History You Can Touch.

Timeline:  Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center

 1992                      

• January: Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild Board asks Billy Smith to lead the efforts in building a museum on Harkers Island.
• March: First board meeting, Island Restaurant - Harkers Island
• Original board members: Billy Smith, John Civils, Karen Amspacher, James Davis, Bruce Etheridge, Ted Garner, Jerry Gaskill, Jack Goodwin, Carl Huff, Purcell Jones, David Lawrence, Don Manley, John Nobles, Jim Phillips, Ronnie Smith, Jim Spencer, Guy Tucker, Don Walston, Roy Willis, David Yeomans
  
  **** August: Membership opens; Guy Tucker is the FIRST member!

• December: Decoy Festival’s first Education Tent; more than 500 members join.

1993                      

• May: CSWM moves into the temporary museum, formerly a doctor’s office next door to the school.           
• November: National Park Service signs Memorandum of Understanding on 16-acres to be the site of the CSWM.

1994                      

• Spring: Educational programs begin at the Museum’s temporary location.
• Summer: Plans for the Museum’s Capital Campaign begin.
• Fall: Building Committee established; Leonard Safrit serves as chairman.

1995                      

• Winter: Willow Pond cleared; DU provides pump and well to regular water levels.
• May: Mr. Homer Fulcher and Mr. Jul Hamilton are named NC Folk Heritage Award winners by the NC Arts Council.
• Summer/Fall: Building plans continue with community meetings to ask “what do you want this museum to be?”
• December: First Crow Hill event held.

1996                      

• May: Capital Campaign begins.           
• October: Chairman Billy Smith dies fishing off Core Banks.
• December: Capital Campaign contributions reach $750,000.

1997                      

• January: Groundbreaking at Shell Point.
• Summer: Permits, Environmental Assessment and other documents prepared.
• Fall: Site clearing, bids solicited for construction of the Museum facility.

1998               

• Capital campaign continues with major contributions coming from the NC Department of Cultural Resources, the Big Rock Tournament and others totaling $1.3 million by the end of the year.
• October: Simpson Construction selected as General Contractor

1999               

• February: Construction begins!
• August: First Diamond City Homecoming is held at Shell Point bringing together more than 800 to celebrate their Banks heritage.
• September: Sunshine Lady announces $200,000 challenge grant.
• Fall: Floyd devastates eastern NC.
• December: CSWM meets SLF’s $200,000 challenges with $241,000 in matching dollars.  The first WATERFOWL WEEKEND is held at the Museum (although the building is not quite ready for visitors ... we make it work!)

2000               

• Spring: Z. Smith Reynolds grant provides funding for educational programming and staff.  Exhibit planning committee is formed with support from the NC Arts Council.
• September; Jean Dale is donated to the CSWM.
• December: Community Exhibits are part of Waterfowl Weekend for the first time.

2001        

• March: David A. Lawrence, carver, artist and friends dies after a lengthy illness. 
• Summer/Fall: Educational programming grows to include Ca’e Banks Day, Junior Duck Stamp Competition, Willow Pond trail development and an increased number of school groups throughout the year. 
• Construction continues as funds are available.  USDA awards CSWM a grant of $200,000 for the Community Education Hall.

2002                      

• Museum’s programming and research continues with the development of www.downeasttour.com.
• Fund raising continues at the state and regional level.
• September:  USDA approves rural economic development load of $450,000, providing funds for completion of the Education Hall.  Target opening date set for Memorial Day 2003.
• October: Senator Marc Basnight visits; parking lot paving follows, along with a NC Rural Center Grant for operations support.

2003                      

• Memorial Day: We’re HOME!  Community education hall opens on May 23.
• Summer: “Island People,” an international exhibit of photographs from Harkers Island and Pellworm, Germany offers the people of Harkers Island and our first visitors a unique experience!   Visitors came from 41 states and 13 foreign countries during 2003.
• NC Decoy Collectors hold their annual meeting at the CSWM.
• June 14: Cape Lookout Day brings thousands to CSWM and Shell Point; Lighthouse transfer from the USCG to NPS marks an important day in the history of Down East!           
• Founding board member, major contributor and lover of Core Banks, James Davis dies while participating in one of his favorite activities, swimming!
• International Wildfowl Carving Association invites the CSWM to join their board of directors as a partner agency.
• September: Isabel crosses Core Banks, bringing flood waters into more than 600 homes Down East.  The CSWM works to provide help through disaster relief and artifact recovery for the people of Core Sound.

2004                      

• Winter: Strategic Planning committee begins work to outline the next five years for the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum.
• Spring:  The CSWM’s Capital Campaign for Exhibits is published, thanks to the NC Arts Council.
• Spring/Summer: Representatives from Down East travel to Washington, DC to participate in the 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
• Summer:  Lobbying efforts in Washington, DC begin for funding to complete the exhibit and gallery areas of the CSWM.              

2005                      

• February: The CSWM’s Strategic Plan is approved by the board.  A new board structure is adopted establishing Lifetime Charter Board Member status for nine board members including Janice Smith, Corey Lawrence, John Civils, Diane Davis, Carl Huff, Purcell Jones, Guy Tucker, Roy Willis and Jim Phillips.  The Museum’s name is expanded to include “Heritage Center” as part of the strategic plan’s recommendations.
• Spring: Lobbying in Washington, DC continues along with other major grant writing projects to provide programming and staffing resources for CSWM&HC.
• Board welcomes new board members John Eagan, Heber Guthrie, Mac Wells, Russ Hults, Louie Piner, Susan Hancock, Beth Garner, Jim Briley and Bill Lathan.

2006                      

• Winter:  HUD funding in the amount of $400,000 is appropriated through Senator Elizabeth Dole’s office.
• Spring: Jean Dale Boat Shed roof completed thanks to Cape Lookout National Seashore and other partners.
• Summer:  NOAA awards Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center a $25,000 Preserve America grant to document commercial fishermen in the Down East area.

2007                      

• Winter:  Board & Staff Planning Retreat brings together partners, committees, community representatives and new board members for a week of planning for 2007 and beyond.  New board members include:  Charles Jones, Perry Harker, Bill Rogerson, Lugean Hogan and Wayne Willis. John Civils will serve his second year as board chairman.
  Summer:  The Core Sound Hunting Rig contest is held at Shell Point.  This project was the vision of Bob Sutton (International Wildfowl Carving Association President) and co-sponsored by the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild.

• Summer:  With the leadership of Senator Marc Basnight and the support of Senator Jean Preston and Representative Pat McElraft, the CSWM&HC is brought into the Grassroots Science Museum Collaborative, providing $50,000+ annual operating funds for science programming.
• Summer:  New staff member Sharon Lewis Starks comes aboard as membership and volunteer coordinator.  Ellie Gillikin and Helen Beacham join the gift shop staff as part-time receptionists.
• Summer:  With the leadership of Senator Marc Basnight and Senator Kay Hagan, the CSWM&HC receives a 5-year, $50,000 per year program grant from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission for environmental education.
• Summer:  Our summer Taste of Core Sound features Terry Holland, Athletic Director at East Carolina University and former Camp Morehead’er.
• Fall:  Willow Pond – a freshwater, maritime forest – is restored and interpretive trails and signage completed.  Sponsors and partners for this project are: Cape Lookout National Seashore, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, Ducks Unlimited, NC Wildlife Habitat Foundation, Tourism Cares for Tomorrow and Carteret Community Foundation.  Volunteers including Boy Scout Troop 252 and the Carteret Co Master Gardeners, as well as members of the local community, have been vital to this project.

2008                      

• Winter:  The NC Humanities and the NC Arts Council provide funding and support for “Core Sound Workboats” symposium and exhibition, bringing together the academic community and the local people to document and celebrate Down East’s rich boatbuilding and fishing heritage.
• Winter:  Our semi-annual Taste of Core Sound features Dr. David Cecelski, noted NC historian and professor at Duke and UNC-CH.
• Spring:  CSWM&HC hosts its first outpost meetings for the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching – East with a program on NC Lighthouses and traditional boatbuilding.
• Spring:  StoryCorps, a national oral history project, visits Carteret County and CSWM&HC leads representatives from Down East to be part of this historic project with copies of the discussion archived at the Library of Congress.
• Spring:  Board welcomes new board members Liz Land, Reggie Riggs, Sindi Austin and Lockwood Phillips.
• Summer:  New staff members Tom Waller (accountant) and Dr. Ike Southerland (director of education) join CSWM&HC.
• Summer:  This summer’s Taste of Core Sound featured outdoor writer Tom Earnhardt, host of “Exploring North Carolina.”
• Fall:  Construction plans reach bid solicitation with Simpson Construction submitting the low bid and receiving approval to resume work on the gallery spaces of the museum facility.  Funds for this construction will include the balance of the HUD grant (2007) and an economic development loan from Carteret-Craven Electric Coop.  Work is scheduled to begin early 2009.
• Fall:  CSWM&HC helps complete and submit the Outer Banks Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan and the nomination for national status in partnership with Hyde and Dare Counties.
• Fall:  CSWM&HC contracts with Chris White Designs of Crownsville, MD to develop permanent exhibit plans.  This project is funded by IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services), NC Arts Council and National Park Service.
• Fall:  Museum volunteers begin the Down East Community Quilt project to gather images of the people, places and events that makeup Down East history and heritage. 

2009                      

• Winter:  Construction begins again with funding secured for completion of the downstairs galleries, gift shop, library and tower (including elevator).  Fund raising is initiated for completion of the second floor.
• Winter:  CSWM&HC’s educational programming expands to include NCWRC programs, a curriculum development project for Cape Lookout National Seashore and a museum field trip planning guide for local schools.
• Winter:  Our winter Taste of Core Sound features “Carteret Chords” and welcomes Tate Johnson, Governor Beverly Perdue’s Eastern Office director.
• Winter:  New board members Chris Hunter and Elizabeth Salter Ritchey are welcomed and Charles Jones as board chairman and Lockwood Phillips as capital campaign leader.
• Winter:  Discussions begin with Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies and UNC’s Center for Southern Studies re a partnership with CSWM&HC for research projects and programs directly related to rural coastal communities.
• Spring:  NC Museum of History features “Core Sound Workboats” exhibition with photos by Larry Earley telling the story of long-haul fishing in the community of Atlantic.  NC Humanities Council’s “Crossroads” features interviews and narratives addressing fisheries, working waterfronts and changing communities.  Exhibition to remain at the NC Museum of History through May 2010.
• Summer:  CSWM&HC partners with Carteret County Schools in Communities to provide Down East students with summer enrichment programs.
  Summer:  CSWM&HC Exhibit Schematic Design completed thanks to funding from Institute of Museum & Library Services, NC Arts Council and the National Park Service.  This publication will begin the fund-raising process for the museum’s permanent exhibition.
  Fall:  Cape Lookout Lighthouse celebrates its 150^th Anniversary with a Reunion of Lighthouse Keepers, Lifesaving Service members and US Coast Guardsmen.
  
  Fall:  The NC Outer Banks Scenic Byway receives national designation in a ceremony in Washington, DC.

• Fall:  Core Sound Museum Gallery Opening Luncheon is held honoring Major Givers & Partners with Senator Kay Hagan as keynote speaker.
• Fall:  Community Day Celebration – Museum Gallery Opening
• Fall:  Relighting Ceremony honoring the November 1, 1859 lighting of Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

2010                      

• Winter:  Work continues on the third of the Down East Community Quilt series including color publications telling the stories of each square representing a “piece” of Down East history.
• Winter:  Plans for the Library, Oral History Archive and Children’s Area get underway as the museum’s educational programs expand.
• Winter:  Thanks to NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching, representatives from Maine’s Island Institute visit Core Sound to share their story of coastal community research, planning and development.
• Winter:  In partnership with Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, Z. Smith Reynolds funds a community-planning process for Down East Carteret County through the CSWM&HC.
• Winter:  The museum’s second QAD – Quilt Appreciation Day takes place on February 3 & 4 with dozens of Down East quilts (and their stories) coming to the museum for photo-documentation and inclusion in the museum’s quilt archive.
• Winter:  With the support of a NC Humanities Council grant, Dr. Barbara Garrity-Blake and a community-based committee of Menhaden captains, factory workers, families and historians develop a project called “Raising the Story of Menhaden Fishing.” 
• Spring:  CSWM&HC staff Pam Morris and JenniferTaylor serve as volunteers and museum representatives at the World Decoy Carving Competition in Ocean City, MD.
• Spring:  Portsmouth Homecoming is held April 24^th.
• Summer:  CSWM&HC receives a Community Development Grant from the NC Rural Center to develop and implement a sustainable asset-based economic development plan for Hatteras, Ocracoke and Down East.
• Summer:  Core Sound and Cape Lookout National Seashore partner to create a National Park Foundation summer camp for local students entitled, “Cape Lookout:  A Place for All People.”
• Summer:  Cape Lookout Lighthouse is opened to the public.
• Fall:  The Jean Dale – Harkers Island workboat built by master builder Brady Lewis, is completed with a community celebration of Harkers Island boatbuilding.