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Yacht Club offerings heat up during winter

By Greg Ellison

Staff Writer

(Dec. 5, 2019) Despite cold temperatures causing some Ocean Pines residents to seek milder climates elsewhere, those remaining in town during the offseason will find that the yacht club is providing a wealth of food and entertainment specials to combat the winter doldrums.

Matt Ortt Companies cofounder Ralph DeAngelus, whose group inked a contact renewal for food operations at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club and Beach Club in August, said regardless of profit margins, residents can look forward to cold-weather fun inside the yacht club.

“We slow down because the amount of people in town has slowed down, but we’re trying to keep as much activities as we can on the property for the people who have stuck around,” he said.

DeAngelus said the intent is to cater to residents during all seasons, regardless of the strain that off-season offerings put on the ledger.

“It’s always there [and] we’re always going to have something for them,” he said. “It’s not always about making a big, giant profit.”

The recent turkey-day fiesta at the yacht club was well received by the sizable crowd that took advantage of it, DeAngelus said.

“Thanksgiving was a spectacular success,” he said. “We served almost 600 dinners and a lot of Ocean Pines families came in.”

Looking ahead, DeAngelus highlighted an upcoming performance at the yacht club next Friday, Dec. 13 by Baltimore-based rock outfit Great Train Robbery

“They’ve been together for 40 years,” he said.

Formed in 1977 in Bethany Beach, Delaware, Great Train Robbery’s initial live performance was at the long-shuttered Finnigan’s Rainbow in Ocean City. For parts of the last five decades, the southern rock-tinged Great Train Robbery has toured extensively, recorded eight releases and shared the stage with luminaries such as Blue Oyster Cult, the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, and the Marshall Tucker Band.

“They were our biggest draw in the summertime,” he said. “They’re still doing it right and they’re at the top of their game 40 years later, which is amazing.”

While the warm weather show garnered a sufficient crowd to cover the cost of entertainment, the upcoming visit will require a slight bit of underwriting, DeAngelus said.

“They cost the same, only it’s a free show in the summertime because there’s so many more people we can serve drinks to and make a profit,” he said. “In the wintertime here we have to charge a $5 cover.”

The minimal cover charge also buys entry to a significantly smaller venue inside the upstairs ballroom at the yacht club.

“In the ballroom you can only fit 200 people, as opposed to outside you could put almost a thousand,” he said. “It’s going to be a great show and it’s certainly going to be more intimate.”

Although a few tickets remain, speaking on Tuesday, DeAngelus said the show is already nearly at capacity.

“We almost sold the full 200 tickets,” he said. “We’re convinced we’re going to sell out .”

Offseason dinner specials have also, again, proven to be popular.

“We did that last year in the spring and that went over well [so] we brought it back,” he said. “It’s a good value dinner, something we couldn’t offer in the summertime.”

DeAngelus said there are special plans afoot at the yacht club to both close out 2019 and open 2020.

“New Years’ Eve is going to be spectacular upstairs in the ballroom,” he said.

The shindig will feature, in addition to a full food spread and open bar, a live performance by local band Full Circle, at a cost of $150 per person.

In preparation to briefly close the yacht club on Jan. 2 for wintertime maintenance, with plans to reopen the Friday of Super Bowl weekend, DeAngelus said half price lunch and dinner specials are on tap on New Years’ Day.

“Every bit of food until it’s gone,” he said.