Group seeks subsidy for event trolley
Some of the more popular events in the South Cape include those that involve the various eateries and bars where people can stop in and try craft beers or menu items.
Those events require a trolley for people to get from one place to another, which can get pretty pricey if enough of them are done or a lot of people participate.
Tuesday, the entity that provides the transportation and organizes these events said they needed some financial help if the Community Redevelopment Agency if the CRA wishes to continue the service.
Shelly Walton, owner of Backstreets Sports Bar and one of the founders of the non-profit South Cape Hospitality and Entertainment Association said SCHEA was founded 10 years ago after the city dismantled the CRA. The then new group took over the responsibility for events.
SCHEA has been running trolley events since then. But when the pandemic hit in March 2020, SCHEA shut down along with the restaurants.
“Despite record profits last year and everyone was coming down here, our trolley events didn’t do the same thing,” Walton said. “People were still skittish or unfamiliar with our events.”
SCHEA has not fully recovered, Walton said, and with the trolley being their biggest cost (about $5,000 per event), they can no longer put on these events.
Walton said she didn’t see any reason her volunteer job should become defunct because SCHEA can’t get help from the city, which gave Bike Nights to Rotary.
“We didn’t get a streetscape because we were Cape Coma or the home of the newlywed, nearly dead. We brought fun to the South Cape, singlehandedly the South Cape businesses lit it up,” Walton said. “Many of them see the benefit of what we do. I need help from the city.”
Walton asked the CRA for SCHEA to be included in the grants and said she wanted an answer to whether the CRA has received grant money as she has been back and forth with the city for months about funding.
Walton also urged the city to hold New Years Eve on Southeast 47th Terrace and not the near the Cape Coral Bridge on Cape Coral Parkway (like Red, White & Boom), saying sponsorship, beer and vendor money is how the city did it with the Chamber of Commerce years ago.
SCHEA has reduced the number of events it does each year from 12 to 10 because of the cost. The trolleys are used to fund Easter egg hunts, business trick-or-treats, business gifts, a food truck rally and were funding New Year’s Eve and the Pride parade, Walton said.
“We don’t expect you to fund all 10 of them, but we need a little help to keep them going,” Walton said.
The next scheduled SCHEA trolley event is the ninth-annual Spooktacular Drink & Treat on Saturday, Oct. 22, with $5,000 being requested for the trolleys. The CRA commissioners approved the request unanimously.
The Halloween-themed pub crawl will promote local awareness of bars and restaurants in the CRA.
More than 1,000 people are expected this year for this 21-and-over event. The ticket price is $22 before the event and $25 the day of.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com