Bluegrass Event Spotlights Lower Shore Land Trust

Bluegrass Event Spotlights Lower Shore Land Trust
Bluegrass

OCEAN CITY – Lower Shore Land Trust (LSLT) is changing up its fundraising efforts this year by hosting a bluegrass party to provide an escape from the holiday season and an opportunity to get to know the organization a little bit better.

“Get Bluegrass” will be held on Dec. 10 at the Old Snow Hill Fire Hall on Green Street with doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are only $20 a ticket.

Entertainment will start off with the Saltwater Stringband with Nate Clendenen at 7 p.m. followed by Chester River Runoff. There will be beer and wine available, with the first drink for free served in a commemorative glass. Food will also be provided by “barbeque guru” Tommy Mason at only $8 a platter. “Get Bluegrass” will also feature a silent auction and door prizes.

“People get so caught up in the holiday thing, and you have so many things to do and this is a chance to just let off a little steam,” LSLT Executive Director Kate Patton said.

According to Patton, there will be a dance floor, and tables and chairs for seating at the event.

In the past, LSLT has thrown a holiday dinner or cocktail party at a higher ticket price, but this year members brainstormed ideas on how to reach a larger range of community members at a lower ticket price.

“We wanted to do something where people could come out and just have a good time and at the same time support the work of the Lower Shore Land Trust,” Patton said.

Between Patton’s expertise from previously owning The Globe Theatre in Berlin and the organizers of the Annual Blues Bash in Snow Hill, they settled on the Old Snow Hill Fire Hall as a venue and are expecting at least 300 people to attend.

“Basically we are going to try to transform an empty shell into a really great venue for the evening,” Patton said. “If you don’t necessarily go out at 10 o’clock at night anymore, it’s an opportunity to see some really awesome music.”

According to the band’s biography, “Chester River Runoff can hang with the best of the bluegrass scene, with big harmonies and tight instrumental work. At the same time, they preserve in their live shows the warm spirit and humor of friends who got together simply to hang out and learn an instrument. They have an impressive repertoire of original songs, which strike audiences with their honestly and their way of tackling subjects not usually attempted by bluegrass songwriters and takes on classic themes with a fresh perspective and new imagery.”

Patton has seen the band in person a couple times this fall, at a friend’s wedding in Berlin in October and at Fager’s Island in November.

“They are a younger group playing to a slightly younger audience but they are really good,” Patton added. “They are writing some great tunes, they are playing well, and they have high energy.”

Patton explained that LSLT is a non-profit organization that works throughout the lower shore to help farmers and land owners conserve their forests and farms from further development.

The organization works with the community on a variety of different initiatives, such as the current Walkable Bikeable Berlin Path.

The National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) has recently awarded LSLT for supporting the Walkable Bikable Berlin. The project will identify opportunities to create and enhance pedestrian and bike-friendly options that link town parks, residential areas, schools and retail amenities. This project supports efforts on the local, state and federal level to promote healthy living through outdoor exercise and family recreation, and encouraging young people to engage in outdoor recreation through the use of trails and safe routes to walk and bike to school.

“We have the expertise to help put some easements in place and acquire areas that could be used specifically for trails,” Patton said. “What is really key is linking community conservation and recreation to the larger goals of conserving our natural resources and farm land, and working forests.”

Patton said it’s events like next month’s “Get Bluegrass” that connects LSLT and their efforts to the community.

“Things like ‘Get Bluegrass’ help tie in what our mission is to folks that appreciate having all this great open space but it is not a given unless we protect it,” she said. “We have a number of really cool initiatives going on and this is a way to reach out through an affordable ticket price for people to come out and get to know us and have some fun.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.lowershorelandtrust.org or by calling 410-641-4467.