Harry M. Walsh Waterfowling Artifacts Exhibit
Exhibit Hours:
Friday & Saturday 10:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday 10:00am – 4:00pm
Location: Easton High School
Part of the mission of the Waterfowl Festival is to preserve and promote the heritage that has made Maryland’s Eastern Shore unique. The annual displays of Waterfowling Artifacts are must-see exhibits for visitors. In Artifacts, one can trace the evolution of waterfowling from an economic necessity to the sport of today. Some of these seldom seen treasurers loaned from private and museum collections date back hundreds of years, and include decoys, guns, gunning boats, and countless related items, some of priceless rarity.
2012 Highlights & Exhibitors
“Gunning Among Friends” – Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Banding together for a day’s hunting is a longtime practice among those hunting waterfowl for sport––and when the duck blind is too far from home, remote clubhouses near the Chesapeake’s marshy shorelines have provided a home away from home. Whether populated by wealthy hunters from another state or working class friends from closer by, waterfowling clubs have formed along the Chesapeake Bay from the Susquehanna Flats in the north to the saltwater marshes along the lower Eastern Shore since the early nineteenth century. This exhibit examines these clubs, featuring historic photos, documents, decoys, and other gunning accouterments.
“Everything Pigeons” – John Sullivan, Bob Hockaday, and Kim & Ronnie Newcomb
Dedicated to another kind of fowl, this pigeon exhibit will showcase “everything pigeon” from hunting to the popular sport of pigeon racing. In additon there will be pigeon racing demonstrations at the Highschool at 10am and 1pm and at 3:30pm at the Elementary School. This is the first time pigeons have made an appearance in the Festival’s Artifacts exhibit.
“Calls of the Wild” – The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art
A display of calls with the accompanying decoys for the birds that they call ncluding crows and crow calls, calls for ducks and geese, and a few unusual calls.
Black Duck Exhibit – Larry Myers
A black duck exhibit, with decoys from coastal Virginia, New Jersey and the Delaware River focusing on the posture and carving which made black ducks a notable example of "pure" sculpture for both makers and collectors. Emphasis also given to the black duck’s evolution from a popular staple to a highly protected species. hunting artifacts include two antique breach-loaders and a 4-bore muzzle-loaded punt gun from Barron Island adapted for skiff hunting.
Ward Brother Decorative Decoys – Bill Stryker
A selection of Ward Brothers decorative style decoys including preening Pintails, preening Mallards, preening Old Squaw, and a preening Canada Goose.
Native American Display – Eddie Dean
A display of Dorchester County Native American artifacts showcasing the early days of hunting on the Eastern Shore.
"Shorebird Hunting on the Atlantic Barrier Islands" – Henry Stansbury
A selection of different species of shorebird decoys in a variety of makers and styles. The display will also illustrate conservation actions by clubs and authorities, which gradually led to the prohibition of most shore bird hunting in 1918 and yellowlegs in 1928. Makers will include Charles Clark, Wm. Mathews, Nathan Cobb, Ira and Norman Hudson, Henry Downes, Alma Fitchett, and many great birds by unknown carvers.
2012 Exhibitors (to date)
Bruce & Rose Baynard – Trappe, MD
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum – St. Michaels, MD
John Clayton – Bozman, MD
Edward Bain Dean, Dr. – Fishing Creek, MD
Samuel H. Dyke – Salisbury, MD
Bob & Cindy Jester – Ocean City, MD
Rick & Connie Kellan – Exmore, VA
B. Douglas Megargee, The Megargee Collection – Kennedyville, MD
Lawrence Myers – Oxford, MD
Ronnie & Kim Newcomb – Church Creek, MD
Henry H. Stansbury – Catonsville, MD
Bill Stryker – Kennedyville, MD
C. John Sullivan Historic Decoys – Fallston, MD