Join Us, September 21, 2024, for the 2nd Annual St. Michaels Classic in St. Michaels

The Classic Motor Museum of St. Michaels is excited to announce the second annual St. Michaels Classic on Saturday, September 21, 2024, at its Marengo Street campus in St. Michaels.

This all-day, family-friendly event celebrates the rich heritage of automobiles produced by American and International manufacturers. The juried event will showcase classic automobiles owned by car enthusiasts who live in St. Michaels and the greater Eastern Shore. In addition to a fabulous car competition, there will be food, music and even an art show. “There will be something for everyone,” according to Mike Iandolo, CMM Board Member.

Five local artists will display paintings that capture the heritage and beauty of vintage automobiles,work trucks and classic racing cars.

All attendees to the Classic will have the opportunity to view and purchase paintings by Naomi Clark-Turner, Michael Iandolo, Mark Montoya, Walter Urbanek, and Stephen Walker. The gallery will be hosted in the Pinkett House from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm on the grounds of the museum. A portion of the sales will go to the Classic Motor Museum of St Michaels.

Vehicles have been carefully selected and vetted to participate in the St. Michaels Classic. They will be organized into the following class categories: Prewar, European, American Muscle, Performance, 4×4, and Preservation. 

“The event will showcase the incredible automobile excellence found on the Eastern Shore,” Iandolo added. “We have some surprises planned that you will not want to miss.” 

The judging panel will select Best in Show and the Best in Class awards. The general public will vote on the People’s Choice Award.  The public is invited to attend, and tickets for the day-long event will be available that day for $15. This price includes entrance to the show, the Museum and an event program.

Board President, Tad du Pont, agrees. “St. Michaels has long attracted boating enthusiasts to experience its rich maritime history. The Museum has now added another dimension to the town’s attractions through its St. Michaels Classic car show series”. 

The Museum is currently raising funds to purchase 906 S. Talbot Street. A neglected service station at the entrance to St. Michaels. They intend to renovate it so that it is a welcoming gateway to the town, convert it to a hands-on classroom for their automotive technician apprenticeship program and use it to create and enhance Museum exhibits. See our website: classicmotormuseum.org for more information!

The Mid-Shore Constitution Alliance will host “Our Journey to Liberty and Freedom,” their annual celebration of Constitution Day and Citizenship Week on Tuesday, September 17.  Renowned actors Darius Wallace as Frederick Douglas and Kurt Smith as Thomas Jefferson will be featured, performing a conversation between the two. The event will be held from 12-1:30PM at the Academy Art Museum in Easton.  Admission is free.

In addition to the reenactors, the event will include the Sons of the American Revolution in period costumes for the color guard, a town crier to announce the Signing of the Constitution and a welcome from State Senator Johnny Mautz.  There will be educational exhibits, constitution giveaways and red, white & blue Rita’s Ice. The event “Proclamation” will include a “Welcome” to new U.S. Citizens in Talbot County who have achieved citizenship credentials.

In addition, the following day, the Constitution Alliance will host an event for St. Michaels Mid-High School students to watch a similar reenactment and engage directly with the actors.

Wallace has performed in Easton several times at both Constitution Day events and events hosted by Operation Frederick Douglass on the Hill and The Bailey-Groce Family Foundation.  He performs across the country and has made appearances at the National Archives, in Law & Order, and in various movies.  Actor Kurt Smith performs reenactments at Colonial Williamsburg.

The event is sponsored by Easton Utilities, Talbot Tourism/Economic Development, The Tidewater Inn, Shore United Bank, Holiday Inn Express and Bridges Land Management.

Along with Constitution Day celebrations, the Constitution Alliance is working to develop educational programming to increase Constitutional IQ for students of all ages.  The Constitution Alliance Fund awards annual $1000 higher education scholarships to deserving Mid-Shore students who are interested in careers that require an oath to the Constitution.

The Mid-Shore Constitution Alliance, in partnership with the Washington College Institute for Religion, Politics & Culture and Operation Frederick Douglass on the Hill, works to promote civic engagement through education and a commitment to uphold constitutional values and the founding principles of freedom.  To make a donation, or for more information, contact Michelle Ewing at [email protected], 410-200-5571 or Julie Quick, [email protected] or 410-924-0904.

If you have ever driven or biked to the end of South Morris Street in Oxford you discovered an assortment of buildings behind a tall chain link fence, and you probably wondered “What goes on in there?”  Well, a lucky group of Oxford Museum members got to find out on a recent Friday evening. One attendee said: “It was like the wizard pulling the curtain back!”

The Oxford Lab was established by the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in 1960 for the primary purpose of investigating oyster diseases that had struck Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. In 1964, the same year that the Oxford Museum began, the Lab moved into its permanent Oxford home on 11 acres along the Tred Avon River. The facility is now shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Coast Guard. The property was originally part of Bachelors Point Farm and then owned by the Tidewater Inn. The Inn transported guests from Easton to Oxford by train to use the sandy beach there. Only the foundation of the bathhouse remains today, replaced by a boat pier and living shoreline. 

The Lab continues to conduct research on oyster disease and ecosystem services, they study and map fish habitats and develop ecological forecast models. Lab scientists investigate marine mammal and sea turtle strandings, and research and develop fish health policies.  

The attendees were welcomed by Lab Director Dr. John Jacobs who presented a brief history of the Lab, then taken on a fascinating walking tour of the facility by Director Jacobs and Research Microbiologist Dr. Shawn Mclaughlin. The group saw several research labs outfitted with complex equipment, including necropsy labs that were right out of your favorite CSI show, a recovered partial whale skull that was bigger than your dining room table, and an outdoor tank housing rare and protected sturgeon. What impressed and amazed the group the most was learning that the scientists can now sequence the entire genome of the oysters and fish they are studying right at the Lab. 

If you would like to learn more about the Lab, visit the Oxford Cooperative Lab, Sixty Years of Science exhibit at the Oxford Museum, running through October. The Museum is at 101 S. Morris Street, the hours are Friday – Monday, 10 am – 4 pm, and admission is free.  On September 7 Jim Uphoff (MD DNR) and September 14 Sierra Hildebrandt (NOAA)  will be on hand at the museum from 11:00 – 1:00  to answer your questions. 

On September 12 at 5:30 pm, Andrew Leight will present “Assessing the Ecosystem: The Oxford Lab and NOAA’s Habitat Focus Areas.”  at the Oxford Community Center, 200 Oxford Road. All are welcome and admission is free.