For immediate release
May 22, 2007
For additional information, please call
Kurt Voss at 409-763-1877

Photos of ELISSA and the Seaport Museum available by e-mail; also check our web site at www.galvestonhistory.org.

Texas Seaport Museum Annual Plankowners Party and Auction Planned for June 2

Event Benefits the 1877 Tall Ship ELISSA, 25 Years After her Restoration in Galveston

Galveston’s Texas Seaport Museum will be the place to be on Saturday, June 2, when the annual Plankowners’ Party and Auction benefit gets underway at Pier 22 with dinner, live music and a hefty cargo of unusual auction items. The annual fund-raiser to help support the 1877 ELISSA, named in 2005 as the Official Tall Ship of Texas, begins at 6:30 p.m. on the pier located between 21st and 22nd Streets and Harborside Drive.

“This is always one of Galveston Seaport’s most popular summer events,” said Kurt Voss, director of the Texas Seaport Museum, which is owned and operated by Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF). “Everyone is welcome. Guests get to tour the ELISSA and the Seaport Museum at leisure and meet other people who enjoy maritime history and sailing activities. We are also celebrating milestones this year in that it’s the 25th anniversary of the ship’s restoration here in Galveston, and the 130th of her launching in Scotland.”

The evening features a sumptuous seafood buffet from Fisherman’s Wharf, complimentary beer and wine, live entertainment by Sparky Koerner’s Jazz Express, live and silent auctions and drawings for daysails on ELISSA. Items to be auctioned this year include a dockside barbecue for 20 by John McNatt; a seven-night vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; a sail on the historic schooner AMERICAN EAGLE in Maine; a private charter aboard the SEAGULL II motor vessel; a cruise on the Mississippi River aboard the R/B RIVER EXPLORER; a weekend in Galveston’s oldest home, the Menard House; a day as an honorary crew member of the B-17 Bomber, THUNDERBIRD, and a romantic evening in ELISSA’s captain’s cabin with dinner by steward Pam Sheridan, to mention only few.

Of particular note this year is a rare first edition copy of “The State of the Navy, 1878,” with annotations by the author, Henry Fowler Watt, the man who commissioned the building of ELISSA and was her first captain. The book has been donated to the auction by Watt’s granddaughter, who had already donated a copy for the TSM library. “The book is a remarkable direct link to the man whose personality is so imbued in ELISSA,” said Voss. “The ship was a labor of love from her inception, and has continued to attract great affection from everyone associated with her.”

The Texas Seaport Museum initiated the ELISSA Plankowner’s Syndicate in 1980 to honor a special group of donors. Through in-kind and cash contributions, these individuals and businesses purchased planks for ELISSA’s decks. The 540 pieces of Douglas fir planking were carefully installed during the ship’s restoration.

Membership in the Plankowner’s Syndicate is varied. Early Plankowners donated goods and services during ELISSA’s restoration. Others purchased planks to honor friends and relatives. International businesses and local merchants own planks, as do families and individuals. ELISSA volunteers have purchased planks as wedding gifts for other volunteers. Several planks have been dedicated to deceased friends of the ship.

The sale of the final plank inspired a new opportunity for the sale of 318 iron hullplates. In 1990, Hullplate Owners joined the Plankowner’s Syndicate as members of a unique support group. Plates can be purchased by businesses, groups, or individuals and can be in memory or in honor of someone. Those who attend the Plankowners’ Party are given the opportunity to become a member of the Plankowners’ Syndicate by purchasing a hullplate.

The Robert W. Knox, Sr., and Pearl Wallis Knox Charitable Foundation of Houston underwrite the Plankowners’ Party. Since 1964, the Knox Foundation has supported a variety of cultural and education projects in the Houston-Galveston area. Pearl Wallis Knox was a native Galvestonian; thus the Wallis Family’s historic ties to Galveston have made the Knox Foundation gifts to GHF particularly meaningful.

Named in 2005 by the Texas legislature as the Official Tall Ship of Texas, ELISSA is one of only three 19th-century square-riggers in the United States that continues to sail. Built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland, the iron-hulled vessel boasts a 90-year commercial history during which she carried a variety of cargoes to ports around the world, including Galveston. A National Historic Landmark and a fully functional vessel, ELISSA has achieved a special place in history by sailing in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

After being abandoned as a freighter in Piraeus Harbor, Greece, ELISSA was rescued in the 1970s by a group of preservationists who refused to let her and her rich history die. Following extensive restoration, a story that is told in photos and video presentations at the Texas Seaport Museum, she today is part of the museum’s permanent exhibit and one of Galveston Island’s most popular attractions. Measuring 205 feet in length with a height of 99 feet and nine inches at the main mast, she carries 19 sails that cover more than a quarter of an acre in surface area. When not sailing, ELISSA is open for daily tours at the Texas Seaport Museum, located at Pier 21, just off Harborside Drive in downtown Galveston.

To purchase tickets to the June 2 Plankowners’ Syndicate Party and Auction, contact the Texas Seaport Museum at Pier 22, Harborside Drive, Galveston, telephone 409-763-1877. Advance reservations are appreciated, although tickets will continue to be sold up until the evening of the party at the door.