Festival Mourns Loss of Founder, Former Chair

January 26, 2021 – Last week, the Waterfowl Festival learned of the passing of Betty Perry, who along with her husband Bill was a founding member of the very first Waterfowl Festival in 1970. Betty was a longtime volunteer for the Festival and its unofficial historian before her retirement. Today, her family continues to support the Festival through the volunteerism and Chair of especially the Carving Pavilion. We were also shocked to hear of the passing of former photography Chairman David Bishop. Bishop was the unofficial photographer of the Festival and will be greatly missed among the marketing staff. Dave was the former owner of Hobby Horse, a photography shop in town and was an avid fan of drag racing – even starting his own publication, East Coast Drag Racing News in his later years.

Betty Perry

Betty Perry was most well-known as a Waterfowl Festival co-founder, along with her husband Bill Perry in 1970.

Elizabeth ‘Betty” Rice Perry died at her home early Thursday morning, Jan. 14, 2021. She was 87.

Born on Aug. 5, 1933, in Bergen County, N.J., Elizabeth Jane Rice was the daughter of Harold and Mary Brower Rice. She grew up in Laurel, Md., where she graduated from Laurel High School. Always a strong swimmer, she became a Red Cross lifeguard. She attended Pennsylvania State University for two years before attending the University of Maryland at College Park, where she received a degree in home economics. She moved from Laurel to Easton in the late 1950s to take a job as the 4-H Agent for Talbot County with the University of Maryland Extension Service.

On Nov. 24, 1958 she and William Arthur Perry were married at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Easton. In the mid-1960s, she and her dear friend, Margaret Dise, operated the Yarn Shop on Dover Street in Easton. Mrs. Perry worked for several years as a social worker for the Talbot County Department of Social Services. Later, she was office manager for the Talbot County Mental Health Association.

For many years she was a volunteer for primary and general elections at the polling place in Royal Oak.

Betty Perry said the Waterfowl Festival was born on her kitchen table, because her husband, Bill Perry, and Dr. Harry Walsh held many of their early planning sessions for the Festival there. She was a dedicated Festival volunteer from its birth in the fall of 1970 until ill health forced her retirement. For several years she served as the Festival’s historian.

For many years she accompanied her husband on his annual summer trips across America with the Outdoor Writers Association of America. She was an avid golfer until about age 80. She enjoyed fishing and landed several impressive catches. A skilled seamstress, she made clothing for family, did extraordinary upholstery, made fine drapes and knitted. She was dedicated to membership in her quilting clubs. She had an entire room equipped for sewing, with a sewing machine and lots and lots of material. In the late 1960s, Betty and her husband built their home in Royal Oak.

Memorial donations may be made to the Waterfowl Festival’s William H. Perry Scholarship Fund, 40 S. Harrison St., Easton, MD 21601, or Channel Marker, 8865 Glebe Park Drive, Easton, MD 21601.

David Bishop

Former Photography Chair, member of the Waterfowl Commission, was the Waterfowl Festival’s unofficial photographer.

David was born in Easton, Maryland to the late Virgil Bartlett Bishop and Elsie Kathryn Carpenter on February 26, 1947. David spent his childhood in Oxford, Maryland where he was known as one of the “Oxford Boys”. Living in Oxford was one of the joys of his life. He enjoyed playing baseball in the church yard as well as basketball and scouts. His lifelong friendships from the early years were always special to him and he always enjoyed attending the “Oxford Boys” reunions. He graduated from Easton High School in 1965 and went on to receive his Associates degree from Wesley College. Several years later, he received his B.S. degree in business management with a minor in journalism from High Point University in North Carolina. David loved journalism and photography and was involved with the yearbook committee at Easton High, Wesley and High Point. After graduating from college, David was employed with Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance Company in Greensboro, North Carolina where he worked for 6 years. In 1970, he started his own business, Competition Photos Inc., which he operated for most of his adult life.

In 1976, after his father became ill, David returned from North Carolina and took over the family business – The Hobby Horse Audio Visual Services Inc. He owned and operated the Hobby Horse as well Competition Photos, until he sold the Hobby Horse in 2006. In 2004 David founded East Coast Drag News, LLC, where he wrote various stories and published photos about the drag racing industry – one of the passions of his life. David semi-retired in 2010 and held various jobs up until his death.

Drag racing and photography were lifelong passions for Dave. In the eighties and nineties, Dave was the proprietor of one of downtown Easton’s iconic shops – The Hobby Horse. His place provided photographic services, cameras of all vintages, film processing, custom photography and other specialties like model airplane and car kits. Dave put this passion to use as the Photography Chair for Waterfowl Festival for decades. In addition to taking pictures of all the activities at the Festival each fall, he also worked with other professional and amateur photographers to capture the spirit of our event.

Dave also served as a local business representative on the Waterfowl Festival Commission for many years. This Town of Easton Commission includes business and residential representatives that help ensure the downtown area retains the historic charm we are known for during Festival weekend.  The commission cooperates with downtown businesses to make sure codes are followed and it also juries in food vendors for Festival weekend. The valuable work of the commissioners is just one of the many little-known, behind-the-scenes management that makes Waterfowl Festival work smoothly.  

 https://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/a-great-drag-racing-ambassador-dave-bishop-has-passed?fbclid=IwAR33gzXyP99sGuiLSGecxAr05hfayRtnwKRhAkJOU9YR2GCjgeOQxxeQMKQ

Study Shows 50th Waterfowl Festival Will Be Important Part of Recovery

As the country, the state of Maryland and the Eastern Shore look forward to a smoother 2021, Waterfowl is gearing up to be a strong force in our region’s economic recovery. The newly released “Economic & Cultural Impact of the 2019 Waterfowl Festival”, developed from data collected at the 2019 event, shows that Festival visitors are especially loyal guests who fueled $2.6 million in economic impact for Talbot County. This is a remarkable result for a once-a-year event of its size. If the past is prologue and with vaccines beginning to roll out, the report findings offer insights into what the region is likely to experience in November 2021 — a 50th Waterfowl Festival that is truly a once-in-a-century celebration and economic boon for the county.

“Waterfowl Chesapeake commissioned this study to showcase the cultural and economic value of the Waterfowl Festival. We wanted to clearly demonstrate what this event means for our community and our region,” explains Executive Director, Margaret Enloe. “These studies are exhaustive and most non-profits don’t pursue them due to costs. So we are incredibly grateful that the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority recognized the importance of this work and provided grant funding needed to accomplish it. The quantitative and qualitative evidence here backs up what we knew in our hearts — that our celebration of wildlife art, sporting heritage and the Eastern Shore lifestyle is woven into the fabric of our region and our state.”

The 2019 study of the three-day event revealed the Festival’s economic and cultural impact on the Town of Easton, Talbot County and beyond. More than 15,000 people are estimated to have attended the last Waterfowl Festival.  Of those people, the more than 6,000 visitors who travelled to the Shore spent nearly $3 million on various goods and services in Talbot County.  Just over one-third of their spending was on retail shopping, both at the Festival venues and at local businesses – an amount that is three times the industry average. The Festival itself adds half a million dollars in operating monies to the economy, just to create the annual event.

The study was conducted by Rockport Analytics, an independent firm based in Annapolis, MD.  Rockport has a long-standing track record of creating credible assessments of economic impact for leading organizations in both the private and public sectors. Their analysts have conducted a multitude of event and attraction impacts including those for high profile events like the Super Bowl, the Pocono 500, and the Masters.

Click here to download Graphic Summary of Report

Click here to download a PDF of the Full Report

While understanding the economic figures is important, Waterfowl Festival’s deeply rooted history means that it also has an impact on quality of life and culture. To explore these connections, Rockport’s experts also conducted surveys of residents to gain a clearer picture of the Festival’s connection to the Talbot County community.  Survey results show that most residents:

• Recognize the crucial role the event plays in keeping traditions alive and that 82% believe the Waterfowl Festival is “very important or essential” to celebrating and showcasing the local culture and heritage; 

• Acknowledge the Festival’s ability to bring people together with 63% of resident attendees believing that it is “very important or essential” to uniting the community toward a common goal; and,

• Believe that the Waterfowl Festival is “very important or essential” to igniting a sense of community pride. 


“Given everything we learned from this report and people’s pent-up eagerness to begin to enjoy the company of their friends and family,” says Festival President Kevin Greaney, “we believe that the 50th Festival in November 2021 will be an integral part of bolstering our local economy – perhaps even more than in past years since we suspect we’ll have more visitors to Talbot County than ever!”

Other findings from the 2019 study:

• The Waterfowl Festival itself infuses $496,000 in event-related operating expenses by vendors, exhibitors and event organizers into the Talbot County economy.
• Of the more than 15,120 attendees, 45% visited specifically for the Festival and came from more than 50 miles away; each visitor spent slightly more than $400 on average during their trip.
• Waterfowl visitors average retail spend of $138 is more than twice the spend of visitors to the County at other times.
• Visitors stayed an average of 2.1 nights with 41% visiting Easton for the day, while the remaining 59% stayed overnight in other hotels, rentals or with friends in the region.
• Festival-initiated activity supported a total of 48 jobs (predominantly in hospitality), which resulted in $1.6 million in wages paid in Talbot County. A large proportion of these wages ripple through the economy as workers spend their income on various goods and services throughout the local area.
• Talbot County retained about 74 cents of every dollar spent locally by Festival visitors and organizers.
• The Waterfowl Festival generated enough state & local tax revenues to pay the salaries of 9 Talbot County teachers or educate 32 Talbot County public school students.
• About 14 cents of every dollar spent by Festival visitors was retained as state or local tax revenue.
• Visitor spending associated with the Festival generated an estimated $787,000 in tax receipts, including $357,000 in federal receipts and $429,000 at state and local levels.
• The event contributed roughly $29,000 in hotel taxes and nearly $6,000 in state and local taxes and fees.

“Net Promoter Scores” (NPS) are critical measurements for understanding customer loyalty and satisfaction. On a scale of 100, scores in the 60s are considered very good for an event. Festival’s NPS scores were well above this threshold and actually were excellent across its variety of audiences.

• Those who visited to “[enjoy] the cultural heritage & traditions of the Chesapeake Bay & Maryland’s Eastern Shore” and “because attending is a family tradition” both had NPS scores of 86.
• Repeat Visitors to Talbot County have an NPS of 83. First-time visitors to Talbot County had slightly higher NPS scores than repeat visitors at 86 vs 83 respectively.
• Of visitors who stayed overnight, those staying in Easton had one of the highest NPS scores at 90.
• The overall NPS for Talbot County Residents is 62 and the score for visitors is 74.

Rockport Analytics used the IMPLAN (or “impact analysis for planning”) modeling system that draws from the most extensive economic database available while allowing for the input of detailed and relevant local data, thereby generating a detailed analysis of Festival related spending and its local economic benefits. The IMPLAN software is the industry standard that has been used by government agencies, academia, and leading researchers for more than 40 years to carry out economic impact studies.

“Over our history, Waterfowl has invested nearly $4 million in habitat conservation, more than $1.2 million in education, and more than $26,000 in wildlife research initiatives,” says Enloe. “In 2020 we worked to support our community, our artists and Waterfowl stakeholders with new programming like CommUNITY Day, which offered local residents a way to be together without coming together. We also dove into the virtual world, creating the Festival’s first Virtual Art gallery, a program that continues to successfully connect art lovers to the finest of waterfowl and wildlife artists. As we begin 2021, we can’t wait for the 50th Festival, when our guests and devoted friends can once again flock to Easton to celebrate our shared love for the fall and the bird life it brings to the Chesapeake Bay region.”

Click here to download the PDF of the Full Report

Study Data and Graphics Compiled by:

Rockport Analytics
Annapolis, MD
West Chester, PA
web: rockportanalytics.com
email:
phone: (866) 481-9877

Window Restoration Project at Waterfowl Building Complete

Waterfowl Chesapeake is excited to announce that the restoration of the historic steel frame windows at the Waterfowl Building is complete. The intensive $100,000 project was funded by Maryland Historical Trust’s Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program back in 2018 and was one of only seven projects funded that year across the state. 

“This was a very intensive project. Our contractor, Architectural Window Restoration, carefully removed each window while being attentive to the surrounding masonry and building structure,” explains Margaret Enloe, Waterfowl Chesapeake’s Executive Director. “All twenty-eight windows were taken to AWR’s facilities where they were cleaned, structurally repaired, primed and painted. They even had to rebuild sections to make the windows fully close. Finally, to improve our energy efficiency, all the new glass is insulated. Every step of the process also met local historic district approvals, MHT’s standards and the Secretary of Interior’s Guidelines for Historic Preservation.”  

The historic Easton armory, now referred to as the Waterfowl Building, was built in 1927 after several years of lobbying by local residents and elected officials. Its design was overseen by Robert Lawrence Harris, the state architect under the administration of Governor Albert C. Ritchie. While it’s primary function was to serve as a training facility for Maryland’s state militia, the armory’s drill hall, now called Festival Hall, also served as a community gathering place for everything from boxing matches and basketball games to flower shows, poultry exhibitions and art festivals over the decades. Waterfowl took ownership of the building in 1997, after a stint of ownership by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Town of Easton.

“We are so grateful to MHT for recognizing the historic relevance of our building and its value to the community and to AWR for a stellar job,” concludes Executive Director Margaret Enloe. “Our hope is that the restored windows and frames will enhance the beauty of the space and encourage even more people to see us as a gathering place.”

2020 Hall of Fame Awardees Announced

The Waterfowl Festival Board of Directors is proud to announce the outstanding artists and volunteers who have been nominated and inducted into Hall of Fame for 2020 – renowned Sculptors William H. Turner and David H. Turner; former Board Member and Sculpture Gallery Chair Doug Collison; and former Festival Board President and Carving Gallery Chair Debra Perry Jackson, in memoriam.

 

“As Board President, one of the things I look forward to most during Waterfowl Festival week is the ceremony inducting the newest members into the Hall of Fame,” said WF Board President Kevin Greaney. “While we had to postpone this year’s Festival, we didn’t want to delay this year’s class as each person has been a very important part of the success of the Festival for years. We will recognize the 2020 Hall of Fame recipients at next year’s Festival Opening Ceremonies but they are official awardees this year.”

 

William H. Turner and David H. Turner

The Festival is a family tradition for many, but for father/son duo William H. and David H. Turner that is even more the case than most. They are welcomed into the Hall of Fame for their dedication to both the Festival and their commitment to creating incredible bronze sculptures of Chesapeake Bay and other wildlife that showcase the intricacies of our region’s ecosystem.

Established in 1983, Turner Sculpture near Onley, VA serves as the studio, foundry and gallery, where most of their work is displayed. To date the Turners have created more than 700 different limited edition bronzes and more than 100 large public commissions found throughout the United States. William or “Doc” Turner as he is known, first began making the drive up to Easton for the Festival in 1983. Since then, he and his son, David, a former wildlife biologist, have been some of the foundational artists in our annual sculpture gallery.

In 2016, the Festival chose David as its Featured Artist. His unique and ultimately very popular bronze for that year was Tidewater Terrapin – a different subject matter choice for the Festival that highlighted the ways waterfowl and other Bay creatures are connected. It featured a graceful Diamondback Terrapin, Maryland’s state terrapin, swimming mid-air above the Bay bottom of oysters and grasses. David’s work has always helped the Festival expand its horizons.

Doug Collison

From setting up the Sculpture Tent to packing up when the festivities are over, chances are if you see Doug Collison during Festival weekend, his sleeves are rolled up. Nominated to the Hall of Fame by one of “his” artists, all our visiting sculptors know they can depend on him if they run into any issues during the Festival.

“Doug’s priority is always the artists,” Says Featured Art Chairman Kathy Dawkins. “First and foremost he wants them to have a successful show.”

Doug also steps up to volunteer to help host the volunteer party, usually behind the bar to serve up drinks for a job well done. Aside from being hands-on during Festival weekend, Doug has also served multiple terms on the Waterfowl Festival Board of Directors and on Festival committees. He is the epitome of a volunteer leader for our event and the type of person we rely on year after year for our success.

Debra Perry Jackson

Debbye Jackson had fond childhood memories of the Festival, and the Festival has many fond memories of Debbye. Debbye truly climbed the ladder, starting out as the very first “Ducksitter,” when she would monitor exhibits as a child so carving artists could take breaks. Her father, the late Festival co-founder Bill Perry and others called her “Debbye the Ducksitter” and the name stuck. Today, we still call our youth volunteers “ducksitters”.

Though Debbye would invest her efforts in multiple aspects of the Festival over her four decades of commitment, her love and passion always remained with the Carvers and the Carving Gallery that showcases fine sculptures of bird life and waterfowl. She led the Carving Committee each year in searching out potential new carvers to include in the Festival, always wanting to balance the traditional with the up and coming. Debbye always demonstrated her commitment to the Festival’s carvers and volunteers — they knew that they were ‘her’ people. Debbye strove for success and quality in all that she did year after year leading her army of equally dedicated family year after year.

Her other favorite project was the William A. Perry Scholarship Fund, which provides annual scholarships to young people pursuing higher education. As a chairperson for the annual Decoy and Art Auction, held during the Festival’s Premiere Night, Debbye worked tirelessly to collect donations from carvers, painters and sculptors for this auction that supports the scholarship program. Named for Debbye’s father and with the requirement that applicants must be Festival youth volunteers, the scholarship fund has awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to more than 100 Ducksitters over its twenty-four year history. in their educational endeavors and will continue to do so in Debbye’s honor.

After several terms on the Festival Board of Directors, Debbye stepped into office as President of the Waterfowl Festival board in 2018 with the goal of guiding our event through its 50th year celebration in 2020. She was excited for this opportunity and honor and had many creative ideas for our future. Sadly for the Festival, Debbye’s leadership was cut short by serious illness and her untimely passing earlier in 2020. Her legacy of creativity, insight and ideas will continue to shape the Festival — and many other organizations in the community — for years to come.

“Festival’s Hall of Fame awards offer well-deserved recognition to individuals who’ve consistently, and usually for many years, dedicated their time, effort and energy to making the Festival what it is today – an incredible showcase of wildlife art and valued celebration of our community,” explains Waterfowl Chesapeake Executive Director, Margaret Enloe. “We are humbled by the support that the Turners, Doug and Debbye have given the Festival for all these years and are pleased to honor them with this award.”