Sing The Bay Concert

717 Marshall Avenue,Colonial Beach VA 22443

13 May, 2022

Description

"Sing the Bay" Concert to fund Oyster Wars Historical Marker, which will educate the public about the death of Berkeley Muse at CBVA. Our Concert is a fundraiser to support the Oyster Wars Historical Highway Marker (a Colonial Beach Greenspace Fund). The educational marker will be placed at Lunsford Point in Colonial Beach to educate the public about the Potomac River Oyster Wars that finally ended after 100 years of conflict with the death of Berkeley Muse in 1959. From pirates to Point Lookout, the music of Janie Meneely celebrates the maritime history, characters, and traditions of the Chesapeake Bay. She and her partner, Rob Van Sante, will present an afternoon of songs and stories about the Chesapeake Bay at the Colonial Beach Community Center outdoor stage on Friday, May 13th from 4-6 PM. This is an outdoor event – please bring lawn chairs or blanket to sit on! Be sure to join us for our 2nd Friday Art Walk after the concert! The Oyster Wars are precisely what brings Janie to Colonial Beach. When she first heard about the death of Berkeley Muse, the last fatality of the Oyster Wars, she did some research and got to work. Her songs, including The Ballad of Berkeley Muse ,and The Oyster Wives, caught the ear of Colonial Beach Councilwoman Caryn Self Sullivan. “Berkeley Muse was a Colonial Beach resident who was killed in a barrage of machine gun bullets fired from a Maryland Patrol Boat in the early morning hours of April 8th, 1959," Self Sullivan explains. “His story is important to the history of the Potomac River and the establishment of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission. The story is particularly important to us in Colonial Beach where many folks witnessed the event first hand. We are hoping Janie Meneely’s concert will raise the funds needed to erect a Virginia DHR Historical Highway Marker designed to educate the public about the death of Berkeley Muse which catalyzed the end of a century of Oyster Wars on the Potomac River.”