Chesapeake Traditions Today

David Whitelock is a waterman whose crews sail on the the Tangier Sound of the Chesapeake Bay. Learn about the challenges and joys of harvesting oysters and crab, and how the pandemic has affected these traditions important to generations of folks working the water.

Earlier this week the Maryland State Arts Council announced the 2020 cohort of Maryland Traditions Folklife Apprenticeship teams. Among these are master decoy maker and 2019 National Heritage Fellow, Rich Smoker (Marion Station, MD), and Rich's old friend and new apprentice, Larry Beauchamp (Pocomoke City, MD). Learn about Rich's and Larry's connections to the decoy carving and wildfowl hunting, and to the inspirational Eastern Shore landscape.

Andy Holloway is a sixth-generation farmer, working the same land his ancestors did years ago, at Baywater Farms in Salisbury, MD. This family farm has become known for its heirloom and hydroponic vegetables, and it is an important part of the local farm-to-table movement. Learn about this occupational tradition-turned-business, which builds on centuries of farming ingenuity and tenacity shared by many family farms in the Chesapeake Bay region.

"Hurricane" Hazel Cropper is a 16-time world champion crab picker, and is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for the speed and volume of blue crab she can pick. Learn about this Crisfield, MD resident's long connection to the Chesapeake Bay's crabbing industry, and how she uses her talent to teach the "art" of crab picking today.

For over 60 years, the Sensational Royal Lights have traveled throughout Delmarva to deliver their music ministry through quartet-style gospel music. In today's episode of Chesapeake Traditions Today hear from three long-time members of this group that got its start in Cordtown, a small community near Cambridge, MD, and hear what inspires the Sensational Royal Lights today.

In this episode we meet Janice Marshall of Smith Island, MD. Janice is a culture bearer in a long line of women who make what has become Maryland's state dessert, the Smith Island cake. Learn more about this multi-layered confection and its possible history, and get ready to get hungry!

Captain Harold “Stoney” Whitelock. Born and raised here on the Eastern Shore, Capt. Whitelock discusses his connection to skipjacks and the oyster industry, and the iconic boat’s connection to regional communities' heritage.

The Delmarva Peninsula (present day Delaware, and the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia), includes the traditional homelands of the Lenape, Nanticoke, Nause-Waiwash, Assateague, Pocomoke, and Accohannock peoples—all of whom continue to carry on their ancestors’ legacies today. To kick off this new series on Chesapeake traditions, we’re highlighting and paying homage to a community of the region’s first peoples.