Captain Jack, Bounty visit BR

• By ASHLEY M. BAILEY
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 30, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Five-year-old Elijah Newton stood frozen and scared as he hid behind a pillar Saturday at the USS Kidd Veterans Memorial & Museum.

The source of his fear was Captain Jack Sparrow, the protagonist of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film trilogy. Captain Jack, (portrayed by impersonator Arik Christopher) was at the museum as a part of “Pirates on the Mississippi,” a pirate-themed family day sponsored by the museum.

As Captain Jack approached the visibly alarmed Elijah, he tried to put on his best pirate charm to ease the little boy’s fears, but to no avail.

It took eight people and Captain Jack several minutes to coax Elijah out into the open. Finally, the little boy emerged from his hiding place long enough have his photo taken with Captain Jack. Then Elijah  quickly retreated to his place behind the pillar.

“Pirates on the Mississippi” coincided with a visit by the famous replica windjammer, HMS Bounty, to the museum’s port. Captain Jack was on hand to entertain his fans and those who are fans of pirates in general.

The guests were able to dig for buried treasure, get pirate tattoos, travel down a giant inflatable squid slide and even climb on board a real sailing vessel.

“It just came together, we had the Bounty coming and (Maury) Drummond said ‘Let’s get a Captain Jack impersonator,’” said Mary Fish, an administrative assistant at the museum. Drummond is executive director of the Kidd Museum and Memorial complex.

Captain Jack’s presence incited terror in some of the kids, but most of them were excited to see him.

Elijah’s twin brother, Ethan, appeared to be less intimidated by the celebrity pirate.

Amy Newton, the twins’ mother, along with several relatives, were among the people who came out to enjoy a day of good-natured piracy.

“I thought it would be good to bring the whole family,” Newton said.

Newton said her good intentions were met with cries of protest in her home when she told the boys they would be meeting pirates.
But once the children arrived and saw the ship, they became excited, she said.

Austin, 4, said he was not afraid of the pirate because, he said, “sometimes he’s bad and sometimes he’s good.”