In the Oyster Bay Historical Society’s Angela Koenig Center, volunteers from the Ida May Project will be on hand to discuss the work to date on replicating an oyster sloop that worked the waters of Oyster Bay Harbor for over 75 years. The program is free and open to the public on Monday, July 18, at 7 p.m.
The nonprofit Christeen Oyster Sloop Preservation Corporation, the parent organization of the Ida May Project, has taken on the replication of the oyster dredge Ida May, now ongoing in Building J at the Oyster Bay Western Waterfront. As part of the mission to preserve the tradition of wooden boatbuilding in Oyster Bay, the Ida May Project has the objective of replicating this historically significant vessel and launching it on a new career as a floating classroom for marine education, similar to that of Christeen.
This presentation will reprise briefly the history of Ida May, the origin of the project and the involvement of volunteers in the construction effort, before turning to the building process itself. Photos will illustrate the work that has been accomplished to date. Following the presentation, a panel discussion with some of the Ida May Project volunteers will take a look at their experiences building a traditional wooden boat, their reasons for accepting the challenge, and their thoughts on what it all means to the community.
“Volunteers have been crucial to the progress on the Ida May Project,” according to Philip Bloclyn, executive director of the Oyster Bay Historical Society. “There would have been no Ida May Project without the work of these dedicated volunteers.” A question-and-answer session will complete the evening.
Building a 50-foot, 49-ton wooden vessel using traditional wooden boatbuilding techniques is an uncommon project, and it is possible that Ida May could be the last of its kind built on Long Island. Preserving Oyster Bay’s history is part of the Historical Society’s mission to “illustrate how the past still resonates today,” said Bloclyn. The presentation should provide an interesting glimpse into a modern-day version of a process that has been carried out for centuries.
The program takes place in the Oyster Bay Historical Society’s Angela Koenig Center at 20 Summit St. in Oyster Bay. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 516-922-5032 or visit www.oysterbayhistorical.org.
