Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area is pleased to announce the availability of our Fall 2022 (FY23) Mini-Grants!

Visit the Mini-Grants tab on our Grants page to access the Application and Guidelines. Applications in the new grant cycle are due by Wednesday October 5 and funding decisions will be announced by October 31, 2022.

These Mini-Grants are available for new heritage and preservation-related programs, activities, products, and events. We encourage Mini-Grant proposals that include collaborative partnerships and enhanced heritage tourism, preservation, and/or the stewardship of historical, cultural, and natural resources.

This grant round is expected to be highly competitive; partial funding awards are likely. To learn more, applicants must send a representative to attend a mandatory zoom workshop on Wednesday, September 21 at 3 p.m. Please send an e-mail to heritage_area@aacounty.org to register, to discuss your project, to ask questions, or for more information!

Do you know a great heritage practitioner? An outstanding heritage-related project? Perhaps a valuable staff member or dedicated volunteer you would like to publicly acknowledge?

The Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area seeks nominations for its Nineteenth Annual Heritage Awards. These awards recognize individuals, organizations, partnerships, programs and products that contribute significantly to the community by interpreting, promoting, preserving, researching and/or supporting our historical legacy.

In 2022, nominations are invited in eleven categories, including Heritage Tourism Product Award, Heritage Volunteer Award, Heritage Partnership Award, Heritage Sponsor of the Year, Heritage Professional of the Year, Heritage Interpreter of the Year, New Outdoors Initiative Award, Legacy Award, and Public/Private Initiative Award, Stewardship Award, and the Heritage Leadership Award, which goes to an individual for significant and long-lasting contributions to local history and heritage. Self-nominations are accepted.

The nominations deadline is Friday, October 7, 2022. A heritage area awards committee will review and evaluate nominations.

Tuesday, September 6

7:30 pm

Organization: Historic Annapolis

In 1775, the British Empire in the New World consisted not of thirteen colonies, but of almost thirty. The largest were on the mainland, but the most valuable were in the Caribbean and Jamaica was the ‘jewel in the Crown,’ a sugar-exporting factory that generated more wealth for Britons that most mainland colonies combined. In this lecture, historian Richard Bell explores how fearful imperial officials worked to split their empire in half, insulating the British West Indies from the contagion of revolution by any means possible.

Registration required. Cost: $15 per household for General Admission; $10 per household for HA Members & Volunteers. Register for The American Revolution in the Caribbean.

Thursday, September 8

1:00 pm

Organization: Maryland State Archives

Most Baltimoreans are familiar with the story of the Battle of Baltimore and the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key's famous song and eventual American national anthem, but how did the most famous flag to ever fly come to be?

This program examines flag maker Mary Young Pickersgill's early life in Philadelphia at the start of the American Revolution and the Young-Pickersgill family's connections to the birth of the nation - setting the Young-Pickersgill women up for their significant contribution to the War of 1812 with the crafting of the Star-Spangled Banner in the little house at the corner of Pratt and Albemarle Streets in Baltimore's oldest neighborhood, Jonestown. A tale of perseverance and enterprise, this program is sure to give you a new perspective on the story of the Star-Spangled Banner and the family of flag makers. Please join Amanda Shores Davis, the Executive Director of the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum in Baltimore, Maryland to hear more about this engaging story.

This event is free to attend. Join the online event The Story of the Star Spangled Banner Flag.

Thursday, September 8

6:00-8:00 pm

Annapolis Maritime Museum Park Campus

7300 Edgewood Road, Annapolis

The fun of Annapolis Maritime Museum's summer concert series will continue this fall at their Park Campus (located at 7300 Edgewood Rd in Annapolis).

September 8- John Frase Project

Concerts are free; however, donations are gratefully accepted. Beer and wine are available for purchase. Beverage sales support the Museum’s education program. No outside alcohol is permitted. Food trucks will be on site. Bring a chair for seating

Thursday, September 8

6:30-8:00 pm

Chesapeake Arts Center

194 Hammonds Ln, Brooklyn Park

Bring your family, blankets or lawn chairs, a picnic dinner or just a dessert, and join the Chesapeake Arts Center for the Sounds of Summer on Thursday, September 8, from 6:30pm-8:00pm with Prism Waves.

FREE admission for the concerts.

About the band: Prism Waves (formally RÊVE) is the crisp air of a midnight drive, like you are riding the waves of a dream. This four-piece group has distinctively fused their take on indie rock with an intense and ethereal performance of stunning visuals and visceral emotions. Their lush arrangements, dynamic rhythms, and infectious melodies bring you to a dreamscape you’d swear you’ve never been to before but somehow faintly remember.

Historic Hot Sox Field at Wilson Park will have a grand reopening on Saturday, September 10th, 2022. Over the last year, the historic field and park has received several updates and amenities including new playing field with irrigation, new grandstand for audience seating, new dugouts for teams, improvements to the entrance and parking, and a custom timber pavilion named in honor of former Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch who supported this and other projects in Galesville. 

This one-of-a-kind site highlights the significant contribution of Henry Wilson, a formerly enslaved person, and his family and heirs, who helped establish an African American community in Galesville that still thrives today. In 1928, Wilson’s son Richard transformed their farm into a baseball field for the Galesville Hot Sox, a local semi-professional Negro league team formed in 1915. They competed against other sandlot teams throughout Anne Arundel, Prince George’s, Charles, and St. Mary’s Counties and the Eastern Shore, and even played against teams from the Negro Professional League. While a place for sport, the ballfield was also an important community gathering place during segregation. 

The public is invited to attend the ribbon cutting event with County Executive Steuart Pittman, Director Jessica Leys and the Department of Recreation and Parks, at 11:00am, followed by a reception and exhibition games in the afternoon. 

The Hot Sox Field at Wilson Park is located at 862 Galesville Road, Galesville, MD.

Please join Anne Arundel Department of Recreation & Parks, Anne Arundel County Police and Bicycle Advocates for Annapolis and Anne Arundel County (BikeAAA) on October 2, 2022 for the seventh annual Lifeline 100 Community Bicycle Event which starts and ends at Kinder Farm Park.

In recognition of Hunger Action Month this September, the Lifeline 100 will donate 30% of all registration fees collected (up to $2,500) from September 1-11 to the Anne Arundel County Food Bank (AACFB).

The 2022 Lifeline 100 will be on Sunday, October 2nd with 100 and 65 mile scenic routes with views of the Severn River, Chesapeake Bay, historic Annapolis and more. The 30 and 15 mile flat, paved trail routes are great for riders of all ages and abilities including families, adaptive bikes and people with special needs who can register at a 2 for 1 rate with their accompanying rider thanks to our generous sponsors. All routes are fully-supported with route maps and markings, rest stops and SAG vehicles.

The new Maryland Dove, a 84 foot wooden ship from Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC), will be visiting Annapolis September 9 - 11, 2022. The public is invited during this time to get a glimpse of what traveling by water was like for the first European settlers and to see the beautiful ship in person. 

In 2018, HSMC announced that the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) had been selected to build a brand-new Maryland Dove. The ship, a replica of the 17th-century trading vessel that accompanied the first European settlers to what is now Maryland, is owned by the state of Maryland, and operated and maintained by the Historic St. Mary’s City Commission. An earlier version of the ship, built in the 1970s by Cambridge’s Jim Richardson, was nearing the end of its useful life and decades of new research meant that a new ship could be designed to be a more historically accurate representation of the original Maryland Dove. After four years of planning, designing, and construction, on August 27, 2022 the newly built Maryland Dove arrived home in Historic St. Mary’s City. This iconic ship will now be traveling to several ports around the Chesapeake Bay to celebrate its completion. With assistance from the Maryland Heritage Authority and a Multi-Heritage Area Grant, the first port of call will be the City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland. 

The ship is scheduled to arrive in Annapolis late Thursday evening, September 8. Maryland Dove will be open as a dockside exhibit from 1- 6 p.m. Friday, September 9, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (September 10 and 11). 

The celebration will continue through the year as the new Maryland Dove tours the Chesapeake Bay, sharing the exhibit with Marylanders at different ports of call. 

Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area | 410-222-1805 | heritage_area@aacounty.org | chesapeakecrossroads.org