Leonardtown, MD — The iconic Chaptico Market is 50 years old. To celebrate, the market, located in the heart of the historic village of Chaptico, will be holding a birthday party Oct. 18 that will include an outdoor tent for the dispensing of beer and wine samples.
Gwendolyn Tennyson owns the market with her husband Ronald. Mrs. Thompson appeared Oct. 6 before the St. Mary’s County Alcohol Beverage Board to explain what she was planning and to secure a temporary extension of premise for the outdoor portion on the event on the market’s parking lot.
Since the market only holds an on-sale license, the board’s special tasting permit only allows for the tasters to have four samples and the glass sizes are restricted: two to four ounces for beer and one to four ounces for wine. Tasting will only be allowed on the approved extended premises, which is essentially the parking lot.
Board Chairman Moses Saldana expressed concern about control. He and the rest of the board walked Tennyson through some of the ideas about controlling the event to help prevent alcohol from leaving the extended premises and also prevent minors for buying alcohol.
The market is famous for its chicken. At one point Tennyson said, “I shouldn’t have a wine tasting. I should have a chicken tasting. It would probably be a lot less headache.”
Tennyson said she would like the event to be “a big to-do.” But she also said she could only handle so many guests so she would like to limit it to “Chaptico regulars.” She said she wasn’t expecting people from Calvert County, yet she admitted she could not control the spread on the word on social media.
The birthday party will be Sunday, Oct. 18, 1- 6 p.m. As Saldana noted, “You are only 50 once.”
Saldana also expressed concern about parking. Tennyson said the lot across the street was available, although Saldana cautioned that the beer and wine samples couldn’t be taken across the street.
In the end the board decided to make the approval for the extended premises be contingent on securing a Special Events permit from St. Mary’s County if it’s required. That permit would be reviewed by the sheriff’s department and health department.
The market only sells carryout food, especially their legendary chicken. They had attempted to get a permit for sit-down eating to expand their business but they were prevented from doing so by health department regulations.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com