28 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com Get ready for a fun, festive atmosphere as the Town of Mount Pleasant hosts the 38th annual Blessing of the Fleet & Seafood Festival on April 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Memorial Waterfront Park. This free family-friendly event pays tribute to Mount Pleasant’s local shrimping and fishing industry, offering a boat parade, live music, food vendors, an artisan craft show, contests and kids’ activities, according to Town of Mount Pleasant events coordinator Tracy Richter. The boat parade and ceremonial blessing of the shrimp/ fishing fleet kicks off the event at 11:30 a.m. Bring your appetite, as there will be savory seafood samplings sold by some of Mount Pleasant’s best restaurants and vendors will be serving festival staples including kettle korn, funnel cakes, shaved ice, ice cream, baked goods and more. Stroll through the craft show and enjoy a variety of handmade arts and crafts. Show off your competitive spirit and enter the Shrimp Eating Contest or strut your stuff at the Bowers Beach Boogie Dance Competition. It’s also a memorial event and there will be memorabilia and T-shirts for sale, with proceeds supporting nonprofit beneficiaries. Additionally, every one of the shrimp boats from the Shem Creek fleet that registers to participate in the boat parade will receive a stipend, said Richter. COMMEMORATING MARITIME HERITAGE Leading up to the event, there will be Fleet Week activities including an art show and the installation of the Wayne Magwood Fishermen’s Memorial Statue on the pedestrian walkway at Shem Creek. The statue will be dedicated to preserving the history and honoring the rich maritime heritage of Mount Pleasant fishermen, represented by Captain Wayne Magwood, a Mount Pleasant icon who captained his Winds of Fortune trawler for over 30 years. The Magwoods, a shrimping family institution synonymous with Shem Creek, started the Blessing of the Fleet festival in 1988. Magwood was tragically killed in September 2020 after being hit by a vehicle while crossing Coleman Boulevard. The family received an outpouring of support from people in the community calling to erect a statue in his remembrance, which ultimately led to the town launching a GoFundMe fundraiser to pay for a Fishermen’s Memorial. The sculpture features a QR code people can scan for information about the shrimping industry as well as a list of restaurants serving wild-caught, local seafood, shared Richter. “We feel deeply privileged to have been able to partner with the town and have been supported by the community for this project,” said Tressy Magwood Mellichamp, author of the local history book “East Cooper: A Maritime Heritage,” and one of Magwood’s four daughters along with Jennifer Ray, Tara Magwood and Melissa Magwood, who collaborated with the town to spearhead the memorial statue initiative. “The project is a huge honor to be a part of for ourselves as well, but more importantly it helps us to continue our father’s legacy by supporting our local Shem Creek fleet. This means so much to all of us to celebrate our rich heritage as well as spotlight the Town of Mount Pleasant fishing community, hopefully for generations to come. Thank you to everyone who contributed and supported this project!” Festival parking will not be available at Memorial Waterfront Park due to construction. Attendees can park at Mount Pleasant Town Hall or East Cooper Medical Center. Shuttle buses will run continuously throughout the event to and from these locations, said Richter. She added that people are allowed to bring coolers and chairs on the shuttles. For more information, visit experiencemountpleasant. com/event/blessing-of-the-fleet-seafood-festival. BY COLIN MCCANDLESS our townSmooth Shrimping Blessing of the Fleet floats on
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