By Glenn Rolfe

DAGSBORO — A Harvest Day Celebration commemorating the 29th anniversary of the Friends of Prince George’s Chapel is coming up Oct. 24.

The event will begin at 3 p.m. at the historic chapel on Ward Lane. It will feature a concert by the Sons of Thunder, a family-based traditional gospel group from Maryland.

A $5-per-person donation is requested at the door to benefit the Friends organization, a group of volunteers that serves as caretaker for the facility and events there. Those 12 and under will be admitted free.

Prior to the celebration, there will be a free tour of the handicapped-accessible chapel, from 1-2:15.

Completed in 1757, the site was received by the vestry, dedicated and named Prince George’s Chapel for England’s Prince George, later George III of the United Kingdom.

Sons of Thunder

Formed with six members in 1974, the Sons of Thunder band currently performs with four musicians.

“We have lost four of the originals,” said Howard Robinson, one of two remaining founding members. Kenneth Price is the other.

“We are still a family group. We added two cousins,” he said.

Backed by a keyboard or piano, the group sings traditional Christian music.

With its biblical name taken from the Book of Mark, the Sons of Thunder have performed from Massachusetts to Florida and as far west as Tennessee. They perform regionally all along the Eastern Shore.

“We sang in the area … before the pandemic,” said Mr. Robinson. “Evidently, someone from (the Friends) heard us and asked if we would come.”

Chapel history

Prince George’s Chapel had its beginnings as an Anglican chapel of ease, built to reach more of the residents of the northern area of Worcester Parish, Maryland. During the reorganization of the Episcopal Church following the American Revolution, the chapel became an independent church in the diocese of Delaware.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

The chapel’s most prominent feature is its graceful barrel-vaulted ceiling of natural, unadorned heart pine planks. The nave section is original 18th-century construction. The east transept end with its large window and octagonal high pulpit has been reconstructed.

Deeded to the state in 1967, it was renovated and reopened as a museum.