By Debra Messick

CAMBRIDGE - On Thursday, July 4, a gala Long Wharf birthday party honors two historic events beginning 10 a.m. in Cambridge.

The 30th anniversary of Skipjack Nathan of Dorchester’s official christening on July 4, 1994, will be followed by a reading of the Declaration of Independence, signed in Philadelphia 248 years ago on July 4, 1776.

Speakers include Johnny Shockley, third-generation waterman and founder of Hoopers Island Oyster Company and Blue Oyster Environmental and Dorchester Skipjack Committee V.P. for Maintenance and Preservation Rob Nuemer, who will discuss the dedicated work of maintaining the Nathan over the years. Committee President Dr. Patricia Johnson will also deliver remarks.

A special cake, juices and water will be shared, and Salisbury musical duo Island Fusion featuring Nancy and Jodi will perform.

Members of the Nathan family, whose Nathan Foundation made possible the building of Dorchester County’s living history oyster dredging vessel, designed by legendary local boatwright Harold Ruark, and built by local volunteers under the direction of Bobby Ruark, will be on hand for her rededication with the traditional bottle of champagne over the bow.

A mini flotilla of about six traditional vessels will join the celebration dockside, attending a Sail-In hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American ‘Schooner Association to take part in the July 4th festivities.

The boats, all owned by smaller community groups or husband and wife teams, could be considered “cousins” of the Nathan, according to Peter Gentry, a dedicated Mid-Atlantic Chapter member with wife Kate.

Several of the boats have Cambridge-related roots, including the forty-two-foot Jolly Dolphin, Three-Sail bateau sometimes called a “workboat yacht,” which was built by ‘Mr. Jim’ Richardson and launched in 1958.

Fifty-nine-foot ketch The Chesapeake was crafted at the original Dickerson Church Creek boatyard.

Sixty-four-foot restored traditional Chesapeake Bay Buyboat The Dudley, is another local favorite. The Dudley was built in 1938 by Gilbert White for Captain Walter Biddle comb of Reedsville, Virginia, whose family owned and worked it until 2017. Since Captain Woody Labat purchased Dudley, the boat has undergone a complete rework and is now a U.S. Coast Guard small vessel certified to carry up to twenty-eight passengers.

Additional boats taking part include thirty-six-foot Pinky Schooner Wyvern, forty-four-foot Ketch Radian, thirty-nine-foot Concordia Yawl Lacerta, and sixty-five-foot, Belgium-built, Brigantine Schooner Panther.

Panther, built between 1930-33, has been owned for the past twenty years by the Gentrys, who purchased her in Venezuela and have been refurbishing her in Cambridge assisted by several local workers, who the couple feel happy to help learn valuable boatwright skills.

To help those viewing the boats learn their histories, informative placards specially prepared for the event will be posted with them.

At noon, Nathan crew member and volunteer David Rose, a member of the American Guild of Town Criers, and the Nathan's officially designated Crier, will perform a reading of our nation’s founding document nearby at the World War II memorial on Water Street. Rose’s reading had been an annual holiday tradition in Easton, Pa., his former hometown.

A food truck is expected to be on site, and the Cambridge, Maryland Farmers Market on the Choptank will also be open.

For more information, call 410-228-7141 or visit the Skipjack Nathan of Dorchester Facebook page.