CAPE CHARLES MIRROR

Reflections on Cape Charles and the Eastern Shore

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Wetlands Board discusses progress at Cape Charles Beach

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Last year, the Cape Charles Town Council tasked the Wetland and Dunes Board with coming up with a series of Beach Management recommendations. The main concern was how to manage the sand and the rising height of the dunes. Since that time, a few recommendations have been implemented. Town Council held a joint meeting with the Board on Thursday June 29th to get an update on the beach’s progress.

According to the Wetlands Board, they have walked the beach during the winter, and few times during this summer season. This integrated approach to beach management has led to several best practices and a list of further recommendations including:

1. The swale at Madison and Monroe needs to be addressed, possibly with more fencing, or even a grass island construct.
2. Volley ball courts need to be moved—they are too close to the dunes.
3. Modify beach grooming—mechanical cleaning should stay several hundred feet from the base of the dunes to give beach grass a chance to take hold.
4. Move trash cans closer to the water (grass issues again)
5. More sand fencing during the winter, to help slow sand movement.
6. Make the entrance at Jefferson narrower.
7. Create elevated walkways at every entrance (they only approved method of beach access via dunes).

According to chairwoman Ann Walker, the goal is to keep as much of the sand on the beach as possible, and in the process, create on single dune from the north to south end of the beach. The dune system should be low and wide, supported by a mature system of beach grass. Dealing with a dynamic system like a beach, a strong dune system is the only way to manage erosion, and protect town property (the boardwalk and Bay Avenue) from large scale storm surge.

As was noted several times, this is a process that will take time to implement. The town has added $40k in additional funding to help this along.

Grasses taking hold on Cape Charles dunes (Mirror Photo)

Swimming Advisory Issued for Cape Charles Beach

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ADVISORY ISSUED FOR CAPE CHARLES BEACH

(Nassawadox, Va.) The Northampton County Health Department has issued a swimming advisory for the Cape Charles Town Beach in Cape Charles Virginia. Recent testing conducted by the Virginia Department of Health showed that bacteria levels in the water exceeded the State Water Quality Standards.

Recreational waters are monitored for bacteria using indicator organisms such as enterococci, the indicator of choice for estuarine and marine waters. “The coastal waters of Virginia are generally very clean, and we test them frequently to confirm this,” said District Health Director, David O. Matson, M.D., PhD. “On the occasions when waters do fail to meet the standards, we need to protect public health by letting residents and visitors know.” Signs have been posted at the Cape Charles Town Beach alerting the public of the advisory.

The sign reads:
Warning! Swimming Advisory
Bacteria Levels Do Not Meet State Water Quality Standards
Swimming Not Recommended Until Further Notice [Read more…]

Annual East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic, Crabby Blues ready to celebrate our blue crab

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On Saturday, April 8, local restaurants and the Culinary Institute of Virginia (CIV) in Virginia Beach will be hosting the 9th Annual East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic. The event will take place at 4thStreet Park at the Ocean Front.

Image: http://www.deadliestcatchfan.com

According to Greg Burroughs of CIV, “The blue crab is the iconic representative of all that is great about this amazing resource that is our home. Being a good steward, responsibly harvesting and celebrating blue crab is as much a duty as it is a birthright for locals and those like me, who by longevity, have come to think of ourselves as locals.”

While this is all well and good for folks across the bay, the 6th Annual Crabby Blues Festival presented by Cape Charles Christian School will take place on May 20th from 3:00 to 8:00. Cape Charles Central Park will be filled with music, food, art vendors, bouncers/inflatables and LOTS of fun for all ages! For more information on our festival, or to be a vendor or sponsor, please call Debbie at 331-1717 or email questions@capecharleschristian.org.

Cape Charles HGTV Beachfront Bargain Hunt!!! Finally! Will Air April 2nd 8:00PM

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The latest episode of HGTVs Beachfront Bargain Hunt, Down by the Chesapeake Bay will air April 2nd at 8:00. This episode was shot in Cape Charles.

Phillip and Jordan love visiting Cape Charles, Virginia, with their three young sons. Located along the Chesapeake Bay just 90 minutes from their home in Suffolk, Cape Charles is the perfect place to visit the beach and relax. Wanting to take advantage of the small beach town feel and historical charm, this family is seeking a historical beach home with a budget of $375,000.

Board of Zoning Appeals questions legitimacy of Watch House on Salt Grove

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Salt Grove, a quiet section of Cherrystone Creek, known for its bucolic peace and beauty, has in recent months become the scene of turmoil, tumult and even assault. The Virginia Marine Resource Commission and the Northampton County Wetlands Board have weighed in with fines for gross environmental violations at the site. The Northampton Board of Zoning is the latest entity to be pulled into the conflict. Thornton Tayloe, who owns property adjacent to the Salt Grove “complex” owned by Eyre Baldwin and Salt Grove, LLC appealed the decision of the zoning administrator to grant a zoning clearance for a “watch house” for the purported shellfish grounds on the property owned by Salt Grove LLC.

Luxury accommodations for the watch stander at Salt Grove.

The structure had been used as an event/vacation rental sometime in the past, however the 2016 zoning ordinance removed that use, which prompted the owners to submit an application for a new use as a shellfish watch house. The definition for a watch house is somewhat slippery, if it even exists at all. It was noted during the BZA hearing that there was occupancy by a caretaker, or watchman where he might sleep over on the premises. The county zoning administrator Melissa Kellam stated that the county was careful that the structure would not be considered a residence or have a residential use. “I thought a watch house might be some place where a person watches over a property, like a caretaker, so I did keep this in mind if there are sleeping quarters, it cannot constitute a residential use,” Kellam said. [Read more…]

This Super Bowl Sunday: Remembering Cape Charles’ Johnny Sample

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As America watches this season’s Super Bowl, we would like to remember Cape Charles’ own Johnny Sample, who played a major role in the New York Jets drubbing of the 3 touchdown favorite Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. During the game, Sample intercepted a pass, stopping a Baltimore Colts drive at the 2 yard line, and then asked the receiver “Is this what you’re looking for?” Later in the game, Baltimore Coach Don Shula confronted Sample claiming he had pushed a receiver over the Colts’ bench. In his face, Sample told Shula, “I wish I had pushed you over the bench.”

Johnny Sample (Associated Press Photo)

While becoming the prototype NFL cornerback (he was big at 6’1” 210lbs), he defined the pressing, bump and run style of pass defense.

In his 1970 autobiography, Confessions of a Dirty Ballplayer, he writes of growing up in segregated Cape Charles, the son of John B. Sample, a barber, and Evlyn Sample, a stenographer–and having to cross the hump to get to the “Colored” Rosenwald School.

As an athlete, he was outspoken about the rights of black players in the NFL. His views may have cost him some playing time. After leaving the Colts over a fine in the 1961 preseason, he believes that led to his being blackballed after the 1965 season.
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Fridays at Lemon Tree Gallery presents Champagne: Thelma and Erika Peterson and Carol Butler

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Fridays at Lemon Tree Gallery presents Champagne: Thelma and Erika Peterson and Carol Butler.

Free admission. Complimentary refreshments/ Cash bar.

Champagne is a lively all girl band comprised of Erika and Thelma Peterson, a popular mother daughter duo from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and good friend Carol Butler, a well known musician from Norfolk, Virginia.

Each member brings to the stage their own unique individual style as singers and songwriters, which when blended together, creates a highly spirited, fun filled performance, featuring strong vocals, solid instrumentation and tightly woven harmonies, a trademark of the group.

With a wide range of styles and songs, Champagne pours their heart and soul into familiar cover tunes as well as their own original material, resulting in a richly diverse presentation and interaction with their audience.

Effort to Revive Harbor for the Arts Festival has Failed

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An effort to bring back the summer Harbor for the Arts festival has failed. Arts Enter, under the direction of Chairman Hank Meyer, along with the Citizens for Central Park acquired $1000 of taxpayer funds from the Town of Cape Charles to go towards a “proposed” Virginia Tourism Leveraged Grant of $2500 which was to be used for a revival of the festival.

In order to submit an application for the VTC Leveraged Grant, Arts Enter had to come up with three primary partners. It could not do so. This rebuke comes on the heels of a rejection by the ES Birding and Wildlife Festival last spring. Arts Enter, after learning that the Birding and Wildlife Festival had broken ties with Cape Charles based Eventacular, attempted to swoop in and take over where Eventacular had left off. The Birding and Wildlife Festival, apparently not anxious to rebound with another Cape Charles organization, vigorously rejected the Arts Enter offer.

While for the Harbor for the Arts Festival may be on hold, Citizens for Central Park are moving ahead with the “Concerts in the Park” series. Arts Enter Chairman Hank Meyer states in a letter to the town that the cost to continue the series is over $10,000, and requests that the town taxpayers provide funding to make up the shortfall. Monies will have to be allocated from the General Fund. In the letter, Meyers labels the concert series a ‘major tourism program’.

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Coach House Chef wins Chowder Cook-Off with Unique Creation

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Head Cook Ramon Soto. Also, Chef Jason VanMarter of THE LOCAL, in Cheriton who took the 2nd Place award.

Head Cook Ramon Soto and Assistant Manager Jon Bloxom spent nearly a week creating a special New England style Seafood Chowder recipe. On Sunday, December 11th they took their perfected Chowder to the Oyster Farm’s 12th Annual Chowder Cook-Off. Their creamy Chowder was filled with clams, shrimp, crawfish, crab meat and sea scallops and topped with shaved salmon, bread crumbs and parsley. It was a huge success as the Coach House Tavern defeated 11 other restaurants to win 1st Place – Judge’s Choice and 3rd Place – People’s Choice. All proceeds from the event went to the Cape Charles Fire House. The Silver Spoon trophy is now on display in the Tavern and the Seafood Chowder will be added to the regular Menu after the holidays.

ACCOMACK COUNTY SCHOOLS REVIEWs THE BAN OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

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“Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.” —U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)

Nice thought, but even in 2016 Atticus Finch and Huck Finn have to deal with complaints. A formal complaint has been filed in the Accomack County Public School system against the use of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The appearance of a “racial slur” in both works is the basis for the complaint. Atticus and Huck will have to wait on the sidelines while a “committee” hashes this out.

huck_finnAs was reported by Hillary Chesson of the Eastern Shore News, “Marie Rothstein-Williams, a white parent of a biracial child who attends Nandua High School, spoke at a Nov. 15 Accomack County School Board meeting against the use of the books “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” in Accomack County classrooms and libraries.“I keep hearing ‘This is a classic, this is a classic.’ I understand this is a literature classic but at some point I feel the children will not or do not truly get the classic part, the literature part — which I’m not disputing this is great literature — but there is so much racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past that.” Rothstein-Williams stated that the nation is divided as it is and she teaches her son that he is the “best of both worlds,” and doesn’t want him to feel otherwise. “There’s other literature they can use,” she said. “We’re validating that these words are acceptable and they’re not acceptable by no means.”

While Ms. Rothstein-Williams’ offers a somewhat fragile argument, it is a legitimate concern, and as such, the Accomack County Public School system must address it, putting them in a fine, if not original mess. While part of the argument focuses on “validating racism”, the core premise of those advocating for such a ban would be that children may be harmed if we don’t protect them from this inappropriate material.

Is this censorship, and are books and other curriculum protected by the U.S. Constitution?

The American Association of School Administrators and the American Library Association define censorship as: “[T]he removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials — of images, ideas, and information — on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of standards applied by the censor.” As the new GE commercial says, almost every idea, at one point, has proven to be objectionable to someone.
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