The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation (KNF) is honoring four volunteers who gave 10,000 hours each.
Delaware’s Tall Ship uses hundreds of volunteers to keep the ship running smoothly - as well as help run workshops and work in the shipyard.
And the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation has an “Angel Faces” program that honors these people with custom carvings mounted on the Kalmar Nyckels' stern.
“This is really kind of a unique thing; not many people know about," said Ship captain Sharon Dounce. "The ship is an ornately-carved ship from the 17th Century. We have our “Angel Face” carvings - basically our head faces that are carved on top of angel wings - so it looks like wings with a face on it. And we have about 15 of them or so around the entire stern of the ship.”
Dounce says when they built the Kalmar Nyckel - they carved the faces of key figures - like the builder and the original captain - on the stern.
The latest “Angel Faces” will be John Marcone - a second mate, carpenters Bob Morgan and Colin McGowan and Jim Scarborough - a rigger.
The Kalmar Nyckel’s 2022 Volunteer of the Year is Elaine Autry who worked 1,000 hours in 2021 - sailing, teaching at educational field trips, managing community events and private fundraisers and participating in voyages on the Hudson River and the Delaware River.
