BERLIN – Carmela Baum was one of the first campers to visit Assateague State Park in 1965.
Fifty years later, she’s still spending part of every summer there.
“You have a beautiful park,” she said. “Keep it that way.”
Baum, a Pennsylvania resident, was one of many park supporters in attendance Aug. 14 for the park’s 50th anniversary celebration. While some shared memories from their time at Assateague during the past five decades, others applauded the park’s significance to the state.
“This is one of the most visited parks in our state,” Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford said. “Over the last two years, there have been over 1.2 million visitors that have come here. That’s tremendous.”
Rutherford said he was pleased to be on the Eastern Shore to mark the anniversary of the park’s start 50 years ago. He said the number of visitors the park entertained each was expected to increase in the near future to as many as 1.5 million annually.
“That is tremendous and it shows the asset we have here,” he said.
On behalf of Gov. Larry Hogan, who he said was doing well from cancer treatments but needed rest, Rutherford proclaimed Aug. 14 as Assateague State Park Appreciation Day.
Baum told the crowd she was enjoying Assateague as much now as she had in the 1960s.
“In our travels we recommended it to everybody and now we can hardly get in,” she joked. “This park is a wonderful park.”
Grandchildren of William E. Green spoke of the role the Public Landing resident had played in the creation of the park. When Green’s children told him there were surveyor stakes up at Assateague, he began a years-long fight to keep the scenic beach undeveloped. Though he died in 1963, his efforts made a difference and in 1965 the park was created.
Nita Settina, superintendent for the Maryland Park Service, said the park was still going strong more than half a century after the drive to preserve Assateague Island as a park began.
“It could be said that Mother Nature made the decision that this barrier island should be preserved,” Settina said. “The great storm of March 6, 1962, an infamous nor’easter, destroyed and damaged 48 houses that were built on this island as part of plan for thousands of residential homes. The storm provided the final impetus to make Assateague Island a publically owned park in its entirety.”
Settina thanked the numerous people — staff, volunteers and visitors — who played parts in the park’s success through the years.
“The Maryland State Park system is one of the oldest in the country,” she said. “Its 100-plus year history has been defined by the heart and soul of its citizens … Countless organizations and people have vested in this windswept stretch of sand and marsh and are continuing to define its future.”