Thursday, May 26, 2011

Sunset Cruise-Junior Achievement and Cancer Support Cruise on the Steven Thomas

Sunset Cruise-Junior Achievement and Cancer Support Cruise on the Steven Thomas
Several weeks ago, while running around shooting other events, I snapped this photo of the Steven Thomas getting ready to take off for a sunset cruise. I found it as I was cleaning out folders. Thanks to all ya'll Salisbury folks for coming down. People were still coming in when I snapped this. When the Steven Thomas left out, she had a full boat.

Call 410.968.2338 for info on tours. I have covered several events aboard the Steven Thomas. Always a pleasure.


Crisfield Soft Shell Festiva, 2011l - yum

Crisfield Soft Shell Festival, 2011



Soft Shell Festival
Sunday - May 29th
Crisfield City Dock
12 noon - 5:00 p.m.
Free Admission!



Fresh local soft crabs & homemade crab cakes,  
along with other foods...

 'Live Entertainment, Arts & Crafts
Waterman's Awards at 2:00 p.m.' 


Hosted by the Crisfield Lions & Lioness Club
& Crisfield Chamber of Commerce



Monday, May 23, 2011

Support our businesses...

Sorry there is no photo to go with this. I am out of the area, trying to post, using my phone wi-fi because there is no Internet access where I am. Hope everyone comes out and shows their team/city spirit.


May 27th Dual Grand Opening Blue Crab Cafe & Hair Affair (4pm to 8pm)
2 Businesses side-by-side - 801 West Main St., Crisfield

Celebrate Blue Crab CafĂ©’s expansion and Hair Affair’s new location with product samples, prizes, snacks and fun to start the weekend! Show your support & SEE WHY GREAT THINGS ARE ALWAYS HAPPENING IN CRISFIELD!   RSVP on facebook to this event at: 
 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=216462968371353


Valerie Howard
Director, Crisfield Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 292
Crisfield, MD  21817
(410)968-2500
info@crisfieldchamber.com

Saturday, May 21, 2011

American Cruise Line ship schedule

American Cruise Line ship schedule for Crisfield
File photo


From the Crisfield Chamber of Commerce:

American Cruise Line ships will be coming into Crisfield dock this summer on the following dates:

Monday, May 23rd           11:30 a.m.
Monday, June 6th            11:30 a.m.
Monday, June 13th          11:30 a.m.
Monday, June 20th          11:30 a.m.
Monday, June 27th          11:30 a.m.
Tues., July 19th              11:30 a.m.
Monday, July 25th           11:30 a.m.

There will be more in August, September, and October. Dates to be announced.

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It is a nice treat to yourself to go down to the city dock and see these beauties arrive. Be sure and give the passengers a welcome that only Crisfielders know how to do.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Crisfield Tiki Bar and Grill

Crisfield Tiki Bar and Grill

Now open for the 2011 season!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

"Goodbye" does not mean I am gone...

Crisfield Blog

I am stepping down as the chamber photographer to pursue other things that have been on my mind-plate for over two years. As a professional photojournalist who has traveled a lot, I feel the need to point my cameras in other directions, and to work on the many slides and negatives from my past travels. I have several photography books in mind, grants that need to be written for other projects, and my present dream (actually long-time dream) is to make a trip to Cuba to photograph the old cars from the fifties. I love old cars. Yes, photojournalists and journalists, as well as free-lance journalists, who have demonstrated a significant record of journalism can petition to go to Cuba. Naturally, this takes a great deal of preparation. Just the paperwork alone is time-consuming.  I also want to return to Bangladesh, and possibly do some work for relief organizations in other countries. 

Well, that covers the next ten years of my life. For now, I am going to relax and do a little brain dry-cleaning, and enjoy the summer  picking at my projects. I might even clean my house.

Shortly, the direction of this blog will focus on photos taken around the country and world, and of course in Maryland. Naturally, I will not pass up a Crisfield photo if it stares me directly in the lens.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Rock Nuggets at the Crisfield Elks Lodge - May 20, 2011

Rock Nuggets at the Elks





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Don't forget to play the 50/50 raffle and help the Elks!

Joint venture video by Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield Heritage Foundation, and the Crisfield Chamber of Commerce

Crisfield video



Crisfield – After over a year of planning and production, a promotional video about Crisfield attractions is ready for viewing. Members of the public are invited to attend its “grand premier” on Thursday evening.

The debut will be held at dusk on May 19th at Jerry Hardesty’s Olde Crisfield Crab and Steakhouse Tiki Bar on South 10th Street. The showing will begin at 8:30 p.m.

The public is invited to attend. The Crisfield Area Chamber of Commerce will provide hors d’oeuvres and Hardesty will furnish beer and wine.

The video is a project of the  Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield Heritage Foundation and the Crisfield Chamber of Commerce.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Chesapeake Boats in Crisfield

Chesapeake Boats in Crisfield


Chesapeake Boats by Marie Witt


Cruise along Crisfield Highway to David Mason’s Chesapeake Boats shop and who knows what you’ll see.

Most recently, a nearly-completed, red and black pirate ship, The Lost Pearl, rested on stands in the shop’s driveway. Another day there might be a cruising yacht or a commercial boat, sometimes a US Coast Guard vessel.

Mason uses a variety of materials -- wood, wood sheathed in Fiberglas, or various wood-like conglomerates. Some of his vessels have hulls formed in one of the huge molds you can often see stored on the property. There are three molds of different lengths -- 27, 37 or 46 feet long.

Before the recession, he said, he built several charter boats. Since then orders for those and for traditional workboats like New England “Down East” lobster boats or ones in the Chesapeake Bay-built dead-rise -style local watermen use are scarce.

Mason custom-builds boats for each prospective buyer. A single boat can take from three to four months to build. The business produces four or five a year, depending on size. He has a crew of nine, including his oldest son David Jr. and a shop cat with no name. They work from design plans, photos and even just drawings provided by clients.

He also calls in other professionals as needed. Among them are naval architects who use complicated mathematical calculations and computer programs to assure that each boat is structurally sound enough for the wind and waves it’s likely to encounter when it sails.

“My son David,” he says, “will be doing his senior-year work-study programs here and is contemplating going to college to study naval architecture and engineering. Needless to say, I hope that works out!”



From  Shore to Sea
Chesapeake Boats have sailed (or been transported by trucks and trailers) to rivers, lakes and oceans throughout the United States.

So far Mason has designed four pirate ships for the tourist cruise trade. The first one is the Duccaneer, purchased by John Lewis of MR Ducks in Ocean City, Maryland. Three stay-at-home moms bought the second, called Fearless, to start a kiddie-cruise business in Toms River, New Jersey. The third, the Black Pearl will soon be joined by the Lost Pearl in Virginia Beach. Their owner also has two Chesapeake Boats head boats.

He says there’s a 46-foot Chesapeake Boat in Oregon, and on in Ohio sailing the Great Lakes. The next will be for Florida Parks & Wildlife and there will be one for Texas Parks and Wildlife as well.



Never Bored
Mason doesn’t do boring. He worked as a waterman for 20 years, got tired of that and opened a lumber yard on Maryland Avenue.

He soon found selling lumber to be fairly dull so he began building his first boat in between customers.

Then it was time for another change, a bigger boat building business up the road. He incorporated it as Chesapeake Boats. When the boat building business got monotonous, he added Chesapeake Building Supply at this new Crisfield Highway location and sells a variety of wood, marine finishes and other materials there.

“I’m my own best customer,” he admits.

So what does he do when he’s off duty? Nothing boring, for sure. His wife, Colleen, and kids Hannah, Hunter and David Jr. go camping and fishing and hunting. As you’d expect, they have a boat – a 36-footer -- and spend time on the water. The boat, like the shop cat, has no name; Mason says that’s so he can sell the boat eventually. The cat will probably stay.

He also has a collection of antique cars including a ’34 Ford coupe and a selection of old muscle cars like his ’70 Chevelle and a couple of Pontiac Trans Ams.

Mason also spends time on community service. He and a friend from church visit residents at the Tawes nursing home at McCready Hospital. “They’re always glad for company,” he says, “but you’d be surprised how tough it is when they’re gone.”

He’s been a member of the board of the Crisfield Area Chamber of Commerce and helped run the Scorchy Tawes Fishing Tournament. He’s got two small billboards on his business property that he provides for the Chamber and Asbury Mariners Church to use for their messages.











  

And when the job is done....



Friday, May 13, 2011

Crisfield - Official "Camera Friendly" City

Crisfield - Official Camera Friendly City
Recently, Crisfield Mayor P.J. Purnell honored my request to put forth a resolution to council members designating Crisfield an official "camera friendly" city. The vote was unanimous, making us the first "camera friendly"  city in the state of Maryland, at least as far as I know.  Now, what exactly is a "camera friendly" city? You have to be a photographer to understand the meaning, but you don't have to be a professional. Anyone who loves photography will find unlimited  material in Crisfield. As a photojournalist, just about everything is fodder for my camera, but some people like to photograph nature. Boy, do we have plenty of that! If you are a "people" photographer, you will find that the people of Crisfield take kindly to cameras. Love old houses? You can shoot all day. Historic houses? We have some beauts. Churches, too. And I know there are many photographers who love to shoot historical grave-sites. If you are an up-close-and-personal photographer, the world is your oyster here. Oh, we have oysters, too, in season, of course, and crabs, and sunsets, and a miniature world that be captured for your personal or professional photo gallery.

Here is the draft of the resolution:




A Resolution Designating the City of Crisfield
as a “Camera Friendly” City on the Eastern Shore

WHEREAS;    the City of Crisfield is a “Camera Friendly” delight to both
                        professional and casual shutter bugs, and;

WHEREAS;    the City of Crisfield boasts beautiful sunsets, beautiful marshes
                        and wildlife, as well as wonderful old homes and historical
                        churches, all of which are a shutter bug’s dream; and

WHEREAS;    Crisfield’s way of life and its watermen are a photographer’s
                        prized “catch”, not to mention their work areas; the Small Boat
                        Harbor, Jenkins Creek and Apes Hole; and

WHEREAS;    Taking a boat ride in Crisfield can net a photographer wonderful
                        pictures of historic chimneys and beaches that have been there
                        forever, as well as a water loving osprey or two; and

WHEREAS;    Crisfield’s historic buildings such as McCrory’s have caught the
                        eye of many a photographer as well as its many landmark signs
                        such as the Tawes Library, Ward Brothers and the John Tawes
                        railroad sign; and

WHEREAS;    A photographer won’t find a more spectacular place to shoot than
                        the Janes Island State Park and the Somers Cove Marina, or a more
                        diverse population to photograph than at Gordon’s; and

WHEREAS;    Crisfield’s friendly people and wonderful events such as the Soft
                        Shell Fair, Clam Bake, Crab Derby and Christmas Parade, to name a        
                        few, can also be a photographer’s dream.

NOW, THEREFORE, WE DESIGNATE THE CITY OF CRISFIELD AS A “CAMERA
FRIENDLY” CITY AND WELCOME ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS AND SHUTTER BUGS ALIKE TO ENJOY THE BOUNTY  THAT CRISFIELD HAS TO OFFER.

AS WITNESS OUR HANDS AND SEAL THIS ________________ DAY OF ___________,  2011.


Shown below, with signed resolution, left to right: City Councilman Kim Lawson, Crisfield Chamber of Commerce member Tillie Tull,  Councilman Mark Konapelsky, chamber member Marie Witt, Council Vice President Raymond Anderson, Crisfield Mayor P.J. Purnell, and Councilwoman LaVerne Johnson.


Thanks to the mayor and council members for passing this resolution. Hey, State of Maryland, can we expand on this? Photographers are always looking for camera-friendly cities. Let's put out the call for photographers everywhere to come and enjoy Maryland, one city, one photo at a time.




































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Oh, the things I do for a photo...Professional photographers, you will find a treasure of stock photos in Crisfield