(shoredailynews.com)
Hear Major General's audio comment accompanying full article:
This Sunday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye:
1903 ..
By Jack Chavez
(June 10, 2021) The Black Eyed Susan riverboat’s long and arduous journey to Snow Hill will conclude this weekend.
Tomorrow or Saturday, the riverboat will pull into Snow Hill after spending the last few months in Salisbury at the Murtech Marine to undergo various upgrades and repairs.
“We added things that didn’t get completed (earlier in the process),” former Snow Hill Town Manager Gary Weber said. “There were several things that we didn’t have planned but got taken care of. It’s an ordeal to go long distances — the boat moves very slow. In addition to the recommended repairs, we put in all new plexiglass on the second level, painted the floor, got rid of the old nasty peel-and-stick carpet. They painted it and got the floors done.”
Weber left his position with the town this week.
All this occurred after the town sweated it out with Leonardtown to even purchase the boat in 2020.
Weber said it’ll be nice for himself and all those involved with seeing the project through to have the opportunity to enjoy the final product.
“There have been a lot of people involved in getting the boat to Snow Hill and Worcester County,” Weber said. “There will be an event to include anyone who’s helped get the boat here.”
Weber also dispelled some rumors about why boat repairs were taking so long and that the project was doomed — claims from the boat being too tall to pass under fixed bridges and an inability to turn in the open water among them.
“The paddlewheel is not fixed. It’s separated, just like a regular boat with twin screws,” Weber said. “There has been a lot of (criticism) online and on Facebook that isn’t accurate. It’ll be nice to take a ride on the boat myself. (After enduring all of that) I think I deserve it.”
The 111-foot paddlewheel boat itself is nearly 33 feet tall, Weber added, with the lowest bridge it’d have to pass under being 35 feet tall.
10:00AM to 4:00PM
Furnace Town Historic Site
Join us as we celebrate the community of Pocomoke City!
This is the third in a series of events celebrating our neighbors, local towns. There will be musical performances by local musicians, games, and fun activities for the kids, and the opportunity to tour Furnace Town.
1/2 price admission for Pocomoke residents.
Bring a picnic and enjoy the day.
Hope to see you there!
Music by:
Mercy For The Mockingbird
Admission prices: Adults $8.00. Seniors, Military and AAA $6.00 and Children (5-17 years) $4.00.
(Local history of a kind not found in a history book is captured in recollections by a Somerset County native who was in his early 80's when he wrote this article in 1954.)
May, 1954
The Morning News (Wilmington)
(PPE reader comment)
Anonymous said...My grandfather attended McMaster one-room school on what is now Brantley Road. He often told the story of the day the local superintendent came to visit. While the superintendent was visiting with the teacher some of the boys snuck outside to inspect his Model T Ford which was something not seen much in those parts.
My grandfather had been squirrel hunting before school that morning and still had a 12 gauge shell in his pocket. He managed to unscrew one of the spark plugs and poured some of the gunpowder into the cylinder and replaced the spark plug.
The superintendent eventually ended his visit and climbed into his horseless carriage. When he stepped on the starter button (there was no such thing as car keys at that time) the engine exploded and blew the engine cover up into a nearby pine tree. Much confusion ensued and eventually Ford Motor Company was contacted and, because nothing like this had ever happened before, they sent a team of mechanics and engineers to see what had happened. The team never solved the mystery but it did result in Ford replacing the superintendent's Model T with a brand new one.
tk for PPE says: Thanks so much to the reader who submitted the above comment!
Please contact me if you might have other recollections we can share.
tkforppe@yahoo.com
December, 2008
(The big screen at the Mar-Va Theater in Pocomoke City will light up for the first time since 1996 with a showing of "The Polar Express" Saturday.)
Daily Times (Salisbury)
July, 1942 (see enlarged text beneath ad)
Worcester Democrat
