HAMPTON, Va. — The organizer of a large, unpermitted gathering at Buckroe Beach April 4 is partnering with a local coffee shop to try to move forward.
Josiah Palmer said he wasn’t trying to cause trouble when he organized what was promoted as a takeover of Buckroe Beach. He estimates at least 1,000 people showed up.
Watch: Videos show Hampton police breaking up large gathering at Buckroe Beach
“Everybody was having a good time out there. That’s what we wanted to see. We wanted to be able to get some clips and stuff like that so we can throw, legal permit-wise, events on the beach," Palmer explained.
Police eventually showed up and broke up the gathering.
As a result, Palmer reached out to David Spring, one of the co-owners of Buckroe Coffee Co. near the beach, for guidance.
“He’s more in the youth than I am. He’s more engaged, especially with the legal permits and more in the community. He knows way more. I can learn a lot from him," said Palmer.
The two began working together on two trash cleanup events April 18 and April 25.
Watch: Hampton coffee shop stepping up to help nonprofit in need give away bikes
“Just, basically, leaving a better impression than what we did on the fourth," Palmer said.
That’s not the only motivation, though. The coffee shop is offering a mentorship to whoever cleans up the most trash at each event.
“They want to have a spring break, right?" said Spring. "I figured if I brought in somebody who can bring the crowd and I showed them the requirements and I connected them with city officials and local leaders that they could come up with the revenue. They could come up with a plan and then they can execute it for next year to do it right.”
Watch: 'A marked success:' Reflecting on Shoreline Operations Station's first summer at Buckroe Beach
Spring said he’s proud of Palmer.
“I’m proud that he reached out. It’s not easy to do that. The hard thing is to do the right thing," Spring said.
“It means a lot," Palmer said about the opportunity to work with Spring. "Because you don’t get a lot of opportunities like that, especially when you get an opportunity like this that’s way older than you and that already has their own setting, their own grounding, and bearing where they’re at. That means that they can teach you what they’ve learned 20 years ago, 15 years ago. It’s given me a big opportunity to change where I’m at and go higher.”
