‘Festive Fridays’ Deliver Old Fashioned Holiday Feel

By SARAH GOLIBART
Cape Charles Wave

November 21, 2014

Cue the song by Little River Band “Reminiscing.” The song is playing on a Friday night, just as a guy is walking his girl home, a frequent happening in small towns like our own Cape Charles.

If only there were more events to walk your girl or guy home from in Cape Charles!

“Well, I want to tell you, Cape Charles, I want to plan my schedule around you. Tell you that it’s true. I want to make you understand. I’m talking about a holiday plan!”

Calling all Cape Charles residents! You too can walk through the park reminiscing — after “Festive Fridays” that is.

“Festive Fridays” will take place on six consecutive Friday evenings beginning November 21 through December 26. This is your chance to enjoy an old-fashioned, small-town holiday experience, including shopping, delicious food and drink, entertainment, seasonal decorations, and plenty of good cheer.

Each Friday from 5-8 p.m. enjoy events like horse-drawn carriage rides, special deals at restaurants, refreshments, and special promotions at local merchants. Get into the holiday spirit by following the luminaries lighting the sidewalks of Cape Charles while enjoying holiday caroling and appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus. Even the “Love” sign will be front and center in town and decorated for the season. Don’t miss your chance to make new memories in Cape Charles that you’ll reminisce about for years to come.

More Rezoning Opposition at Supervisors Meeting

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

November 17, 2014

Northampton County residents again turned out for a Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday, November 12, to raise concerns about proposed zoning ordinance changes that have been the center of controversy since they were presented to the public last spring. All but one of the dozen speakers requested the withdrawal of the rezoning proposals. Only local Realtor Bill Parr, who as chairman of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee helped to influence the proposed changes, spoke in favor of going forward with the zoning code rewrite. [Read more…]

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LETTER: ‘Open Season’ on Central Park Cats

November 17, 2014

DEAR EDITOR,

Keep your kitties inside! Evidentially there was a complaint filed with the Sheriff’s office by a woman who was disturbed by the cats in her yard. Consequently, the Sheriff’s office and Animal Control are actively hunting cats in the Cape Charles Central Park area. No animal is safe — it is open season on Cape Charles cats. If you are missing an animal you need to call Animal Control in Onley at 757-787-7385 to identify the animal and produce evidence of rabies vaccinations to reclaim the animal. [Read more…]

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Christian School Dedicates Multi-Use Heyward Hall

By TAMMY HOLLOWAY
Cape Charles Christian School

November 17, 2014

Since 2010, the Cape Charles Christian School has operated in a beautiful stone building, the former First Presbyterian Church of Cape Charles, built in 1925. Recently the former sanctuary was renovated and made available for the first time in the school’s daily activities. Now known as Heyward Hall, the renovation created a multi-use event space which will bring new life to the former sanctuary while maintaining and respecting its historical bones. Heyward Hall’s beautiful and very functional space will also be available for wedding ceremonies, meetings and conferences. [Read more…]

St. Stephen’s AME
Oldest Church in Town Celebrates 125 Years

November 17, 2014

St. Stephen’s AME Church held their 125th Anniversary Celebration Sunday, November 16. The guest speaker was the Rev. Timothy Johnson, pastor of Bethel AME Church in Eastville. St. Stephen’s African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest surviving church structure in Cape Charles, according to the National Register of Historic Places. The building was constructed in 1885 as Bethany Methodist Episcopal church and originally was located at the corner of Monroe Avenue and Plum Street across from the Cape Charles School. [Read more…]

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Forum on County Rezoning Draws Full House

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

November 10, 2014

Speakers at a community forum on the Northampton County Zoning Ordinance last Thursday called for the Board of Supervisors to withdraw the proposed ordinance changes being considered.

Some 140 residents braved the rainy evening to  attend the forum in the Eastville Fire Station Bingo Hall sponsored by Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper and Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore. County Supervisors Granville Hogg and Rick Hubbard were among them. When asked when the supervisors might vote on the proposed changes Hogg answered, “I don’t know.”

Audience sentiment clearly supported withdrawing the proposed zoning changes. But one attendee, Katherine Campbell, bravely asked to speak in favor of the changes and was given three minutes. She said her concern was that the county needed economic development and that the zoning changes would lead to a more prosperous county. In response, panelist Roberta Kellam noted that everyone is interested in a more prosperous county. Kellam questioned how the zoning ordinance’s proposed ban on single-wide mobile homes could benefit low-income residents. “Will developers build affordable homes or waterfront homes?” Kellam asked. [Read more…]

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GUEST EDITORIAL: Withdraw the Proposed Rezoning

By DONNA BOZZA
Executive Director
Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore

November 10, 2014

Some 140 citizens gathered last Thursday at the Northampton Community Forum in Eastville to hear an explanation of the proposed countywide rezoning and some of the changes versus our current zoning. Volunteering their time and expertise, the panel included several trained, experienced Virginia State certified citizen Planning Commissioners, a scientist and Director at the University of Virginia’s Coastal Research Center, and a real estate broker of 40 years.

As co-sponsor of the event with Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore was encouraged by the large attendance. Clearly there is a thirst for additional information about the proposed zoning.  The lack of knowledge, confusion, and alarm residents expressed concerning the new zoning proposed is another indication that the county has not done an adequate job explaining the changes proposed. [Read more…]

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WAYNE CREED
Great Atlantic Sturgeon Making Comeback

By WAYNE CREED

November 10, 2014

In 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed the Great Atlantic Sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act. This is usually bad news, but since sightings and spawning grounds were so rare, the fact that there was enough sturgeon left to even warrant the declaration is a good thing. Two years later, we find that they are once again spawning in the Chesapeake Bay just outside the James River.

A bit of a homecoming, the fish was critical to the first English settlement at Jamestown, and was noted by inhabitants as the “founding fish.” Historians and archaeologists unearthing the history of the Jamestown colony have called the sturgeon “The fish that saved Jamestown.” During a period known as “The Starving Time,” it was the one food source available to the English colonists that kept them alive. Because of their familiarity with the sturgeon species from the Thames River in England, they knew how to catch and cook the fish. [Read more…]

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Donna Bozza Is New CBES Executive Director

November 1, 2014

Donna Bozza is the new executive director for Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore. She succeeds Denard Spady who is retiring after nearly 20 years as director.

CBES, a non-profit organization formed 26 years ago to promote balanced growth in Accomack and Northampton counties while enhancing the quality of life for all citizens and preserving natural resources.

Bozza will be the first CBES executive director to serve full-time, which is being done to expand the organization’s role and effectiveness. The change to full-time work mirrors the move made recently by Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, which was initially established by CBES.

“We have been fortunate in being able to hire, as our Executive Directors, two people of exceptional qualifications: Jay Ford, who became the VES Executive Director and Shorekeeper last November, and now Donna Bozza, the new Executive Director of CBES,” said Jack Ordeman, board member and past president of CBES and president of Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper. “We are confident that both organizations will increase their influence and better fulfill the goals of their Mission Statements under their capable and inspiring leadership,” he said. [Read more…]

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LETTER: Why Do County Taxes Go to Baltimore?

October 31, 2014

DEAR EDITOR,

Where is our County Treasurer, Cynthia Bradford, these days — is she in the State of Maryland or in Eastville, Virginia?

We are instructed to send our real estate taxes to Baltimore, Maryland. That’s approximately $50 million total. Why should those funds be deposited in Maryland instead of a bank in Virginia that is under the jurisdiction and scrutiny of our state?

As a taxpayer, I care where my money is being held. [Read more…]

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EXTRA: County Won’t Drop Seaside Protections

By KEN DUFTY

October 28, 2014

Northampton County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday (October 27) to reverse an earlier decision to remove the protections of the Chesapeake Bay Protection Act on the lands east of Route 13 and adjoining the Atlantic, otherwise known as the seaside.

At a March 11 public hearing, dozens of residents and former officials expressed overwhelming concern that removal of the protections of the Chesapeake Bay Act on the Seaside would have a profound adverse impact on the aquaculture industry, which is among the largest on the eastern seaboard. The CBPA requires increased setbacks for structures and septic systems, and calls for a vegetative buffer to protect the sensitive aquatic ecosystem from nutrient loading that could result from agriculture and wastewater runoff. [Read more…]

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