Calvert Marine Museum Helps Grant Last Wish

(Pictured left to right) Jim Shepherd, Jim Langley, Melissa McCormick, and Skip Edwards stand behind the newly installed Solomons Island sign. (Photo courtesy Robert Hurry)

Alton Kersey, who died February 20, 2014, was the unofficial “mayor of Solomons” and one of the founding fathers of the Calvert Marine Museum. Throughout his life he worked to make Solomons the special place that it is through dozens of projects, large and small. In his last years, he tended the garden at the Waterman’s Park as if it were his own front yard, and paid out of his own pocket for new American flags that he personally raised and lowered on the flagpole. Alton took enormous pride in his adopted home and dedicated his tireless energy to preserving its heritage. His last wish was for a sign that would designate the official beginning of the island for, as any old timer will tell you, “Solomons Island starts after the tide box.”

Skip Edwards, member of the Calvert Marine Museum exhibits team, built the sign designed by Jim Langley. Tim Scheirer painted the sign and Jim Langley added the gold leaf. Skip and Jim had done many projects for Alton over the years, and were happy to help out with this final wish. Also pictured is Jim Shepherd, the current president of the Solomons Civic Association, which helped raise the funds to make this project possible. Representing the Kersey family is Melissa McCormick, Alton’s daughter.