Community Notebook: City to Welcome Rally Team, Redcoats and Bike Racks

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Williamsburg will have plenty of visitors this week, including the Rand McNally “Rally Team” and British redcoat re-enactors. Bike racks will soon come to some of WATA’s bus shelters and in Yorktown, it’s time to register for the Cardboard Boat Regatta. Read on for details.

Welcome Rand McNally Team to Williamsburg

The Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance is teaming with the City of Williamsburg and Colonial Williamsburg to plan a welcome event for the Rand McNally “Best of the Road” Rally Team at 9 a.m. Saturday outside the Kimball Theatre.

The Rally Team will be evaluating whether Williamsburg is the “Most Patriotic Town.” The city is competing against Clarksville, Tenn.; Emporia, Kansas; Peachtree City, Ga.; Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. and Rapid City, S.D.

Linda Stanier, spokesperson for the Alliance, said a City Council member will deliver a proclamation welcoming the team, and some members of city and county government will be on hand to greet them. Businesses and residents in the area are encouraged to decorate with red, white and blue, and to assist, the Alliance has printed free 11 X 17 “Patriotic and Proud to be the Best of the Road” posters, available for pick up at the Alliance office at 421 N. Boundary St.

Learn more here or contact Linda Stanier at (757) 229-6511, ext. 214.

WATA Receives Grant to Install Bike Racks

The Williamsburg Area Transit Authority (WATA) received a $7,000 grant from the Benjamin R. Altshuler Memorial Fund to support a Bicycle-Pedestrian Master Plan and to install bicycle racks at selected WATA bus shelters. The Master Plan is based on a digital map showing multimodal methods of transportation.

The fund is administered by the Williamsburg Community Foundation. Altshuler dedicated much of his adult life to developing an infrastructure that supports the use of public transportation linked with walking and biking to community attractions.

Redcoat Re-enactors to Seize Williamsburg This Weekend

The British Army will again seize the city of Williamsburg during Under the Redcoat weekend from Friday to Sunday. Hundreds of re-enactors will recreate the occupation of the city, 230 years after British Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis imposed martial law near the end of the Revolution.

Starting at noon Friday, citizens will warn of the approaching British forces, and the main British force will march into the city with their baggage wagons at 3 p.m.

Over the weekend, visitors can observe military activities, visit a field hospital at the Governor’s Palace and even respond to British Army efforts to recruit them. The force will leave at 5 p.m. Sunday, following an address from Cornwallis. For more information, call 1-800-HISTORY or visit CW online here.

Register for Cardboard Boat Regatta

The Williamsburg Jaycees and Big Brothers Big Sisters are teaming up to present the second Cardboard Boat Regatta on July 30 at the Watermen’s Museum in Yorktown.

Everyone 5 and older is invited to join in. Two participants will race each boat, which will participate in bracket-style competition. They’ll receive recognition for everything from fastest time to “Titanic,” the award for the most dramatic boat sinking.

Registration has started, with a $25 fee if received by July 15 and a $50 fee if received after July 15. Peninsula Ace Hardware is giving all registered racers a 20 percent off coupon to assist with the construction of the boats; the coupon will be included with registration packages.

For information about the race, rules and registration, click here.