Third Annual Fishing Derby

What a catch!

The Third Annual CSMM Fishing Derby was held this past Saturday and it was a great success! Over eighty kids participated and we had three trophy winners, as well as two additional prizes for fish caught. Twelve rods and reels were also raffled off for the kids. One proud fisher hauled in a 2.5 pound catfish, captivating the kids in the crowd! They all enjoyed watching it swim in the tank before it was released back to its home in the Delaware.

Our winning fisher-kids were: Tyann Thomas of Urban Promise for the longest fish, Franklin Tran of Sacred Heart for the first fish caught, and Yarimar Santiago of Urban Promise for the heaviest fish. Additional catches were reeled in by Yeily Betancourt of Sacred Heart and Xavier Ruiz from Urban Promise. Of course there's always "the one that got away," but luckily for Adeja Rice of Urban Promise, there were witnesses to confirm her fish tale!

The derby, which involves Charles Bay's Youth Instructional Team of the Delaware River Fishermen's Association, has grown over the years and is now the Association's largest youth fishing event. Many thanks to Charles and the DRFA for their time, the trophies and the fish weigh-in.

Youth Instructional Team of DRFA

Also, special thanks to Jim Cummings and all the good folks at the Urban Promise Day Camps for coming out and doing such a great job!

We also extend our heartfelt gratitude to all of our sponsors and contributors: Andy Krikun and his crew from the CCMUA for the food, drink, and t-shirts, Fred Lenz of the South Jersey Bass Club and Roxann Coleman of Pure Fishing Inc. for much donated equipment, and Tim Schenk and the kids from the Sacred Heart School.

This was the first year that the Derby was run as a fundraising event and because of its success in this regard, it will continue to be a fundraiser in the future. Greatly appreciated financial support was provided by Kevin Castagnola and the South Jersey Port Corporation, Camden Iron & Metal, American Transport, Camden Yards Steel, Camden International Commodities Terminal, A.P. Construction, John Bantivoglio, William Lang Sr., Marilyn Roze, BRS Services, William Judd D.M.D., Bill Leatherbee of Leatherbee & Associates, and Stephen Richter. Additional contributions continue to come in and all involved with the museum express our gratitude to each and every donor.

Mayor Dana Redd was unable to attend but she sent along her congratulations and expressed an enthusiastic interest to be with us for next year's event. With this third fishing derby in the books as both a fun and educational day, we can look ahead to the fourth with confidence that it will be even better!

For more pictures of the event, please visit the CSMM Flickr Photostream.

For a really fun peek at the event, please check out Brian Newhall's wonderful video below!

Early Fall Happenings

Things have been busy here at the Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum! From artifact donations to renovations and everything in between, the museum is transforming and progressing every day. Thanks to some generous individuals, the museum has acquired some new and interesting artifact donations. One such donation is a century old presentation book picturing vessels built at Cramp’s Shipyard in Philadelphia.

We also received ephemera in the form of launching, christening, and commissioning programs from ships including the U.S.S. New Jersey, Bremerton, Guam, Alaska, Princeton, Curtiss, Valley Forge, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and Antietam. Most of these ships were commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard but many were built by the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden.

These NY Shipbuilding vessels include the Bremerton, Guam, Alaska, and Curtiss. Although the Princeton honored here in 1945 was built in Philadelphia, descriptions of the second and third Princetons are included in the donated program and tell of their origins as Camden-born ships. Another interesting item included in the donation is a program for the Navy Relief Society at the Academy of Music, complete with Edward Murrow’s autograph!

Our current volunteers Sarah and Lauren, as well as our intern Kim have been busy with a number of projects. Depending on what the museum’s most pressing needs are at the time, one might find them researching ships built at the New York Shipbuilding Company, creating a contact database, sending out emails, photographing new donations, organizing the office, moving artifacts, updating the museum’s Facebook page (please “like” us there!), updating the blog, or even planting bulbs on the grounds! Kim has a particular interest in a lightship built here in Camden. She (the ship) has lived a longer life than most (ships AND people) and is one of the earliest ships built here by New York Shipbuilding in 1904. She's also back here in Camden. Can we do anything to save her?

The next big step regarding the physical aspect of the museum is construction on the parish hall and chapel buildings, set to begin in December. Grantors for this project include NJHT and the Camden County Open Space Preservation Trust. When construction is complete, Urban Boat Works will be able to move back in next September. Keep checking back for more happenings at the Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum!