SOLOMONS, Md. – The Calvert County Watermen’s Association is bringing the community together this holiday season, one crab pot buoy at a time.
A couple of years ago, the non-profit organization wanted to build a crab basket tree in Solomons. The JC Lore Oyster House was being restored at the time so they held off. But this year, they decided to give it another go.
“Crab baskets can be hard to come by, and we did not want to put any strain on the crabbing industry, so we did a crab pot tree decorated with crab pot buoys,” CCWA Board Member Rachel Dean told the BayNet.
The tree is a fundraising effort. Businesses, organizations, and individuals bought buoys for $50 and painted them. When they returned them, they were placed on the tree. Proceeds this year are going to the Solomons Mission Center, a food and clothing bank.
The tree is built with 136 pots and at the time of the tree lighting, on Sunday, December 3rd, there were 78 buoys on it.
It’s been a group effort to put the tree together. Liquid Landscapes LLC offered up their lift. The Calvert Marine Museum built the tree topper star. And Solomons Yachting Center made a generous donation.
“One of the perks of doing the buoy tree is that we can keep adding to it. We didn’t plan to, but we are going to sell buoys until the new year,” says Dean.
There’s also a new addition to the tree – a camera. That’s because following the tree lighting someone came by and stole two of the buoys. One was in memory of the late Bill Curry, a well-known, respected waterman from Anne Arundel County, donated by his daughter Crystal, who owns Crystal’s Seafood. The other was painted to look like SpongeBob, created by a Patuxent High School graduate, Heather Straw.
Many people commented on CCWA’s Facebook page, sharing their disappointment about what happened.
Dan Koziol wrote, “Sad that this happened in a town with so much pride and such good people.”
Kimberly Blackistone posted, “This is so disappointing. I’m so sorry there are people that would do this. I hope they do the right thing & return them.”
While the theft is a huge disappointment, the organization says it’s not going to crush their holiday spirit. They’re just hoping that someone knows something and will come forward with information.
The Calvert County Watermen’s Association was established in 1975. The association consists of local commercial watermen who make their living harvesting seafood from local waterways. Their goal is to improve water quality to ensure future harvest of seafood.
Buoys are still available to purchase. If you’d like to buy one, email chesapeakefishing@juno.com. The tree will be on display until February 2nd.
Contact our news desk at news@thebaynet.com