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Shem Creek, our town each year
celebrates the history of shrimping
and the stories of the fishermen who
still battle the sea to bring home the
best-tasting shrimp in the world.
The 29th annual Blessing of the
Fleet & Seafood Festival, presented
by East Cooper Medical Center and
Harris Teeter, will be held April 24
from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the
Mount Pleasant Memorial Water-
front Park. The centerpiece of this
free festive event is the parade of
boats and ceremonial blessing of
the fleet delivered by Father Len
Williams, the Charleston Port and
Seafarers’ Society chaplain, along
with rotating Mount Pleasant guest
ministers.
Of course, the parade of color-
fully decorated working commercial
fishing boats and the blessing itself are
not the only attractions at the festival.
Mount Pleasant restaurants serve up
delicious seafood while participants
of all ages enjoy music by great local
bands, shrimp eating and shag danc-
ing contests, kids’ activities, an arts
and crafts show and an exhibit by the
Mount Pleasant Artists’ Guild.
Benefiting from the proceeds of
the festival, primarily from merchan-
dise sales, are Carolina Children’s
Charity and Camp Rise Above, an
organization offering life-changing
camp experiences for children with
serious illnesses, disabilities and chal-
lenges. Both are first-time festival
beneficiaries.
The origins of blessing the fleets
of boats that carry crews out to sea,
often into life-threatening swells
and storms to bring home their all-
important catch, are lost in the mists
of time. However, there is reason to
believe that this tradition dates back
many centuries to ancient Greek and
Roman societies.
The Mount Pleasant blessing, boat
parade and festivities were begun in
1988 by the Magwoods, long regarded
as the first family of local fishermen.
The idea of a blessing and cel-
ebration of local cuisine from the sea
caught hold quickly, and early parades
included 20 or more working boats.
When Hurricane Hugo devastated
many of the boats, along with much
of the Lowcountry in 1989, the fleet
struggled to stay afloat. Since then,
a new threat has arisen from regions
such as Asia.
That threat is shrimp farming –
growing and harvesting crustaceans
under controlled conditions in a bid
to undercut the price of wild shrimp
by flooding the market with product
that has never seen the open sea. This
has contributed to a shrinking fleet;
for nearly a decade, the parade has
featured around 10 Shem Creek boats.
Meanwhile, individuals and
organizations including the town of
Mount Pleasant have been campaign-
ing to convince area restaurants to
showcase locally fished shrimp and
seafood while also encouraging din-
ers to ask restaurateurs if they serve
local or at least wild-caught seafood
(#justask). Their mantra is that
seafood lovers should seek out local
products for the juiciest, most tender
shrimp in the world!
As Captain Wayne Magwood put
it, “People depend on local shrimp
and the blessing means a lot to local
shrimpers.”
They still do and it still does. So
when your epicurean uncle Osgood
from Euclid comes to visit, tell him
to plan his trip around April 24 and
the Blessing of the Fleet & Seafood
Festival. He won’t just get a kick out
of the food and fun, he’ll be part of
the kickoff of 2016’s annual shrimp
harvest!
To learn more about the Blessing of
the Fleet & Seafood Festival, visit
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