Thanks to a grant from Youth Conservation Corps was able to offer ten additional programs this year. In addition to working on projects in the park, the crews learn about the natural world as well as the cultural history of the area around the park. The parks located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which are part of the Gateways Network, received specialized training on the Chesapeake Bay.
The crew at Tangier Island when they visited on July 28th. Tangier Island is home to commercial watermen who make their living harvesting mostly crab from the Bay.
They also found out what it’s like to depend on boat transportation to travel to the mainland and get most of your supplies. While the day was beautiful, the trip over was choppy and the trip back was very rough. Thanks to Dramamine my stomach was fine, but not so much my nerves. Gaston Rouse who is responsible for all of the logistics (and the overall design) of the project and I were in agreement – we thought we were going to die. Had we not had expert Captain Billy Pipkin at the wheel, I’m not sure what would have happened!
Okay, so maybe Gaston and I are landlubbers. This is the third trip to Tangier Island that Captain Billy has taken various Youth Corps crews on. He has also taken our crews out on a cruise down the Great Wicomico River. Captain Billy runs a charter fishing and cruise business our of his Ingram Bay Marina on the Liquid Assets II.
We had a wonderful lunch on the pristine beach and the kids had a great time swimming. We took a golf cart tour of the island and visited the Museum. We finished our stay with a great dinner at Hilda Crockett’s Chesapeake House.
The Belle Isle State Park crew worked hard at the park in addition to learning about the Chesapeake Bay. They designed and implemented canoe-in/kayak-in campsites for the park. Enjoy the Click here for more pictures of the crew in action.
The Belle Isle crew was one of 20 crews participating in one of two three-week residential sessions. We also hosted two Youth Service Corps programs which serves the same age group of at risk youth in a day program for three weeks.