HAMLET — The Seaboard City is hosting two back-to-back community events this weekend.
On Friday, the city kicks off the 2026 season of the Boxcar Concert Series with the Low Down Dirty Heathens at Main Street Park.
The band — featuring singer and guitarist Joe Frye, bassist Ronnie Latham and drummer Donnie Smith — has been performing original and cover tunes across the state since forming in 2019.
The Low Down Dirty Heathens — a regional band that blends Southern Rock, outlaw country and swamp blues — have previously performed at the Berry Patch and Double Vision, and competed in Rockingham Dragway’s Battle of the Bands in 2024.
The free Boxcar Concert Series started on Sunday afternoons in 2022, but was switched to Friday evenings to coincide with TGIFridays on Main, with several food trucks set up near the Depot.
Performances are the fourth Friday of each month, starting in April and ending the night before the Seaboard Festival in October.
RO file photo
On Saturday, Main Street Park will be packed with paws for the fifth annual Walk and Wag.
The event, which runs from 10 a.m.-noon, will feature a pet parade and costume contest — $10 entry — with prizes going to the top three winners. There will also be a raffle with the first winner receiving their choice of a cat basket or a dog basket, and the second winner getting the other.
Coffee truck Bently’s Brews will be on site, as well as several other pet-related vendors.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the Richmond County Animal Shelter and Richmond County Operation Fix.
Operation Fix focuses on spaying and neutering cats and dogs to quell the number of unwanted pets that have been filling up the shelter, and is currently raising funds for recovery cages.
For raffle tickets or more information, contact the Hamlet Visitors Center.
