Photoblogs
Fager's Island, timing, and intentionality: Happy Hour Adventures
By Tony RussoApril 12, 20164 min read
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Dave Rizer has made more Orange Crushes in his life than you could drink if you started doing it professionally. He also has ensured the sunset has proper accompaniment for the last three decades
Sunsets at Fager's Island (and a physics lesson)
For those of you who don't know, Fager's Island plays the sun down every day to the 1812 Overture. Tchaikovsky's work starts precisely 15:08 before the sun fades behind West Ocean City. It starts off so subtly that you're more than a minute in before you know it has begun. Of course, by the crescendo everyone is all in. Here is a fun sunset fact: You might know that sunset is a different time every day, but did it also occur to you that it is a different duration? Winter sunsets are shorter and also take less time to occur. Dave told me that John Fager wants the sunset manually started every day. The equivalent (for those of you old enough to remember) of pressing play on a tape deck while looking at your wrist watch. It only is barely more modern today. The point here is, it could be set to run automatically. Fager's could have a program set to play the 1812 Overture 15 minutes and eight seconds before the sun dips below the horizon. Hell, my teenager probably can get her iPhone to do that. But the bartenders here don't. It's part challenge and part focus. It's a way of staying present, being in the here and now and embracing the end of the day, or at least the waning of the light. For the guests, it is a way of drawing attention to a daily miracle. Watch the sun go down. Take a breath. Witness the transformation. Be in the moment. Hear the La Marseillaise theme and embrace the fight. The War of 1812 was about taking one's independence and making it stick, doing something with your freedom. The only thing more glorious than realizing one's freedom is exercising it.
Orange Crush? Don't mind if we do. All the time. These ladies came to Ocean City in the winter just to hang for a weekend, and split as Monday night came on.
Skip to the famous part
By the time the part of the Overture that everyone can whistle is playing, most nights and for most practical purposes, the dark has arrived. At Fager's, it doesn't announce the end of the day so much as the beginning of the evening. Your attention had been brought to the fact that the sun is going down but it has been focused on the fact that the evening has begun. The Orange Crushes were on special when I was having my Happy Hour Adventure and that's kind of appropriate. The bar filled up with person after person asking for an Orange Crush. If there's anything more Ocean City than having an Orange Crush at Fager's while Tchaikovsky plays, I don't think I can stand to know what it is. And that is the draw at Fager's, kind of. I think it is more appropriate to call it a symptom of the draw. Imagine working at a place where staying in tune with history, with the sun and with tradition is in your job description. Fager's is cultivating a way of life; and the people who work there, who care for the guests, squeezing oranges, finding seats, giving directions and suggesting complementary beers and foods become part of the culture of commitment. They are present enough to figure when the sun crosses the horizon. They celebrate the fact daily. Nothing but good can come of that.About Tony Russo
Tony Russo has worked as a print and digital journalist for the better part of the 21st century, writing for and editing regional weeklies and dailies before joining the team that produces OceanCity.com and ShoreCraftBeer.com among other destination websites. In addition to having documented everything from zoning changes to art movements on the Delmarva Peninsula, Tony has written two books on beer for the History Press. Eastern Shore Beer was published in 2014 and Delaware Beer in 2016. He lives in Delmar, Md. with his wife Kelly and the only of his four daughters who hasn't moved out. Together they keep their two dogs comfortable.
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