Love was truly in the air as Cape Charles celebrated the 50th anniversary of Virginia’s signature slogan “Virginia is for Lovers.” The Summer of LOVE events, sponsored by Cape Charles Main Street, was made possible by funding from the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the many hours given by dedicated volunteers.
“This was one wild and crazy summer,” said Karen Zamorski, Program Director for Cape Charles Main Street. “In only 4 months on the job, I saw a remarkable group of people come together to deliver an incredibly fun-filled summer celebration of Virginia’s 50 years of Love. This was shown in the generosity of those who donated to so many worthy causes.”
The LOVEfest kickoff was held on July 6 with fun activities including a decorated VW van for a photo op, games and toys for the kids, a special offering of the Cape Charles Brewery’s “Love Lager” served in a one-of-a-kind event cup and tee shirts and other memorabilia for sale including raffle tickets for a “Summer of LOVE” cornhole game . CCMS partnered with Citizens for Central Park to offer great dance music performed by The English Channel, a rollicking band playing hits of the 60’s and 70’s.
With almost 20 entries, a “Summer of LOVE” golf cart parade made its way through town on July 11. Loads of spectators lined the streets to watch the fun unfold. The parade ended at the beach as the crowd mellowed out for a sunset celebration and beach bonfire.
In August, the fun continued, with the Art-filled weekend which included an open-air painting event that culminated with an Artist Reception and Awards Ceremony at the Cape Charles Hotel. A “Sip & Dip” event was held at the Northampton Hotel, and the annual “ART Rocks the Inns” wrapped up the weekend with a Summer of LOVE twist.
Throughout July and August, the community was entertained at the Palace Theatre by free movies from the 1969 era. Thanks are extended to Lemon Tree Gallery, The Oyster Farm at Kings Creek, Love + Rosemary Catering, Cape Charles Distillery and Eastern Shore Signs for sponsoring these fun movies which threw us back in time!
Love was shared all around as residents, visitors and businesses made generous contributions to the “Hearts for LOVE” and “Virginia is for LEARNERS” Summer of LOVE campaigns. These contributions went toward helping keep the signature Cape Charles LOVE sign looking sharp and toward providing classroom supplies to the schools of Northampton County.
Thanks are extended to the many Cape Charles businesses who raised over $930 in $1 donations for the LOVE sign. Special recognition goes to Chuckletown, Periwinkles, Love Letters, and Kelly’s Gingernut Pub whose support resulted in the largest portion of the total collected.
Through the many open-hearted donations to the “Virginia is for LEARNERS” campaign, we, once again, saw the LOVE generously shared. Through the school supply drive, 20 boxes of supplies were collected and delivered to the schools of Northampton County (two elementary, one middle and one high school). Thanks to Rayfield’s Pharmacy, Brown Dog Ice Cream, Periwinkles, Cape Charles Candy Shop, Cape Charles Library, Town Hall, Trinity Methodist Church, Emmanuel Episcopal Church and the ART Rocks the Inns locations who hosted collection boxes. Additionally, $630 in monetary donations was collected, including $200 raised by the Ellen Moore Gallery through the raffle of an original Love Birds painting by Jeanne F. Goodman. The money will be used to purchase more supplies for the teachers who, this year, will have to spend significantly less out of their own pockets to help their students obtain necessary supplies. Mike Myers, Northampton High School Principal, spoke for all the schools and teachers when he expressed thanks “for sponsoring the Virginia is for LEARNERS campaign. Teachers often spend their own money to support their students in the classroom. The Northampton High School teachers appreciate the donated supplies as we open school. Thank you, Cape Charles Main Street!” Similar sentiments were shared by Subrina Parker, Principal of Kiptopeake Elementary, when she thanked “all who donated in order to support our young learners! It is greatly appreciated and will be put to great use as we continue to build future leaders.”
With all these events plus the LOVE mural, sporting of 60’s flowers, jewelry and other decorative items personally and on golf carts, special promotions offered by Cape Charles businesses, photo ops all around town and LOVE, in general, shared throughout, we all agree with Karen Zamorski that the Cape Charles Summer of LOVE “was an accomplishment that will be hard to top.” Thanks, again, to all who helped to make this happen.
By visiting the CCMS Facebook page, stay tuned for more Cape Charles Main Street events which are right around the corner.
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