Galveston Island– The 2015 Plankowners’ Syndicate Party and Auction gets underway at Galveston Historical Foundation’s Texas Seaport Museum onSaturday, June 6 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Reservations are $70 per person or reserved tables for eight are $650. Reservations are encouraged and may be made online at galvestonhistory.org/
“The 2015 June Plankowner’s dinner and auction will be an exciting early summer event,” says Dwayne Jones, Galveston Historical Foundation’s Executive Director. “It’s a time to meet others interested in our maritime history in Galveston and support the continued restoration of the 19th century tall ship ELISSA.”
This annual fundraising event will feature hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine during the silent auction, buffet dinner, live music by Alligator Handshake and an exciting live auction. New this year, guests on site and those not able to attend will have the opportunity to bid on silent auction items via their mobile device. 100% of the proceeds benefit ELISSA and the many educational and training programs of the Texas Seaport Museum. Auction highlights include four nights in California’s Sonoma wine country; six nights in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica and seven days in Brac, Croatia.
“Galveston’s Texas Seaport Museum will be the place to be, when the annual Plankowners’ Party and Auction benefit gets underway at Texas Seaport Museum,” states Seaport Director, Jamie White. “The annual fundraiser helps to support the maintenance and annual day sails of the 1877 riveted iron barque ELISSA, restored to sailing condition by Galveston Historical Foundation in 1982 and named in 2005 as the Official Tall Ship of Texas. Please join ELISSA’s crew and supporters in celebrating the magnificent iron barque ELISSA.”
The 2015 Plankowners’ Party also offers the public the opportunity to join the Plankowners Syndicate II. By joining ELISSA’s Plankowners’ Syndicate II with the purchase of a plank, you can earn your place in the history of the ship. Each plank donation will be honored with the purchasers name recorded and displayed on ELISSA’s Plankowners’ II Honor Board for posterity.
Texas Seaport Museum founded the ELISSA Plankowners’ Syndicate in 1980 to honor a special group of donors. Through in-kind and cash contributions, individuals and businesses purchased planks for ELISSA’s decks. In 1985, Plankowners’ Syndicate members were invited to the first Plankowners’ Syndicate Party. The sale of the final plank inspired a new opportunity for the sale of 318 iron hull plates and in 1990, Hullplate Owners joined the Syndicate and the tradition was opened to GHF members and guests. The annual event is now open to the general public.
ABOUT THE 1877 ELISSA
Named in 2005 by the Texas legislature as the Official Tall Ship of Texas, ELISSA is one of only three 19th-century iron square-riggers in the World that continues to sail. Built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland, the iron-hulled vessel boasts a 90-year commercial history during which she carried a variety of cargoes to ports around the world, including Galveston. A National Historic Landmark and a fully functional sailing vessel, ELISSA has achieved a special place in history by sailing in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
After being abandoned as a freighter in Piraeus Harbor, Greece, ELISSA was rescued in the 1970s by a group of preservationists who refused to let her and her rich history die. Following extensive restoration, she today is part of the museum’s permanent exhibit and one of Galveston Island’s most popular attractions. Measuring 205 feet in length with a height of 99 feet and nine inches at the main mast, she carries 19 sails that cover more than a quarter of an acre in surface area. When not sailing, ELISSA is open for daily tours at the Texas Seaport Museum, located at Pier 22, just off Harborside Drive in downtown Galveston.
For more information on the 2014 Plankowners’ Syndicate and Party, please contact Deanna Johnson, Special Projects Coordinator, at 409-765-3435, deanna.johnson@