Back to All Events

Winter Taste of Core Sound: Honoring the Decoy Carvers Guild

Please Join Us for

Winter Taste of Core Sound

in honor and celebration of the
Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center’s annual winter feast brings to the table generations of Down East culture, talent and cooking expertise. The evening's menu highlights the region's rich hunting and fishing traditions and features stewed oysters, scallop fritters, stewed duck and rutabaga, seafood casserole, stewed beef with potatoes and carrots, collards, sweet potatoes, light rolls and fig cake.

The night will honor the founders of the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild and those who laid the foundation for the Core Sound Decoy Festival and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center.  The program will feature the last three members of the “Original Seven” founding board members of the Carvers Guild — Wayne Davis, Carl Huff and James Salter.

This year's Winter Taste will conclude with a live and silent auction of decoys from members of the Decoy Carvers Guild donated in honor of the museum's 25th anniversary. Signed, dated, and anniverary branded, the decoys will be true collectors’ items.

_

Friday, February 24th
at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center

6:00pm Wine and Cheese
7:00pm Dinner

Tickets
For members: $50 individual | $100 couple for members
Non-members: $65 individual | $125 couple (price includes an annual membership)

Seating is limited. Tickets may be purchased by calling the museum store 252-728-1500 or emailing museum@coresound.com. 

Additional Details Below

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center’s annual winter feast brings to the table generations of Down East culture, talent and cooking expertise with a menu that brings together the rich hunting and fishing traditions of Core Sound.

This year’s winter Taste will honor the founders of the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild and the men and women who laid the foundation for what is now the Core Sound Decoy Festival and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center.  

“The 25-year mark for the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center is more than a timeline of events, dollars and buildings, numbers of people and miles traveled,” explained Karen Amspacher, Director of the Core Sound Museum.  “This anniversary is the recognition of a “revival” of heritage, traditions and community that have resulted in the wonderful facility we have “at the end of the road” on Harkers Island.”

With a menu of old time Down East cooking -- stewed oysters, scallop fritters, stewed duck and rutabaga, seafood casserole, stewed beef with potatoes and carrots, collards, sweet potatoes, light rolls and fig cake – the table is set for an evening of Core Sound history lived and loved.

Core Sound’s waterfowling heritage is always the theme for this February event, and this year will keep that story alive with a focus on the Carvers Guild history and how that organization and the Core Sound Decoy Festival set the course for the past 25 years and the future.  Today, Core Sound decoy carving is at the forefront of Down East’s economy, mixing the old traditions with new collectors, carving competitions and events that provides a year round cottage industry for the region.

The evening’s program will feature the last three members of the “Original Seven” founding board members of the Carvers Guild, Wayne Davis, Carl Huff and James Salter, with each of them sharing their memories of those first years when a decoy festival and museum on Harkers Island was just a dream.  

A highlight of this event will be a preview of the 25th Anniversary exhibition, “Core Sound:  Building a Place for the People,” documenting 25 years of programs, events and community work that has created not just a beautiful facility on Harkers Island but also an institution that has carried Core Sound’s story across the state and beyond, including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC.  Pam Morris, curator of this exhibition described it as, “This exhibition is going to be just a glimpse of all the people and places that have been part of this museum’s history, but it will capture the spirit of community that has guided all that we have accomplished and all that we envision for the future.”

The night will conclude with a live and silent auction of decoys from members of the Decoy Carvers Guild donated in honor of the anniversary that are signed, dated and branded as part of the anniversary celebration. These will be true collectors’ items for those who recognize the talent and traditions Core Sound decoy carvings represent.  Special thanks to Wayne Davis, James Gordon Salter, Corey Lawrence, Brother Gaskill, Ken Humphries, Monty Willis, Lionel Gilgo, Jerry Talton, Jack Gardner, Joe Burney, Robbie Roberson, John Hodge, Casey Arthur, Robbie Smith, Bill Boudreaux (and others) for sharing their carvings with us for this special event.  

Earlier Event: February 17
Bingo with the Down East Library
Later Event: March 4
Salter Path Community Night