For the past 14 years the Sultana Education Foundation has had the pleasure of working with the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, Inc., to plan and implement the reenactment of the infamous 1774 Chestertown Tea Party. As fans of the Tea Party know, a central part of this event has been a mock battle on the schooner SULTANA, ending with the British loyalists and their tea being thrown from the schooner by rebellious American colonists.
Both the Tea Party and the reenactment aboard SULTANA will continue this year and in future years, but with a few changes. The most notable change to the reenactment script will be the elimination the traditional throwing of the British Loyalists into the Chester River. While disappointed that this particular tradition cannot continue, both the Sultana Education Foundation and the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, Inc., are confident that the abundance of creative minds in Chestertown can devise an alternate, and equally entertaining, script.
The changes being made to this year’s Tea Party reenactment are the result of a recent insurance review, during which the Sultana Education Foundation discovered that the annual tossing of the British Loyalists into the Chester River was not covered by the vessel’s insurance policy, nor was it covered by the insurance policy of the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, Inc. The Foundation has a long-standing policy prohibiting students and passengers from swimming from SULTANA, but had assumed incorrectly that adult volunteers acting under the auspices of the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, Inc., would not pose a liability issue.
Upon identifying this issue, the Sultana Education Foundation and the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, Inc., made every effort to resolve the problem while retaining this long–standing tradition. Additional insurance coverage was explored but found to be prohibitively expensive. The concept of having all parties involved sign waivers was also discussed, but the Sultana Education Foundation’s professional consultants advised that this was an inadequate solution, both for the organizations and the re-enactors.
After extensive consultations, both the Sultana Education Foundation and the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, Inc., concluded that neither organization could continue with the traditional format of the Tea Party reenactment under these conditions. The risk was simply too great. An unfortunate mishap – no matter how unlikely – could result in the demise of both organizations and, more importantly, could leave a re-enactor completely exposed for any medical bills resulting from an injury.
The coming weeks will be filled with planning and training to ensure that the Tea Party experience is as rich and entertaining as ever, just with an added layer of safe conduct. Both organizations are looking forward to an ongoing relationship as the festival continues to grow and mature.
MARY WOOD says
Zounds – Methinks the Insurance Companies are henchmen of King George.
Gren hHitman says
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” (Shakespeare, Henry VI)
Next, we’ll eliminate all the insurance salesmen…
Anne Charles says
Does the insurance company prohibit tossing an effigy……..as in a dummy or maybe scarecrow………representing a Tory….or several Tories..?….might be a fun kids project to make the dummies/scarecrows…….and have a contest or fundraiser ….(like parking meters on Hallowe’en..).. our own Chestertown version of Guy Fawkes ….
Good luck……. where there’s a will, (oops, lawyers)…there’s a way
Chris Neiman says
I’m sure there is plenty of grumbling… but you gotta do what you gotta do. Thankfully this isn’t an exercise in hindsight.
The show must go on, so how to we proceed? My 30 seconds of thought.
After the battle you might:
-strip the loyalists of their colors, tie them to the mast and throw their coats into the water with the tea.
-arrest the loyalists and row them to shore, where a mob can stand them on boxes, douse them with water, and smear them with mud. Parade them through the crowd similar to the start of the reenactment. This creates a very nice conclusion for an otherwise abrupt end to the event.
-set the loyalists afloat with no paddles in a -private-row boat wherein they can rabble with the colonists and accidentally upset the craft – falling into the water with the tea.
Surely someone has better ideas.
Creating a roaring crowd, no matter the impetus, is the key. Lets be honest. If you don’t have a front row seat to the reenactment, you don’t see a whole lot. This isn’t a criticism, just the reality. Crowd mentality works this way. You don’t need to see everything to participate in the wonderment as long as you have people around you cuing reaction. Yes, the jumping loyalists make a good website photo, but only a small portion of the crowd actually witnesses this very specific action occur. Gathering people for a spectacle and providing a show of some kind should be the goal here. It doesn’t have to be the same thing every year, nor follow a specific script.