Council Approves Dew Tour Message On Water Tower

OCEAN CITY – The Dew Tour received the go-ahead from the Mayor and City Council on Tuesday to post a welcoming message on the water tower to be viewed by all entering the resort.

Tourism Director Deb Turk approached the council this week to represent the Dew Tour’s request to brand the Worcester Street parking lot water tower. The message will be along the lines of, “Welcome to Ocean City, Maryland, Proud Home of the Dew Tour.”

“They [Dew Tour] do understand it’s unprecedented and it is not something that the town has done in the past,” Turk explained on Tuesday evening.

She said the tour has decided to use a vinyl applique because it would be the most cost effective, least intrusive, and most timely option. Turk added that the Dew Tour organizers are also requesting to hang flags on the Boardwalk, the same that has been done other events in Ocean City, for example the OC Air Show.

“They took note of that when they were here for the Air Show and had thought that was a great way to get the word out for the tour as well,” Turk said.

She added that the Dew Tour has expressed flexibility as far as the timeframe the message would appear. If the town would like to remove the tour’s logo during the remainder of the year once the event is complete, organizers said that would be fine.

Councilwoman Mary Knight made the motion to accept the tour’s request to use the vinyl applique of the Dew Tour’s logo on the water tower as well as to allow them to hang flags on the Boardwalk, but asked for officials to explore one more thing.

“The ‘Welcome to Ocean City’ should be a whole lot bigger,” she said.

Councilman Doug Cymek agreed with Knight and said that he has spoken with Public Works Director Hal Adkins in exploring different sizes as well as different colors to be used.

Councilman Lloyd Martin questioned if the Dew Tour proves to be a match for the town of Ocean City then why consider removing their logo.

“If it was successful, we would want to leave it up there so it would come back the following year,” he said.

The council voted unanimously to approve the Dew Tour to apply their logo to the downtown water tower and to drape flags announcing the event on the Boardwalk.

The Dew Tour’s goal in doing so is to use the town’s iconic assets to drive the event awareness to lead to the ultimate success of the Dew Tour Pantech Open in Ocean City.

“The Ocean City water tower can be utilized as a unique and valuable promotional vehicle, delivering a marketing message on behalf of the host city while highlighting one of Ocean City’s largest events,” the Dew Tour’s proposal stated.

Upon the council’s approval, the tour proposed to begin work the following day and plans on having a finished product by July 19.

Alli, the corporation that conducts the Dew Tour event, will cover all costs and responsibilities involved with branding the water tower.

The Pantech Open of the Dew Tour in Ocean City will be held July 21-24 and will feature extreme sport athletes, such as Shaun White, in their featured sports category. The event will also feature a free live concert on the beach, a free Festival Village and a free surfing contest.

The Dew Tour consists of four major, multi-sport events spanning across the country, with a cumulative points system, more than $2 million in event and bonus purses, awarded at year-end based on overall tour standings. At the season’s end, the overall point’s leaders in the five categories — skateboarding, BMX, skateboard bowl, surf, and freestyle motorcross — will be crowned year-end champions and awarded the respected Dew Cup.