Joshua Mills of Wayne, W.Va., has been hired to join the Charity Boat Donation Program at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md., as an Associate. CBMM’s Charity Boat Donation Program accepts and sells all manner of craft year-round to support the non-profit’s education, curatorial, and boatbuilding programs. Mills is returning to CBMM in this full-time position after working this past summer in a seasonal position with the charity boat donation and sales program.
“This is a special place full of good, friendly people who make home feel not so far away,” said Mills. “I’m really looking forward to working full-time at CBMM and am so thankful for the kindness everyone here has shown me.”
Mills brings a wide range of experience, having worked at a state park in West Virginia and Keeneland Thoroughbred Horse Race Track in Lexington, Ky., and as an archaeologist for the Kentucky Archaeological Survey and Cultural Resource Analysts and substitute school teacher in West Virginia.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, and minor in Spanish, from the University of Kentucky, and a graduate certificate in Appalachian studies and a master’s degree in humanities from Marshall University.
Mills’ volunteer experience includes time spent as a summer camp counselor for his local police department in West Virginia; work with school groups, scout groups, and the interested public at archaeology sites in West Virginia and Kentucky; and help with his hometown church’s various projects and events.
A current resident of Claiborne, Md., Mills had spent little time on the Chesapeake Bay before joining CBMM, but plenty with sailing. He built a small sailboat with his grandfather and sailed on small lakes in West Virginia and Kentucky; joined the only sailing club in West Virginia, the Sewell Mountain Sailing Association; and in 2015, was invited to go on a sailing trip from Virginia to Annapolis and back.
“That was my first experience with the Bay and I was amazed at its wildlife, geography, and natural beauty,” Mills said. “I knew this was a place that one day I may want to live.”
Throughout the year, CBMM’s Charity Boat Donation Program Director Lad Mills and Program Manager Todd Taylor travel up and down the east coast working with boat owners, yacht brokers, marinas, boatyards, and other donors and potential buyers, working to support CBMM through boat donations and sales. CBMM’s current list of donated boats for sale is at bit.ly/buyaboat.
“One hundred percent of the revenue generated by each donated boat sale goes directly toward helping CBMM’s educational programs and restoring and preserving its historic structures and boats,” said Taylor. “We sell donated boats all year long, with each sale helping CBMM do great things for the people we serve. We’re glad to have Josh with us full time, as it helps to strengthen our program and the mission-related work CBMM works to achieve.”
Established in 1965, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a world-class maritime museum dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and people of the entire Chesapeake Bay, with the values of relevancy, authenticity, and stewardship guiding its mission. Serving more than 77,000 guests each year, CBMM’s campus includes a floating fleet of historic boats and 12 exhibition buildings, situated in a park-like, waterfront setting along the Miles River and St. Michaels harbor. Charitable gifts to CBMM’s annual fund enable CBMM to educate and inspire the next generation of Chesapeake Bay stewards, and can be made online at cbmm.org/donate