Updated: April 1, 2022

Deltaville resumes annual sock-burning celebration marking boating season start

Andrew Christian of Deltaville gets the fire going so those participating in the March 26 Deltaville sock-burning celebration can remove and toss in the their socks. The annual event is a symbolic welcoming of spring and the start of the boating season. (Photo by Don Richeson)

by Don Richeson –

Barbara Ehman of Fredericksburg takes off her socks before hurling them into the ceremonial centerpiece fire at the March 26 Deltaville sock-burning celebration. Ehman also brought along and burned the socks of her mother, the late Peggy Damahy, a huge boating enthusiast who passed away recently at the age of 96. (Photo by Don Richeson)

Scores packed the grounds of Evolution Sails Chesapeake in Deltaville March 26 for the annual Deltaville sock-burning celebration.

The seventh edition of the event marked a return after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and featured live music and roasted oysters and Shacklefords-based Jeeps and Butts BBQ barbecue.

It was highlighted by participants removing their socks and tossing them into a special sock-burning fire pit. The symbolic gesture is meant to underscore the arrival of spring and the boating freedom it brings. A number of boating-oriented Deltaville businesses made the event possible as a way to thank their customers.

A videoclip of the duo Neal and Perkins performing during the event is available online at https://www.instagram.com/p/CboG6IdgxuO/.