Delmarva Discovery Museum reopens

By Linda Cicoira

     The greatly missed otters, Mac and Tuck, swam and scurried about their territory while George, the 17-year-old giant snapping turtle, showed off his new home. 

    Those three seemed as excited as the nearly 1,000 visitors, workers, and volunteers who turned out for the Delmarva Discovery Museum’s reopening in Pocomoke City, Maryland, on Saturday.

     Normal activities and special events were possible due to a massive community fundraising effort, which allowed the 16,000-square-foot museum to make a comeback after being closed for about two months due to lost grants and other financial issues.

     The interactive steamship was as popular as ever, exhibits were refreshed, spaces were updated, new interpretive features abounded, a decoy carver demonstrated his craft, raffles were drawn, faces were painted, Authors C.L. Marshall and Michelle Green were available to sign their books, and local paintings and pottery were displayed and sold in the gift shop.  

     There was also a lecture and slide show provided by the Pocomoke Indian Nation, a talk on cargo and passenger ships that once cruised the Chesapeake Bay, and a historical presentation about the Negro Baseball League.

     The reopening marked the beginning of an ongoing transformation. The museum continues to make progress toward its $200,000 fundraising goal. For more information or to plan your next visit to the center, call (410) 957-9933.