ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Is that spring in the air, or an old gym sock on fire?
In sailing-crazy Annapolis, boaters celebrated the first day of spring with a ceremonial Burning of the Socks, signifying it will soon be warm enough to wear boat shoes without socks.
“It’s our connection to the Chesapeake Bay that makes us special. You couldn’t do this in Indianapolis,” said Jeff Holland, director of the Annapolis Maritime Museum.
The tradition began in the mid-1980s, when an employee at Annapolis Yacht Yard tired of his winter days doing engine maintenance on yachts and power boats. He stripped off his stinky socks, put them in a paint can with some lighter fluid and drank a longneck beer while looking forward to warmer days ahead.
“There’s a whole industry of people who work all winter long on people’s boats so that they’ll be in shape for their owners to go out and play all summer,” Holland said.
But the sock-burning ritual now draws more than boatyard workers.
Even wealthy sailboat owners delight in throwing tube socks and panty hose on the flames in this town, whose residents have a special disdain for socks. Bare ankles are a mark of pride even at work.
Annapolis resident Michael Busch, the speaker of the Maryland House, joked that socks constitute formal wear around here. The most hard-core sock haters refuse to wear them from the spring equinox until the first day of winter.
“The uniform is deck shoes and khaki pants in winter. The uniform is deck shoes and khaki shorts in summer,” Holland said.
Prudent sailors might want to hold on to a few pairs of socks: Snow showers are forecast today in Annapolis, with highs only in the mid-30s.
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