SUNDAY 12/8: Free Holiday Movie ‘Elf’ at Palace Theatre
It’s holiday movie time at the Historic Palace Theatre with a screening of “Elf” on Sunday, December 8 at 3 p.m. This movie is free and open to the public. Come see this hysterical holiday favorite on the big screen. [Read more…]
COMMENTARY: I Remember Nelson Mandela
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
December 7, 2013
Rarely is anything printed in the Wave that does not relate directly to the Eastern Shore. But the passing of Nelson Mandela compels me to write about what he meant to me. I offer this commentary to those who may be interested, while recognizing that it is not for everyone.
Among the early accounts of Mandela’s death December 5 at age 95 was a striking quote from, of all people, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He said: “President Mandela’s life is the closest thing we have to proof of God.” I would call that an overstatement, but I agree with the sentiment that Mandela, at least within the group of people we label politicians, was heads and shoulders above all the others. Mandela was a modern statesman in a time when the word seems obsolete.
Somewhere in my old collection of VHS tapes I have the Sunday morning recording I made of Mandela’s release from prison February 11, 1990, after 27 years of confinement. At the time I was training for my upcoming assignment to South Africa as a political aide to the U.S. ambassador.
I arrived in South Africa in June, just four months after Mandela’s release from prison. The country was in a state of hypertension, with all races fearful that a civil war would shortly erupt. For more than a decade, the conventional wisdom had been that war was inevitable.
This was where Mandela showed his genius for toughness encased in humility. During the negotiations between his African National Congress and the white ruling government, his eloquence, humility, intellect, determination, and yes – sense of humor – eroded the white power structure’s long-held conviction that a black president would run their nation into the ground, just as they had seen happen in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. [Read more…]
’12 Days of Christmas’ Begins Friday in Cape Charles
CLICK ON POSTER FOR LARGER VIEW
By TAMMY HOLLOWAY
Bay Haven Inn
December 6, 2013
The 12 Days of Cape Charles Christmas kicks off today (Friday) with the 18th Annual Northampton County Chamber Holiday Progressive Dinner Tour where guests are treated to a Progressive Dinner Feast as featured in the December issue of Southern Living magazine.
Throughout the 12-day period, events will be offered that provide opportunities for people to celebrate, share, give, and unite. Many of the events are free or have a nominal charge. A bounty of offerings for children and adults alike such as Santa arriving via skiff during the lighted boat parade and continuing his journey via lighted golf cart parade.
Participants will follow a luminary lit path that culminates at Central Park for the GRAND ILLUMINATION, December 7.
Sunday afternoon, December 8, adults will not want to miss the Holiday Wine Tasting Event, where Gull Hummock Gourmet Food Market offers wine and food pairings, wine selections from “Women of the Vine,” and female wine specialists will showcase wine from four continents.
As the 12 days celebration continues the town kicks off the week of giving by declaring Monday, December 9, Random Act of Kindness Day. “We encourage residents to visit a friend who might live alone, send a card, buy someone’s lunch at one of restaurants in town or simply thank someone for the kindness they give all year long,” says Mayor Dora Sullivan. [Read more…]
LETTER: Watch Out for Right Whales
Click on photo to watch a YouTube video on the endangered Right Whale.
December 6, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
Now that the air and water has finally cooled, trucks and boat trailers overrun the parking lot and roads around Cape Charles harbor — sure signs that the rockfish season is now in full swing. This time of year also marks the start of the North Atlantic right whale calving season which begins in November and runs through April. The whales are now migrating from their normal habitat in northeast U.S and Canada to the south coast of Georgia and Florida. NOAA Fisheries reminds boaters to be aware of these whales, and to take precautions to avoid collisions. There are fewer than 400 left, making them the most endangered marine mammal in the world.
The right whale got its name from northeast whalers who called it “the right whale” to hunt. These mammals had large amounts of blubber, were very slow swimmers, and once harpooned, tended to roll over and float, making them easy to strip and clean. Chapters 93-96 in Melville’s Moby Dick describe capturing the whale and the process of cutting the blubber into sections and preparing it for rendering.
Adult whales average 40-55 feet in length, can weigh up to 140,000 pounds, and may live up to 50 years. They spend the majority of their lives in the zooplankton- rich waters off northeastern U.S. and Canada. (Having no teeth, they mainly feed on copepods, euphausiids, and cyprids). In the fall of each year pregnant females migrate south to give birth to calves that are 10-15 feet long and weigh up to 1.5 metric tons. After birth, the calves drink mother’s milk for 8 to 17 months.
The coasts of Georgia and Florida are the only known calving areas for right whales, and NOAA wants to raise awareness of their migratory patterns and movement. The biggest issue is that, even as it would seem easy to spot something as big as a whale, in reality it is very difficult. They are dark, do not have dorsal fins, and swim just below the surface of the water. The only way is to be keenly aware of any changes in the texture of the water surface. [Read more…]
FACT CHECK: Borrowing Will Raise Taxes, Water Bills
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The writer was an international economist for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC. Earlier as a newspaper reporter he and his wife were privileged to spend an afternoon with Nobel economist Milton Friedman and his wife Rose at their Vermont mountain home, where Friedman taught them about the “tooth fairy.”)
December 5, 2013
Our neighbor Wren lost his first tooth the other day and the tooth fairy gave him five dollars. But his mother says that’s a one-time thing; future teeth will get only 25 cents. So Wren is destined to learn that the tooth fairy is a variable and capricious spirit.
Meanwhile, Cape Charles Town Council has been told it can refinance current debt, borrow an additional million dollars, and save money in the bargain. Taxpayers have an opportunity to address Council tonight (Thursday, December 5) at a 6 p.m. public hearing at Town Hall.
Town Manager Heather Arcos advises that “the projected total debt service for both the refinanced loans and the new projects will be less than the Town currently pays.” She got that from financial advisor David Rose of Davenport & Company.
The Town is thinking like the customer for a new car who says, “I don’t need to know how much it costs – just how much the monthly payments are.”
At last Tuesday’s work session, Council member Mike Sullivan said he wants no tax increase and no utility rate increase. But he’s OK with borrowing more — “if we can finance improvements under the existing debt service.”
Council member Steve Bennett said, “Maybe we could have a tax decrease next year.” [Read more…]
Captains Recall Legendary Days of Eastern Shore Ferries
Captain Billy Ray Phillips, Captain Richard Belote, Jan Neville, Butch Baxter, and Ed Lewis at Cape Charles Museum.
By BILL NEVILLE
Cape Charles Historical Society
December 4, 2013
As a part of the Cape Charles Historical Society’s ongoing oral history project, the Cape Charles Museum hosted a gathering of ferry captains and historical society members for an informal session to interview and record the captains’ personal experiences, stories, and details of what it was like working on such legendary ferries as the Pocahontas, Princess Anne, Delmarva, Northampton, Accomac, Virginia Beach, and Old Point Comfort.
Present were Captain Richard Belote, Captain Billy Ray Phillips, and Historical Society members Butch Baxter, Ed Lewis, Bill Neville, and Jan Neville.
The group spent two enjoyable hours talking with the captains who grew up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and started their service with Virginia Ferry Corporation in the early 1950s. They worked through the transition to Chesapeake Bay Ferry District at Kiptopeke and finally to the Delaware River and Bay Authority in Lewes, Delaware, and Cape May, New Jersey, where they both retired in the 1970s.
Some highlights of the gathering included stories of witnessing the destruction of the “Big D” during the Ash Wednesday storm, which did great damage to the Shore in 1962. (The “Big D” was a huge piece of construction equipment used in building the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The remains of the wreckage still lie on the bottom adjacent to the bridge). The captains also shared interesting accounts of groundings, accidents, rough seas, scuffles with feisty sometimes “liquored up” passengers, and a tornado that went through Kiptopeke while a ferry was docking. [Read more…]
County Zoning Proposal Favors Highway Development
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
December 3, 2013
Northampton County is holding public information meetings December 4 and 5 on proposed changes to the zoning ordinance. The changes do not apply to the Town of Cape Charles, but would impact Town residents and merchants.
The County wants to eliminate overlay districts, including the Town edge overlay intended to protect the entrance corridor to Cape Charles. The changes would create a new 2.5-mile Commercial District along Route 13 and Route 184 at the Cape Charles stoplight.
Both the County and the Town are updating their comprehensive plans — the blueprints for community development, including economic development, education, and community services. The current comprehensive plans of both jurisdictions call for encouraging enterprise, development, and growth in towns. This would change to promote development on the highways outside of towns.
Northampton County Economic Director Charles McSwain acknowledges that both the County’s and the Town’s comprehensive plans call for driving commerce into towns and villages. “But the Comprehensive Plan is a living document,” he told the Wave, suggesting that it’s time to change it.
Meanwhile, the Cape Charles Planning Commission is reviewing the Town’s Comprehensive Plan and the Town Edge Overlay District, a product of the nearly forgotten 1991 Annexation Agreement between Cape Charles and Northampton County. But the Town Edge Overlay District will disappear if the new zoning ordinance is adopted. [Read more…]
REALTORS’ DREAM: Cape Charles Hits the Big Time
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
December 2, 2013
Is Cape Charles finally hitting the big time? Is the “best kept secret” finally out of the bag? That may depend on how many people nationwide saw the HGTV show a week ago Sunday. For those who missed it, the video clip above tells the story.
Glossy magazines like Southern Living (click here) and National Geographic Traveler (click here) have featured the attractions of Cape Charles during the past year and a half. So have the Washington Post (click here), USA Today (click here), and the Richmond Times-Dispatch (click here). But there’s nothing like a real nationwide TV show to seal the deal.
The HGTV show featured a Richmond family, the Outlands, who fell in love with Cape Charles and wanted to buy a beach house with a water view while prices are still low. Blue Heron Realty agent Eva Noonan was their guide, and showed them four properties. Click the screen above to watch the first four minutes of the show.
