northampton County Board of Supervisors to put the project on hold until numerous questions and concerns were addressed;

– Organizing a presentation by Charles McSwain, Northampton County Economic Development Director, on County plans to better understand Cape Charles’s place in them;

— Facilitating communication between the Town and its businesses and merchants; and

— Participating in various boards, including the ESVA Festivals, Our Town Grant committee, the Arts Walk, and, most recently, the Eastern Shore Space Tourism board.

The Town of Cape Charles is a vibrant, attractive place to live and work, and the CCBA wants to help it continue to grow and prosper. Our goal is to continue to work with the many other community organizations and individuals in town to help make Cape Charles the best that it can be.

The Cape Charles Business Association is currently seeking members. Membership is open to any individual or business interested in promoting and growing Cape Charles. Contact Miriam Elton at [email protected] for a membership application.

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2 Responses to “Cape Charles Business Association Presents Fall Festival”

  1. Deborah Bender on October 4th, 2013 10:49 pm

    So how many people with businesses in Cape Charles attended the Board of Supervisors meeting to fight the pipe? I could count them on one hand. The people that fought the pipe were the County business people that were in the line of fire — the people that own businesses in the “special tax district.”

  2. Bruce Lindeman on October 5th, 2013 8:22 am

    Mr. Proto, nicely done. Love seeing this passion and energy in promoting our little town. Promoting all that’s good with the place is what will sustain and help the town prosper. Events like this, the caring and feeding from our town businesses and those that support them — visitors and potential buyers look for this sort of community spirit and support. I know we did when we first came to town. Looking forward to the festival!