FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2008
For additional information,
please call John Shaumburg at 409-763-1877

Texas Seaport Museum Annual Plankowners Party and Auction Planned for June 7

Galveston’s Texas Seaport Museum will be the place to be on Saturday, June 7, 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 helps to support the 1877 ELISSA, restored to sailing condition by Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) in 1982 and named in 2005 as the Official Tall Ship of Texas. The party begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Texas Seaport Museum, the vessel’s home base, on the pier located between 21st and 22nd Streets and Harborside Drive.

“It has been an active and exciting year for the ship since the last plankowner’s party,” said Dwayne Jones, GHF executive director. “She has been taken to drydock for repairs and inspection; we sailed her to Port Aransas and Corpus Christi for last year’s Harvest Moon Regatta; we had a great series of sea-trials in February, ending with a visit to Bayport in the Port of Houston. Twenty-six years after ELISSA’s restoration here in Galveston, the ship and her programs are stronger than ever.”

“The ship was a labor of love from the time she was commissioned by a captain who refused to concede that the days of the sailing cargo ship were coming to an end,” said Jones. “She has continued to attract great affection from everyone associated with her. “ELISSA is maintained today by a small professional staff and a crew of hundreds of volunteers. She is supported by donations large and small, in cash and kind, and as one of GHF’s signature visitor attractions. The annual Plankowner’s Party and Auction is a celebration of the community around the ship, and an enjoyable way to raise more money.”

The evening features a 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 cruise from Galveston to New Orleans aboard the R/B River Explorer; a seven-night vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; a sail on the historic schooner Victory Chimes in Maine; a private charter aboard the Seagull II motor vessel; a day as an honorary crew member flying the B-17 Bomber, “Thunderbird;” dinner for 12 in the Bishop’s Palace dining room; and a romantic evening in ELISSA’s captain’s cabin with dinner by Chef Emmanuel, to mention only few.

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 sailing 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 22, just off Harborside Drive in downtown Galveston.

Tickets to the June 7 Plankowners’ Syndicate Party and Auction may be purchased on line a www.galvestonhistory.org, or by calling 1-877-772-5425. Tickets are $50 per person and $80 per couple ( $45 and $70 for GHF members). Advance reservations are appreciated, although tickets will continue to be sold up until the evening of the party at the door.

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