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October 28, 2025

ARCHIVE Chestertown Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown

9 Brevities

Sultana Snapshots: Scott’s Point Findings to Share

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Photo by Kate Livie

The Scott’s Point area, historically African American, had many more homes than exist today—some of which were on the property where the Marina work is happening now. Though those buildings might be gone, there are reminders of the busy 19th century community that once existed here in the soil. These pieces of glass, salt glazed stoneware, transferware, milk glass and various crocks would have been thrown into a kitchen midden or privy vault when broken in daily use.

They’ve been unearthed by the construction at the waterfront; a reminder that no matter the century, Chestertown’s waterfront has always been a well-loved, well-used and important part of our river community.

The Sultana Education Foundation in Chestertown offers a diverse variety of history and science-based field programs serving students and teachers throughout Maryland and beyond. For more information please go here.

 

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Sultana Snapshots: Radcliffe Creek Gets an “A” for Wild Celery

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This summer the Sultana Education Foundation went paddling up Radcliffe Creek with a group of teachers from Kent School, Radcliffe Creek School, and Kent County Middle School as part of a collaborative effort to plan field trips for their 7th grade students during the upcoming school year. On its most recent report card, the Chester River Association (now part of ShoreRivers) gave Radcliffe Creek a grade of “D” for poor water clarity and high nutrient levels. However, on this particular day, the water was running clear and the streambed revealed thick, lush grass beds full of wild celery. Wild celery is a native grass that provides important habitat for a wide variety of marine organisms and serves as an important food source for waterfowl. The short video was filmed and narrated by SEF Vice President Chris Cerino, who expresses his astonishment at the conditions observed in the creek that day.

The proliferation of submerged aquatic vegetation (also known as SAVs) in Radcliffe Creek coincides with an upward trend for grasses Bay-wide. In 2017, the Chesapeake contained over 100,000 acres of SAVs for the first time since scientists started monitoring SAV levels in the late 1970s. The grasses serve as a keystone species for Bay health, as they can only survive in water clear enough to allow sunlight to reach the bottom. Thus, increasing levels of grasses generally coincide with healthier water conditions in the estuary.

The Sultana Education Foundation in Chestertown offers a diverse variety of history and science-based field programs serving students and teachers throughout Maryland and beyond. For more information please go here

 

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Sell Out Expected for Sultana Gala

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Don’t say that you weren’t warned!   With just two weeks remaining before the Sultana  Education Foundation’s 22nd Annual Gala, “Smoke & Mirrors,” only 130 tickets remain for this landmark event.  If past years are any indication, remaining tickets will be spoken for well before the curtain goes up on September 15th.

Gala revelers at “Smoke  & Mirrors” will enjoy a delicious meal from Occasions Catering, refreshments provided by JJ’s Deli and Liquors, dancing, and an amazing performance by the Illusionists of Cirque-tacular.  Based in New York, Cirque-tacular has gained a nationwide reputation for their show-stopping performances, which feature an array of tricks including sleight of hand, optical illusions, and even conjuring and transformations.   Following the performance, the floor will clear and the evening will close with dancing to the sounds of the Monocacy Music Factory.

Sultana’s 2018 Annual Gala will take place at the waterfront farm of Tom and Pam Maher outside of Chestertown.  The event is Sultana’s largest annual fundraiser, with proceeds supporting the Foundation’s award-winning Chesapeake Bay Field Programs for Eastern Shore students.

The Sultana Education Foundation is again proud to have Mastercard North America as the lead sponsor for its 2018 Annual Gala, as well as significant sponsorship support from Chesapeake Bank and Trust, RBC Wealth Management, and J.J.’s Deli and Liquors.  Support from these corporations will allow Sultana to dedicate more than 80% of the cost of each Annual Gala ticket directly to underwriting educational programs.

Please visit www.sultanaeducation.org or call 410-778-5954 for additional information and tickets.

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Schooner Sultana Offers Sunday Sails During 2018 Tea Party Festival

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Visit the historic port of Chestertown, Maryland this weekend to sail on the schooner SULTANA during the Chestertown Tea Party Festival. This annual event—commemorating Chestertown’s colonial protest of British tea taxes in 1774—offers the best of small-town Chesapeake life with food, music, craft vendors and entertainment. During the festival, the schooner SULTANA will be in port for a host of public sails. Although Saturday sails are fully booked, tickets are still available for sails on Sunday, providing participants with a unique perspective on the festival’s waterfront events.

SULTANA’s two-hour public sails are a great way to sail the Chester River onboard a traditional schooner. Passengers are encouraged to help raise the sails, steer using SULTANA’s seven-foot long tiller, and explore the authentically reproduced crew’s quarters below-decks.

On Sunday, May 27th, the schooner will depart from the town dock at 10:00am, returning to port at 12pm in time to take full advantage of the ongoing Tea Party festivities in Wilmer Park. The second sail departs at 1pm and returns at 3:00pm, giving participants a view of the action at the annual Tea Party Raft Race.

Advance reservations are recommended for all sails and can be completed online or by contacting the Sultana Education Foundation office at 410-778-5954. Online registration is available until midnight of the preceding day of the program. If available, tickets may be purchased at the dock before the sail. For more information or reservations, please visit www.sultanaeducation.org.

 

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Sultana Downrigging Weekend – Tall Ships Return Oct 27-29

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Tall Ships arrive for Downrigging Weekend in Chestertown, MD – Sultana Education Foundation

Chestertown, Maryland – If the Sultana Education Foundation’s fabled Downrigging Weekend Festival held in Chestertown gets any bigger, they’re going to need a month to fit all in. As it is, though, they’ll have to squeeze it into three days, Oct. 27-29.

Since its beginnings 16 years ago, when Chestertown’s own schooner Sultana rendezvoused with the Pride of Baltimore, II, Downrigging Weekend has blossomed into an event that transcends tastes and interests of all kinds. And practically all of it is still free.

Silent Maid sailing with Pride of Baltimore II, photo by Michael Wootton

Besides becoming the largest annual gathering of Tall Ships in the Mid-Atlantic, Downrigging offers a smorgasbord of events and activities ranging from book talks, lectures and art exhibits to a parade of Ferrari automobiles and a half marathon (more on those Ferraris later).

Not counting four opportunities to sail (tickets start at $25) on one of eight participating Tall Ships, festival goers can choose from among more than 50 things to do or look at, including 11 live music performances, two days of Dock Dog competitions and an exhibition of model boats and ships.

New events at Downrigging 2017 include:

Friday night’s parade of lighted boats. A first for this area of the USA, this parade features illuminated boats on trailers, parading down High Street, Chestertown’s main drag. Three winners divide $1,000 in cash prizes. Be there at 6:45 pm.

Friday night’s headliner is Capt. Jonathan Boulware, executive director of the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City. Speaking at 8:00 pm at the Garfield Center, Boulware will provide an entertaining, historical tour through the history of the port of New York, the Museum that aims to interpret that history, and an overview of the recent, multiple-award-winning restoration of the mighty 1885 iron sailing ship Wavertree.

Saturday morning’s Ferrari parade. By coincidence, the Ferrari Club of America is meeting nearby over the weekend and agreed to add a splash of Italian auto pizzazz to this year’s gathering of wooden vessels. The cars appear on High Street immediately following the town’s Halloween parade, which starts at 11:00 am. There will also be a new Keels and Wheels exhibit.

A 1955 Morgan +4 Drophead Coupe will be featured as part of Downrigging Weekend’s new Keels & Wheels exhibit

Saturday evening features a recounting of the building of the schooner Sultana by acclaimed watercolorist Marc Castelli, who followed the project for three years, pen in hand and sketchbook at the ready. The program concludes with the first public release of Castelli’s book Building Sultana, which includes more than 200 pen and ink drawings along with his notes and stories. Starts at 6:00 pm in Sultana’s Holt Education Center, at 200 South Cross Street.

“Downrigging Weekend is bigger this year, that’s true,” said Drew McMullen, President of the Sultana Education Foundation, “and while we have nifty things like the dock dogs and Ferraris, the focus is still on our core missions – education and stewardship. It’s critical that all of us – and particularly the next generation – build a relationship with the Chesapeake Bay and learn what we can do to preserve and restore it. Downrigging Weekend will get more than 1,000 people out on the Chesapeake, an important first step in creating new stewards for the Bay.”

For more information and a complete festival schedule, visit Sultana’s website  or call 410-778-5954.

The Downrigging Fleet at Dawn, photo by Chris Cerino

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Sultana Hosts John Smith 400 Retrospective

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On May 7, 2007, a crew of 12 explorers sponsored by the Sultana Education Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Conservation fund set out from Jamestown, Va. to replicate Captain John Smith’s famous 1608 exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. Over the course of the next 121 days, this team lived on a replica of Smith’s 30-foot small boat or “shallop,” rowing and sailing more than 1,500 miles while navigating to the head of nearly every major tributary of our nation’s largest estuary.

Along the way, over 30 public events were held where crew members told the story of Smith’s expedition, the native American cultures he encountered, and the incredible ecosystem of the 17th-century Chesapeake Bay. Over 300,000 visitors attended these events, and the publicity from the voyage led directly to the creation of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. Overseen and managed by the National Park Service, the trail is the first all-water National Historic Trail in the history of the United States.

On May 10, the Sultana Education Foundation will reunite the crew of the John Smith shallop on the 10th anniversary of this amazing re-enactment for a retrospective forum at the organization’s new Education Center in Chestertown. Many of the crew members will be seeing each other for the first time since their voyage ended on the shores of Historic Jamestown ten years ago. Accompanied by videos and photos of their 2007 journey, the crew will recount their experiences and remark on the impact the expedition has had on their lives over the past decade.

Representatives of the National Park Sevice and the Chesapeake Conservancy will be on hand to provide introductions for the evening and give an overview of the progress that has been made on the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail since its inception.

The John Smith 400 Project Retrospective Forum will begin at 7 p.m. at Sultana’s Education Center at 200 S. Cross St. in Chestertown. Seating is limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. For more information see the John Smith crew, and the Sultana website.

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Sultana to Host Volunteer/Summer Program Open House on March 3rd

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Would you like to serve as a volunteer crewmember on an 18th century schooner, assist with kayaking trips to remote areas of the Chesapeake Bay, or simply help out at a vibrant local nonprofit? Is your child looking for something exciting and educational to do this summer? Do you have a grandchild visiting over vacation that you would like to have the experience of a lifetime? If the answer to any of the above is “yes,” you should make a point of visiting the Sultana Education Foundation’s Volunteer and Summer Program Open House on Friday, March 3rd from 5:00 – 7:00 pm as part of Chestertown’s monthly “First Friday.”

Chestertown_First_Friday_September_9-2-2016-1925Open House visitors will have the chance to speak with Sultana’s staff and current volunteers about the Foundation’s newly expanded Volunteer Program. Beginning this March, Sultana is offering new opportunities for volunteers to assist with the Foundation’s operations, including sailing and maintenance positions on the Foundation’s 1768 schooner SULTANA, assistant trip leader positions with the Foundation’s canoe and kayak programs, and opportunities to volunteer in Sultana’s new Education Center in Chestertown.

In addition to showcasing the Foundation’s Volunteer Programs, Sultana’s March 3rd Open House will give parents and children an opportunity to talk with staff and previous student participants about the Foundation’s Summer Programs. For the summer of 2017 Sultana is offering eight distinct summer programs for students ranging in age from five to 18 years old. These include science and nature-based day camps, multi-day trips on the schooner SULTANA, and kayak-camping trips on the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.

Information about the Sultana Education Foundation’s Volunteer and Summer programs can also be found online at the Foundation’s website – www.sultanaeducation.org.

About the Sultana Education Foundation

Founded in 1997, the Sultana Education Foundation is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing unique, hands-on educational opportunities that promote stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay’s historic, cultural, and environmental legacies. The Foundation is a two-time recipient of the National Maritime Historical
Foundation’s Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Maritime Education.

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Sultana Successfully Concludes Vision 2020 Campaign

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Four years after its launch, the Sultana Education Foundation has successfully concluded its Vision 2020 Campaign, raising more than $6 million to support a doubling of its program capacity and to diversify the types of programs it offers. While the most visible result of this effort was the construction of the Sultana’s new LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Education Center in Chestertown, the organization’s Vision 2020 Campaign will also provide funding for the Foundation to move to year-round operations and to expand its educational staff by almost 50% over the next two years.

mapfloor to large tv“The support we received from the community during the Campaign was incredible,” commented Sultana Education Foundation President Drew McMullen. “It speaks volumes about the value our community places on teaching future generations to preserve and protect our natural and historic resources. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, we want to thank each and every person who contributed to the Campaign.”

wetlab looking towards frontFounded in 1997, the Sultana Education Foundation provides Maryland State Department of Education certified field and curriculum programs in history and environmental science to more than 12,000 students each year. The Foundation is also a major provider of Teacher Professional Development Programs and educational enrichment programs for the public.

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Three Eastern Shore Wineries to Feature Artisan Wines at Downrigging

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The work ethic of farm families operating wineries on the Eastern Shore of Maryland has been a critical driving force behind the emergence of wine country on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. John Levenberg, international wine consultant who has worked with wineries on the Eastern Shore for over six years comments “What I’m most excited about and what I see as the real potential on the Eastern Shore is our ability to take effectively what is the farm – the energy and dynamics, and translate that into a bottle.”

During Downrigging Weekend, local wine lovers can taste what this phenomenon is all about. Sultana hosts its 3rd annual wine tasting pavilion showcasing artisan wines from three Eastern Shore Wineries that have strong agricultural roots. Each of these wineries will present information on their farm heritage, artisan wine-making and offer select wines for tastings. As well the pavilion will include a special exhibit on the emergence of wine country on Maryland’s Eastern Shore presented by shorevines Experience Chesapeake Wine Country, a program of The Upper Shore Regional Council of Maryland. The admission fee of $15 per day includes a commemorative wine glass and seven wine tastings from any combination of wineries. The Artisan Wine Tasting event happens October 29th noon to 5 pm and Sunday October 30th noon to 4 pm at the Chestertown marina store dockside to the tall ships.

Clovelly Vineyards will present wines made 100% from grapes planted on their riverside vineyard. Grape production started in 2009 and the vineyard and wine-making is just one part of a huge agricultural business run by the Gibbons-Neff family that includes Clovelly Nurseries and grain and Black Angus cattle production from Clovelly Farm. Several wines will be presented including the just released, Hambleton Creek, a unique blend of Sangiovese and Merlot grapes from their vineyard named after the peaceful creek bordering the property.

Crow Vineyard & Winery is an award winning winery that operates as an authentic, working farm. The Crow Family hosts a wine tasting room open year round and their business operations include a winery facility and on-site wine maker producing award-winning wines. The diversified farm operates a Farmstay B&B and cares for a herd of Grass-fed Angus Beef. Crow Vineyard & Winery in particular is helping to change perceptions and prove that quality local wines are being produced on the shore. Crow will be serving their 2013 Barbera Rosé, which won a gold medal and best in class at this year’s Maryland Governor’s Cup and their Red and White Vintner’s Select wines.

Triple Creek Winery, owned by the Spies family is located just off route 50 on the way to Easton and the beaches. The family has ties to several agricultural arenas; son Paul is an ag specialist for the Chester River Association, son Alex manages the adjacent hydroponic cucumber growing facility and Triple Creek wines benefit from son Corey’s skills as winemaker at one of the Eastern Shore’s first wineries – St. Michaels Winery. Triple Creek will feature three wines including their signature Chambourcin and Merlot dry red blend called “No Bull Red”.

Sultana Downrigging Wine Tasting Pavilion
shorevines Experience Chesapeake Wine Country

 

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Downrigging Weekend Public Sails Filling Quickly

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Sailing tickets for the schooner SULTANA are sold out for the entire weekend. And tickets for the other vessels in the fleet are 50% booked, with multiple individual sails already sold out.
screen-shot-2016-10-11-at-10-33-36-amBy the time Sultana’s Downrigging Weekend Tall Ship and Wooden Boat Festival comes to a close on October 30, more than 1,000 people will voyage out onto the Chester River onboard a fleet of Tall Ships and historic vessels.   If you want to be one of these lucky people, we encourage you to make your plans now.
 Thanks to the great weather we enjoyed last year, our tickets for Downrigging Weekend 2016 are booking much more quickly than in recent years.   If you were looking to sail on Chestertown’s own schooner SULTANA, we’re afraid she is already sold out for the entire weekend.   If you are looking to sail the PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II, on Saturday, October 29, you should click here now as we only have 10 tickets left!
There are four opportunities to sail during Downrigging Weekend, including:
Friday, October 28 @ 3:00pm
Saturday, October 29 @ 10:30am
Saturday, October 29 @ 2:30pm
Sunday, October 30 @ 1:00pm
 
 

 

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