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Janet Brookman of Spotsylvania enjoys listening to the Claire Lynch Band during |
James Monroe High School's football field was transformed yesterday into a palm-tree-filled concert venue, as JM alum Mark Newton brought five bluegrass bands together for an event to raise money for the school's athletic program.
Eight JM graduating classes set up tents at the event for their reunions, and hundreds of other visitors set up lawn chairs on the football field to hear the show.
The question of how this and other special events--such as the Oktoberfest that Capital Ale House has planned for later this fall--should be planned and communicated to neighbors has been a hot topic this fall.
Mayor Tom Tomzak said yesterday that Newton's Homecoming Pickin' Party event was an important example of volunteerism.
"There's not one tax dollar in this event," he said. "This is money that will not have to come from the city of Fredericksburg. I hope we can all learn from this example, and I hope we all follow this example."
Tomzak has talked a lot recently about the importance of bringing special events to the city--not just for their fundraising potential, but to help make downtown a more vibrant tourist destination.
At times, the planning of some of the recent events that have come to town has drawn criticism.
When the Pickin' Party was trying to get permission from the city to put a beer tent in Maury's playground for yesterday's festival, residents of the surrounding neighborhood said they were concerned that the event was too close to their homes.
They said they didn't feel they'd been notified of the event early enough in the planning stages.
Newton said he went to visit with neighborhood association leaders and tried to ease some of their concerns.
The city also has gotten criticism for allowing Capital Ale House to close the 900 block of Caroline Street on Saturday, Oct. 3, from noon to 10 p.m. for its Oktoberfest event.
Several of the merchants on that block came to a council meeting earlier this month to ask that the event be moved to the Sophia Street parking lot where Finally Fridays are held.
Among their concerns are that the event uses a taxpayer-owned asset--a city street--to benefit a single business and that they weren't given proper notice of the plans. For some, the idea of public-view alcohol consumption on Caroline Street is a problem.
Capital Ale owner Matt Simmons said his business notified merchants in July, as part of the process they went through with the city to host the event.
Simmons said Oktoberfest was one of the events that helped his business qualify as a "destination business" worthy of the $100,000 in incentives the city granted Capital Ale to locate downtown.
"One of the things we were recruited for is we were going to do events and bring people to downtown," Simmons said. "I don't understand what [the merchants'] issue is. We're bringing people downtown. They're coming with cash in their pocket."
Benjamin Walker, whose Walker Home antiques shop is in the 900 block of Caroline, said the two months' notice he got about the event is not enough time to prepare for something that he feels will disrupt a Saturday that falls in a crucial period for retail sales.
Walker said that because the event involves alcohol, the fence Capital Ale will have to put around it will restrict people from moving in and out of other shops.
He worries that the street can't accommodate the 6,000 to 7,000 people Capital Ale is preparing to host, and he doesn't like the fact that the plan includes placing portable toilets near his shop.
"I don't think any single business entity should ever close the street for a promotional event that only glorifies them," he said. "There are more appropriate venues on Sophia Street, and when the riverfront park opens that will be completely suitable."
Simmons said the restaurant has put $30,000 into the planning for the event, and "We don't want this event on Sophia Street. We are trying to promote our restaurant, we are trying to promote downtown. We are not trying to promote a parking lot on Sophia Street."
Simmons also said that his business suffers when other city events close the street--such as the Christmas parade and First Night.
"It happens to me, too, and it's just the cost of getting people into the area and having things happening," he said. "I think having more events like this and seeing feet on the street are going to be helpful in attracting people to Fredericksburg."
As a former president of Downtown Retail Marketing, Walker also talked a lot about the need to have more events downtown. But he said that events he proposed that would have required closing streets--including a gospel brunch he had brought up with the city's former economic development director--had not gotten the buy-in from City Hall that he feels Capital Ale has had for Oktoberfest.
Acting Economic Development Director Karen Hedelt said the city is trying to revamp its events application process to avoid controversies like this in the future.
"We need to refine our processes to make it more transparent to the public and user-friendly to those who do want to put on events, while at the same time maintaining the different needs and requirements that we have to pull off events safely and legally," she said.
The goal is to present a new application guide and events ordinance to the City Council at some point in the near future.
They are looking at a notification process similar to what happens in a rezoning, where neighboring parties are required to be notified, and then get a chance to register their concerns or complaints.
In the meantime, Tomzak continues to promote events like the Pickin' Party and Oktoberfest as a "necessary step into the future," as he wrote in a letter to council members last week supporting Oktoberfest.
"All merchants should provide intellectual business plans and sweat equity for events designed to bring more people downtown," he wrote.
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com
| Mark Newton couldn't have asked for better weather for his bluegrass concert yesterday to raise funds for James Monroe High School athletics.
Just after 2 p.m., Newton looked out at the crowd and estimated somewhere around 1,000 people had come to Maury Stadium for the event. Advance tickets were $30, and day-of tickets were $35. Because the event's costs were completely covered by sponsors--including The Free Lance--Star--organizers are able to give all the proceeds from ticket sales to the school. Newton, a 1976 graduate of James Monroe whose recording career prompted him to move to Nashville five years ago, said he had been thinking about putting together an event like yesterday's Pickin' Party for more than 15 years. "This is truly one of the highlights of my life," Newton said. "To be able to come back and give back to my hometown and give back to my school, it's pretty special."
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