June 19 is Mariner's Day at Maine Maritime Museum
06/02/2010
Free admission, tall ship visit, special activities, awards dinner are all part of day's events planned for Mariner's Day in recognition of the 2010 Mariner of the Year.
Maine Maritime Museum will celebrate its fifth annual Mariner’s Day on Saturday, June 19.
That day, all visitors to the museum will be admitted free of charge, including visits aboard the two-masted schooner Bowdoin, which will be docked at the museum for the celebration. The day's events are in recognition of the 2010 Mariner of the Year award winner Len Tyler, who retired as president of Maine Maritime Academy earlier this year.
Capping the day's activities will be the recognition dinner honoring Tyler. A reception and dinner program in his honor will be held at the Portland Country Club in Falmouth beginning at 6 p.m.
The Mariner's Award is presented annually by the Board of Trustees of Maine Maritime Museum to an individual, group or organization who has made extraordinary contributions to Maine's maritime heritage and the understanding of the major impact that maritime activities continue to have on the state's culture and economy.
For more than 40 years, Len Tyler was instrumental in the growth, both in enrollment and stature, of Maine Maritime Academy. Prior to his being elected president in 1995, he had served in a number of roles at the institution from assistant professor to vice president of External Affairs for more than 25 years.
On Mariner's Day, the museum and the Bowdoin will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for visitation.
The Bowdoin was the schooner designed by famed polar explorer Captain Donald Baxter MacMillan to use in his Arctic voyages. Launched in 1921, it was constructed in East Boothbay, Maine. It now serves as the sail training vessel for the Maine Maritime Academy.
Other activities during the day include free tours of the Percy and Small Shipyard and of the Donnell House, the Victorian home of a shipyard owner's family. At noon, Mary Morton Cowan, author of the biography Captain Mac, which chronicles the life of the aforementioned Captain MacMillan, will conduct a free lecture about the captain's life and exploits. She will be available afterward for book signing.
The Museum will also kick-off its summer schedule of nature and lighthouses cruises with two one-hour Great Ships and Lighthouses Cruises, at noon and 2 p.m., as well as a three and one-half hour Lighthouse Lovers Cruise beginning at 3:30 p.m. A trolley tour of Bath Iron Works will commence at 10 a.m. A fee applies to the BIW tour and the cruises.
Reservations for the Mariner's Award dinner, the BIW Trolley Tour or the boat cruises can be made by calling (207) 443-1316, ext. 0, or online at www.MaineMaritimeMuseum.org.