Sharpsburg

resident Jim Goodrum has donated his latest

creation of a wooden ship to the Order of Robert

E. Lee, an auxiliary of the Sharpsburg

Sharpshooters Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The

group will raffle the replica to raise funds for

its programs.

replica of the "CSS Virginia," it is

made of white pine and is about 20 inches long.

The

original ship was christened the USS Merrimack

(often misspelled Merrimac), originally built in

1855 and scuttled by the U.S. Navy in early 1861.

Confederate

engineers converted it into an iron-sided vessel

and rechristened it the CSS Virginia. The armor

was four inches thick.

It

entered into a battle with a Union ironclad ship

the Monitor March 9, 1862. Though the battle

ended in a draw, the Virginia had sunk two wooden

Union warships off Norfolk, Va.

Creating

the replica took Goodrum about 40 hours. He has

been carving items out of wood since a child, and

is also proficient at making furniture and items

in ceramic as well as working in metal.

Raffle

tickets are available at $2 each or three for $5.

Phone Bill or Ann Poe, 770-253-3254, for

information.