Tickets for the Dinner on Main: Low Country Boil went on sale to the public this past Saturday at 3 p.m. At the sales start time there were 210 tickets for available for the event. As of Monday morning, there were were only 26 seats left for the Vance Street event happening Sept. 20.
Debbie Roberts, Tyler Wise, and Wendy Dorman with the Main Street Committee sat at R&R Brewing Kitchen and Taproom watching the ticket sales in real-time throughout Saturday afternoon.
“We are just extremely excited. This is going to be something different,” attested Tyler Wise, Main Street manager for the City of Clinton’s Planning and Development. “A lot of people are expecting it, I think, to be another Dinner on Main, but it’s a whole different kind of ballgame, and I think it’s awesome.”
Wise commented that the community’s interest in being involved has been very encouraging.
“Everybody’s always saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ We hardly ever get ‘no’s.”
The Low Country Boil will be held Sunday, Sept. 20, on Vance Street in downtown Clinton starting at 2:30 p.m.
The event will take place along Vance Street, beside the Sampson County Courthouse. A Seafood Lovers social hour will take place in the lot between Gracie’s Grill and Huff Regenerative and Wellness, including crawfish, shrimp, and oysters. The social hour will also include two drink tickets for attendants aged 21 and older.
Dinner will begin at 4 p.m. and will include shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage, and jambalaya.
Chad Thompson will be providing live music.
The lead chef will be Tim Walters. Oasis, Earl and Jerry’s in Roseboro, and Tyndall Seafood will provide the food.
“We’re doing a dessert flight; there are different desserts. … It’s pretty cool,” mentioned Roberts.
Just as with Dinner on Main, the Low Country Boil was Roberts’ idea, and she reflected on what inspired the idea for a boil as the second dinner event being held in Clinton.
“It seemed like a good idea. … I don’t know how; it just came to mind. These things just pop up in my mind all the time,” Roberts said, laughing. “I have so many, I still do… So many things that we’ve wanted to do. I wanted to do a 1920s theme, which would be fun to do sometime.”
Wendy Dorman provided the chinaware for the Dinner on Main event. For the Low Country Boil, Dorman said she’ll again be doing the dishware, all the family-style service, the glassware, and the flatware.
Dorman decided not to disclose what style she’ll be using for the Low Country Boil. “I want that to be a secret. It’s different. We’re going a little retro; I’ll put it that way,” she teased.
Like Dinner on Main, the focus will be community and the unity that comes with fellowship around the dinner table. But unlike Dinner on Main, the boil will be a little more relaxed and offer yet another unique flair.
“I’ve been a professional party girl for over 25 years, that’s what I like to say. … I’m kind of like a jack-of-all-trades, so being an event planner and Debbie’s friend, I kind of always get roped into things,” Dorman said of the ideas that are already forming for the next live event in downtown Clinton.
“She’s wonderful,” Roberts raved.
The few remaining tickets for the Low Country Boil are available for purchase at downtownclinton.com/dinneronmain. Proceeds will go towards refurbishing the fountain in the courthouse commons area, with any savings going toward helping light up the courthouse.
“We’ve got to have a lot more fundraisers to pay for the lights for the courthouse,” Roberts attested regarding the future.
Already thinking about the potential for next year’s Low Country Boil, Roberts said that she would love to find a large barn in Sampson County to host it.
Roberts expressed her excitement for the upcoming boil and the encouragement she’s felt from the community taking an interest.
“This shows me that we’re doing the right thing, that people really love getting involved in what’s going on in the community. … I love the idea of doing something in the county somewhere, to really get the county involved.”