Successful launch of new boats On Saturday June 2nd, at the Rutgers boathouse a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters greeted the launch into the Cooper River of a small fleet of wooden canoes and strip built kayaks. These beautiful boats were built at the museum at Urban BoatWorks, Directed by Jesus Castro. The children who built these boats paddled for hours near the boathouse before embarking on a trek down the Cooper River to the Delaware River. Congratulations to the many boatbuilders and volunteers who make this exciting and unique program such a success year after year!

June 2, 2012 Urban BoatWorks Boat Launch Camden County Boathouse @ 9AM Pennsauken, NJ COME SEE CAMDEN KIDS LAUNCH THE BEAUTIFUL CANOES THAT THEY HANDCRAFTED AT THE CAMDEN SHIPYARD & MARITIME MUSEUM. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL VOLUNTEERS. SMOOTH SAILING!

TD Bank Announces Major Award to Museum

Flanking Helene Pierson, who is the Director of the Heart of Camden and a museum board member, Mr. Tredinnick and Ms. Carlson-Heim both from TD Bank, toured our museum and afterwards announced that the bank was awarding the museum $250,000 towards further renovations at the facility. Awarded as part of the NJ Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program, and administered by H of C, these funds will go a long way to meeting our required match for the NJHT renovation grant. Many thanks to TD Bank for this significant generosity. It is an important vote of confidence in the future of the museum, and the Waterfront South community.

Renovations Underway

Major renovations to the former chapel are proceeding. A new room is being created by excavating a crawl space. Guided by contractors Joe Hess and Larry Evans and assisted by laborers from the neighborhood, the chapel will be transformed into gallery space for our New York Shipbuilding Company exhibit. Mr. William Leatherbee is the architect heading up this project. Stay tuned for further developments.

Henson's Arctic Sled at Dog Sled Meet

On February 18th an intrepid group of youngsters from Urban Promise School and Sacred Heart School journeyed to Sellersville Pa. to participate in a major dog sled meet where they made quite a stir. Sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club, the meet featured many dog sled teams. One team belonging to Chuck Weiss was hooked up to our very own replica of Henson's sled and off they went. No snow? No problem! Riding aboard was Oriana, one of the youngsters who actually built the sled. Looking on was Steve Tuttle ( now on the board of the Museum) who headed up the adult mentors who helped build the sled. It was a day to be proud that a sled made by Camden youngsters was the main attraction at this unusual, but well attended event. Many in the audience were unfamiliar with the Matthew Henson story and were eager to hear Mr. Tuttle tell about his exploits. This event was so significant that a reporter and video camera team from the Courier Post covered the event. (see the Feb 20th Courier Post) Other local newspapers also covered the event. A major delegation of South Jersey dog sledders was also in attendance. Next year there will be snow for sure!

We Wish Joe Balzano Smooth Seas

I write to let you know that our Board President, Joseph Anthony Balzano, age 77, died on Oct. 19th after a long battle with leukemia. Joe was a remarkable man who constantly tried to help others and who was an integral part of Camden’s maritime heritage as the longtime CEO of the S. Jersey Port Corporation. He followed his father to the Port as a 17 year old and worked his way up to the top over a career that spanned 60 years. While CEO, he grew the Port into one of the major break bulk ports on the east coast. As Board President he was one of the founding members of our museum and he worked tirelessly in its behalf. He was instrumental in raising the funds for the museum; initially in order to purchase our buildings, later to fund our programs. He also made many major donations of significant marine artifacts such as our port wagon and bollards. In fact, he personally supervised the forklift installation of these heavy items even as he was recovering from a bout of his recent illness. If he had not been ill, no doubt he would have been at the controls of the forklift. He was a great supporter of our programs for city youth and often welcomed them into his office at the Port where he would tell stories about Camden history as well as showcasing current Port operations. He was a doer and a straight shooter, a Camden boy through and through, who loved the Delaware River and his city and always sought to advance its fortunes. We all will miss him terribly and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family. From all of us here at the museum, we wish Joe “Smooth Seas”.
Michael Lang

2nd Annual Fishing Derby a Great Success

The Board of Trustees of the Camden Shipyard & Maritime Museum and I
wanted to write to thank all the good folks who helped make the Museum’s
Second Annual Youth Fishing Derby on Oct. 8th a tremendous success. As you
know, the weather was perfect, the Michael Doyle Pier was beautiful, the
Delaware River sparkled, the food was yummy, the tents looked cool,
“Chick” and his fishermen supplied the tackle and instructed our kids,
aided by the pier regulars, the T-shirts looked sharp on everybody, Susan
Mudry officiated with her usual aplomb, the fish were biting, well, just
enough to fill our aquarium, Jesus Castro and his stalwart crew launched
the Urban BoatWorks boats, full of joyful kids, on the "high seas”, and
Father Doyle and Helene Pierson basked in the glow of the moment. So
some 50 of our wonderful children had a great day on the river and it
ended with trophies and prizes awarded to the top three fishers.
All in all, about as perfect a day as one could wish for in
Waterfront South: so hats off to all of you
at the following organizations:

Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
Delaware River Fisherman’s Association
Sacred Heart School
South Jersey Bass Fisherman’s Association
Urban Promise School/Urban Trekkers/Urban BoatWorks

There were many other individuals from these organizations who helped make
this a great event; space limitations prohibit listing all names, but
please accept my profound thanks, all of you. If I forgot any group,
please accept my apologies.

Spring 2011 Fundraiser a Success

Spring 2011 CS&MM 2011 fundraiser a success.
We are very thankful for the support received from the wider Camden community. In particular we wish to thank those individuals who put in the hard work on the campaign; we are grateful. We are pleased to recognize the following contributors to this year’s campaign:

Skipper, $5,000 or more
Liberty Woods International, Inc.
McMullen Roofing, Inc.

First Mate, $2,000 or more
Mid-Atlantic Barge Services LLC

Engineer, $1,000 or more
Camden Iron & Metal, Inc.

Bosun, $500 or more
A.P. Construction, Inc.
Joseph A. Balzano
Camden International Commodities Terminal, L.L.C.
Camden Yards Steel Co.
Commerce Construction Corporation
Cooper Ferry Development Assoc./ Greater Camden Partnership
DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP
Delaware River Stevedores, Inc.
Holt Logistics Corporation
JYE Inc.
S.T. Hudson Engineers, Inc.

Steward, $200 or more
Mattioni LTD
R. Fanelle’s Sons, Inc.
Seamen’s Church Institute of Phila. & S. Jersey
State Metal Industries, Inc.

Deckhand, $ 50 or more
Advanced Termite & Pest Control, Inc.
Anonymous
Champion Services NJ LLC
Gahagan &Bryant Associates, Inc.
Joseph Oat Corporation
Live Nation
Michael Devlin and Val Frick
Megan Lang
Charles Licata
Helene and Thomas Pierson
Michael Shepherd
Terminal Shipping Company, Inc.
Adrienne Walls
Francis & Ellen Zinni

Stowaway, various
Jack Cantwell
Linda Dalengowski
Carlyn Harris
Susan Mudry McDaniel
Vincent Tran
James Logan

design for new mural at museum

The art teacher at the Creative Arts High School, Mr. Bruce Grefe and his students produced a proof of a proposed mural for the choir loft area of the museum. Please take a look. The two Gods depicted are Poseidon, God of the sea and Aeolus, God of the wind. We are grateful to Mr. Grefe and his students for this work and also must mention the Susan Mudry as being instrumental in moving this project along. The plan is that the mural would be executed on plywood at the school and then installed in the museum.

First Youth Fishing Derby a Success

Last fall the Museum and the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority sponsored a youth fishing derby at the Michael Doyle fishing pier in South Camden. This event was organized by the museum's youth coordinator, Ms. Susan Mudry. We had a great turnout with dozens of Camden kids joining in and catching lots of fish and winning lots of prizes. We wish to thank the South Jersey Bass Fisherman's Association for all their hard work in making this day a success. The event was capped by a visit from the N.J. Fish and Wildlife Ranger.

New roof

Dave of Wurster Roofing Company puts the finishing touches on the chimney, part of the new roof he helped install on the former rectory. This installation used composite tiles that mimic the original slate on this historic structure (1912). Funds were provided by the Camden County Historic Preservation Program.

NJ Historic Trust Project Underway

The new sign signifies the start of the interior reconstruction of two of our buildings funded by a major matching grant from the N.J. Historic Trust. Matching funds must be raised however, so all donations are appreciated.

Been a Long time comin'!

So in the months(!) since we last posted alot has happened. The skerries, being built by 8 youths from Camden Forward School, has touched water, the roof of the rectory is set to be repaired/replaced, and our second season of work groups and Americorps*NCCC have started to come through. Urban Boat Works,our partnership program with Urban Trekkers, has received alot of press, and the reputation of the program has grown immensely. As are the community programs in the Waterfront South neighborhood of Camden.

Thank You Sherwin Williams

We would like to thank Sherwin Williams for their generous donation of paint, and supplies to continue the interior repair of the church building. Their donation has been an incredible boost to the restoration of not only the Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum/Church of Our Saviour buildings, but also the rebuilding of the Waterfront South Community.

Bean Dip!!

A few weeks ago, Chuck Weiss, a local dog-sled team leader came to the museum to present Inuit Dog Sleds and Dogs to our youth. His lovely assistant Bean Dip came along for the ride. The youth are currently working on a reproduction of a Peary/Henson Sledge, and this presentation helped to turn on the light bulb as to the culture and needs of a sledge. Above is a picture of Bean Dip, hugging our Americorps*VISTA volunteer Susan Mudry.

Halloween Paddle Race

Margo in costume.

On Halloween paddler, and friend, Margo Pellegrino put on a race to benefit the museum and its programs.

Quite a few people paddled, and a good time was had by all.

Sign in time.

... And they're off.

All Teachers on Deck:Recap

The North Wind. Our Classroom for the day.

Though the day was cold and drizzly, many teachers came out to learn about Matthew Henson, the Delaware Estuary, and Delaware River Ports History. We had a wonderful tour given by Gloucester City Sail, and All Hands on Deck staff Mindy Voss, and Claire Antonucci. Good Day all around.

Susan Mudry speaks to an audience of area school teachers about the history and exploits of Matthew Henson and his relationship to the Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum.

Teachers and instructors on board the "North Wind" discuss the harbor environment and prepare for on-board science demonstrations.

Our New Donation Box

Our beautiful new donations box was recently

unveiled at the museum. It was crafted by Frank Foord out of oak and

plexiglass. The workmanship is of such a high quality that it is worthy of

doing duty at the Smithsonian Institution! Hat's off to Frank!! Let's hope

it brings us luck and lots of money for the museum.

Pictured with the donations box are board members (left to right)

Adrienne Walls, Frank Foord, Dick Wolfe, Susan Mudry and George Rowland

Thank You Badger 6

The Skiffs Return