Tangier Island Health Foundation

National Geographic: A Waterman's Life - Tangier Island

The Chesapeake Bay sustains Tangier Island waterman - James Eskridge, Jr.  It's his history, his living, and - as he tells it - the only future he wants.

Click here to view clip: A Waterman’s Life – Tangier Island

Recipes from the Island

New Shipment of Popular Tangier Island Recipe Book Has Arrived!

When Tangier Island Health Center colleagues Cindy Parks, Cindy Wheatley, and Anna Parks decided on a project to help raise funds for the island’s new health clinic, they had no idea how successful it would be.  “Island Treasures: Collected Recipes,” is now in its third printing.   To date 535 books have been sold and the Tangier Island Health Foundation has received its first gift of the proceeds.

It took two months to collect, type, and print the 202 recipes from island residents. Each section of the book (Appetizers, Soups & Salads, Main Dishes, etc.) is preceded by a “Helpful Hints” page.  Contributors were encouraged to present at least two favorite seafood recipes (crab, of course, features prominently).  Other tasty offerings range from “Cubbit Creek Gumbo” to “Lee’s Tugboat Meatloaf” to “Ain’t Your Mamma’s Banana Pudding.” All are attractively presented in a spiral-bound edition with a clear index and a back section featuring pages on pantry basics, cooking time tables, an equivalency chart, and calorie counts.

Cover art was contributed by Ken Castelli, who will be the island’s artist-in-residence, working with the Tangier History Foundation to create a new museum for the island during the summer of 2008.  The book was published at no initial cost by Morris Press Cookbooks of Kearney, Nebraska.   The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has purchased 200 copies and more than 300 have been sold on the island.

A new shipment has just arrived and copies may be purchased for $12.00 (+ $3.00 shipping charge) by contacting:

Cindy Parks

Tangier Island Health Foundation

PO Box 259

Tangier, VA  23440

Phone:  757-891-2412

Email:   parkscp75@yahoo.com

Or they may be picked up in person from the White Stone Family Practice in White Stone, Virginia.

Please contact:

Kim Clark

Phone:  804-435-3133

Email:   kclark@whitestonefamilypractice.com

Checks should be made payable to the Tangier Island Health Foundation.

10 Places to See in Virginia

'Just a natural playground'

Growing up on a vanishing wisp of land in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay has its advantages.

"Get up in the morning, go out, rove the seashores or go out in a boat," said retired schoolteacher Bruce Gordy, 66, recalling his childhood on Tangier Island. "Look for Indian arrowheads. Play ball all day. Go swimming. Just a natural playground."

- Richmond Times-Dispatch

Click on link above to view article + slideshow.

Tangier Island's History

In the summer of 1608 Captain John Smith began his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. From Cape Charles he traveled up the bay to the Potomac River, continued as far as present-day Washington D. C., and then back down to Jamestown, Virginia. At one point he was very badly hurt by a stingray and had to return to Jamestown to be treated. It was during these two voyages, while looking for fresh water, that he came across a group of islands in the middle of the bay. He named them the "Russell Isles," for a Doctor Russell who was then on board ship with him. This group of islands is known today as Smith, Tangier, and Watts Islands.

Tangier Island is about 6 miles below the Maryland-Virginia State line. In Virginia state records, all the islands below the state line were once known as the "Tangier Islands."

For more information: Tangier Island Guide