Get Bluegrass Benefit In Snow Hill Returns For Encore

OCEAN CITY – The Lower Shore Land Trust (LSLT) is bringing back its fundraising event, Get Bluegrass, and this year has some new and exciting aspects for attendees.

Last year LSLT Executive Director Kate Patton explained that the event was created to steer in a different direction from the traditional holiday dinner or cocktail party and instead come out, listen to music and blow some steam off.

“I really think this event is not your typical fundraiser, the music is great, and it is fun to do an event where we’re not selling a serious program, we are not getting real heavy into the mission, it is about having a good time and bringing in people that want to celebrate our accomplishments,” Patton said on Monday. “It worked for us last year and we are really excited to be getting the support that we are already getting.”

Get Bluegrass will be held on Saturday, Dec. 8 this year at the Old Snow Hill Fire Hall. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

“Snow Hill was gracious to us and worked with us really well, they made it easy,” Patton said of the event last year. “The facility [Old Snow Hill Fire Hall] is really fun, and so we decided that we wanted to go ahead and do it again.”

Returning this year is the Salt Water String Band with Nate Clendenen and Chester River Runoff.

The featured beers this year will come from Burley Oak and Dogfish Head, who is also a sponsor. The first glass of beer or wine is on the house, served in a commemorative glass.

Tommy Mason BBQ will be available during the event for $8 a platter. Other local restaurants, such as Harvest Moon Tavern, will be offering discounts on the night of the event.

The silent auction item list continues to grow as the event approaches. So far LSLT has announced auction items include a romantic getaway and dinner for two at the historic Atlantic Hotel in Berlin, a getaway and dinner to Fager’s Lighthouse, and a stay at the River House Inn in Snow Hill. Also, laser tag tickets at Crown Sports Center in Salisbury and a print by artist Kevin Fleming are being offered.

The River House Inn in Snow Hill is offering 20 percent off of accommodations on the weekend of Get Bluegrass, just mention Chester River Runoff, Patton said. Also in the works, Chester River Runoff will be playing an acoustic set the next day at the bed and breakfast for guests.

“I am really thrilled that folks have been helping out, and they are showing their interest in land conservation,” Patton said. “That has been exciting to see the interest from the community to be part of the event.”.

Formed in 1990, 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. LSLT assists landowners in Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties who wish to protect, in perpetuity, habitat necessary to sustain a diverse and healthy wildlife population, natural buffers that maintain water quality, and preserved scenic vistas and landscapes surrounding sites of historical and cultural importance. “We are celebrating our recent milestone,” Patton said. “We have protected 100 properties on the lower shore, and some of the key things we are working on, such as restoration, which is really important particularly with traditional coastal flooding. Those are the types of things that we are working on to help communities with.”

To avoid a line at the door buy tickets for Get Bluegrass ahead of time for $20 online at www.lowershorelandtrust.org, or buy tickets at the Old Snow Hill Fire Hall on the night of the event for $25.