The Thrill of Apple Chill is Gone

Apple Chill was essentially a pottery and arts festival begun in 1972. The idea was to give local artisans, potters, and musicians a chance to spread their wings and show their wares, and maybe make a little cash in the process. It began as a week long festival including concerts, community activities,ending with a pottery and artisan sale. It was a chance for the community to come out with their families and be proud to be a part of Chapel Hill.

Later on the festival was shortened to just span a weekend, and then ended up being a Sunday afternoon. Then, and I'm not sure exactly how or when this happened, the festival itself would end at six, and then "After Chill" would start. After Chill is mainly black teenagers and young adults from all over the region who come in to show off pimped out cars, motorcycles, and hit the Chapel Hill club scene (what there is of it). This would continue until roughly 11 p.m. with loud cars, radios, and people spanning Franklin Street and the whole downtown scene, blocking traffic for miles and making it difficult for other stores and restaurants to stay open. Eventually many local businesses actually began closing for Apple Chill, finding it wasn't worth the effort of finding people willing to work during such a disruptive time.

Then, Apple Chill took a turn for the worse. The crowds became dangerous after nearly a day of drinking and driving around. This year, Chapel Hill hired 235 extra policeman to peruse the area and make sure everyone stayed out of trouble. The arrest average rose. I remember my first year in Chapel Hill being unaware of After Thrill and going out that evening. I quickly became stuck in traffic on 15-501 near Franklin Street and screamed as a motorcycle with two passengers and no helmets swerved in front of me. Screamed because they almost ran into me and that they would have been killed or seirously injured had I hit them. I couldn't believe anyone in this day and age, with the knowledge we have about the dangers or riding BIKES without helmets, much less MOTORCYCLES, would be riding around illegally in Chapel Hill. But they were, and there were plenty of others along with them.

Gangs in Durham have certainly been growing in the last few years, or maybe just the effects of the gangs have. The law office I worked for was representing a case of a gang member who was on death row for his initiation- killing three women. One of the women he shot twelve times, and she survived, so now he's sitting in Central Prison. He's nineteen years old. So it was no surprise when rumors began to fly about gang members, particularly Crypts and Bloods, were heading into Chapel Hill for After Chill. How does a pottery show and arts and crafts fair turn into gang war turf?

I don't blame the mayor for saying that this would be the last year for Apple Chill. It was costing too much money, most of the people attending the show were no longer local, and local famillies and the community was afraid to go out after dark because of the violence that ensued. Because it's in the South, there's also the issue of race. White girls afraid they would get raped as part of a gang initiation (going there is like stepping back 50 years), black men afraid of getting arrested for being just that. It's almost a relief that someone finally stepped in and said Enough. Now the debate is what to do. Originally this festival was intended to bring hte community together and now it was pushing the community apart. Some people suggested putting the money elsewhere, into parks or taxes or something along those lines. I wonder why Chapel Hill couldn't just return to its roots and make Apple Chill what it was supposed to be- a festival celebrating a small community full of artistic talent. Maybe spreading the events over a week or month even would help bring the community together without the pressure of one day. Maybe it would help dispel the gangs who show up. Or maybe it would encourage them to set aside their guns (three people were shot this weekend and 87 arrested) and check out a Carrboro kiln.