The Festival in the News

Current Headlines

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The Waterfowl Festival was honored by the Historical Society of Talbot County with an Award of Merit for the 2009 Festival’s special Outlaw Gunner exhibit. The award took place at the Historical Society’s recent Annual Meeting.

The exhibit featured historic artifacts from the collection of the late Dr. Harry Walsh, one of the founders of the Waterfowl Festival, and its first President and Chairman of the Board.

He was also the author of “The Outlaw Gunner,” a book about the Chesapeake Bay’s market hunters, who often worked on the margins of the law. Many of the items on display were loaned by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, to which Dr. Walsh donated much of his collection.

On hand to receive the certificate of recognition Kim Newcomb and Bill Millar, who were instrumental in coordinating the exhibit; Pete Lesher, Curator of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum; Judy Price, Waterfowl Festival Executive Director; and Marybee and Joe Walsh, Dr. Walsh’s wife and son.

The Historical Society’s President, Richard Tilghman, Jr., presented the award, commending the Festival for recreating the feel of the Outlaw Gunner lore.

Price expressed her appreciation to all the volunteers who spent countless hours gathering the artifacts and creating the exhibit. She thanked the Historical Society for the recognition and for its continued partnership with the Waterfowl Festival.

The 2010 Waterfowl Festival will be held in Easton November 12, 13 & 14. For more information, to volunteer or to make a donation, contact the Waterfowl Festival office at 410-822-4567 or visit its website, www.waterfowlfestival.org.

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Representatives of more than a dozen private, public and corporate partners involved in protecting the shoreline at Hail Cove on Eastern Neck Island have been recognized for their work by the Coastal America Partnership.

The Hail Cove Living Shoreline Project demonstrated that shorelines can be protected through natural means rather than with revetments that compromise shallow water habitat. It preserves habitat for shorebirds, waterfowl and terrapins that was being eroded by wind and waves.

At a ceremony on the banks of Little Queenstown Creek across the Chester River from Eastern Neck, the various partners, including the Waterfowl Festival, were presented with the Coastal America Partnership Award, one of the organization's highest honors. The partners also received a letter from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in which he referred to the project as an "outstanding environmental victory."

Coastal America was established in 1992 to bring together federal agencies, state and local governments, corporate partners, and individuals at all levels to protect, preserve and restore our nation's coast.

Partners recognized in addition to the Waterfowl Festival were: Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership; Vulcan Materials Company; Constellation Energy; Chesapeake Bay Trust; FishAmerica Foundation; National Aquarium Conservation Team; Friends of Eastern Neck; Washington College's Center for the Environment and Society; Ducks Unlimited; Maryland Eastern Shore Resource Conservation and Development Council; Maryland Department of Natural Resources Migratory Bird Stamp Fund and Watershed Services; and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
In less that two years the Hail Cove Project has gone from concept to reality. It includes the creation of low-profile headland breakwaters to reduce wave action; the placing of sand on the shoreline to provide a habitat for bay grasses and plants; planting of marsh grasses; and restoration of a nearby oyster reef. The project also protects submerged aquatic vegetation so necessary for marine habitat.

Following the ceremony, representatives of the partners planted three trees on the banks of Little Queenstown Creek in recognition of Earth Day. Representing the Waterfowl Festival were Schuyler Benson, Appropriations Chairman; and Judith Price, Executive Director.

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Waterfowl Festival, Inc., is helping to improve the water quality of the Tred Avon River with the assistance of a federal grant supporting the restoration of the Bay Street Ponds in Easton. The nonprofit organization has been awarded $332,000 for the project through the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Water Quality Financing Administration, utilizing funding available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“We are excited to be able to demonstrate the Festival’s commitment to conservation through this important project right here in our own community,” said Judy Price, Waterfowl Festival Executive Director. “Not only will this improve the quality of the water entering a key tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, but it will also have a positive impact on storm water management in Easton.”

For almost four decades, proceeds from the three-day November Festival have helped fund conservation projects throughout the Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay region. This year, the Waterfowl Festival’s annual Conservation Grants will also support its own project, with more than $30,000 being earmarked to supplement the federal grant.

The Grayce B. Kerr Fund donated the Bay Street Ponds site to the Waterfowl Festival in 2008. Far from simply green space in the middle of Easton, the ponds serve as a collection area and sediment trap for the Tanyard Branch, a little known creek that runs from east of Route 50 across town and out to the Tred Avon River.

The creek drains 723 acres of watershed within the town limits, emptying into the North Fork of the Tred Avon River where the Easton Parkway meets Route 33 to St. Michaels. The Bay Street Ponds collect runoff from mostly impervious surfaces, along with nutrient-laden waters from agricultural lands. Excessive siltation in the ponds has severely impaired their ability to function properly as storm water collection facilities.

The Waterfowl Festival will install a Best Practice Management facility at the ponds that is estimated to remove more than 310 pounds of total nitrogen, 64 pounds of total phosphorus and 600 tons of sediment each year before they enter the Tred Avon and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay.

The restoration plan includes dredging, new construction, and wetland and upland plantings. The current soft sediment layer in the ponds will be removed to increase water depth and improve flood storage capacity.

A forebay to be constructed at the head of the eastern pond will trap pollutants and heavy sediments where they can be more easily removed without extensive dredging. Replacing the aging water level control structure at the foot of the western pond will further increase their water storage capacity and facilitate better flood control. Along the perimeter, a planting shelf will feature native wetland vegetation that will serve the important function of filtering nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants from the ponds.

The Waterfowl Festival competed with more than five hundred projects in Maryland for the federal funding and was one of only seventy projects receiving grants.

Price described the project as an extension of the pond restoration begun by the Grayce B. Kerr Fund. “We are pleased to be able to serve as stewards for the Kerr Fund’s generous donation and further enhance the Fund’s efforts to preserve the Bay Street Ponds as a lovely green space along a major entrance into downtown Easton.”

The pond improvements are expected to be completed by the summer of 2010.

The 40th Waterfowl Festival will be held in Easton November 12-14, 2010. For more information, or to become a Festival volunteer or donor, contact the Waterfowl Festival office at 410-822-4567 or visit its website, www.waterfowlfestival.org.

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Key Messages


▪ The 40th annual Waterfowl Festival takes place in the colonial town of Easton, Maryland. The historic buildings of Easton serve as venues for galleries and exhibits, while events and demonstrations are held at the surrounding ponds and scenic areas.

▪ The Waterfowl Festival is America’s premiere wildlife art exposition featuring art work from more than 300 artists recognized world-wide. Hundreds of paintings, sculpture, carvings, photos, and fine crafts reflect the beauty of the natural world.

▪ Nation-wide dealers offering antique and contemporary decoys.

▪ The Festival offers fly fishing and retriever dog demonstrations – sure to entertain the experienced outdoor enthusiast, children and everyone in between, as well as DockDogs, an entertaining competition between dogs to see who can make the longest jump into a pool.

▪ There are numerous hands-on activities for the entire family, especially for the little ones, such as nature arts and crafts activities and up close wildlife education.

▪ Four world-class calling contests take place at the Festival attracting top callers from across the country and Canada. Contests: World Championship Goose Calling Contest® with $10,000 first prize, Mason-Dixon Regional Duck Calling Contest, World Champion Live Duck Calling Contest® and World Champion Live Goose Calling Contest™ – all with cash and gear prizes.

▪ Attendees can checkout the latest gear, accessories and gadgets for hunting, fishing and marine sports at the Sportsman’s Pavilion.

▪ Great Eastern shore food and music add to the festivities.

▪ The Waterfowl Festival is produced annually by Waterfowl Festival Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to wildlife conservation, the promotion of wildlife art and the celebration of life on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

▪ In its 40 years, the Festival has become a leader in the conservation of waterfowl and wildlife habitat. More than $5 million has been donated to projects throughout the Atlantic Flyway and in particular the Chesapeake Bay.

▪ The Waterfowl Festival takes place November 12-14 in downtown Easton, Maryland, off Route 50. Festival hours are: Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

▪ Admission is $10 for all three days - children under 12 free.

▪ For additional information or tickets online, visit www.waterfowlfestival.org or call 410/822-4567.

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Waterfowl Festival - A Wildlife Art and Sportsman's Expo, A Small Town Celebration, A Commitment to Conservation

HIGHLIGHTS

40th Annual Waterfowl Festival - 40 years of excellence

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, November 12-14, 2010

Easton - a charming historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore

A wildlife art and sportsman’s expo

More than 300 of the country’s finest artists, craftsmen, collectors and dealers

Wildlife paintings, sculpture, carvings, and photography galleries

Thousands of antique and contemporary decoys

Folk art and crafts

Sportsman’s Pavilion - one stop gear and trip shopping for the outdoor enthusiast

Retriever, fly fishing and DockDog demos and competitions

World Championship Goose and Duck Calling Contests

Visit 12 exhibit locations scattered throughout historic town

Live animal and nature displays and lots of fun for kids

Great Eastern Shore seafood - crabs, oysters and clams

A wonderful family day - kids from 1 to 100 will enjoy

Christmas shopping better than the mall


More than $5 million donated to waterfowl and wildlife conservation projects

Admission is $10 FOR ALL THREE DAYS - children under 12 free

For more information and tickets online, visit www.waterfowlfestival.org or call 410-822-4567