‘True Blood’ actor will headline East End event

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For people on Charleston’s East End, Halloween is always a festive time of year. Residents get into the spirit by decorating their homes and yards in grand ghoulish style.

“I’m not sure there’s another neighborhood that gets excited about Halloween like the East End,” said Keeley Steele, owner of the Bluegrass Kitchen on Washington Street.

This Halloween, however, the East End is ramping up for a special spooktacular celebration.

East End Main Street, a program of the Charleston Area Alliance, is organizing “HallowEast,” a four-day fundraiser designed to promote the historic area of West Virginia’s capital city.

“We wanted to do a fall fundraiser but make it fun and have every single person walk away and say I want to come back next year,” said Ric Cavender, East End Main Street’s director.

Cavender says HallowEast is by far the biggest and longest event his program has undertaken.

It officially kicks off Wednesday night with a Murder Mystery Cocktail Party sponsored by Bluegrass Kitchen at the Women’s Club of Charleston. Events continue through Halloween night, with activities planned each day for both children and adults.

Headlining the celebration will be actor Sam Trammell, a Charleston native starring in the HBO series “True Blood.” Trammell plays shape-shifting bartender Sam Merlotte in the mystical show based on the novels of Charlaine Harris.

Trammell spent much of his childhood in Charleston attending Overbrook Elementary, John Adams Middle and George Washington High Schools. The performer will participate in “Inside the Main Street Studio,” an interview session in the style of the show “Inside the Actor’s Studio.”

Local actor and writer David Wohl will serve as the interviewer for the event to be held at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Kanawha Players on Beauregard Street. Tickets are $50 each.

Cavender said he and other organizers weren’t exactly confident they could get Trammell to travel back to Charleston for the event. In the end, though, Trammell was extremely supportive of the program’s plans.

“He immediately agreed to it,” Cavender said. “He just ate it up.”

Other events during HallowEast will include “Trick or Beat” night for kids Thursday at Appalachian Power Park, a showing of “Dial M for Murder” presented by the Kanawha Players at 9 p.m. Friday, and a “Halloween Hootenanny” costume party at The Empty Glass Saturday night.

While some events are free, others are priced from $10 a person to $100 a person for a special fan gathering with Trammell. Cavender said ticket sales have been coming in pretty steadily over the past few weeks but only one event is sold out. The $150 tickets for a premium VIP reception with Trammell early Friday evening are no longer available.

HallowEast organizers and East End business owners have high hopes for this inaugural event and are counting on it going a long way toward promoting their community in Charleston and beyond.

“I hope people see this as a safe and family-oriented place, that there are people who are committed to this neighborhood,” Steele said.

“The bottom line would be to attract new people to the area to show, yes, the East End is evolving every single day and there’s stuff going on here you can’t find anywhere else,” Cavendar said.

To buy event tickets or see a complete schedule of events, visit the Web site www.halloweast.com or visit East End Main Street’s Facebook page.

SOURCE:  Charleston Daily Mail (by: Sara Gavin)