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MAY 30, 2014
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RAVENS PARADE Council of Baltimore Ravens Roosts hosts annual event Saturday in Ocean City – Page 49
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Record-setting Memorial Day for much of resort More than 250,000 guests fill hotels and restaurants
OCEAN CITY TODAY/LISA CAPITELLI
Thousands gathered in Ocean City’s last weekend, where visitors enjoyed three days of sun and unseasonably warm water. There were 251,193 people in town over the Memorial Day holiday, up more than 8 percent over the same weekend last year, according to demoflush figures, which uses wastewater flows to estimate the city’s population.
Film to make Ocean City premiere ‘Ping Pong Summer’ made debut at Sundance, other important world festivals
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By Josh Davis Staff Writer (May 30, 2014) After a successful five-month festival run, the Ocean Cityset feature film “Ping Pong Summer” will finally premier in town this Saturday at Sun & Surf Cinemas on 143rd Street. The movie officially debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January, also stopping at several independent festivals both nationally and internationally. Saturday’s screening is a private event. The film will see a public release the following week. “This is more of a thank you to the community who helped us, and then the real, real important situation is June 6 – the next Friday – when we open officially,” writer/director Michael Tully said. “That’s what all of this has been
aiming towards, and that’s when we’re hoping that the community will come out and show some support.” An introduction and a post-film discussion will be including in the screening, followed by an after party at Phillips Crab House. Tully, producers, and several of the younger cast members will be on hand during the premier. “I’m going to be there, the producers are going to be there, all of the kids are going to be there,” he said. “For me the most exciting thing is to try and see if we can launch careers for these really talented young kids who are from the Maryland area.” The Ocean City Boardwalk, as well as several other iconic Ocean City locations including Sun & Surf Cinemas, plays a prominent role in the film. “That’s where I used to go to movies when I was growing up and going on vacation,” Tully said. “It felt really spiritually appropriate to have it (at Sun &
Surf) where I think I actually saw ‘The Karate Kid’ myself in 1985.” Similarly set in 1985, “Ping Pong Summer” tells the story of an awkward teenager obsessed with hip hop and ping pong. The film has received positive reviews so far, earning an 83 percent rating on film aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Hollywood Reporter called the film, which stars Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, John Hannah and 13year-old newcomer Marcello Conte as “Rad” Miracle, “A thick slice of teenage wish-fulfillment dripping with nostalgia.” Tully said he was encouraged – but realistic – by the tone of the early reviews. “I write about movies for a living – I’m the editor of a Web site called ‘Hammer to Nails’ – and I think the most interesting movies are the ones where you go to Netflix they get five stars and the next person says one star and the next See ‘PING PONG SUMMER’ Page 3
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By Clara Vaughn Staff Writer (May 30, 2014) The Memorial Day weekend in Ocean City wasn’t just good for many local businesses, it was outstanding, even record-setting in a number of instances. One of those seeing records fall was Macky’s Bayside Bar & Grill on 54th Street where on Saturday the line to enter the restaurant stretched from the door, across the parking lot and up to the building of its predecessor, Tio Gringo’s. That Saturday was its biggest sales day ever. “It was our best Memorial Day weekend,” General Manager Carl Bozick said. “We had beautiful weather and great crowds.” Macky’s wasn’t the only local business hitting record numbers last weekend, though. Carey Distributors, which supplies beer to Worcester and other Lower Shore counties, had its largest day of the year last Thursday, Vice President Terry Loughlin said. “The weather was perfect,” he said. “It’s no secret, as long as the weather stays good, sales are good.” Meanwhile, the lines formed outside of Seacrets as early as 8 a.m. as visitors staked their claim to a space in the 18-bar, indoor-outdoor complex. So busy was the 49th Street establishment that it had to shut its door intermittently throughout the weekend to maintain capacity, General Manager Scott Studds said. “Everything went great. I think it was comparable to some of the better Memorial Days we’ve had,” he said. “Hopefully, it set a good tone for the rest of the season. We all dealt with such a harsh winter, we’re ready for good weather.” According to the city’s Demoflush statistics, which estimate population See FAST Page 12
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