Empath, 1978 September 25

              VOL. 6, NO. 2 ST. MARY'S CITY, MARYLAND SEPTEMBER 25, 1978 Maryland Dove to Dock
by Rick Pike
Maryland’s first settlers arrived at
St. Mary’s City in March, 1634, aboard
two sailing vessels, the Ark, and the
smaller Dove. Now some 350 years
later, the Maryland Dove, a reproduction
of the smaller vessel, will sail up the St.
Mary’s River to dock permanently at
Old St. Mary’s City to become the first
step in the development of an outdoor
museum designed to tell the tale of the
founding of Maryland.
The arrival of the ship will be cele­brated
by Marylanders on Sunday,
A Student Government Association
workshop held this summer brought up
the following ideas for consideration:
STUDENT UNION FUND
Start a SGA fund to go towards the
construction of a new student union.
This may cut down on the fee that will
be charged to students for a new union
starting in 1980. It won’t help present
students, but can help to justify going to
other sources for additional help in
funding.
PUB
Convert the bottom of the student
union into a pub, while leaving the snack
bar upstairs. The administration has
given approval, as has Harry Potter and
ARA. The construction o f the pub
would be done by students under the
supervision of a knowledgable person.
Since then Miller Distribution has agreed
to do the reverting of the beer taps if we
include, on draft, Miller Light. Cappy
Ryan was elected as chairman of the New
Pub Committee and some plans for the
construction have been presented and
discussed.
October 8, 1978, in a gala, day-long
festival on the grounds of the Recon­structed
State House at Old St. Mary’s
City. This “Dove Day” will commence
with the arrival of the Maryland Dove
at noon. The ship will sail up the St.
Mary’s River followed by a spectacular
parade of yachts, sailboats, and other
marine craft. This marine parade will
follow the Maryland Dove past the
banks of St. Mary’s City, around Horse­shoe
Bend, and to anchor at Brome’s
Wharf below the State House. An official
Meetings on September 5, 12 and 19
brought the following actions:
PARKING PROBLEM
The problem of commuter parking was
discussed, especially in the Charles Hall
lot. It was decided that a memo should be
sent to Gene Applegate, Supervisor of
Security, recommending that the Charles
lot be opened only to commuter
employees and faculty; no residents from
7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also noted was the fact
that in the 1978-79 student handbook it
is stated that certain spaces are reserved
for the handicapped from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A suggestion to make this a 24 hour a
reservation was also to be included in the
memo.
SGA REPRESENTATIVE POSITIONS
Only two petitions for the eight SGA
respresentative positions were received
last week. The candidates, Stephanie
Dierkin for freshman-at-large and Gene
Perry for underclass Dorchester, were
unopposed and therefore appointed to
the positions by a vote of the senate.
(cont. on page 6)
ceremony will follow in which William
A. Baker, designer of the Maryland
Dove, and James Richardson, her builder,
will turn the ship over to the State of
Maryland. Then the Maryland Dove will
be commissioned by the State, and
turned over to Thomas R. Doyle, the
newly appointed Shipmaster. After the
ceremonies, the Maryland Dove will be
open for visitors to come aboard for
inspection. On the grounds of the State
House various exhibits, presentations and
displays will be featured, along with food
and refreshments.
The Maryland Dove was ordered con­structed
by the St. Mary’s City Commis­sion,
the official State agency for the
preservation and development of Mary­land’s
first capital. The total cost is
estimated at approximately $200,000, of
which the State Legislature appropriated
$75,000. The rest of the money was
* raised through the Commission by way
of donations, fund-raising, and other
means. According to Elaine Smith,
Public Education Officer of the Com­mission,
there still remains approximately
$25,000 to be paid on the ship.
The Maryland Dove was designed by
William A. Baker of Hingham, Massa­chusetts,
the famous naval architect who
also designed the famous Mayflower II.
Construction of the pinnance was under
the supervision of Master Shipwright
James Richardson of Lloyds, Maryland,
and his crew of six apprentice ship’s
carpenters. The keel of the 64-foot
vessel was laid in June, 1977, and the
ship placed in the water in August, 1978,
for final finishing work. Richardson and
his crew have used both materials and
methods such as those employed by
shipbuilders of the seventeenth century
in order to make the Maryland Dove
as accurate a reproduction as possible.
The three-masted, square-rigged, square-sterned
vessel is approximately the same
size and type as the original Dove,
although historical records fail to give an
exact description of the pinnance. As
such, however, the Maryland Dove will
be like hundreds of small ships that
were once seen upon the Chesapeake
Bay trading tobacco and English goods
during the seventeenth century.
Thomas R. Doyle of nearby Valley
Lee, Maryland, was selected by the
Commission to serve as Master of the
Maryland Dove, acting as sailing and
maintenance expert. Doyle has had over
35 years of experience on the sea. He will
also serve as the official greeter to visitors
who will come aboard the vessel at her
dock near the State House.
The ship will leave Cambridge, Mary­land
on September 29 (weather and sea
conditions permitting) on her three-day
maiden voyage across the Chesapeake
Bay. She will dock temporarily below
Piney Point, Maryland until she is offi­cially
commissioned at St. Mary’s City.
Part of the ‘Master Plan’ of the St.
Mary’s City Commission is the develop­ment
of a major Outdoor Museum to
interpret the history of Maryland. Utili­zing
the dramatic and rural setting of
Old St. Mary’s, a series of permanent
displays will be arranged over 1200
acres of countryside which will be
designated as State parkland. Among the
planned exhibits will be a working
tobacco plantation, a trading vessel
loading hogsheads of tobacco, an “ or­dinary”
(a country inn), a reconstruction
of Maryland’s first important public
building; the State House, an archaelogi-cal
exhibit over the foundations of a
province secretary’s frontier home, a
Visitor Center commanding a sweeping
view of old townslands, a natural history
museum, and an extensive network of
nature trails, paths, and picnic areas.
All these exhibits and more will attempt
to tell the story of how a European
(cont. on page 4)
O y s te r F e st F e a tu res
Sh uck in g Con te st
The upcoming St. Mary’s County Festival will provide oyster lovers with ample
opportunity to sample the new oyster crop. Feast on raw, steamed and fried oysters,
as many as you can handle, with appropriate side dishes such as St. Mary’s County,
stuffed ham. Last year about 50,000 oysters were consumed by the 8,000 people
attending.
In addition to the eating, enjoy the National Oyster Shucking Championship con­test
featuring the fastest shucking knives in Tidewater Maryland, Virginia and beyond.
The man and woman first-place winners battle it out for the national championship,,
which merits an expense-paid trip to Galway, Ireland, and the opportunity to compete
against champions of other nations for the international championship. In 1976
Cornelius Mackall of Prince Frederick, Maryland, won the international title in Ireland.
Also included in the Festival’s entertainment will be bands, square dancing, exhi­bits,
movies, sports events and oyster shucking demonstrations by expert watermen
who will teach you how to handle the oyster shucking knife with ease.
The twelfth annual festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 14 and
15, from 12 noon to 6 p.m. at the Leonardtown fairgrounds. There will be a $1
charge for admission and parking. The festival is sponsored by its founding organiza­tions,
the Rotary Club of St. Mary’s and Watermen’s Association, and several county
^organizations.
photo courtesy of SMC Commission
Maryland Dove under construction at Richardson shipyard in Lloyds, Md.
S G A A c t i o n s
Pub Planned, Reps Appointed