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In addition to linkage-based interpretive programs, many other opportunities exist to interpret themes across the
region. From interpretive wayside exhibits and passport programs to triathlons designed to take advantage of special resources (roads, greenways, trails, rivers, bays), the heritage of the Eastern Shore can be
conveyed using innumerable methods.
A list of current interpretive events and heritage celebrations is provided in Appendix C.
See also the specific recommendations for improving existing interpretive programs.
Public Presentations of History
- Develop interpretive signage and wayside exhibits across the region using primary and supporting themes.
- Sponsor interpretive public art in major infrastructure or private development projects. For instance, the city of Philadelphia requires that 10% of all new construction project
costs be dedicated to public art, whether decorative cladding of the building or public sculpture.
- Develop interpretive roadshows and traveling exhibits featuring local heritage.
- Participate in the American Folklife Festival sponsored by the Smithsonian on the Capitol Mall.
- Develop a storytelling series based on the folklore of the area. Many efforts have been made to document folklore of the Delmarva peninsula. Books have been published and
readings and lectures have been given on the subject. Specific to the Eastern Shore folklore, storytellers could become features of civic events and fairs, local school curricula, and other public venues.
- Encourage local newspapers to run articles by local historians, or encourage local newspapers to develop a column or series on local history, for example, highlighting excerpts from
personal diaries of local historical figures.
- Develop brochures that highlight flora and fauna that were prevalent during historical periods and encourage people to find existing specimens.
- Sponsor a theme-based dinner including local game, heirloom produce, and authentic, historic recipes.
- Sponsor a traveling small-town celebration festival. It would celebrate the virtues of each town to which it travels annually.
- Sponsor holiday-season display competitions focusing on historical decoration materials and methods.
- Coordinate with inn, hotel, and bed and breakfast owners to develop their own interpretive programs highlighting the areaâs domestic legacies.
- Identify extant historic structures that have been historically depicted in old photos, paintings, lithographs, and county maps to mount exhibits of historical development. This
could be used to develop a ãThen and Nowä exhibit comparing current views of structures with historical depictions.
- Sponsor films, television shows, or other presentations which highlight life on the Eastern Shore for national, regional, or local audiences.
- Sponsor community gardens that feature heirloom flora.
- Create a year-round sales outlet or studio to support artists who practice traditional crafts.
- Create apprentice programs to teach crafts modeled after the Sultana Project in Chestertown.
- Develop or support the creation of living-history farm programs at one or more sites.
- Use tour guides in period costumes.
Research and Education
- Encourage more research and documentation of local histories and historical resources.
- Support lecture series and conferences presenting current research in each of the themes; these could be sponsored by Chesapeake College or Washington College or both.
- Identify and map local specimen trees that date to historical periods.
- Develop tours of historic cemeteries for tourism and genealogical research. Publish directories to and inventories of cemeteries.
- Develop public archeology programs that engage the public in field research while expanding the inventory and data base of archeological resources.
Recreation-Based Interpretive Programs
- Sponsor water-borne or land-based races oriented to any of the themes. For instance, create a ãcolonial rallyä where race participants must visit specific colonial-era sites,
obtain a special stamp at each, and return in the shortest amount of time.
- Sponsor canoe races on various rivers. Like the ãsmall-townä festival mentioned above, the races could be staged yearly (June is National Rivers Month) and move it from river to
river.
- Sponsor ãGoing to Market,ä ãCourt Days,ä ãSteamboat Days,ä or other theme-oriented festivals.
- Develop trolley or passenger train excursion trips.
- Sponsor a triathlon, similar to the one hosted in Betterton, but based on traditional strength and endurance activities, using roads, trails, greenways, rivers, and bays for (pick
three) running, bicycling, canoeing, or swimming. Sailing might be an unusual third sport involving water, rather than the traditional swimming or canoeing.
Business Development
- Encourage tourism-based industries to market to heritage tourists in addition to recreation-based tourists.
- Foster opportunities for heritage-oriented concession and other food service industries to capitalize on heritage tourism markets.
- Encourage recreation outfitters and guides to open shops in the region.
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