Taste of Core Sound Celebrates Winter Traditions, Local Seafood and Wild Game

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center’s annual winter feast brings to the table generations of Down East culture, talent and cooking expertise with a menu that brings together the rich hunting and fishing traditions of Core Sound.

This year’s winter Taste will honor the founders of the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild and the men and women who laid the foundation for what is now the Core Sound Decoy Festival and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center.

“The 25-year mark for the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center is more than a timeline of events, dollars and buildings, numbers of people and miles t...raveled,” explained Karen Amspacher, Director of the Core Sound Museum. “This anniversary is the recognition of a “revival” of heritage, traditions and community that have resulted in the wonderful facility we have “at the end of the road” on Harkers Island.”

With a menu of old time Down East cooking -- stewed oysters, scallop fritters, stewed duck and rutabaga, seafood casserole, stewed beef with potatoes and carrots, collards, sweet potatoes, light rolls and fig cake – the table is set for an evening of Core Sound history lived and loved.

Core Sound’s waterfowling heritage is always the theme for this February event, and this year will keep that story alive with a focus on the Carvers Guild history and how that organization and the Core Sound Decoy Festival set the course for the past 25 years and the future. Today, Core Sound decoy carving is at the forefront of Down East’s economy, mixing the old traditions with new collectors, carving competitions and events that provides a year round cottage industry for the region.

The evening’s program will feature the last three members of the “Original Seven” founding board members of the Carvers Guild, Wayne Davis, Carl Huff and James Salter, with each of them sharing their memories of those first years when a decoy festival and museum on Harkers Island was just a dream.

A highlight of this event will be the 25th Anniversary exhibition, “Core Sound: Building a Place for the People,” documenting 25 years of programs, events and community work that has created not just a beautiful facility on Harkers Island but also an institution that has carried Core Sound’s story across the state and beyond, including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC.

Pam Morris, curator of this exhibition described it as, “This exhibition is just a glimpse of all the people and places that have been part of this museum’s history, but it will capture the spirit of community that has guided all that we have accomplished and all that we envision for the future.”

The night will conclude with a silent auction of decoys from members of the Decoy Carvers Guild donated in honor of the anniversary that are signed, dated and branded as part of the anniversary celebration. These will be true collectors’ items for those who recognize the talent and traditions Core Sound decoy carvings represent. Special thanks to Corey Lawrence, Brother Gaskill, Ken Humphries, Monty Willis, Lionel Gilgo, Jerry Talton, Jack Gardner, Joe Burney, Robbie Roberson, John Hodge, Bill Boudreaus, Casey Arthur and others for sharing their carvings with us for this special event.

Tickets for this event are available by calling 252.728.1500 or emailing museum@coresound.com. Tickets are $100/couple for members or $125/couple for non-members and that will include an annual membership.