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Calvert Marine Museum News Archives 2004

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November 29, 2004 - CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM ANNOUNCES WINTER CONCERT SERIES

November 15, 2004 - THE IGUANAS TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

November 15, 2004 - WINTER LIGHTS CELEBRATION AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

September 29, 2004 - BOB ZENTZ CONCERT ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

September 29, 2004 - ANNUAL MONSTER MASH CRUISE ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

September 3, 2004 - FOSSIL FIELD EXPERIENCE AT CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

September 8, 2004 - BUILD A CANOE IN A WEEKEND AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

August 25, 2004 - GRANTS SEEKING WORKSHOP OFFERED AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

August 13, 2004 - ANNUAL DINNER CRUISE ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

August 10, 2004 - THE BEACH BOYS TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

August 9, 2004 - CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM BALL TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 25

August 4, 2004 - Calvert Marine Museum to Participate in 2004 Maryland Lighthouse Challenge

July 26, 2004 - Cradle Of Invasion, The First Naval Amphibious Training Base, returns to the Calvert Marine Museum

July 12, 2004 - Bowhead Support Services to fund whale skull exhibit at CMM

June 25, 2004 - Dominion to Fund Fog Bell Signal Renovation At the Cove Point Lighthouse

June 4, 2004 - Calvert Middle School Builds Boat in Twenty Hours

June 1, 2004 - CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM TO HOST SHARKFEST!

May 18, 2004 - Chesapeake Bay Field Lab Recently Christened a New Wooden Skiff

May 17, 2004 - WOODEN BOAT’S FAMILY BOATBUILDING WEEKEND COMES TO THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

May 11, 2004 - MERLE HAGGARD TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

May 4, 2004 - OCEAN DAY FESTIVITIES AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

April 21, 2004 - NEW LIVE SEAHORSE EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

April 19, 2004 - 1812 DINNER CRUISE SPONSORED BY THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

April 19, 2004 - YOUNG SALTS PROGRAM FOR YOUTH AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

April 15, 2004 - FATHER’S DAY CRUISE ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

April 6, 2004 - FOSSIL FIELD EXPERIENCE AT CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

April 1, 2004 - CHESAPEAKE ANTIQUE BOAT AND MARINE ENGINE SHOW RETURNS TO THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

March 29, 2004 - BASKET BINGO EXTRAVAGANZA TO BENEFIT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

March 29, 2004 - MEET THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

March 25, 2004 - BONNIE RAITT TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

March 17, 2004 - TOM LEWIS TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

March 1, 2004 - COMMANDER CODY TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

February 23, 2004 - TOM LEWIS CHILDREN’S CONCERT AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

February 23, 2004 - MOTHER’S DAY CRUISES OFFERED ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

January 29, 2004 - LEROY THOMAS AND THE ZYDECO ROADRUNNERS TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

January 29, 2004 - 8 Million-Year-Old Fossil Whale Skull Found in St. Mary’s County, MD

December 22, 2003 - WINTER LIGHTS CELEBRATION AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

December 18, 2003 - DR. CATHERINE FORSTER TO SPEAK AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

CMM-PR-04-44
November 29, 2004

CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM ANNOUNCES WINTER CONCERT SERIES

The Calvert Marine Museum, Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep and Cumberland & Erly, LLC announce the line-up for the Waterside 2005 indoor concert series:

* January 29, New Orleans cajun party band, the Iguanas, will perform two shows; 6:00pm and 8:30pm. Tickets can be purchased beginning January 17.

* February 25, pop musician Edwin McCain returns for a second consecutive year. McCain will perform two shows; 6:00pm and 8:30pm. Tickets can be purchased beginning February 11.

* March 12, Captain Quint will perform for one show only, beginning at 8:00pm. Captain Quint has been the opening band for Jimmy Buffett for the last three years, and blends a variety of Buffett music with their own line of tropical rock and roll. Tickets can be purchased beginning February 25.

Ticket prices for each Waterside 2005 indoor concert are $24 for CMMS members and $26 for the general public. All tickets are general admission, and seating is limited to 195 per show. Tickets can be purchased by calling 410-326-2042 x16, 17, or 18.

Waterside 2005 sponsors are Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep, Cumberland & Erly, LLC, Bozick Distributors - Coors, Coors Light, and Killian’s, Quality Built Homes, G&H Jewelers, RadioShack- Prince Frederick/Dunkirk/Charlotte Hall, Solomons Landing, DM Group, 98 Star FM, Mom’s in the Kitchen Catering, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Bay Weekly, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Quick Connections, Comcast, The Birchmere, Booz/Allen/Hamilton, and the Holiday Inn Select-Solomons. For additional information, please call 410-326-2042 x 16, 17 or 18, or visit the museum’s website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com.

CMM-PR-04-41
November 15, 2004

THE IGUANAS TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

On Saturday, January 29, Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep and Cumberland & Erly, LLC present Waterside 2005 with the Iguanas, live in concert at the Calvert Marine Museum indoor auditorium. The Iguanas will perform two shows – one at 6:00pm and the other at 8:30pm. Tickets are $24 for CMMS members and $26 for the general public. All tickets are general admission, and seating is limited per show. Tickets can be purchased beginning January 17th by calling 410-326-2042 x16, 17, or 18.

Hailing from New Orleans, the Iguanas have always had a flair for melodies and lyrics as well as grooves. For a decade, the quintet has been blending Texas border music, rootsy rock, and R & B to create their own smooth and danceable sounds. Their newest CD, Plastic Silver 9 Volt Heart, is like taking a musical tour of New Orleans itself and will be available for purchase the night of the concert.

Waterside 2005 sponsors are Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep, Cumberland & Erly, LLC, Bozick Distributors - Coors, Coors Light, and Killian’s, Quality Built Homes, G&H Jewelers, RadioShack- Prince Frederick/Dunkirk/Charlotte Hall, Solomons Landing, DM Group, 98 Star FM, Mom’s in the Kitchen Catering, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Bay Weekly, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Quick Connections, Comcast, The Birchmere, Booz/Allen/Hamilton, and the Holiday Inn Select-Solomons. For additional information, please call 410-326-2042 x 16, 17 or 18.

CMM-PR-04-40
November 15, 2004

WINTER LIGHTS CELEBRATION AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Enjoy the magical beauty of lighthouses during the Calvert Marine Museum’s annual Winter Lights Festival, taking place January 15 and 16, 2005 from 10am-5pm at the Calvert Marine Museum. Peruse displays in the museum lobby and learn more about lighthouses from “keepers” and associations from across Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey including The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (Hooper Strait Light), The Association for the Preservation of VA Antiquities (Old and New Cape Henry Lights), The Delaware Lighthouse Society, The Chesapeake Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society (with all Chesapeake Bay lights, and many more.

New for Winter Lights 2005 are lectures by lighthouse author Elinor DeWire and activities for children presented by Fran Knobel of The Garden Pot. Returning to Winter Lights by popular demand is the Gingerbread Lighthouse Contest for lighthouse enthusiasts of all ages. Contestants should make their lighthouse in advance, and bring it to the Calvert Marine Museum on Friday, January 14 or Saturday, January 15. There are two categories for the contest: architecturally accurate and whimsical. Judging by representatives of the US Lighthouse Society will take place on Sunday, January 16.

Admission to the lobby displays is free and open to the public. All lectures are also free. Admission to the museum and Drum Point Lighthouse ranges from $2 - $7, depending on age; admission is free for Calvert Marine Museum members. For more information on the Winter Lights Festival, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 ext. 41 or mccormmj@co.cal.md.us.

AUTHOR ELINOR DEWIRE TO HOST LIGHTHOUSE PRESENTATIONS
AT CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM’S WINTER LIGHTS FESTIVAL

Love lighthouses? Join in on the fun as author Elinor DeWire hosts “Keepers in Skirts” and “Lighthouses Across America” presentations as part of Calvert Marine Museum’s annual Winter Lights festival on January 15-16. There is no fee for the presentations. DeWire will also be on hand throughout the weekend to autograph her books.

A native of Frederick, Maryland, Elinor DeWire has been researching, photographing, and writing about lighthouses since 1973, when she moved to Maine with her husband on a military assignment. Since that time, she has lived on many coasts and has visited over 700 lighthouses. Elinor has authored nine books and more than 100 magazine articles about lighthouses. Some of her books include, “Guardians of the Light,” “Lighthouse Almanac,” “Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic,” “Lighthouses: Sentinels of the American Coast,” and “Lighthouses of the South.” Copies of some of her publications will be available for sale at the Calvert Marine Museum Store.

Elinor tells audiences: “Everything I ever needed to know I learned from a lighthouse. Stand up straight and be proud of who you are. Always look on the bright side...Most importantly, remember to leave the light on for anyone not home yet.”

For more information on Elinor DeWire’s presentations and books, please contact Maureen Baughman in the CMM Store at 410-326-2750. For additional information about Winter Lights and its activities, please contact the Education Department at 410-326-2042 or visit www.calvertmarinemuseum.com.

LIGHTHOUSE EXPERT TO HOST TWO LECTURES AT CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM’S
WINTER LIGHTS FESTIVAL

Celebrate the majestic lighthouse as James Woodward presents “Lens Maintenance” and “Evolution of Illuminating Apparatus” as part of Calvert Marine Museum’s annual Winter Lights festival on January 15-16. Two one-hour presentations will be held each day in the museum’s auditorium.

Mr. James S. Woodward was a 40-year employee of the U.S. Coast Guard, retiring in January 2004. For the past 20 years he has served as an Environmental Protection Specialist at the Civil Engineering Unit in Cleveland, Ohio. Throughout his career, Woodward’s focus was on lighthouse related projects including lighthouse reconstruction, maintenance and preservation. He worked extensively on the lighthouse automation program during the 1970s and early 1980s. Upon his retirement from the Coast Guard, Mr. Woodward was awarded the Commander’s Award for Sustained Excellence and was cited in the award as being “the single greatest resource for lighthouse and Fresnel lens preservation in the Coast Guard.”

Mr. Woodward’s interest in Fresnel lenses began in 1965 when he had the opportunity to apprentice under Mr. Arthur Mienhold, who had been a lampist in the U.S. Lighthouse Service prior to 1939. Woodward has been a key player in over 100 lens projects in his career.

As well as being a full time Coast Guard employee, Mr. Woodward is the owner of “The Lighthouse Consultant” and provides consultation services for those in need of his expertise. Clients include the Westport Historical Society (Grays Harbor Lighthouse), Shipwreck of the Atlantic Museum (Cape Hatteras lens), and The Port Washington Lighthouse Society. He is also a member of the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee’s Advisory Committee for Fresnel lenses and a member of the Optic Work Group of the World Lighthouse Society. You can learn more about him through his website: www.lighthouseconsultant.com.

CMM-PR-04-37
September 29, 2004

BOB ZENTZ CONCERT ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

The Calvert Marine Museum’s Education Department is hosting a special concert cruise aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison featuring the music of Bob Zentz on Friday, October 8, 2004. The cruise and concert will be from 5:30pm – 7:00pm, and departs the docks of the Calvert Marine Museum. Zentz’s songs include “The Last Skipjack” and “Let the Light from the Lighthouse Shine on Me.”

Space is limited, and reservations are required. The cost is $15 for adults, $10 for CMMS members, and $8 for children. For more information or to make reservations, contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or mccormmj@co.cal.md.us.

Related Links: The Wm. B. Tennison

CMM-PR-04-36
September 29, 2004

ANNUAL MONSTER MASH CRUISE ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

The Calvert Marine Museum is hosting its fifth annual Monster Mash Cruise and Costume Contest aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison on Sunday, October 31, 2004. The cruise, designed for little goblins and their families, is from 4:30pm – 5:30pm, and departs the docks of the Calvert Marine Museum.

Space is limited, and reservations are required by October 29. The cost is $6 for adults, $4 for children ages 5-12, and $2 for children 4 and under. For more information or to make reservations, contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or mccormmj@co.cal.md.us.

Related Links: The Wm. B. Tennison

CMM-PR-04-35
September 3, 2004

FOSSIL FIELD EXPERIENCE AT CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Ten million years ago, southern Maryland was a water world inhabited by whales, snails, crocodiles and giant sharks. Relive this ancient world on Saturday, September 18, at a Fossil Field Experience sponsored by the Calvert Marine Museum.

The excursion begins by assembling at the Calvert Marine Museum at 11:00a.m. Participants will take part in a one-hour paleontology program hosted by the museum’s Education Department. At 1:00 p.m., the program continues at a local beach where participants are instructed on how to comb for fossils. Participants get to keep the fossils they find.

Admission to the fossil field experience is $15 per person, ages 8 and over. An adult must accompany any child under the age of 18. Space is limited. For more information or to register, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41, or visit the museum’s website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com. Advanced registration is required.

Related Links: Paleontology at CMM, CMM Fossil Club, Education

CMM-PR-04-34
September 8, 2004

BUILD A CANOE IN A WEEKEND AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Blend one stack of wood with an ample assortment of simple hand tools, stir in twelve eager participants over one weekend, and you have a recipe for an unforgettable boatbuilding, team building experience. Thanks to the opening of the new Patuxent Small Craft Center, the Calvert Marine Museum is able to teach and preserve the traditional skills of wooden boatbuilding, and continue the important and ongoing work of the maintenance of its small craft collection. Following a successful and full series of courses over the past twelve months, the museum will offer another Weekend Boatbuilding course on Saturday, November 13, from 9:00a.m.until 5:00p.m., and Sunday, November 14 from 9:00a.m.until 5:00p.m.

Participants in the Weekend Boatbuilding Course will build their own handsome 15 ½’ double paddle canoe. The construction involves the use of simple hand tools, and no boatbuilding experience is needed.

The cost for the course is $475 for CMMS members and $525 for non-members; the cost is per canoe, and up to four people can participate in the construction of each boat. Pre-registration is required, and can be done by calling Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41. For further questions about the boatbuilding class, please contact instructor George Surgent at 410-586-2700. Limited scholarship funding is available through the recently founded Melvin Conant Memorial Youth Fund. For further information on scholarships, please contact Richard Dodds at 410-326-2042 x31.

Related Links: Ships and Boats

CMM-PR-04-33
August 25, 2004

GRANTS SEEKING WORKSHOP OFFERED AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

A free grant seeking workshop will be held at the Calvert Marine Museum on Wednesday, September 14 from 9:00 a.m. until noon. The workshop, presented by Kathy Jankowski of Jankowski Associates in Frederick, Maryland, will introduce participants to the world of grant seeking and will help to facilitate partnering among local agencies. Ms. Jankowski will be giving a demonstration of the grant seeking software, GrantsDirect, which will help participants learn to use available technologies to do more effective grant research. At the end of the workshop, one lucky participant will win a one-year subscription to GrantsDirect (valued at $495).

There is no charge for the workshop, but registration is requested as space is limited. For more information or to register, please call Melissa Carnes at 410-326-2042 x17 or carnesmd@co.cal.md.us.

CMM-PR-04-32
August 13, 2004

ANNUAL DINNER CRUISE ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

The Calvert Marine Museum would like to invite the public to its annual crab cake dinner cruise aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison on Sunday, September 12, 2004. The cruise is from 5:00pm – 7:00pm, and departs the docks of the Calvert Marine Museum.

Seating is limited, and reservations are required by September 8. The cost is $26 for adults, $21 for CMMS members, and $17 for children. For more information or to make reservations, contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or mccormmj@co.cal.md.us

Related Links: The Wm. B. Tennison

CMM-PR-04-31
August 10, 2004

THE BEACH BOYS TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

On Sunday, September 19, Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep and Cumberland & Erly, LLC present Waterside 2004 with The Beach Boys. Gates open at 6:00 pm; Showtime is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 for premium seating and $35 for reserved seating. CMMS members can order tickets beginning Monday, August 23 at 9:00 a.m. from the flier that has been mailed. Remaining tickets will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, September 1, at 12:01 a.m. through phone charge at 1-800-787-9454; tickets are no longer sold at the museum. This is an outdoor, rain or shine concert; there are no refunds or exchanges. Food and drinks will be available onsite. Coolers, cameras, and recording devices are not allowed.

For more information on the Waterside Music Series 2004 season, to become a member of the Calvert Marine Museum, or to get additional information for ordering tickets to Beach Boys’ concert, please visit the museum’s website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com or call 410-326-2042 x17 or 18.

Related Links: Concerts

CMM-PR-04-29
August 9, 2004

CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM BALL TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 25

The Calvert Marine Museum Society will host its annual Ball on Saturday, September 25 in the halls of the museum’s exhibition building. The event will raise funds needed for the construction of a new maritime exhibit depicting the decline of the seafood packing industry in Southern Maryland. Anyone interested in attending this benefit event should contact the Society at 410-326-20420 x17 or x18.

Food, fun, and festivities will be the themes of the night. Catering will be provided by Mom’s In The Kitchen and Captain Smith’s Seafood, and will include a variety of delectable cuisine arranged in food stations including a Mediterranean bar, carving station, antipasto bar, dessert mountain, and the very unique and enjoyed potato bar. Guests will be able to enjoy a variety of fresh seafood items during cocktail hour at the event’s popular seafood bar. Music will be provided by Square Noon during cocktail hour, and the 25th Hour Band for dinner and dancing. A unique flair which will return to the 2004 Ball is the popular martini bar sponsored by Ball committee chairperson, RoxAnne Cumberland and the law firm of Cumberland & Erly, LLC.

Guests will be treated to a wealth of unique items as part of the Ball’s silent and live auctions including a private ride in the famous “Panchito” B-25 WWII Bomber; a one-week stay at an oceanfront condo at Breakaway East in Ocean City; a hot air balloon ride; autographed sports memorabilia from Cal Ripken and Joe Montana; fine jewelry donated by G & H Jewelers; a five-day, four-night stay at the Pink House near Asheville, North Carolina; a behind the scenes tour of the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C.; two hand carved fishing rods; a hand carved decoy created by the late Mr. Pepper Langley; a fishing charter adventure aboard the Emma G; a private one hour charter for 40 aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison; a one-year membership to museum’s Bugeye Society valued at $1,000; and much more.

For the first time ever, the CMM Ball will feature an exciting home entertainment system raffle. The sale of raffle tickets is open to the public, and only 250 tickets will be sold at a cost of $100 per ticket. The winner, to be drawn at the Ball, will receive a 42” Sony Plasma HDTV, Sony 700w 5.1 ch. home theater system with DVD/CD/MP3 player, X Box, four year extended warranty, cables and complete home installation. The winner of this prize does not need to be present to win.

Ticket prices for the event are $125 per person, and can be obtained by calling the museum’s Development Office at 410-326-2042 x17 or x18. Raffle tickets can also be purchased through the Development Office.

CMM-PR-04-30
August 4, 2004

CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM TO PARTICIPATE IN 2004 MARYLAND LIGHTHOUSE CHALLENGE

On September 18 and 19, 2004, the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society and the Lighthouse Organizations of Maryland will host the 2004 Maryland Lighthouse Challenge. Fashioned after an event that is held annually and quite successfully in New Jersey, the Challenge will be a weekend-long adventure up and down the state to see all of our land-based lighthouses. The Challenge is open to guests of all ages. Along the Challenge route, participants will visit nine historic lighthouses at some of the most beautiful Chesapeake Bay area locations statewide, and the historic Chesapeake Lightship, which is currently anchored at Baltimore’s famous Inner Harbor.

Challenge participants can begin their journey at any one of the land-based lights participating in this year’s challenge including Drum Point, Cove Point, Point Lookout, Piney Point, Fort Washington, Seven Foot Knoll/Chesapeake Lightship, Hooper Strait, Turkey Point and Concord Point. At the first lighthouse visited, participants will receive a special commemorative map created just for the occasion, and a collectible lighthouse card depicting that lighthouse. At every subsequent lighthouse visited, participants will receive a souvenir card depicting that lighthouse.

Special commemorative souvenirs will be available at each sites’ store. The Calvert Marine Museum will host Nancy Younger of Harbour Lights, who will be at the museum store both days to sign any Harbour Lights items purchased by visitors. Harbour Lights has created a special limited edition replica of each lighthouse in the Maryland Lighthouse Challenge; these creations, sold in a set of 10, will be made available to the public for the first time ever on opening day of Challenge weekend at the Calvert Marine Museum store, and can be signed by Nancy Younger during her exclusive visit.

Participants are encouraged to come out and visit as many or as few of the lighthouses as they choose. There will be a special stamp for those individuals who do “meet the Challenge” and visit all of the participating lights. This will be the first time in Maryland’s history that all of the state’s land-based lights will be open simultaneously for public access, and climbing wherever possible. To the lighthouse enthusiast, this is a highly anticipated event.

“We are very excited to be a part of this wonderful event,” says Karen Stone, Curator of Education at the Calvert Marine Museum. “We hope that many Southern Maryland lighthouse enthusiasts will take part in this event, and will begin their Challenge at our Drum Point and Cove Point Lighthouses.”

For more information on the 2004 Maryland Lighthouse Challenge, please contact the US Lighthouse Society’s Chesapeake Chapter at www.cheslights.org.

CMM-PR-04-27
July 26, 2004

Cradle Of Invasion, The First Naval Amphibious Training Base,
returns to the Calvert Marine Museum

Cradle Of Invasion, The First Naval Amphibious Training Base, returns to Solomons, Maryland on August 6-8, 2004 as part of the Calvert Marine Museum's annual program honoring the first Naval amphibious training base (ATB), established in Solomons in 1942. To meet the urgent demands of World War II, the base trained thousands of Marines, Army soldiers, Navy sailors, and Coast Guardsmen for service throughout the European and Pacific theaters. While the base closed in 1945, it left a lasting impact on the Solomons community. The 7th Annual Cradle Of Invasion, The First Naval Amphibious Training Base commemorates this little known, but highly important training facility and the men and women who served here.

The three-day event includes a host of activities and demonstrations for visitors of all ages. Admission to most events is free including the living history camps, amphibious landing exercises, heavy weapons demonstrations, a US Navy Band concert by the Sea Chanters under the Drum Point Lighthouse, and much more. Ticketed events include a 1940s Nite Club and Fashion Show, an Abbott and Costello Show, a 1940s Dinner Dance, Wm. B. Tennison cruises, and a Baby Snooks and Daddy theatre performance. A complete listing of the weekend’s events can be found on the Cradle of Invasion website at www.cradleofinvasion.org.

For more information, please call Karen E. Stone, Curator of Education, Calvert Marine Museum, 410-326-2042, ext. 32 or stoneke@co.cal.md.us.

Related Links: Cradle of Invasion

CMM-PR-04-24
July 12, 2004

Bowhead Support Services to fund whale skull exhibit at CMM

Bowhead Support Services recently presented the Calvert Marine Museum with a donation of $12,500 to create a new exhibit of the museum’s recently found 8 million year old baleen whale skull. The skull is currently on temporary exhibit at the museum, and has been visited by a record number of visitors.

As reported in November 2003, the Calvert Marine Museum, in cooperation with the Patuxent River Naval Air Station’s Search and Rescue Division, successfully retrieved the whale skull from the sea cliffs of the St. Mary’s River once the skull was left exposed from the fury of hurricane Isabel. The acquisition of the skull received worldwide attention, and has been featured on CNN, MSN, National Public Radio, local news broadcasts, Geotimes Magazine, and countless local and regional publications. The skull also caught the close attention of Ms. Pat Dunlap of the Bowhead Support Services (BSS) Patuxent River Division in Lexington Park, Maryland.

Among the contracts held by BSS Pax is one supporting Navy public affairs offices nationwide. Dunlap manages the program and learned of the fossil find during a staff meeting for Tester, the NAS Patuxent River newspaper.

The BSS native Alaskan shareholders named the company for the bowhead, a modern-day baleen whale indigenous to Arctic waterways. The massive whale is central to the history and culture of the BSS Alaskan shareholders. Intrigued by the whale connection, Dunlap sought a corporate-museum bond, working her way up the BSS corporate ladder.

Finding support at every step, she finally contacted BTC President/CEO Robert Leonard in Seattle and shareholder Jana Harcharek in Barrow, Alaska, the most northern community in the United States. The native Alaskan cultural emphasis on cooperative community relationships completed the equation. “At every level,” summarizes Bowhead Patuxent River Vice President Ms. Gerrie L’Heureux, “Bowhead is pleased to support this historically and biologically significant project.”

“We are honored to have the support and enthusiasm of Bowhead,” says Doug Alves, Director of the Calvert Marine Museum. “They have become a great friend of our museum efforts, and we are quite overwhelmed by their recent generosity. It is exciting to not only have a partner in our efforts to preserve, interpret, and exhibit this rare find, but to learn about the Inupiat culture and share in their respect for the environment.”

“As volunteers and staff continue to remove the hardened sediments entombing portions of this fossil, we look forward to learning whether this unusually complete skull preserves the remains of a known prehistoric whale or perchance a hitherto unknown new species of extinct whale. Fossil shells to shark teeth preserved with this skull give us a clearer picture of the marine world in which this whale lived and died. Needless to say, I am very grateful for the financial support Bowhead has committed to this new exhibit!” reports Dr. Stephen Godfrey, Curator of Paleontology for the Calvert Marine Museum.

Bowhead Support Services and its sister company, Bowhead Information Technology Services, are the federal government contracting divisions of Bowhead Holding Company, a subsidiary of Barrow-based Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (UIC). An Alaska Native Corporation headquartered in Arlington, Va., BSS holds numerous contracts with the Departments of Transportation and Defense. In addition to public affairs and communications, the work of its Patuxent River Division includes program management, information technology, risk management, engineering, acquisition, and finance.

The new Bowhead Whale Skull Exhibit is scheduled for completion in spring 2005.

Related Links: Paleontology

CMM-PR-04-23
June 25, 2004

Dominion to Fund Fog Bell Signal Renovation At the Cove Point Lighthouse

Dominion Cove Point LNG recently presented the Calvert Marine Museum with a donation of $12,000 to cover the remaining cost of renovating Cove Point Lighthouse’s Fog Bell Signal Building into a mini theatre. Guests of the Cove Point Lighthouse will be able to sit in theatre style seating and view the museum’s upcoming documentary The Keepers’ Children. This film, being produced by River Bend Research, takes viewers into the lives of people who once lived in the Cove Point Lighthouse as children of lighthouse keepers.

“The Calvert Marine Museum is well respected in our community and we are excited to have the opportunity to support their efforts with the renovations at the lighthouse,” said Mike Gardner, Manager of LNG Operations at Dominion.

“We are honored to have the support of Dominion Cove Point LNG,” says Doug Alves, Director of the Calvert Marine Museum. “They have been a great friend of our museum efforts, and we are quite overwhelmed by their recent generosity.”

“We have very specific plans for the renovation, and have been seeking funding for the project for about a year,” says Vanessa Gill, Director of Development for the museum. “The support of Dominion is very timely in that our documentary is in the final stages of production. Having the funding to complete our mini-theatre on the grounds of the lighthouse is very exciting, and we are proud to have Dominion as a partner in this project.”

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio of more than 24,000 megawatts of generation, 6.4 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and 7,900 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Dominion also operates the nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with more than 960 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves 5.3 million retail energy customers in nine states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

The renovation project is estimated to be completed in spring 2005.

Related Links: Cove Point Lighthouse

CMM-PR-04-22
June 4, 2004

Calvert Middle School Builds Boat in Twenty Hours

Pride and self-esteem were created by many hours of toil and sweat but it was a sight to behold; their smiles were like beams of light as the four students lowered their completed skiff into the water for the first time. A team of four MESA students built a rowboat in twenty hours at the Calvert Marine Museum’s Patuxent Small Craft Center in Solomons, Maryland. The team consisted of two-sixth graders, one-seventh grader and one-eighth grader. The boat they built was a ”Flat Iron Skiff”. This special project was a prototype for the Family Boat Building event to be held this year at the Calvert Marine Museum on July 24th and 25th. The ”Flat Iron Skiff” is a flat-bottomed rowboat designed by Calvert Marine Museum’s Boatwright, George Surgent.

The goals of this project were to build a product that would benefit all Calvert Middle School students, increase positive self image through goal attainment, provide a unique hands-on experience that is cross curricular using math, science and problem solving skills, and to transfer this product to CMS Science Dept. for their service learning program. This project was the seminal work of Mr. Surgent, Mr. Doug Verlich, Calvert Middle School’s guidance counselor/ MESA advisor, and Bob Bess, MESA instructor and tech-ed teacher at CMS. Funding for the project was made possible by John Little of Flag Harbor Marine Service, Calvert Middle School, and the Volunteer Council of the Calvert Marine Museum.

The Family Boat Building event made its introduction at the Wooden Boat Show in St. Michael's, MD, in the summer of 1998. In that one weekend, 60 families built, launched and took home 60 boats. Since that time, Family Boat Building has become an international grassroots endeavor; events are held around the world every year.

In 2004, it is anticipated that more than 100 events of Family Boat Building will occur between July 17-25, and many more events throughout the year. The goal this year is to build between 1,000 and 2,000 boats!

For further information about Family Boat Building Week, check the January/February 2004 issue of Wooden Boat magazine, or visit their online site at http://www.woodenboat.com/fbb.htm. To signup for the Family Boat Building Event, contact Melissa McCormick at the Calvert Marine Museum at 410-326-2042, ext. 41. Registration is required by June 24, 2004. Participation will be limited to six families or teams and limited scholarship funding is available through the recently founded Melvin Conant Youth Memorial Fund.

This was a project worth doing! Family Boat Building is an event that should be explored as a valuable and unique community endeavor. How many group endeavors could be as fulfilling as building your own boat in twenty hours and then sailing it?

Related Links: Ships and Boats

CMM-PR-04-21
June 1, 2004

CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM TO HOST SHARKFEST!

Hey kids, Sharkfest! is coming to the Calvert Marine Museum (CMM) on Saturday, July 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., so bring your family and learn more about the great ‘guardian of the deep.’ Museum admission is required. Some activities require an additional fee. A food court will be available for food and drinks.

Held annually in Solomons, Maryland, this fun-filled event features activities for the entire family. Festivities include fossil identifications, fossil prep lab demonstrations, children’s craft activities, rowboat and canoe rides, and games such as “pin the fin on the shark” and “catch a shark - fin toss.” Don’t miss our newest activities including a shark touch tank, painting a shark mural, face painting, “mini fin toss,” and “feed the shark (beanbag toss).” While enjoying all the fun, don’t forget to purchase a Polaroid picture “in the jaws,” and “create your own” shark buttons. For an additional ‘shark-fix,’ don’t miss the CMM Fossil Club’s displays or the exhibit, “Treasure from the Cliffs,” featuring a full-sized skeletal reconstruction of the giant fossil “megatooth” white shark.

For more information on Sharkfest!, contact Karen Stone at the Calvert Marine Museum at (410) 326-2042 x 32, email her at stoneke@co.cal.md.us, or visit CMM on the web at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com.

CMM-PR-04-19
May 18, 2004

Chesapeake Bay Field Lab Recently Christened a New Wooden Skiff

The Chesapeake Bay Field Lab recently christened a new wooden skiff at its annual members rally held on March 21, 2004. The skiff is an addition to the current vessels used to promote CBFL’s mission to physically place pieces of the Chesapeake Bay into younger hands. The skiff was built by the volunteers of the Patuxent River Small Craft Guild from the Calvert Marine Museum on Solomons Island including Al Lavish, Bill Lake, Bill Poffenbarger, Bill Boxwell, Paul Darby, Bob Fleming, Al Rondina, and Jon Dann.

Calvert Marine Museum’s Boatwright George Surgent directed the project. The skiff creates a puzzle of sorts, and will allow students to learn maritime skills such as stepping the mast, setting the boom, rigging the sail, and further completing the full rigging of the seaworthy 14-foot skiff built over the past winter. Although seaworthy, the vessel will be primarily used on land.

The skiff puzzle will join other multi-sensory learning stations at the Bay Lab such as the weather station and the oyster tonging station where students not only try their hand at tonging oysters from the bottom, but discover the many animals that live along side and inside oyster shells.

The wooden boat puzzle is designed to show learners of all ages the parts of a boat and their relationship to the dynamics of sailing. Guild president Bill Lake and other guild members are volunteers with the Calvert Marine Museum. They are typically boating enthusiasts, but not professional boat builders, Surgent explains. Each year the guild takes on a number of construction projects at the museum as a part of its maritime heritage mission under the helm of Maritime History Curator Richard Dodds. This year the Chesapeake Bay Field Lab was a beneficiary of their winter project.

The new boat joins two other CBFL vessels. La Petite Democrate, a hand-built sloop given to the Bay Lab last year by its builder, John Horton and the Dee of St. Mary’s, the only skipjack sailing St. Mary’s River today. Each year the Dee carries about 5,000 students and learners of all ages onto the St. Mary’s River offering environmental education classes and private charters. The Bay Lab will also be offering crab feasts aboard the skipjack in June, July, August and September as fundraisers to help support its educational mission.

For more information about trips aboard the skipjack and visits to the Bay Lab’s learning stations you may visit www.thebaylab.org or call 301-994-2245. The public is invited to visit the Bay Lab in person; the facility is located at the end of Piney Point Road on St. George Island. For more information about the Patuxent Small Craft Guild, visit the museum website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com.

Related Links: Ships and Boats

CMM-PR-04-18
May 17, 2004

WOODEN BOAT’S FAMILY BOATBUILDING WEEKEND COMES TO THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Blend one large stack of wood with an ample assortment of simple hand tools, stir in six eager families over one weekend, and you have a recipe for an unforgettable boatbuilding, team building, family bonding experience. Thanks to the opening of the new Patuxent Small Craft Center, the Calvert Marine Museum is able to teach and preserve the traditional skills of wooden boatbuilding, and continue the important and ongoing work of the maintenance of its small craft collection. Following a successful and full series of courses in 2003, the museum will offer another Weekend BoatBuilding course on Saturday, July 24, from 9:00a.m. until 5:00p.m., and Sunday, July 25 from 9:00a.m. until 5:00p.m.

This year the Patuxent Small Craft Center will be expanding its horizons by joining with Wooden Boat magazine’s annual family boatbuilding event. During the weekend of July 24-25, hundreds of families around the world will be building and launching their own boats creating a kind of international boatbuilding festival. The Calvert Marine Museum will be doing its part by offering six families or teams the opportunity to build their own handsome rowboat. The construction involves the use of simple hand tools, and no boatbuilding experience is needed.

The cost for the course is $750 for CMMS members and $800 for non-members; the cost is per boat. Pre-registration is required, and can be done by calling Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41. For further questions about the boatbuilding class, please contact instructor George Surgent at 410-586-2700. Limited scholarship funding is available through the recently founded Melvin Conant Youth Memorial Fund. For further information on scholarships, please contact Richard Dodds at 410-326-2042 x31.

Related Links: Ships and Boats

CMM-PR-04-17
May 11, 2004

MERLE HAGGARD TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

On Sunday, July 18, Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep and Cumberland & Erly, LLC present Waterside 2004 with legendary country musician Merle Haggard. Gates open at 5:00 p.m; showtime is at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 for reserved seats and $35 for standing room only. CMMS members can order tickets beginning Wednesday, June 16 at 9:00am from the flier that will be mailed to them in early June. Remaining tickets will go on sale to the public on Monday, June 28, at 9:00 a.m. through phone charge at 1-800-787-9454; tickets will no longer be sold at the museum. This is an outdoor, rain or shine concert; there are no refunds or exchanges. Food and drinks will be available onsite. Standing room only ticket holders should bring a blanket. Coolers and chairs are not allowed.

If the question were asked, “Who forged the genre that is known today as modern country music,” only a tiny group of country immortals could step forward to share the spotlight. One, out of that select handful, would be Merle Haggard. In the ever-expanding array of country music stars, hitmakers and idols, Haggard walks in no man’s shadow. Instead, he casts a far reaching shadow of his own.

Haggard’s life path has never been easy, nor has much of it been pretty, as aired in his 1981 book, Sing Me Back Home. His childhood years were spent in Bakersfield, California, and the death of his father, when Merle was just nine years old, became the catalyst that led to a squandered youth. At the same time, his love for the wandering songs of such as Jimmie Rodgers, led to an errant passion for the gleaming, endless railroad tracks and the siren songs of slow freight and hobo jungles; and, along the way, to numerous brushes with the law.

As a singer, Merle openly admits to “borrowing” the style of his idols, Lefty Frizzell, Bob Wills, and Jimmie Rodgers in his early years, and speaks of such beyond-the-genre influences upon his music as Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Still, it’s his own charismatic individuality, along with those rich vocal textures that so well express the heart and soul of Haggard.

For more information on the Waterside Music Series 2004 season, to become a member of the Calvert Marine Museum, or to get additional information for ordering tickets to Merle Haggard’s concert, please visit the museum’s website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com or call 410-326-2042 x17, or 18.

Related Links: Concerts

CMM-PR-04-16
May 4, 2004

OCEAN DAY FESTIVITIES AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Join the Calvert Marine Museum on Saturday, June 12 during its first annual Ocean Day celebration. Visitors will have fun while learning about the local environment and what part they each play in efforts to keep the environment safe and clean.

The Ocean Day celebration will run from 12:00 until 5:00 p.m. at the museum. Activities will include a craft area where visitors will make 3D murals, Secchi disks for turbidity, and milk carton propelled boats; games such as “Feed the Trash Monster” bean bag toss, magnetic “fishing trash from the water,” and fish tic-tac-toe; and a science tent where visitors can participate in watershed experiments presented by the Maryland Department of Environment, and other experiments and demonstrations provided by the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. From 1:00 until 3:00 p.m., author Priscilla Cummings will read her new book, Chesapeake Rainbow, and will be participating in book signings.

For more information about Ocean Day, please visit the CMM website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com, or contact Karen Stone 410-326-2042 x32.

CMM-PR-04-15
April 21, 2004

NEW LIVE SEAHORSE EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Seahorses are thought to have evolved at least 40 million years ago, and have survived from ancient times with only very small changes. They are unusual fish that have captured the imagination of artists, writers, and poets, and are often found in the mythology, legends, folklore and superstitions of almost every county in the world. In fact, some people still believe that these endearing creatures exist only in fables and children’s stories.

Come to Calvert Marine Museum and experience the magic of seahorses for yourself. For a limited time only, the museum will showcase a small exhibit featuring seahorses from around the globe. The live exhibit will coincide with the public art project, Seahorses by the Bay, and will open on May 1. The exhibit will be featured through the end of October.

For more information on museum hours or the new seahorse exhibit, please visit the CMM website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com, or contact Carin Stringer at
410-326-2042 x49.

Related Links: Seahorses, Estuarine

CMM-PR-04-14
April 19, 2004

1812 DINNER CRUISE SPONSORED BY THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Follow the water portion of the British invasion to the battle of St. Leonard’s Creek aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison at the Calvert Marine Museum’s 1812 Dinner Cruise on Friday, June 18. Living history interpreter Wes Stone will narrate while cruisers dine on a full-course meal. The cruise will board on the dock of the museum at 4:00 p.m., travel to St. Leonard’s Creek, and return to the museum at approximately 7:00 p.m.

Fees for the cruise and dinner are $20 for museum members, and $25 for the general public. Space is limited, and registration is required by June 14. For more information or to register, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or mccormmj@co.cal.md.us, or visit the CMM website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com.

Related Links: The Wm. B. Tennison

CMM-PR-04-13
April 19, 2004

YOUNG SALTS PROGRAM FOR YOUTH AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

The Calvert Marine Museum’s Education Department is pleased to announce that registration is now open for its Young Salts summer programs. Young Salts is an educational program for children aged 4 to 6 six years, and meets on Saturday mornings. During each program, children learn about a variety of local maritime, paleontology, and estuarine biology topics through active games, craft projects, and hands-on experiences. Each program runs for two Saturdays per month from 10:00 a.m. until noon. A snack is provided during the program.

The registration fee for Young Salts is $8 per child for museum members, and $10 for the general public. Space is limited, and registration is required. For more information including a complete listing of the upcoming Young Salts program topics, or to register, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or mccormmj@co.cal.md.us, or visit the CMM website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com

Related Links: Education

CMM-PR-04-08
April 15, 2004

FATHER’S DAY CRUISE ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

Treat your dad or that special someone to a memorable cruise aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison this Father’s Day. The Calvert Marine Museum is offering a Father’s Day brunch cruise on Sunday, June 20. The cruise will be held from 11:00am until 1:00pm. Advance registration is required by Wednesday, June 16. The cost per cruise is $20 for adults; $16 for dads and CMMS members; $12 for children under the age of 12.

For more information, or to make reservations, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or by email at mccormmj@co.cal.md.us.

CMM-PR-04-12
April 6, 2004

FOSSIL FIELD EXPERIENCE AT CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Ten million years ago, southern Maryland was a water world inhabited by whales, snails, crocodiles and giant sharks. Relive this ancient world on Saturday, May 22, at a Fossil Field Experience sponsored by the Calvert Marine Museum.

The excursion begins by assembling at the Calvert Marine Museum at 11:00a.m. Participants will take part in a one-hour paleontology program hosted by the museum’s Education Department. At 1:00 p.m., the program continues at a local beach where participants are instructed on how to comb for fossils. Participants get to keep the fossils they find.

Admission to the fossil field experience is $15 per person, ages 8 and over. An adult must accompany any child under the age of 18. Space is limited. For more information or to register, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x4. 1 Registration is required by May 17.

Related Links: Fossil Field, Paleontology at CMM, Fossil Club

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CMM-PR-04-07
April 1, 2004

CHESAPEAKE ANTIQUE BOAT AND MARINE ENGINE SHOW
RETURNS TO THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Spend a weekend perusing Southern Maryland’s rich maritime history at the Calvert Marine Museum’s fourth annual Chesapeake Antique Boat and Marine Engine Show on the grounds of the museum’s scenic waterfront campus. The show will feature exhibits from over 60 collectors of antique and classic boats, and vintage marine outboard and inboard engines. The event will be held on Saturday, May 1, from 10am-5pm and Sunday, May 2 from 10am-3pm. Admission to the show is free.

Throughout the weekend, show-goers will be able to take part in many museum activities. The Calvert Marine Museum Volunteer Council will hold its annual yard sale fundraiser on Saturday, May 1, beginning at 8:00a.m. As part of the County’s 350th Celebration’s seahorse program, two of the painted seahorses will be unveiled on Saturday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. in front of the CMM Administration Building; the children who painted these seahorses will share in the honor of unveiling their creations. There will be free children’s activities throughout the weekend. The national landmark Wm. B. Tennison will offer one-hour cruises of the harbor and river on Saturday and Sunday at 12:30, 2:00 and 3:10 , and with admission to the museum, visitors will be able to view a special exhibit “Outboard Motoring in America: The First 50 Years.” Cove Point Lighthouse tours begin this festival weekend, as well as the seasonal opening of the J.C. Lore Oyster House.

For more information on the Chesapeake Antique Boat and Marine Engine Show, including exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities, please call Richard Dodds at 410-326-2042 x31.

Admission to the museum $5 for adults, $4 for seniors 55+, $2 for children 5-12, and under 5 are free.

Related Links: Events

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CMM-PR-04-10
March 29, 2004

BASKET BINGO EXTRAVAGANZA TO BENEFIT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

The Calvert Marine Museum Society is proud to host its first-ever basket bingo fundraiser on Sunday, April 25, 2004 at the Holiday Inn Select Solomons. Doors will open at noon, and games will begin at 1:30p.m.

Tickets to this event are limited. The cost is $20 for 25 regular games, $10 for one additional regular game book, $15 for 2 additional game books, $20 for three additional game books. Specials are $5 per book, and cover 5 special games – all prizes offered for specials are valued at over $200 each. Early birds will be played at 1:30, and are $2 for a book of 4 games. Two raffles will be conducted for products valued at over $400 each!

“This event is a basket collector’s dream,” says Melissa Carnes, CMMS Development Associate. “We have a total of 40 baskets to give away, with a total retail value of over $6,400. This is sure to be a fun-filled day for everyone who joins us for this event.” A complete list of prizes to be won can be found on the museum’s website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com, or by calling the Development Office for an event flyer.

Click here to download flyer and registration form

“We are so excited to offer the King Tutt game at this event,” says Carnes. “This is a really fun game where one person will walk away with five baskets with a total value of over $500. Not many basket bingos in the area offer this game, so we’re happy to have been able to get the game and the quantity of prizes needed to add this to our program.”

To purchase tickets and make seat reservations, please contact the CMMS Development Office at 410-326-2042 x17.

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CMM-PR-04-09
March 29, 2004

MEET THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Step back in time to the early 20th century and visit Keeper Yeatman and his wife at the Calvert Marine Museum’s Drum Point Lighthouse on Saturday and Sunday, April 24 and 25, from 10:00am until 4:30pm. Guests can learn what it was like to raise a family in a lighthouse, what the duties of a keeper were, and what lighthouse families did for amusement. Living history interpreters Diane Milgrim and Wes Stone will greet you as if it were 1918, and as if you were a guest in their lighthouse home.

Bring your imagination, and leave the 21st century behind. Admission to the lighthouse is included in the regular museum admission fee. For more information, please contact the CMM Education Department at 410-326-2042 x32.

Related Links: Drum Point Lighthouse

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CMM-PR-04-05
March 25, 2004

BONNIE RAITT TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

On Sunday, June 6, Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep and Cumberland & Erly, LLC present Waterside 2004 with legendary blues artist Bonnie Raitt. Gates open at 6:00 p.m; showtime is at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets are $50 for premium seats and $40 for reserved seats. CMM members can order tickets beginning on Monday, April 19 by faxing their ticket order form to 410-326-4175, or by stopping by the museum’s Development Office beginning at 9:00a.m. Remaining tickets will go on sale to the public on May 12, and can be purchased at the Museum Store or through phone charge at 1-800-787-9454. This is a non-smoking. rain or shine concert; there are no refunds or exchanges. Food and drinks will be available, and coolers are not allowed.

More than a best-selling artist, respected guitarist, expressive singer, and accomplished songwriter, Bonnie Raitt has become an institution in American music. The release of The Best of Bonnie Raitt on Capitol 1989-2003, her 17th album, makes it clear that her contributions, in music as well as social issues, will endure as hallmarks of our time. With a career spanning four decades, nine Grammy wins, sales of more than 15 million albums and Bonnie’s recent Hall of Fame inductions, the time seemed right for a retrospective album featuring the most popular songs from her six Capitol albums.

Born to a musical family, the nine-time Grammy winner is the daughter of
Broadway singer John Raitt (Carousel, Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game) and accomplished pianist/singer Marge Goddard. She was raised in Los Angeles in a climate of respect for the arts, Quaker traditions, and a commitment to social activism. A Stella guitar given to her as a Christmas present launched Bonnie on her creative journey at the age of eight. While growing up, though passionate about music from the start, she never considered that it would play a greater role than as one of her many growing interests.

Bonnie Raitt performs at the Calvert Marine Museum on June 6. Waterside 2004 sponsors are Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep; Cumberland & Erly, LLC; Booz Allen Hamilton; Bozick Distributors - Coors, Coors Light, and Killian’s; RadioShack- Prince Frederick/Dunkirk/Charlotte Hall; Solomons Landing; Papa John’s Pizza; DM Group; WKIK Country 102.9; Star 98; Mom’s in the Kitchen Catering; Southern Maryland Newspapers; Bay Weekly; Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative; Quick Connections Answering Service; Comcast; the Birchmere; and the Holiday Inn Select Solomons.

For additional information, please call the Waterside hotline at 410-394-6684 or visit the CMM website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com. To reach a staff person, or to become a museum member, please call 410-326-2042 x 16, 17, or 18.

Related Links: Concerts

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CMM-PR-04-06
March 17, 2004

TOM LEWIS TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Tom Lewis will perform live in concert at the Calvert Marine Museum Auditorium on Friday, April 2, 2004 at 7:00pm. Tom will be singing songs from his newly released CD, 360°, All Points of the Compass. A children’s concert, Songs and Lore of the Sea, will be performed on Saturday, April 3 at 10:00am.

Tom is a 25-year veteran of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. He now resides in British Columbia, Canada. His songs cover a wide range of nautical topics from life onboard ships, through the loneliness and lure of the sea, to the very funny tail of Bunts, a canine ship’s mascot.

Ticket prices for both shows are $8 for museum members and $10 for the general public. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please contact the CMM Education Department at 410-326-2042 x32 for the Friday concert, or x41 for the Saturday concert, or by email at stoneke@co.cal.md.us.

Related Links: Concerts

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CMM-PR-04-04
March 1, 2004

COMMANDER CODY TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

On Saturday, March 27, Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep and Cumberland & Erly, LLC present Commander Cody live in concert at the Calvert Marine Museum indoor auditorium. Commander Cody, known best for the song “Hot Rod Lincoln,” will perform for one show only at 7:30p.m. Tickets are $15 for CMMS members and $17 for the general public. All tickets are general admission, and seating is limited to 195. Tickets can be purchased beginning March 15 by calling 410-326-2042 x16, 17, or 18, or by visiting the museum store between 10:15a.m. and 4:45p.m..

Look in any book on the History of Rock and Roll and you’ll find “Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen”. This 8-piece super band was Billboard Magazine’s WORLD’S BEST LIVE BAND in 1974 and 1975, and their album “Deep in the Heart of Texas” is one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 100 albums of all time.

In the new century, the Cody band has moved east to New York to be close to all the action. The band plays all the famous Cody tunes that are the mainstay of this very fine combo, and they are recording a new live CD with tunes not found on other albums.

Waterside 2004 sponsors are Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep; Cumberland & Erly, LLC; Booz Allen Hamilton; Bozick Distributing - Coors, Coors Light, and Killian’s; Quality Built Homes; G&H Jewelers; RadioShack- Prince Frederick/Dunkirk/Charlotte Hall; Solomons Landing; Papa John’s Pizza; DM Group; WKIK Country 102.9; Star 98; Mom’s in the Kitchen Catering; Southern Maryland Newspapers; Bay Weekly; Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative; Main Message Center; Comcast; the Birchmere; and the Holiday Inn Select Solomons. For additional information, please call 410-326-2042 x 16, 17, or 18.

Related Links: Concerts

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CMM-PR-04-03
February 23, 2004

TOM LEWIS CHILDREN’S CONCERT AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Legendary “pirate” Tom Lewis will perform a children’s concert, “Songs and Lore of the Sea” live at the Calvert Marine Museum Auditorium on Saturday, April 3, 2004 at 10:00am. If you like songs and stories of the sea, new and old, you’ll enjoy Tom's works and his singing.

Tom is a 25-year veteran of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. He now resides in British Columbia, Canada. His songs cover a wide range of nautical topics from life onboard ships, through the loneliness and lure of the sea, to the very funny tail of Bunts, a canine ship’s mascot.

Ticket prices are $8 for museum members and $10 for the general public. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or by email at mccormmj@co.cal.md.us.

Related Links: Concerts

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CMM-PR-04-02
February 23, 2004

MOTHER’S DAY CRUISES OFFERED ABOARD THE Wm. B. Tennison

Treat your mom or that special someone to a memorable cruise aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison this Mother’s Day. The Calvert Marine Museum is offering two Mother’s Day cruises on Sunday, May 9. A Brunch Cruise will be held from 11:00am until 1:00pm, and an evening cruise with heavy hors d’oeuvres will be held from 5:00pm until 7:00pm. Advance registration is required by Wednesday, May 5. The cost per cruise is $20 for adults; $16 for moms and CMMS members; $12 for children under the age of 12.

For more information, or to make reservations, please contact Melissa McCormick at 410-326-2042 x41 or by email at mccormmj@co.cal.md.us.

Related Links: The Wm. B. Tennison

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CMM-PR-04-01
January 29, 2004

LEROY THOMAS AND THE ZYDECO ROADRUNNERS
TO PERFORM AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

On Saturday, February 14, Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep and Cumberland & Erly, LLC present Waterside 2004 with Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners live in concert at the Calvert Marine Museum indoor auditorium. Thomas will perform at 7:30pm. Tickets are $13 for CMMS members and $16 for the general public. All tickets are general admission, and seating is limited to 195. Tickets can be purchased beginning February 2 by calling 410-326-2042 x16, 17, or 18, or by visiting the museum store.

Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Road Runners is one of the hottest Zydeco bands on the scene. On stage, Thomas delivers an encyclopedic repertoire of Zydeco, Cajun, R&B, Blues and many other forms of Louisiana roots music. His friendliness and accessibility make him especially popular with fans, and Thomas likes keeping the tradition of Louisiana-style Zydeco alive and flowing. With his quick fingers and rhythmic beat, he tends to thrill all kinds of crowds, and is sure to create a night to remember at the Calvert Marine Museum.

Waterside 2004 sponsors are Ralph’s Dodge-Jeep; Cumberland & Erly, LLC; Bozick Distributing - Coors, Coors Light, and Killian’s; Quality Built Homes; G&H Jewelers; RadioShack- Prince Frederick/Dunkirk/Charlotte Hall; Solomons Landing; Papa John’s Pizza; DM Group; WKIK Country 102.9; Star 98; Mom’s in the Kitchen Catering; Southern Maryland Newspapers; Bay Weekly; Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative; Main Message Center; Comcast; the Birchmere; and the Holiday Inn Select Solomons. For additional information, please call 410-326-2042 x 16, 17, or 18.

Related Links: Concerts

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Thursday, January 29th, 2004

8 Million-Year-Old Fossil Whale Skull Found in St. Mary’s County, MD

Solomons, MD – Fossil remains of an 8 million-year-old baleen whale have been recovered from along the cliffs in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The specimen includes a complete skull with both lower jaws intact, fused neck vertebrae, ribs, and a scapula. The skull was partially unearthed by Hurricane Isabel, discovered by Jeff DiMeglio and Sarah Gulick, dug out by the Calvert Marine Museum and air-lifted to safety by a UH-3H Sea King helicopter and its Search-and-Rescue team from nearby Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
The Miocene Epoch sediments entombing this ancient whale were chalk-full of fossil sea shells. In addition to which, several large fossil shark teeth were found immediately adjacent to the whale bones; two from the extinct mako, Isurus hastalis, and one female tooth from the extinct cow shark, Hexanchus gigas. They were likely shed as these sharks feasted on the whale carcass.

In September, following hurricane Isabel, amateur fossil collectors, Jeff DiMeglio and Sarah Gulick discovered the front end of a large and fossilized skull protruding from the shelly clay layers of the St. Marys Formation along the St. Mary’s River in St. Mary’s County. Recognizing the distinctive jaw bones as belonging to a baleen whale and their potential scientific importance, they contacted the Museum. A canoe trip to the site in early October by Jeff and the Calvert Marine Museum’s Curator of Paleontology, Dr. Stephen Godfrey started the ball rolling to save the fossil whale skull from being destroyed by further erosion.
Thanks to the generosity of the family who owns the land, permission was granted to remove the skull from the clayey sediments where it had been entombed for 8 million years. The skull is on permanent loan to the Museum. This highly fossiliferous layer also preserves abundant sea shells, many closely packed around the skull.

Beginning in late November and working through to mid-December, 2003, a team from the Calvert Marine Museum (that included Bill Counterman, Anna Fuller, Grenda Dennis, Pat Fink, and Stephen Godfrey) wallowed in the mud, on and off for a period of two weeks. Lying at the base of the cliff, Stephen Godfrey expected this excavation to the one of the easiest and told Bill Counterman so, no-doubt, jinxing the operation. The rain- and snow-soaked sediments that continually slump down onto the fossil whale were natures answer to this naive expectation. Consequently, tons of cold thick shoveling-sticking mud had to be moved by hand.

In order to remove the fossil whale skull from its silty grave, it was necessary to dig down around the find. Quarrying tools of choice include a small marsh pick, shovels, and screw drivers. The screw drivers are used for detailed work close to the bone.

Time does not permit the complete removal of all the entombing sediments while the skull is in the cliff - skull bones are not taken out individually. Therefore, a so-called “field jacket” needs to be built up around the bones and some of the sediments in which they are preserved. The jacket consists of layers of burlap fabric soaked in plaster-of-Paris, analogous to a cast that a doctor would apply to a broken bone so as to immobilize it. Large skulls, like this one, demand a dozen or more layers of bonding burlap to ensure that it will not flex or crack under its own weight during its trip to the Museum. Because of the size of this skull, two metal bars, and six 2x4 splints were added to reinforce the whale-skull field jacket/cast.
Fallen trees along the beach and heavily wooded cliffs above where the skull was located precluded driving a vehicle up to the site to load the new find. Very shallow water also prevented any water craft large enough to hold the heavy fossil from getting close to dry land. Estimating, from past excavations, that the jacketed skull would weight 500 – 600 pounds, Godfrey dreaded the though of wrestling the dead-weight beast along the beach to where it could be loaded into the Museum’s pick-up truck. What to do? He could not but help remember back to how, from time-to-time, military helicopters in Alberta, Canada (where he formerly lived) had picked up jacketed dinosaur skeletons for the Royal Tyrell Museum. Knowing that Naval Air Station Patuxent River was similarly equipped, he wondered if the novelty of saving a fossil whale skull might tweak their interest.

Following a flurry of phone calls and emails, the chain of command at NAS Pax deemed meteorological conditions were perfect on December 16th, 2003 in order to effect the rescue, and the go-ahead light was given. In the early afternoon of December 16th, Chief Hospital Corpsman Frank Bowersox (SAR’s lead chief petty officer), and Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Adam Shiffer met with Calvert Marine Museum staff on the beach to rig the fossil in a nylon strap sling. Once they were satisfied that the jacketed skull would not pull a Houdini out over the river, they radioed the GPS coordinates to the Sea King crew at Pax River. As the helicopter, piloted by LT Tim Bagley and LT James Meadows, closed in from across the water, the inexperienced spectators on the beach had to scurry further afield, hurried along by the impressive down-draft. Once the helicopter was in position approximately 120 feet above the fossil (well beyond the reach of the trees at the top of the bluff) Chief Aviation Structural Mechanic Robert Mirabal, an SAR swimmer, rappelled from the helicopter to the fossilized ‘victim’. On the ground, the rope was then hooked to the sling-rigging around the skull. Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Pat Kisgen then directed the whale to be gently lifted a few feet to ensure stability. Arms waving on the beach “all system’s go,” the bulge-body helicopter slowly rose, backed away from the cliff and clipped along at about 40 knots with the whale skull tethered far below.

Off shore in his chest waders and bracing himself against the waves kicked up by the Sea King, Godfrey watched the operation with digital camera in hand. As the skull took flight, he could not help but wonder if it would take a plunge. Although Skip Edwards, Calvert Marine Museum’s master carver, joked that he saw the skull fall, the whale in fact flew like a charm. The rescue operation went exactly as planned and the Search-and-Rescue team was able to log the event towards training hours they needed to accrue to maintain their qualifications.
With almost no storage space in the Museum’s permanent collections area to house the jacketed skull, it was decided to place the new find on display immediately in the paleontology gallery, showing it as a work in progress. In early January, 2004, the field jacket was cut open and preparation of the skull began.

This work consists of using little more than discarded dental probes to carefully scrap the sand and silty sediments away from the shells and bone. Glue is applied only when necessary to hold cracked or badly broken bone together.
In life, the whale would have been about 18 feet long, an estimate based on the five and a half feet long skull. A small whale by modern standards when compared with the largest-ever living animals, the giant Rorquals (the blue whale), but a good sized whale for the Miocene Epoch (the Miocene Epoch lasted from 23.8 – 5.3 Million years ago).

The fossil sea shells associated with this whale skull, are characteristic of closely related modern species that inhabit warm-temperate to sub-tropical, shallow-shelf, open-marine environments. Conditions like these exist today off the Carolina, Georgia and Northern Florida coasts. Over 100 species of mollusks have been identified from these beds. Bivalves (clams and their kin) are very abundant but are outnumbered by gastropods (marine snails and their kin).

Because most of the sediments making up the St. Mary's Formation accumulated in relatively shallow near-shore environments, whale fossils therein are exceedingly rare, unlike the Choptank and Calvert formations below it and exposed along Calvert Cliffs where whale fossils are much more common. So we have this block of time, of about 3 million years, during which we know very little about which whales were living in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean that covered parts of the coastal plain.

This baleen whale occurs at a time in the geologic record when an archaic group of baleen whales, the cetotheres are dwindling in numbers, being replaced by the modern families of baleen whales that include - the Rorquals (including the Humpback Whale constitute the Balaenopteridae), the Bowhead and Right Whales (the Balaenidae), and the Gray Whales (the Eschrichtiidae). Does this newly discovered whale belong to the archaic whales or is it a member of one of the living families of whales? That this fossil whale does not exhibit a high broadly-arching skull excludes it from the Bowhead and Right Whale clan. It remains to be determined if it is a Rorqual or a member of the extinct cetothere family of whales.

Who-dun-it Paleontology…
The skull was preserved upside-down, not an uncommon occurrence for fossil baleen whales. Modern predators and scavengers of baleen whales, consider the tongue a delicacy. Killer whales, the largest members of the dolphin family, have been known to kill a whale only to eat its tongue and leave the rest of the carcass to lesser scavengers. Killer whales played no part in the death of this whale because at this time in geologic history, they are not known in the fossil record – they only appear more recently. However, as the skull was being quarried, a large mako shark tooth (Isurus hastalis) was found adjacent to the scapula. Sharks often loose teeth as they feed, a rapid tooth replacement adaptation that guarantees that the business end of the shark will always present sharp cutting teeth. From the dimensions of this upper lateral tooth, it is estimated that it was shed by a shark that was in the 25 foot-long range, easily longer than the whale it was feeding on. At this juncture we do not know if the huge extinct mako had killed the whale or was just scavenging the carcass.
A second noteworthy shark tooth (Hexanchus gigas) was found as sediments were being removed from around the right lower jaw. Cow shark teeth belonging to this species are exceedingly rare in the geologic formations along the Chesapeake Bay, hitherto having been found only in the much older Calvert Formation.

Modern cow sharks are reclusive deep-water species at the best of times, and apparently only venture into shallow water at night to feed. That this cow shark tooth was found with these whale bones strongly suggests that it was there feeding on at least the carcass. Proof of its feeding on the carcass must await the discovery of tooth marks/gouges on the fossil whale bone consistent with the characteristic shape of its multi-cusped teeth.

General Info on the Geology and Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs…
Calvert Cliffs extend for approximately 50 km along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland and form the most nearly complete sequence of marine Miocene sediments exposed on the East Coast of North America.

Of the more than 600 species that have been identified from the cliffs, a large majority of the fossils are of marine organisms. The biota includes palynomorphs, diatoms, terrestrial plants, foraminifera, sponges, annelid worms, corals, abundant and diverse mollusks, decapod crustaceans, barnacles, an inarticulate brachiopod, echinoderms, sharks and rays, bony fish, turtles, crocodiles, pelagic birds, seals, sea cows, an impressive array of dolphins, and whales both sperm and baleen. The remains of terrestrial vertebrates are always disarticulated and often fragmentary, but confirm the presence of extinct mastodons, rhinos, peccaries, horses, camels, bear dogs, and dogs in the scrub oak and pine forests that bordered this stretch of the prehistoric Atlantic Ocean.

(A word of warning! Digging in the cliffs is dangerous and is prohibited on all state and federal lands. On private land, permission must be obtained from the owners before digging.)
The fossil-entombing sediments that form the cliffs accumulated on the bottom of a vast inland arm of the Atlantic Ocean during the Miocene epoch, roughly eight to twenty million years ago. During periods of Miocene global warming, the Atlantic Ocean extended west to the present-day location of Washington, D.C. However, during global cool spells when ice accumulated over the South Pole, the ocean would retreat to the east leaving Southern Maryland and its continental shelf high and dry. The layer-cake appearance of the sediments records multiple transgression-regression cycles in this area.

Acknowledgments…
My sincerest thanks go out to all who had a hand in the successful retrieval of this fossil whale. Participants include: The property owners (who wish to remain anonymous), for without their generosity and hospitality, none of this would have happened. Jeff DiMeglio and Sarah Gulick for discovering the skull and bringing it to our attention!

NAS Pax River: Rear Admiral Timothy Heely, Base Commanding Officer Captain Dane C. Swanson, Commander Robert J. Cameron Jr., the Search and Rescue Team: pilots LT Tim Bagley and LT James Meadows; crew members HMC Frank Bowersox, AMC Robert Mirabal, AM1 Adam Shiffer, and HM2 Toby Climer; and Crew Chief AT2 Pat Kisgen. Other Pax River contributors include: James Darcy, Mario Maningas, Rebecca March, Herb Moore, John Romer, Skip Simpson, and Mary Watts.

Calvert Marine Museum staff and volunteers include: Doug Alves Jr., Melissa Carnes, Bill Counterman, Skip Edwards , Pat Fink, Anna J. Fuller, Grenda Dennis, Stephen Godfrey, Jimmy Langley, George (Nicky) Nichols, Pam Platt, Jolene Schafer, Tim Scheirer, Flo Strean, and Tommy Younger.

The new whale skull is now being prepared while on display. The Museum expects that an exhibit will feature this recent discovery.

Stephen Godfrey Ph.D.
Curator of Paleontology

The Calvert Marine Museum is open year-round, 10am – 5pm. Admission. Call (410)326-2042 for more information or visit our website at www.CalvertMarineMuseum.com.

Related Links: Paleontology at CMM, CMM Fossil Club

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CMM-PR-03-37
December 22, 2003

WINTER LIGHTS CELEBRATION AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

Enjoy the magical beauty of lighthouses during the Calvert Marine Museum’s annual Winter Lights Festival, taking place January 17 and 18, from 10am-5pm at the Calvert Marine Museum. Peruse displays in the museum lobby and learn more about lighthouses from “keepers” and associations from across Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey including The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (Hooper Strait Light), The Association for the Preservation of VA Antiquities (Old and New Cape Henry Lights), The Delaware Lighthouse Society, The Chesapeake Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society (with all Chesapeake Bay lights), and many more.

On Saturday only, Kim Andrews, CEO of Harbour Lights, will visit the Winter Lights Festival. She will be on hand with free gifts for visitors, and will offer to sign any Harbour Lights lighthouses either purchased at the festival or brought in to the museum from a previous purchase. Beacons of the Bay, the mid-Atlantic collectors’ club for Harbour Lights, will also be on hand Saturday and Sunday.

This year’s Winter Lights Festival will feature a Gingerbread Lighthouse Contest for lighthouse enthusiasts of all ages. Contestants should make their lighthouse in advance, and bring it to the Calvert Marine Museum on Friday, January 16 or Saturday, January 17. There are two categories for the contest: architecturally accurate and whimsical. Judging by representatives of the US Lighthouse Society will take place on Sunday, January 17.

Admission to the lobby displays is free and open to the public. All lectures are also free. Admission to the museum and Drum Point Lighthouse ranges from $2 - $5, depending on age; admission is free for Calvert Marine Museum members. For more information on the Winter Lights Festival, please contact Karen Stone at 410-326-2042 x32 or stoneke@co.cal.md.us.

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CMM-PR-03-36
December 18, 2003

DR. CATHERINE FORSTER TO SPEAK AT THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM

The Calvert Marine Museum is pleased to offer a free public lecture by Dr. Catherine Forster on Saturday, January 10, 2004, at 2:30pm in the museum’s auditorium. Dr. Forster is a faculty member of the Department of Anatomical Sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her lecture will be the second in the museum’s series on fossils from the Island of Madagascar, and will feature some of the amazing diversity of new and unique dinosaur fossils that have been found recently.

Dinosaurs walked the earth for more than 150 million years; during her lecture, Dr. Forster will take you on a paleontologist’s tour through time while sharing information on these amazing creatures. Dr. Forster has been a member of a team of Malagasy and North American paleontologists studying the fossil vertebrates of the Island of Madagascar. She will offer a slide presentation of some of the 65-70 million year old fossils she has discovered from this area of the earth.

The lecture, hosted by the Calvert Marine Museum Fossil Club, is sponsored by the Clarissa and Lincoln Dryden Endowment for Paleontology, and is free and open to the public. For additional information, please contact Stephen Godfrey, CMM’s Curator of Paleontology, at 410-326-2042 x28.

Related Link: Fossil Club