All tagged wings over neuse
For the 14th consecutive year, the CSS Neuse Foundation will hold its annual “Wings Over the Neuse” fundraiser. “Wings” began in 2009 to raise the money needed to erect a memorial to Alton “Doc” Stapleford for supervising and doing a great deal of the work in constructing the CSS Neuse II. A marker honoring Doc still stands near the stern of the Neuse II on the Gordon Street side.
The CSS Neuse Foundation took several salvos from COVID during 2020, but the iron plating did its job. During 2017, 2018, and 2019, the replica of the original CSS Ram Neuse drew more than 5,000 visitors each year. During 2020, the CSS Neuse II was closed on 14 Saturdays. Attendance for 2020 totaled only 1498, one-third of normal.
We would like to offer heart-felt gratitude to our community for supporting this year’s “Wings Over the Neuse,” the major fund-raiser for the CSS Neuse Foundation. The foundation is charged with the responsibility of maintaining, repairing, and improving the historical experience of those who board the CSS Neuse II, the world’s only full-sized replica of a Confederate ironclad.
The 12th edition of “Wings Over the Neuse” will be here in just a few days – on Friday, Sept. 11. The CSS Neuse Foundation, caretakers of the full-sized replica gunboat, depends on this fund-raiser to secure the lion’s share of the funds needed to operate, maintain, and improve the Neuse II experience.
Like many local businesses and organizations, the CSS Neuse Foundation has been hit hard by fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CSS Neuse II, the replica of the original CSS Ram Neuse ironclad, has been essentially closed from April through July.
The second Friday in September has become fixed … sort of … as the date for “Wings Over the Neuse.” “Wings” is the single largest fund-raiser each year for the CSS Neuse Foundation, caretaker of the full-size replica of the CSS Ram Neuse.
The board of directors of the CSS Neuse Foundation announced Tuesday that the “Wings Over the Neuse” fundraiser set for Friday has been postponed.
