THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411040263
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK PELLEGRINI, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Virginia Beach officials know that sometimes it is more rewarding to give than to receive - especially in November when the ocean chills and the city's tourism industry goes into hibernation.
Next weekend, for the second consecutive year, Virginia Beach will host the festivities surrounding the 48th annual Oyster Bowl, including a Friday evening oyster roast at the 24th Street Park and a Saturday morning parade along Atlantic Avenue from 16th to 31st streets.
Those events were moved last year from Norfolk to Virginia Beach primarily for financial reasons, said Bill Pulliam, a member of the Khedive Shrine and director of this year's Oyster Bowl Festival.
``The city of Norfolk just charged us too much money,'' Pulliam said. ``By the time we paid for parade permits, barricades, police and everything else, it was costing us over $3,000 dollars to put the parade on. Virginia Beach is doing it for nothing.''
Reduced operational costs for the festival means more money can be donated directly to the Shriner's Hospital for Burned and Crippled Children.
Virginia Beach, for its part, is equally glad to donate its services to the festival. The Oyster Bowl is always an eagerly anticipated event in an area thirsty for quality college football, and this year's contest, between The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute, boasts the attraction of an intense football rivalry in a region thick with alumni from both schools. Add to that a lavish oceanfront parade, which last year drew several thousand people, and what you get is a sizable and welcome off-season boost for the city's tourism industry.
The festival ``really fills a need we have for fall and weekend business,'' said Ron Kuhlman, marketing director of the Virginia Beach Department of Convention and Visitor Development. ``We can provide Atlantic Avenue exposure, and our citizens really get a big kick out of the parade.''
The festival also attracts out-of-town visitors. Kuhlman estimated that more than 1,000 oceanfront hotel and motel rooms already have been booked for the weekend, most of them in advance as part of a two-day package offered in conjunction with the festival. The package, designed to lure visitors to the Oceanfront, includes game tickets, admission to the oyster roast and shuttle bus transportation to and from Old Dominion University's Foreman Field, where the game will be played.
The 1994 Oyster Bowl Festival will kick off with the oyster roast at 5 p.m. Friday at the 24th Street Park. Tickets are $15 for an all-you-can-eat buffet, which includes oysters (raw, fried and steamed), as well as hamburgers, hot dogs and other food to satisfy the more landlubbing appetite. Pulliam forecasts a large turnout and ``a general good time'' augmented by the music of some local bands.
Saturday's parade steps off at 10 a.m. at Atlantic Avenue and 16th Street. A roadside crowd in the thousands is again anticipated for high school marching bands, floats, horses and traditional parade trimmings, as well a large contingent from the Khedive Shrine itself and the Redskins' Jeff Bostic serving as parade marshal.
Game kickoff is scheduled for 3:38 at Foreman Field in Norfolk. Both sides of the stands are nearly sold out. ILLUSTRATION: Drawing
48th Oyster Bowl: VMI vs. The Citadel, Nov. 12, 3:30 p.m., Foreman
Field
by CNB