ESSEX — After 20 years, the Taste of Essex is no more.
But the L. Dexter Woodman Scholarship Fund, which usually hosts the annual event as one of its main fundraisers, will continue providing scholarships to local students.
On Saturday, instead of the Taste of Essex, the scholarship fund will host a benefit concert featuring the James Montgomery Band, with Gloucester resident Dennis "Fly" Amero as a special guest. The event will run from 8:30 to 11 p.m. in The Essex Room behind Woodman's Function Hall on Main Street.
"After 20 successful years of the Taste of Essex, we were looking to change it up," said Wendy Viator, the clerk and treasurer of the fund.
Viator said that it took a lot of time and resources to run the Taste of Essex each year, so the committee decided to go with a more casual entertainment-based event.
The last time the James Montgomery Band played in The Essex Room this past June the event sold out. Montgomery, a well-known blues artist, has recorded six albums and has toured with major artists, including Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen and the Allman Brothers, according to his Web site.
"He is legendary," Amero said of Montgomery. "He is one of the greatest blues harp players in the country."
This will be Amero's first appearance in The Essex Room this year, but he has played there many times in the past. Amero started performing on stage as a young teenager; he is now touring as a member of Orleans, and he fronts a New England-based rock and blues band called The Big Strum.
Tickets for the event are still available and cost $40. Proceeds of this event will go toward giving two graduatng Manchester Essex Regional High School seniors each a $10,000 scholarship and will provide several other Cape Ann students with scholarships.
The scholarship was created in 1988 in memory of L. Dexter Woodman, the son of the founder of Woodman's of Essex and longtime owner of the establishment. Since its founding, the Scholarship Fund has given out over a half a million dollars to more than 70 students from Cape Ann.
"I knew Dexter Woodman personally," said Amero, who grew up in Essex. "He was one of the nicest guys I've ever known. This is my way to give back to the community and support the scholarship."
Viator is L. Dexter Woodman's granddaughter.
"My grandfather was a huge supporter of the community and the people in the community," she said. "We feel the local community should come out and support this fund because it benefits local students in the community."
Jonathan Phelps can be reached at 978-283-7000 x 3447, or via e-mail at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com
IF YOU GO
What: James Montgomery Band, with Dennis "Fly" Amero, to benefit the L. Dexter Woodman Scholarship Fund.
Where: The Essex Room, behind Woodman's on Main Street, Essex.
When: 8:30 to 11p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $40, nonrefundable.
Who: Must be 21 years or older to attend the event; proper identification needed to enter.
Ticket sales: Online at Woodmanscholarship.org; at the Woodman's catering office at 127 Main St., Essex; Gloucester Music Store, 210 Main St., Gloucester; and Joshua's Corner Antiques at 4 Southern Ave.
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