Wrightsville Beach’s 32nd annual N.C. Holiday Flotilla Nov. 27-28 features a boat parade with more vessels than last year, a new route and a special entry by D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy, a beneficiary of this year’s event.
Five days before Saturday’s boat parade, Flotilla committee chair Pres Davenport said 19 boats were registered.
“I think we had 17 sign up last year, so we’re already ahead of that,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to try to track down a few last minute.”
This year’s boat parade starts north of the Heide Trask Drawbridge instead of south as it has in years past. The new route takes the decorated boats past The Dockside Restaurant, The Fish House Grill, The Bridge Tender Restaurant and Bluewater Waterfront Grill, and Davenport said he hopes the route change brings extra patrons to those restaurants.
“Part of why we have the Flotilla is to create a burst in business and activity on the beach during the shoulder season,” he said.
Those restaurants will also offer handicap accessible viewing of the boat parade, something that has been lacking in years past.
“We get a number of requests for that but because we don’t have bleachers or anything like that set up for the public, we’ve had trouble managing those requests,” Davenport said.
The route change also means the boats will go under the drawbridge when it’s raised at 6 p.m. But Davenport said the boats would move quickly to prevent the bridge being up any longer than it normally is.
Traffic is always an issue for those who don’t arrive early for the boat parade, Davenport said. He recommended people get to the island earlier in the day and visit Festival in the Park, an outdoor market of nearly 100 arts and crafts vendors in Wrightsville Beach Park. The festival includes an antique car show that organizer Linda Brown expects will be twice the size of last year’s and a booth where seventh- and eighth-grade D.C. Virgo students will demonstrate their robotics projects.
Through a charity element introduced by last year’s title sponsors, the 2014 Flotilla donated $6,000 for the D.C. Virgo’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program. Davenport hopes to make a similar contribution this year. The school was chosen as the Flotilla’s beneficiary partly because it is federally designated a Title 1 school, meaning it serves a large low-income student population.
STEM teacher Shemeka Shufford said with last year’s donation, the school purchased a three-dimensional printer and other classroom items like carpet squares and whiteboards. This year’s money will fund student tool kits and professional development for faculty. The donation will also allow the program to transition from STEM to STEAM by adding an art component.
To celebrate that initiative, the theme of D.C. Virgo’s boat parade entry is “full STEAM ahead.” The students came up with what Shufford called the “mad scientist theme” and helped the teachers build some of the props.
Virgo’s boat will not be the only one honoring a particular cause. Ava and Scott Werlstein won last year’s People’s Choice award for their Furtilla-themed boat promoting animal adoption, and they plan to do a similar theme this year.
Capt. Michael Hamby last entered the Flotilla in 1999, but he is participating this year because of his friend, Stephen Russ. Several years ago, Russ was in a bad car accident and nearly died. This year, he asked Hamby if they could enter the Flotilla together.
They’ve been working on their Christmas Island-themed boat for more than a month. Their props include illuminated fishing penguins and a 10-foot lighthouse, which took the men eight hours to adorn with 1,500 tiny lights.
Hamby’s decorations also include something special to be revealed Saturday night when he passes in front of the five boat parade judges at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort. The judges decide six awards, including a $5,000 cash prize for Best In Show. Spectators decide the People’s Choice award by texting in their favorite boat.
But Hamby’s goal isn’t winning one of the prizes, it’s simply participating in the memorable holiday celebration with his friend.
“We’re doing it for the experience,” he said.
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