Description: Found just outside of Washington D.C. in Bladensburg, Chick Hall’s Surf Club is the last remaining roadhouse in the D.C. area. In addition to serving drinks from the bar, live music is played. This music is a mix of country, jazz, and blues, genres not often heard in bars anymore. Customers are welcome to dance along with the music, or simply play a game of pool on one of the four tables.
Purpose and Main Goal: The club has recently come under new management, and while the new owners have perhaps saved the club from going under, it is still struggling in some respects. Simply getting the word out about what the club has to offer could really help keep it and its style of music alive. I suggest making a documentary as a way to capture what the Surf Club has gone through over time. After making the documentary, a community fundraiser could be organized at the Surf Club where people could come and the documentary would be shown. Copies of the documentary could be sold afterwards.
Public Awareness: This project will let members of the surrounding community see what the club has to offer and hopefully attract customers. Also, customers familiar with the club could make donations at the fundraiser as they reminisce about their memories of the Surf Club.
Sustainability: This project will provide the owners of the Surf Club with the exposure they need to attract more customers and legitimize the club as a community hangout spot. The documentary video could also be posted to the Surf Club’s website sometime after the fundraiser, further increasing the number of people that would see it. Of course, this would broaden the Surf Club’s range of people that know about it and boost business.
Budget: - $300 for advertising, flyers, etc. about the fundraiser
- $200 for blank DVDs
- $1000 for interviews, research, video equipment costs, etc.
Contacts: - James Byrum: current owner of the Surf Club
- Chick Hall, Jr.: son of Chick Hall
- Chris Hall: son of Chick Hall
Historical Significance: The Surf Club is the last club in the area that still specializes in country music. It is reminiscent of an older time when live music in bars was much more common and a sense of community was gained by those who attended the club. As this style of club has become less popular, there is a smaller amount of people who even know about it, let alone go to it. Preserving it is a way of preserving an important landscape and time in American culture.
Sources: - www.surfclublive.com : This is the club’s website, and it contains information on upcoming shows, as well as contact information. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/bars-clubs/chick-halls-surf-club,1026325.html: This is an article by the Washington Post that details the history of the Surf Club.
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3 comments:
I find it very odd for a club in Bladensburg outside of DC to play country music. A club makes for a guaranteed fun preservation project though. The students in the class will be these club promoters and help get would out about a different type of bar scene that people do not experience anymore. I like how your project will preserve a 'time' in American culture that people can experience when they walk through the club's doors.
I think this is a great proposal. It's getting a message out there about a staple of culture that really shouldn't just be forgotten. I'm going to do my part to get the word out, whether the proposal goes through or not.
If your proposal goes through, I think it would be cool if you could get some of the bands that play at this club to play at the event. I like how you said how the bar can bring together a sense of community, which I can really see. Good job.
-erin
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