The F.D. Crockett Rolls! Next Stop, Urbanna

The F.D. Crockett Rolls! Next Stop, Urbanna.

At Oyster Festival Nov. 3^rd-5^th

^{by Bill Powell}

The hard working F. D. Crockett, pride of the Deltaville Maritime Museum, will be carrying the message of the history of Bay watermen, their fisheries and their boat building methods to Urbanna at the end of next week. Gosh, you may even find out what the heck a “buyboat” is.

The Crockett will arrive at Upton Point on Sunday afternoon, October 30th. Her gracious lines can be viewed from the Urbanna Town Marina dock from Sunday evening through Wednesday. On Thursday she and the Reedville Fisherman Museum’s “Elva C.” and their respective crews will join together as part of the Oyster Festival “Education Day.”

During “Education Day” these restored classic buyboats will present a hands-on program for students on the role of buyboats in the Chesapeake Bay during the past century.  The  4^th and 7^th grade students from Middlesex, Aylett Country Day School, Ware Academy and Chesapeake Academy will all participate in this opportunity to learn by seeing and doing. Education Day is reserved for the students and is not open to the general public.

Chuck McGhinnis, Museum Boat Shop Director and board member will be coordinating and organizing the program for “Education Day”.

“For a lot of these students, this may be the only chance they have or will have to actually walk on and experience a piece of our Bay history. We want them, when the day is over, to have a feel for what our watermen did and what it was like to work on the water. This is what our Museum and its outreach is all about.” Chuck pointed out.

On Friday, November 4, Oyster Festival opening day, the Crockett will have crew aboard from 10am-5pm for full tours and Q & A. Saturday hours will be from 9am-4pm. She will return to the Deltaville Museum on Sunday.

Deltaville Maritime Museum and Holly Point Nature Park, an all volunteer, all donation, non-profit organization, is located in Deltaville, VA. at 287 Jackson Creek Road. To get to the Museum and Park, follow Route 33 through Deltaville and turn right across from the Shell Station. Holly Point Nature Park is open all year from dawn til dusk. The Museum area is now a wi-fi hot spot. The Museum itself is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm and Sunday 1-4pm.

To find out more about the Museum, its offerings, open hours, events schedule, event tickets, donate, become a member, donate or volunteer, visit our new website at www.deltavillemuseum.com , or Google “Deltaville Maritime Museum”. You may also e-mail the Museum office at: museumpark@oonl.com, write to Box 466, Deltaville, VA or call at 804- 776-7200.