Has the "Beast" been slain?

One of the first community events I attended after getting settled into my adopted Delmarva home was an event called "Beast of the East". For those who didn't know about the event, it was a custom motorcycle show - think "Orange County Choppers" and bikes of that ilk. (Here's an example from last year, a 9/11 tribute bike.) In the two springs I've lived here, the event was held at the Youth and Civic Center on the third weekend in April (coinciding with the "Pork in the Park" barbeque festival out at Winterplace Park.) I thought that was a pretty good idea and created some synergy between the events and a good draw for tourist dollars.

But I wasn't as excited about the 2006 edition as I was about the 2005 edition. Obviously, the newness factor wearing off was one reason, but also the 2005 edition featured other onsite entertainment. There were four live bands plus they had a thrill show in the parking lot. Last year's BotE had a car show but no outside entertainment scheduled. (It was a rainy weekend, so most activities would've likely been cancelled anyway.) And it seemed to me like attendance was off from the 2005 edition.

So I guess my question is whether the 2006 Beast of the East ends up being the last one, or if it's been scheduled for a time slot closer to Delmarva Bike Week, or if they've decided to change the venue.

This brings up an oft-discussed point when the subject of the WYCC's fate comes up. Now that we've apparently settled on the shape of the Old Mall project, another concern in that part of town is sprucing up the almost 30 year old Civic Center. But I'll let you in on something.

I went to concerts for many moons during my youth, and the majority of those shows were in a forty year old (at the time) decrepit 7,500 capacity dump called the Toledo Sports Arena. This venue mostly hosted concerts, trade shows, and the Toledo Storm minor league hockey team (and still does, even at 60 years old.) But the biggest difference between the two facilities isn't who plays there or even how nice the facility is, it's what's sold there. While Wicomico County isn't a dry county, the WYCC is a dry facility and the lack of beer sales likely does send business away.

I understand that the land was deeded to the county upon the condition that alcohol not be sold there. But it may be time to rethink this facility in its present set of uses or even its existence. A key piece of the proposed Discovery Place development in Laurel is a new 12,000 seat arena, and I'm betting that if/when that opens, they'll sell alcohol and all of the business the WYCC has fought to maintain over the years will flee northward to the new facility because it will be newer, bigger, and have the potential additional revenue stream that beer sales can provide.

So it's quite possible that the demise of the "Beast of the East" show is a harbinger of things to come for the Youth and Civic Center. I'm sorry to see the event go but sometimes it takes the economic hit of not getting into the stream of tourism dollars that flow along route 50 to the beach to slap some sense into the powers-that-be.