News Archives 2006 - May

CBMM Announces New President

ST. MICHAELS, MD—On Wednesday, May 24, 2006, James K. Peterson, Chairman of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, announced that the Board of Governors met and elected Stuart L. Parnes as president of the Museum. "The Board had 'significant shoes to fill' with John Valliant's leaving the Museum on April 30, 2006 after 19 years of distinguished service," said Peterson. He added that the Museum retained an executive search firm to conduct a national search for Valliant's successor. The firm interviewed nearly 100 applicants for the position. "In Stuart Parnes, we have found an outstanding leader in the maritime museum world to lead the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum into the future. The Board of Governors of the Museum is very pleased with the choice," said Peterson.

Stuart Parnes has more than thirty years of experience in the maritime museum field. For the past 6 years, Parnes has been the Executive Director of the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, Connecticut, where he has overseen the renovation and expansion of the museum's facilities, the launch of a major capital campaign, and the broadening of the museum's educational outreach activities. Prior to that, Parnes was Director of Exhibitions at Mystic Seaport, where he had planned and implemented scores of exhibitions in Mystic as well as traveling exhibitions in the United States, France, and Japan. Parnes currently serves as Secretary General of the International Congress of Maritime Museums and has been a board member of the National Association for Museum Exhibition, the New England Museum Association, the Council of American Maritime Museums, and the Connecticut Humanities Council.

Parnes will join the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in early July, and will be joined by his wife, Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet Sue Ellen Thompson. "To be selected for this position is a great honor. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is one of the world's great maritime museums, and professionally one of the most highly respected. I look forward to joining with the Board and staff in guiding the Museum to even greater accomplishments."

Enroll Your Child in CBMM's Bay Combers' Club!

ST. MICHAELS, MD—Looking for a fun and educational outdoor summer program for your 4-7 year old? Enroll them in the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's Bay Combers' Club! This interactive, hands-on program teaches children about the history and culture of the Chesapeake Bay through crafts, games, music, and activities on the water that are unique to the Museum's mission and surroundings.

Sessions are held from 9:30am - 12:30pm Tuesdays through Fridays, June 20 - July 14. Sessions held on Tuesdays and Thursdays are for children ages 4-5, and Wednesday and Friday sessions are for children ages 6-7. Program sessions cost $15 each for Museum members and $17 for non-members.

The Museum also offers a "Waterman's Special" for parents wishing to enroll their children in all 6 sessions. The cost of this package is $76 for Museum members and $88 for non-members.

Summaries of each session follow:

June 20 and 21 (Tuesday, Wednesday)
Crab Fever
Young crabbers discover a waterman's life on Waterman's Wharf. Children will try chicken necking, listen to crabby stories and make a crabby craft.

June 22 and 23 (Thursday, Friday)
Woodland Indians
Come step back in time and imagine life in a Nanticoke tribe. Your child will learn about dugout canoes and wigwams, listen to a traditional Nanticoke legend, and make a craft.

June 27 and 28 (Tuesday, Wednesday)
Row Your Boat
Your little captain will merrily row, row, row in a small skiff while learning about boating safety. Back on shore, children will discover other types of boats at the Museum and listen to boating stories. Lifeguard supervision is provided.

June 29 and 30 (Thursday, Friday)
A Pirate's Life for Me
Have your child don their best pirate costume and arrive to the Museum eager to learn about these fearless sailors of the Bay. Young buccaneers will listen to stories, play games, and hunt for treasure on land and "sea."

July 11 and 12 (Tuesday, Wednesday)
Outrageous Oysters
The oysters lay on the bottom of the Bay awaiting the children of the day. Aspiring "waterboys and watergirls" will nipper for oysters at Waterman's Wharf and climb aboard a historic oyster dredgeboat. Oyster tales and crafts revive a waterman's morning.

July 13 and 14 (Thursday, Friday)
Explore the Bay
Young scientists will discover surprises under the surface of the Chesapeake Bay. Children will voyage on a Chesapeake boat to experience Bay wildlife and pull up a dredge to create a living touch tank.

For more information or to register, please contact CBMM Education Coordinator Rachel Rébert at 410-745-2916 ext. 133, or via email at rrebert@cbmm.org.

Captain John Smith Shallop Exhibit at CBMM June 1 - July 16

ST. MICHAELS, MD—The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is pleased to be part of an exciting museum tour currently underway by Sultana Projects, Inc. The Captain John Smith Four Hundred Project, an educational initiative to commemorate the upcoming 400th anniversary of John Smith’s 1608 exploratory voyage of the Chesapeake Bay, has constructed a full-scale replica of the vessel Smith used during his journey which will be on display at the Museum from June 1 - July 16, 2006. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is the shallop’s third stop of eight venues participating in a 15-month museum tour that runs through April 2007.

The replica of Smith’s “Discovery Barge” to be on display at the Museum starting June 1 is a 30-foot open boat, or “shallop,” that was constructed at the Sultana Shipyard in Chestertown, Maryland under the direction of master shipwright John Swain. The vessel was launched on November 4, 2005 in Chestertown.

John Smith’s 1608 voyage of the Chesapeake was the first comprehensive exploration of the region by a European settler. The detailed map of the region he produced in 1612 served as the first accurate map ever drawn of the Chesapeake, which was used well into the end of the 17th century.

The culmination of the Captain John Smith Four Hundred Project will take place in May 2007 when fourteen modern-day explorers, historians, naturalists, and educators set out in the shallop to recreate Smith’s 1608 voyage. The crew will retrace the entire 1,700 mile route that Smith and his crewmen took, while stopping in several towns along the way to educate the public on Smith’s legendary voyage.

Further information about the Captain John Smith Four Hundred Project can be found at www.johnsmith400.org.

HOME | ABOUT US | WHAT TO SEE & DO | VISITOR INFO | EDUCATION & OUTREACH
MEMBERS & SUPPORTERS | NEWS & MEDIA | Copyright 2003, The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.