-Ben Harper Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina

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2 OCEAN CITY Jazz, Sun, and Surf was the collaborative solution of the Ocean City community and the Episcopal Wade H. Chestnut Chapel to bring more tourists to the North Topsail area and help cover the Chapel s annual overhead. A music festival to raise funds and historical awareness of the Ocean City community that was established in 1949 after WWII. The stretch of North Topsail Beach was a part of the Navy s Camp Davis. When the war ended the decision was made to close Camp Davis and sell the land. Wilmington Mayor Edger Yow had the vision to create a new African American community where people could purchase houses by the ocean, and partake in healthy family activities. Yow was in need of a partner to help promote the concept of the new town and was referred to the Chestnut brothers. Wade H. Chestnut left the running of their businesses to his brother and began promoting the concept of the town, which he named Ocean City, at conventions, which lead to the sale of homes, construction of a motel, fishing pier, camp, and in 1957 the Episcopal Chapel named after the Chestnut family. The Chapel and dormitory on the church property were home to the St. Mark s summer camp for African Americans. I spoke with Wade s son Kenneth Chestnut. He remembers attending the camp in the summer, having great fun, and following through as a counselor when he came of age. When segregation ended the camp was closed, and Trinity Center became the integrated camp of the area with the help of his mother, Caronell C. Chestnut who sat on the Trinity Center board. The dormitory on the Chapel Property was later leveled for church parking. The town of Ocean City has been absorbed by North Topsail Island and is now referred to as the community of Ocean City which can be found on the historical African American Trail. The fishing pier was destroyed by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and not rebuilt. New enterprising ventures would have to begin to perpetuate the vitality of the area. Craig and Carla Torrey came together with other leaders to have a celebration for the 60 th anniversary of Ocean City. Carla s father had built 30 of the original homes. The celebration became the Jazz Festival with many artists streaming in from Fayetteville. Carla says that the first year saw 100 attendees. Eight years later, 1000 tickets are sold for the two day event in July. Filling hotels in nearby Jacksonville and Sneads Ferry. The attention and economic development has helped to spur mindful development and a new hotel scheduled for construction. The Ocean City Jazz Festival now attracts top talent, and grammy award winning artists from all over, which keeps the fans coming back each summer. The festival takes place in front of the Wade H Chestnut Chapel in the parish cleared lot facing the ocean. All profit made from the weekend, go to maintain the Chapel, rectory, community center, and annual promotional events for the jazz festival. Craig Torrey and Kenneth Chestnut hope over the next five years that the festival continues to raise awareness of Ocean City s deep history and importance in order to maintain itself in the storm of dense coastal development.

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4 There is a second story. The story of the Chapel as an outpost, a beacon of mission in the sparse dunes of summer. The African American Episcopal Church began in 1789 with St. Thomas in Philadelphia, a legacy of mission. Since 1957 the Episcopal Chapel has served as summer Chapel to visiting tourists for 60 years. Really the only church in the area come Sunday. A place where all are welcome, and all denominations find room in the pews, and time to worship. James A. Stewart has been spending summers in Ocean City, away from his home in Durham, for the last 25 years. Jim s family has long ties to the original banking black wall street known as Parrish Street in Downtown Durham. His father, John S. Shag Stewart, was president of Mutual Savings and Loan, and served on the Durham City Council from 1954 to 1971, and as mayor pro-tem in , during critical years of the Civil Rights Movement. Stewart is now involved with commercial real estate, other ventures, and service to the community. Needless to say he is a man who is recognized in the Durham area and noticed in church on Sunday. When he decided to leave his Durham church of which his family had been a part of for three generations, it was not an easy decision. The Episcopal focus on Jesus, his commandments to love one another, and the repeated experience of Eucharist allowed Jim to find a clarity that, for Jim, can be mired in the details of other churches. Each summer vacation the unassuming beacon of Wade H. Chestnut Chapel lit the way for James A. Stewart to become an Episcopalian, which he did three years ago and now serves as Senior Warden in Ocean City Ben Harper Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina

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