A dedication ceremony was held in June at the NC
Maritime Museum in Southport, followed by a reception to celebrate the addition
of a new exhibit, “Along the Colonial
Cape Fear River.” The special exhibit was the fruition of a grant
application sponsored by our Brunswick Town DAR Chapter and submitted to the NSDAR
Special Projects Grants - Mission for Education.
The effort to secure the grant began in 2014
when Lori Sanderlin, Curator of Education, at the Museum spoke to chapter
member, Connie Hendrix about the possibility of the Brunswick Town Chapter securing
a grant for the museum. Connie passed along the request to Jackie Craft, Regent
at the time. Jackie and Betsy Pessetto, Vice Regent, met with Lori to discuss
the grant. In these new exhibits, Brunswick
Town is a big part of the Museum’s attraction and so appropriate to our chapter
since Brunswick Town is our namesake.
The exhibit features interactive educational
elements including a touchscreen that delves deeper into colonial culture
including, Did You Know? Flip Panels
for the naval stores industry; sliding doors for delicate paper artifacts such
as Royal Governor Josiah Martin’s signature; and a talking mannequin depicting
Ms. Janet Schaw, a Scottish loyalist, who shares important details of the
colonial Cape Fear from her Journal of a
Lady of Quality.
We were honored to have in attendance at the
celebration, Merry Ann Thompson Wright, Honorary President General; Dianne
Biggs Janis, National Chairman of Special Projects Grants; Carole Weiss, State
Vice Regent; Cricket Crigler, State Organizing Secretary; Lou Walker, State
Registrar and her husband, Jerry; Anne Hobbs State Special Projects Grants
Chairman; and Meg Smith, District VII Treasurer. Also, in attendance were many
chapter members. Following the
dedication and reception, a dinner was held at The Reserve Restaurant in St.
James Plantation hosted by our Regent, Diane Kuebert, for our honored guests
and members.
L to R Mary Strickland, Museum Manager; Lori Sanderlin, Curator of Education, NC Maritime Museum; Diane Kuebert, Brunswick Town Regent; Merry Ann Thompson Wright, Honorary President General; Diane B. Janis, National Chairman of Special Project, Grants
Diane Kuebert, Brunswick Town Regent; Merry Ann Thompson Wright, Honorary President General; Diane B. Janis, National Chairman of Special Project, Grants; Museum Manager; Lori Sanderlin
Front Row
(L-R): Jamee Vassil Rose, Exhibit Designer, NC Maritime Museums; Mary
Strickland, Museum Manager, NC Maritime Museum at Southport; Back Row (L-R)
Joseph Schwarzer, Director, NC Maritime Museum System; Bob Springle, Administrator,
Friends of the NC Maritime Museum at Southport; Lori Sanderlin, Curator of
Education, NC Maritime Museum at Southport; Meredith Jones, Museum Store
Manager and Volunteer Coordinator, NC Maritime Museum at Southport.
Gwen Causey, Brunswick Town Chapter Parliamentarian and State Volunteer Genealogist and Carole Weiss, State Vice-Regent
Martha Koletar, Public Relations and Media Chair for Brunswick Town Chapter,
Jackie Craft, State Americanism Chair; Cindy Sellers, Registrar for Brunswick Town Chapter
Carole Weiss, NC State Vice-Regent; Lou Walker, State Registrar; Bonnie Becmer, Brunswick Town DAR member; Cricket Crigler, State Organizing Secretary; and Pat Gooding, Brunswick Town Chapter Historian
Anne Hobbs, State Special Projects Grants Committee Chair and Carole Weiss, State Vice Regent
Display of Boxed Pine, tar &
turpentine
Talking
mannequin depicting Ms. Janet Schaw reading from her Journal of Lady of
Quality
