A plan is in place for the third Friday and Saturday in April. That is the weekend Solomons Island’s renowned Tiki Bar holds its season opening. The opening day event began spontaneously back in the late 1980s and has morphed into a Mardi Gras-like celebration that brings thousands of revelers to Calvert’s southernmost community. The event also prompts local law enforcement officials to step up patrols on the island and on the roads leading in and out of Solomons. It also poses vexing access problems for Solomons residents.
On Monday, March 26, Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans [R] and Tiki Bar co-owner Terry Clark discussed the plan for opening weekend with members of the Solomons Civic Association. Four Calvert County commissioners—Republicans Gerald W. “Jerry” Clark, the board president and a Solomons business owner; Susan Shaw, Pat Nutter and Evan K. Slaughenhoupt Jr.—also attended the meeting.
The bar’s seasonal opening is Friday, April 20 at noon.
“I don’t see much difference” from last year’s opening day plan, said Evans, who explained that in addition to Calvert County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Maryland State Police troopers, along with officers from St. Mary’s and Charles counties and the Maryland Natural Resources Police would be on duty. The officers will concentrate on crowd control in the vicinity of the Tiki Bar and would patrol the adjacent neighborhood to assure inebriated revelers are not “urinating and vomiting” on private citizens’ property.
“We will have our noise meters out,” said Evans. “I hope to keep the road [Patuxent Avenue] open all night.
Although he indicated he didn’t agree with the current law, Evans explained patrons could carry open containers of alcohol but were prohibited from drinking out of them. The sheriff said the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office has advised him regarding the enforcement of the open container carry law.
Civic association treasurer Gladys Bowers asked how much the enforcement was costing the county and the town. Evans replied that the funding was contained within the sheriff’s office’s budget. “We try to control overtime,” said Evans. “The taxpayers of Solomons deserve the protection.”
“It’s like anything else that goes on in the county,” said Nutter
