A vanishing part of the region’s culture will be commemorated in a new road marker that honors the Northern Neck Chantey Singers. An evening to unveil and dedicate the marker will be held at 5:30 Friday at the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum, 504 Main Street. The marker honors the legacy of menhaden fishermen through their traditional work songs called chanteys. Before hydraulic power blocks came into use in the 1950s, predominantly black crews in long rowboats hauled in—by hand—thousands of menhaden fish in nets called purse seines. The call-and-response harmonies synchronized their movements, built morale and eased the strain of the work. The chanteys were so much a part of the culture at one time that John Frye’s 1978 book about the history of the Chesapeake Bay’s menhaden fishery was titled “The Men All Singing.” The Northern Neck Chantey Singers were formed by William Hudnall in 1991 for a Fourth of July program at the request of the Greater Reedville Association and the museum. The ...