For 45 years, since 1971, the Waterfowl Festival, produced by thousands of volunteers and energized by world-class wildfowl artists, carvers, photographers and collectors, has drawn between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors on the second weekend of November. This year’s event, blessed by sunny, brisk fall weather, was another success.
While Festival officers mark success by ticket sales and art receipts, I look at the crowds on Harrison Street, including people and pets, and the onslaught of people at Easton High School to take in the Buy, Sell and Swap exhibit, and I conclude that this event, devoted to conservation of waterfowl habitats, was a grand undertaking.
My experience with the Waterfowl Festival goes back to 1976 after newly moving to Easton. While I first wondered how an event devoted to birds could be so popular, I no longer question the theme. After all, our country offers festivals dedicated to apples, pumpkins, forests, wine—and even medieval times.
From a humble beginning in 1971, when proceeds of $7,500 were donated to Duck Unlimited, the Festival has given grants totaling more than $5.7 million to conservation projects.
What I’ve learned over the years is the conservation of waterfowl habitat not only provides a more hospitable venue for geese and ducks but also benefits humans by enabling wildfowl to survive and open space to flourish. The nexus seems obvious to me: protect the birds we love to see and, yes, hunt and thus allow our two-legged species to enjoy a peaceful field filled with birds and their distinctive sounds.
On opening night, I felt great pride as Albert Pritchett, president of the Waterfowl Festival and Waterfowl Chesapeake (its vehicle for collaboration and fundraising), paid homage to two terrific people and volunteers, Sylvia Gannon and Al Gipe. This festival, with a small staff, must depend on volunteers to produce one of the best shows of its type in our nation. Recognition of these two committed individuals seemed the very right thing to do.
On Saturday, my 15-year-old grandson and I enjoyed visiting exhibits in town, marveling at the talent inherent in the artwork, carvings, sculptures and photographs. We then took a bus to the high school, site of the Buy, Sell and Swap exhibit, long one of my favorites. I love the informal feel of this exhibit—and the opportunity to buy a shorebird at a reasonable price.
If anyone wondered about the popularity of the Festival, particularly on a breezy Saturday, a visit to Easton High School would have erased any doubt. Buses continually deposited large groups of people, who journeyed to the east end of town to view decoys at Buy, Sell and Swap, eat crab soup, clam chowder and pit beef and turkey sandwiches and appreciate the waterfowling artifacts exhibit, one filled with great history.
After attending an outside Sunday service at Christ Church in Easton, I found my mood, while still buoyed by the Festival and its spotlight on the special charm of Easton, a bit tempered by thoughts of the terrible tragedy in Paris. The senselessness of human slaughter by people alienated from civilized norms of behavior is felt and decried in a lovely town marked by goodwill and good cheer during a festive event.
Not long ago Paris was the scent of horrific killing at a newspaper office and a kosher grocery store. Now again it has come under attack, one that was well-coordinated and hate-filled. The perpetrators wanted to instill fear by killing nearly 130 people at six different sites populated by Parisians and foreign visitors.
Some may wonder why I’ve connected the Waterfowl Festival and the horrible actions in Paris. Maybe I’ve done so because I realize that wherever we live, we still are connected to gruesome behavior exhibited shamelessly throughout our troubled world. Maybe I feel compelled to remind myself that terror is not that far away. All of us have friends and family scattered throughout our increasingly smaller world.
I fear another repulsive and deadly act in our nation. Just a few weeks ago, I spent some time with a woman, whose father was killed on 9/11. He was a college friend and lacrosse teammate. Since that earthshaking event more than 14 years ago, our country has suffered no similar case of mass murder.
The Waterfowl Festival is a truly wonderful occasion that coalesces our community on behalf of a non-profit organization, Waterfowl Chesapeake, devoted to conservation. I would suggest that this goal applies to the conservation of our values on the Eastern Shore and belief in civil behavior, whether applied to birds or humans.
This past weekend was a splendid one. No question about it. The specter of the terror in Paris speaks to the need for all of us to unite on behalf of “community.” This togetherness is a strong barrier to evil actions.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
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