Hundreds of visitors from across Maine and New England are expected to attend the Wyoming mast dedication and open house Saturday at Maine Maritime Museum.

The dedication ceremony will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and will feature the ceremonial first raising of banners and flags on the six masts of the sculpture. Cannons will fire as each flag reaches top of mast.

Honorary flag raisers include key donors and their families who helped fund the sculpture; Bath Iron Works employees; state and local officials; and museum volunteers.

A number of traditional shipbuilding skills will be demonstrated from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. including treenail making, steam bending of wood, sail making, seam caulking and sail rigging. Costumed reenactors will tell the story of the launching of the Wyoming in December 1909.

In addition to playing pirate on the museum’s playship, kids can design and make their own captain’s flag, get a steam bent wooden bracelet, have their faces painted and get a lobster’s perspective of being trapped in the human-size lobster trap.

Cruises will be available for a minimal fee so visitors can see the Wyoming sculpture, Bath Iron Works, downtown Bath and Doubling Point Lighthouse from the Kennebec River.

Built at the Percy & Small shipyard in Bath in 1909, Wyoming was the largest wooden sailing ship ever built in the United States and is an iconic symbol of Maine’s shipbuilding heritage.

The Wyoming sculpture is the largest public work of art in New England. The total cost of the sculpture exceeds $2.4 million.

WHAT: A full day of activities and events
showcasing Maine’s shipbuilding heritage is planned as Maine Maritime
Museum dedicates the recently raised
six masts on the sculpture of the
schooner Wyoming with a free open
house event.
WHEN: Saturday, June 1, 9:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. (rain or shine)
WHERE: Maine Maritime Museum, 243
Washington St., Bath; 443-1316.

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