A lot of people move to rural southeastern Guilford County for the peace and quiet.

So, a group of residents who live along and near the 3900 block of Alamance Church Road – just west of the intersection of Alamance Church Road and NC 62 – are, to say the least, not pleased that loud weddings, parties, concerts and even Mule-A-Ramas are being held on 3 acres of land right next to them.

Residents have been upset about the noisy events for a long time, but things came to a head on Saturday, Sept. 2, when a raucous party lasted well into the night and left the landscape littered with Modelo beer bottles and other trash.

John Shae, a resident in the area who owns 14 acres, has lived in this Southeast Guilford county for 20 years.  He said now he and others who live near all the commotion have had enough.

“Everybody is pissed off about it,” he said.

He added that the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department was contacted but did not shut the noise down quickly.  He said he was told the group did have a permit. However, deputies acknowledged that the group was in violation of the county’s noise ordinance at that hour.

Shea said that, after looking into the matter, he learned that this time it was people largely from Siler City there to celebrate a wedding.

He also said the first events years ago were Mule-A-Ramas, competitions where celebrants, among other things, attempt to mount animals that don’t want humans on them.

Those events are raucous ones that brought lots of traffic, commotion and noise.

“”They would bring in horses and bulls for that,” he said of the Mule-A-Ramas. “We didn’t mind that – it was once a year, so who cares?”

But, then, he continued, the woman who owns the property had a stage constructed and things have been escalating ever since.  He said some events, like the Sept. 2 wedding, have clearly been in violation of the county’s noise ordinance, which calls for quiet after 11 p.m.

He said he wonders why the events continue to get county permits.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Shea said. “Nobody came around to any of the residents here and asked us what our feelings were about this going on. This past Saturday night they played until 12:15 in the morning.  And there’s homes 50 to 60 yards away from where the stage is, and these people are senior citizens.”

“There must have been 100 cars at the corner of 62 South and Alamance Church Road of these guys who drove in from Siler City” he added. “We weren’t given any warning about this. It just happened suddenly.”

He said he had contacted the Sheriff’s Department and county officials but added that no immediate action was taken to address the problem.

He said that the ground was strewn with debris after the event, but added that, the morning after, a crew of four people was cleaning up the venue.

However, he said, everyone who lives nearby is at the end of their rope since law enforcement officers were slow to react Saturday night and county leaders contacted are apparently taking no action.

Several Guilford County commissioners who were asked about the issue on Thursday, Sept. 7 said that they were only learning about the concern that day, but added that they are now going to look into the matter.

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