Senator Cardin in Town March 1 to Talk Terrorism

On Monday, March 1, U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) will speak with Washington College students about the terrorist threat facing the United States and the difficult balance of protecting Americans against terrorism while safeguarding civil liberties.  The Senator’s address is part of the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, named after the late Louis L. Goldstein who served as Comptroller of Maryland from 1959-1998.

Senator Cardin heads the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  “Our top priority must be to protect the American people …at the same time we must ensure that our government uses its resources wisely and that it strikes an appropriate balance between national security and protecting civil liberties,” stated Senator Cardin at a Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing he chaired last year.

Senator Cardin to address Washington College students about the terrorist threat facing our nation.  Following his address, he will take Q&A from the students

WHEN: Monday, March 1 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Washington College, Hodson Hall 300 Washington Ave., Chestertown, MD

Things That Give Me Goosebumps

Strange things are all around. The other day I happen to look up and see a bald eagle fly over the house. About 15 seconds later a second bald eagle flies over, taking the same track as the first. Aren’t bald eagles migratory? This is mid-January. How are they going to catch any fish here? The Chester River and all its tributaries are frozen right out to their channels.

Next day, from a vantage on a low hill overlooking Rosin Creek, I see two canids slinking over the ice. They’re not dogs, I know every breed in two counties. They are moving along, one behind the other, noses low to the ice, long ears tucked back, long bushy tails held low. Just one word for the way they move – skulk.  I don’t think foxes typically move like that. Foxes I’ve seen kind of prance along, heads up, looking around. And foxes are solitary. Oh I know, for little foxes and so ad infinitum, they pair up sometimes. But I don’t think that’s the way they normally hunt. And these animals I’m watching are hunting. Plus, from a distance of a hundred yards, they appear way too big to be foxes. So what’s roaming along the Chester watershed? Coyotes?

Where to go for enlightenment but to Captain Andy McCown of Echo Hill Outdoor School, waterman, woodsman, teacher and spinner of excellent tales. He’s got some answers that surprise me. Bald eagles can be migratory – but the vast majority of ‘em in these parts do stay here. McCown says to think of Alaska, where you see wintertime pictures of the eagles sitting in a tree. He says they are concentrated in places where there’s a food source, and it’s the same for them in the Chesapeake region where there’s open water. “Many times in winter I’ve seen five bald eagles in a field and one dead goose. They are scavengers,” says McCown. “Sometimes I’ve seen them sitting around a deer carcass and there are vultures on the edge, waiting for them to leave.”

Okay, what about the hairy creatures I saw on the ice? Coyotes? “I doubt it. I think what you saw were foxes. Sometimes animals on a pure white background look bigger than they are. The silhouette looks bigger. A reason I doubt it, I’ve heard stories for the last 30 years about coyotes on the shore – but I’ve never seen a picture of a dead one. As soon as you hear of a bear, you see photos. But never one of a coyote. Also, you never go to a place where you know coyotes are and not hear them, yip-yip-yip. And I’ve never read a single account of anyone hearing them on the Delmarva Peninsula. So I say no.”

And there it is, eagles yes, foxes yes, coyotes no.  Captain Andy’s got a good explanation, too, for one phenomenon that some have been seeing lately: snow geese and Canadas mixed up together in the same field. Any hunter will tell you that the two species rarely come to feed in the same place. And when they do, you generally see a few of one keeping to the edge of a big flock of the other. They really do appear to be prejudiced. But now, integration has come. The reason for it, says McCown, is this hard winter. “Particularly when it gets cold and they find ground cover, they’re more willing to share the resource. It’s because there’s less opportunity, so they’ve got to do it.”

See, you can make sense of the natural world, if you’ve got a good teacher, and if you are sure of what you’re seeing. I tell myself this, then I think of the remarkable words of another wise man, Joseph Wood Krutch, who opined, “Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.” I’d be the last to argue with that.

No Tears for Proc’s

I don’t know about you, but for me, 2009 went on and on for about seven years. In fact, that whole decade of the aughts, which oughta be called the aught-nots, lasted so long the hairs on my nose turned white and I took to napping 20 hours a day. I had higher hopes for Twenty-Ten. But then, everybody started talking about something that would practically be the ruination of this town: they said Procolino’s Pizza is closing. Emails are flying around like Frisbees. Not a good omen. I couldn’t help wondering, if Procolino’s goes, will anybody ever see Richard Ben Cramer in public again?

Joanne Fairchild got an email from a friend who noted that the Hallmark store is gone, Fashion Bug is closed, there’s talk Peebles may pffft, and now the word’s out that Procolino’s owner Sal Scotto is sick and going back to Italy. No, no, Joanne cried out. She recalls that her first semester at Washington College was same fall the pizza place first opened it’s doors, 1980, so Proc’s has been an icon of her adult life much like the bust of Ole George on Cater Walk. She was beyond bummed.

So, I did what any gossip would do in my place, I hung around sniffing up all his customers and the good smells coming out the door until Sal came out. “Who are you?” he wanted to know. “You say, Pie?” Informed not, but what, with an S and a Y, Sal settled a bit and agreed to discuss the situation, which he consigned to the oven. “Everybody is telling that, but it is not the truth.” Sal can’t imagine how the rumor got started, though he has done away with waitress service to the back room – but that area has been refurbished some and you can still eat there. “Procolino’s is not closing, and I hope God lets me live,” says Sal. “We are better than ever, better than ever. Tell them that.”

And there you are. Proc’s is good. Sal’s okay so far. Twenty-ten could turn out that way, too, after all.

Homeports Lecture: Longitudinal Study on Aging

HomePorts, the local non-profit organization to help older adults age in their own homes, is sponsoring a forum on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at 4:00 pm at Litrenta Hall, Washington College, featuring Luigi Ferrucci, Director of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Begun in 1958, the study follows the lives of over 1400 people ranging in age from their 20’s to their 90’s, with regular measurements taken of physiological changes. It is the longest-running longitudinal study in the U.S.  Scientists are learning what happens as people age and how to sort out changes due to aging from those due to disease or other causes.

Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, Director of this study, is a geriatrician and epidemiologist who has been recognized as a visionary leader and is widely quoted.  His research interests focus on obtaining a better understanding of the effects of aging such as functional decline and susceptibility to disease in order to determine predictors of mortality.

“The way you view the aging process, positively or negatively, is going to affect your quality of aging,” he told USA Today in November.  “If you talk to many old people, what they are really desperate about is not that fact that they’re going to die, but that they are going to be sick, dependent and have to rely on others,” Ferrucci added.

HomePorts is a one-year old membership organization modeled after similar organizations for seniors operating successfully in other regions of the country. It serves those over 55  living in the greater Kent County area, in addition to the Kingstown/Chester Harbor area and Crumpton. Its office is located in the Chestertown Town Hall.

The forum will include a summary report on the accomplishments of HomePorts. The program is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For information or to attend the presentation, call 443-480-0940 or go to the HomePorts website – www.homeports.org.

Deer Oh Dear

You hear the one about a man goes into a body shop? Asks when he can get service. He’s told, “Oh, about January 19.” Ahahahahahaha.

No. Wait. That’s not even a joke. That really happened to Old John. He doesn’t think it’s one bit funny, either, even if I kind of do. He did smile when he was first told the date, a month and a half away, thinking he was being pranked. Then he looked like he was going to cry. Now, we come to find, lots of people are getting that word.

Here’s what happened to us. We got the car out of a body repair shop only a month ago. Then, last Sunday, we’re on Anthony Road waiting at the stop sign before pulling onto Rt. 213. And this woman driving up 213 in a blue Nissan decides to make a right onto Anthony — and we’re just like deer in headlights, frozen, watching this apparition coming at us — and Bam! She smashes in the same side of the car that got mangled in September. Nobody hurt, so it might’a been worse, but if looks could kill Old John would be outfitted today in the orange jumpsuit.

So we take our woes to Todd’s Body Shop. That’s where the nice lady says they’re so backed up they won’t be able to tackle our repairs before January 19. And the big problem is . . . deer. The critters are just all over the roads, she says, and people are running into them left and right, even hitting multiples: “One guy just came in, he hit two out of seven.” Todd Smith says he’s been in business for 24 years and he’s never had such a backlog of repairs to do, sometimes a wait of eight weeks. He can’t keep count of how many deer collisions he’s worked on this fall but guesses it could amount to 75 percent of business from mid-October through the rut. One customer tells him of counting nine deer carcasses on the road between home and work. “And Rt. 20,” Todd observes, “looks like a deer battlefield.”

Now, some will be appalled at all that carnage, especially the drivers, but I say it’s not without some benefit. Anyone with my background knows it can let you be so fashion-forward. You find yourself one of those whacked deer somewhere and you get nice a dab or two of it on your shoulders, a little the nape of your neck, or a naughty application along the spine like I often do, then you go into a roomful of people and you can ask anybody there, wow, that Eau de Bambi, it really makes a statement.

Services for Dorsey Owings

Richard Dorsey Owings of Millington, a lifelong farmer and sailor, died November 25 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. His family was at his side. He was 59.

Born in Baltimore, the son of Mary Francis and Meredith Dorsey Owings, Dorsey moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore with his family in 1962 following a year’s adventure aboard a 40-foot sailboat between Annapolis and the Bahamas.

That trip, which included competition in the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit with his father, instilled a love of sailing that Dorsey enjoyed throughout his life.

He reached the peak of his sailing prowess in 1997 when he and his Seabiscuit team won the J30 national championship staged at Newport Rhode Island. Dorsey and Seabiscuit team won a second J30 National Championship in 2000.

After the family’s move to the Eastern Shore, Dorsey worked side-by-side with his father and his own sons, growing corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, tomatoes, spinach and hogs on several Kent and Queen Anne county farms.

When he wasn’t planting, harvesting or sailing, Mr. Owings enjoyed hunting, fishing and crabbing on the Chester River and being with his friends and family.

Dorsey was widely recognized for his invention of the Seabiscuit cocktail, named for his boat — a vodka and tonic drink flavored with a slice of cucumber.

He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Gail Webb Owings; two sons, Marshall Dorsey Owings of Chestertown, and Casey Clinton Owings and his wife Megan of Centreville; his father, Meredith Dorsey Owings of Millington; two sisters, Rebecca Owings Forney and her husband Dennis of Lewes, DE and Elizabeth Howard Owings of Chestertown; a brother, Samuel Sheridan Owings of Church Hill; and his beloved hounddog Rosie.

Donations may be made to Johns Hopkins University, Dorsey Owings Memorial, Dept. of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, 100 N. Charles St., Suite 440-C, Baltimore, MD 21201; the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, or the Chester River Association.

Rally to the River

The time to start saving the world is today. The place to begin is Wilmer Park. Okay, maybe not the whole world. Just 500 feet of riverbank along the Chester. But every movement has a first step, then another.

Volunteers are being asked to come to the park on the Monday after Thanksgiving to start planting Chestertown’s “Living Shoreline.”

This effort to create something that closely resembles a natural shoreline replaces an extensive bulkhead that formed Wilmer Park’s river edge. Riverkeeper Tom Leigh says, “A living shoreline, because it is vegetated, provides habitat for fish and crabs and it takes up nutrients that run off from upland sources.”

Leigh notes that the old bulkhead, an artificial barrier, was made of ties that typically were treated with arsenic or creosote, which are full of toxins that leach into the environment. Bulkheads have a lifetime, Leigh observes, while living shoreline is theoretically there forever — “and it’s aesthetically more pleasing than a vertical bulkhead.”

To make a more natural shoreline will take many hands.

“About 10,000 plants will be on site, so there’s plenty of work,” says Kees de Mooy, Chestertown’s assistant zoning and housing administrator. He’s hoping there will be 20 to 25 volunteers at any given time, working in one-hour segments, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Among the groups coordinating volunteers are the Chester River Association, Washington College’s Center for the Environment and Society, the Chestertown Garden Club, Chestertown Middle School and Gunston Day School.

But, anybody who shows up with rubber boots can expect to find plenty to do. And if all you’ve got is a rubberneck, it’ll be fun to watch.

Workers from Environmental Concerns, the site contractor, which has been removing the bulkhead, grading and spreading sand, will be there with power augurs to drill holes in river bottom exposed by low tide.

Volunteers will come behind the drillers and drop a fertilizer pellet and then a seedling into each hole, then backfill.

Grasses being planted are two kinds of spartina and, closest to the park’s edge, switchgrass – 10,000 plants, countless sore backs, mud everywhere.

Nobody says it’s going to be easy, saving the world.

Wind Restricts Bay Bridge Crossings

Wind restrictions are now in effect on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The Maryland Transportation Authority is reporting sustained wind speeds of 40-49 miles per hour. As a precaution, house trailers, empty box trailers and other vehicles subject to strong winds are prohibited from crossing.

The National Weather service has issued a gale warning for portions of the Chesapeake, where tides are one to two feet above normal.

The National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood warning for Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot and Caroline counties.

It’s in effect until 11 p.m. Friday because of a strong, persistent northeast flow that is expected along the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware into the weekend.

“The strong onshore flow will not allow water to drain from the Chesapeake Bay, so each oncoming tide cycle will see higher tide levels through Friday,” the Weather Service reports.

Widespread minor tidal flood is forecast for today, with spotty moderate flooding tonight and more widespread moderate flooding Friday.

This warning means that flooding is occurring or is imminent.

The Weather Service is urging coastal residents to be alert for rising water, not to park vehicles where tidal surging is likely and to avoid roadways that are prone to flooding.

The giant storm parked over the East Coast has created a host of problems for the Coast Guard. This afternoon it set Condition ZULU  for the Port of Hampton Roads, closing it to all vessel traffic halting all cargo handling operations. The forecast is gale force winds for the next 24 hours.

A Coast Guard helicopter rescued two people from a disabled sailboat southeast of Cape Lookout, N.C., on Wednesday.

A search continues for three fishermen after their 44-foot fishing boat sank 20 miles east of Cape May, N.J. A rescue helicopter arrived on scene and found an empty life raft with a strobe light attached. Weather conditions off Cape May are 20-foot seas, 60-knot winds and two to three miles of visibility.

H1N1 Striking WC Students

The H1N1 flu virus seems to be spreading fast through the Washington College campus.

The cases so far haven’t been particularly serious, according to clinical director Dawn Nordhoff, but the incidence is rising.

“We actually sent home or isolated 20 students yesterday,” says Nordoff, “and I can’t begin to give you a count today. Last week we sent home 30 students.”

So far this semester Washington College has sent home well over 100 students.

“We still haven’t had anybody hospitalized,” Nordhoff reports. “We’ve had some high fevers but everybody has recovered and come back to campus.”

The growing number of cases is prompting alarms across the state. On Friday, Gov. Martin O’Malley signed an executive order to enlist extra medical personnel to administer H1N1 vaccinations if needed.

As of the beginning of November, the state had reported 13 deaths associated with the virus. Most cases have involved adults with pre-existing health conditions.

State Health Secretary John Colmers said, “While H1N1 flu has proven to be a mild to moderate disease for most people, anyone with underlying health conditions should contact their health care providers when experiencing flu-like illness.”

Symptoms for children are bluish to grayish skin color, not drinking enough fluids, not waking up or not interacting, being so irritable that the child does not want to be held, fever with a rash, symptoms improving but then returning with fever and worse cough.

For adults, symptoms are difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, pain or pressure in chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness or confusion, severe or peristent vomiting, symptoms that improve but return with fever and worse cough.

100 Voices for Local WC Hynson Scholarship

On Saturday, November 7, the 100-Voice Choir returns to raise spirits and celebrate the life and example of the late Rev. Vincent Hynson, Washington College Class of 1987 alumnus and Kent County community leader. The concert will be held at Decker Theatre in the College’s new Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are just $7 per person and are available at the door or in advance from the Compleat Bookseller or Twigs and Teacups in downtown Chestertown.

More information about the event, plus a video about the Vincent Hynson scholarship, can be found on the Washington College website

This year’s concert—through the efforts of many volunteers and Sylvia and Bill Frazier of S & B Productions—will provide three hours of music, song and dance to put anyone and everyone “in the spirit.” In addition to performances by the 100-Voice Choir, the concert’s line-up includes performances by guest soloists Rev. Tyrone Wilson and Sister Karen Frison, the Harp & Soul String Trio, the Variations, the Burke Family Singers, the Anointed Vessels, the Mount Plymouth Ensemble, and, back by popular demand after last year’s show-stopping performance, a special guest appearance by acclaimed gospel trumpeter Wade Johnson.

Also featured will be an address by inspirational speaker Master Markel Newman.

Proceeds from the concert benefit the Vincent Hynson Scholarship at Washington College. The impetus of Washington College President Baird Tipson, the scholarship honors the late Rev. Vincent Hynson—beloved Kent County teacher, coach, pastor, and community leader—who passed away in 2004. The scholarship is presented to an entering freshman who is a graduate of a secondary school in Kent County, who demonstrates financial need, and whose achievements and aspirations most closely emulate the values of community service exemplified by the life of Rev. Hynson. The scholarship covers 100 percent of the cost of tuition, room and board, books, and fees for the recipient.

“Vincent Hynson was a bridge-builder whose life was dedicated to uplifting our community,” said Dr. Tipson, who lends his voice to the tenor section of the choir. “His was the kind of life young people—and all people—should emulate. My hope is that this scholarship honors his life by helping local students who want to give back the chance to develop their talents and to realize their dreams through a Washington College education.”

To be considered for the Vincent Hynson Scholarship, interested students should submit a scholarship essay and complete all admissions and financial aid application requirements no later than February 15, 2010. Essay instructions and admissions and financial aid information are available from the Washington College Office of Admissions by calling 410/778-7700.

The 100-Voice Choir Gospel Concert is sponsored by S & B Productions, Washington College and the Kent County Arts Council. Seating is limited, so advance ticket purchases are recommended. For more information, contact S & B Productions at 410/778-6006, the Washington College Office of College Relations at 410/810-7111, of the Kent County Arts Council at 410/778-1149.

Downrigging Weekend Schedule

Wednesday, October 28

Ships Arrive in Chestertown
All Day

Film – “Poisoned Waters” a PBS FRONTLINE Documentary
7:00pm – Litrenta Lecture Hall, Washington College / Free

In Poisoned Waters, a PBS FRONTLINE documentary showing at Washington College on October 28 at 7:00 pm in Litrenta Lecture Hall, veteran journalist Hedrick Smith examines threats to the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound.  The film is approximately 120 minutes long.

Thursday, October 29

Ships Arrive in Chestertown
All Day

Demonstration Construction of a Traditional Chesapeake Bay “Bateau”
9:00am-5:00pm, The Chestertown Waterfront / Free

Watch as Master Shipwright John Swain, builder of Sultana, constructs a traditional, 14-foot wooden bateau.  Used by watermen for well over a century, bateaus were once an essential component of life on the Chesapeake.  Construction of the Bateau will begin on Thursday, October 29 and continue through Sunday, November 1.

Opening Cocktail Party & Short Film – “Around Cape Horn”
7:30pm, The Prince Theatre, Chestertown / $5 donation /cash bar

Join the crews of the visiting ships for Downrigging Weekend’s official opening cocktail party at 7:30pm on Thursday, October 29th at the historic Prince Theatre.  The party will feature a showing of the short film, “Around Cape Horn.”   Filmed in 1929 by legendary sea captain Irving Johnson, the film documents the voyage of the massive bark PEKING as it rounded Cape Horn during a tremendous wind storm. The cocktail party, with a cash bar, and film are free and open to the public as space allows.

Friday, October 30

Ships Arrive in Chestertown
All Day

Demonstration Construction of a Traditional Chesapeake Bay “Bateau”
9:00am-5:00pm, The Chestertown Waterfront / Free

Watch as Master Shipwright John Swain, builder of Sultana, constructs a traditional, 14-foot wooden bateau.  Used by watermen for well over a century, bateaus were once an essential component of life on the Chesapeake.  Construction of the Bateau will begin on Thursday, October 29 and continue through Sunday, November 1.

Educational Sails
All Day On the Chester River

On Friday October 30, the Downrigging Weekend fleet will welcome more than 200 students for a series of educational sails on the Chester River.   At almost any point during the day, visitors to the Chestertown waterfront are likely to see one or more of the ships in the fleet underway with students out on the Chester River.

“Poisoned Waters: Chesapeake Bay to Puget Sound”
A Presentation by Pulitzer Prize Winner Hedrick Smith
5:00pm, The Prince Theatre / Free

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, former New York Times correspondent, author of several best-selling books, and host of 20 award-winning PBS prime-time specials and mini-series, Hedrick Smith brings both insight and a highly personal style of storytelling to “Poisoned Waters,” a far-reaching investigation into America’s great waterways.

Gala Cruise on the Lady Pintail, II #1
5:30-7:30pm, On the Lady Pintail, II / $150 per person / $125 per person for groups of four or more
Departing and Returning to Chester River Landing

Sultana Projects will be holding its annual fundraising gala during Downrigging Weekend onboard the luxury yacht LADY PINTAIL, II.   There will be two evening cruises on the LADY PINTAIL, II during Downrigging Weekend; the first on Friday, October 30 and the second on Saturday, October 31.  Both cruises are from 5:30-7:30pm and will depart and return to Chester River Landing, just south of Chestertown.  Guests on these gala cruises will have an unparalleled opportunity to cruise Chestertown’s Waterfront at twilight and watch as the tall ships are illuminated.  Tickets for the Downrigging Weekend gala cruises are $150 per person or $125 per person for groups of four or more.

Tall Ships Illuminated & Fireworks
Ships Illuminated 6:00-9:00pm/Fireworks at 7:00pm, Chestertown Waterfront / Free

At dusk on Friday, October 30, the entire Downrigging Weekend fleet will be illuminated by more than 1 million watts of theatrical lighting.  Just after 7:00pm there will be a 25 minute fireworks display on the Chestertown waterfront, originating from Wilmer Park.  The fireworks will be visible from across the Chestertown waterfront.

Downrigging Weekend Concert
Featuring the “Them Eastport Oyster Boys” / $15
8:00-10:00pm, The Prince Theatre

Bluegrass favorites, “Them Eastport Oyster Boys” will headline a special Downrigging Weekend concert at 8:00pm on Friday, October 30.   A centerpiece of the Annapolis, Eastport music scene, the Oyster Boys provide a knee tapping, toe-slapping, comical musical history tour of Annapolis, Eastport and the Chesapeake through original songs and stories.   Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased through the Sultana office at 410-778-5954 or at the door  if still available.

Saturday, October  31

Chestertown Halloween Parade
10 AM, High Street, Chestertown

The classic Chestertown parade begins at 10am.

Demonstration Construction of a Traditional Chesapeake Bay “Bateau”
9:00am-5:00pm, The Chestertown Waterfront / Free

Watch as Master Shipwright John Swain, builder of Sultana, constructs a traditional, 14-foot wooden bateau.  Used by watermen for well over a century, bateaus were once an essential component of life on the Chesapeake.  Construction of the Bateau will begin on Thursday, October 29 and continue through Sunday, November 1.

Demonstration Construction of the ELF Tender VIDA
10:00am-12:00pm, The Chestertown Waterfront / Free

Learn about the traditional techniques used in the construction of VIDA, the classic tender for the recently restored 1888 cutter ELF.  Staff from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, where VIDA was built, will be on hand to interpret and answer questions.

Engraving Demonstration
12:30-2:30pm, The Chestertown Waterfront / Free

Craftsmen from Precision Artistry will be on-hand to demonstrate how original artwork is preserved and transferred to metal.

Public Sail on the Ships #1
10:00am-12:30pm, Chestertown Waterfront / $15-$55 depending upon choice of vessel

Those interested in sailing on a “tall ship” will have three opportunities during Downrigging Weekend to voyage out onto the waters of the Chester River onboard their choice of the assembled vessels.  There will be two public sails on Saturday, October 31, the first from 10:00am to 12:30pm and the second from 2:00pm to 4:30pm.  There will be an additional sail on Sunday, November 1, from 11:00am to 1:30pm.  Each sail will feature all of the vessels loosening their canvas and proceeding under sail-power alone.   Reservations for Downrigging Weekend sails can be made by calling the Sultana Projects office at 410-778-5954.  Ticket prices range from $15-$55 per person, depending upon the vessel. Children under 5 years of age are not permitted to sail.

Public Sail on the Ships #2
2:00-4:30pm, Chestertown Waterfront / $15-$55 depending upon choice of vessel

Those interested in sailing on a “tall ship” will have three opportunities during Downrigging Weekend to voyage out onto the waters of the Chester River onboard their choice of the assembled vessels.  There will be two public sails on Saturday, October 31, the first from 10:00am to 12:30pm and the second from 2:00pm to 4:30pm.  There will be an additional sail on Sunday, November 1, from 11:00am to 1:30pm.  Each sail will feature all of the vessels loosening their canvas and proceeding under sail-power alone.   Reservations for Downrigging Weekend sails can be made by calling the Sultana Projects office at 410-778-5954.  Ticket prices range from $15-$55 per person, depending upon the vessel. Children under 5 years of age are not permitted to sail.

Tours of the Washington College Custom House
2:00-5:00pm, The Custom House, 101 South Water Street/ Free

On both Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, the Historic Washington College Custom House will be open for free, multi-sensory audio tours from 2:00-5:00pm.   One of the most eye-catching buildings on the Chestertown Waterfront, the ca. 1746 Custom House is home to a host of colorful stories about life in the 18th and 19th century Chesapeake Region.  The Custom House is now home to Washington College’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, Center for the Environment and Society and Public Archeology Laboratory.

Gala Cruise on the Lady Pintail, II, #2
5:30-7:30pm, On the Lady Pintail, II / $150 per person / $125 per person for groups of four or more
Departing and Returning to Chester River Landing

Sultana Projects will be holding its annual fundraising gala during Downrigging Weekend onboard the luxury yacht LADY PINTAIL, II.   There will be two evening cruises on the LADY PINTAIL, II during Downrigging Weekend; the first on Friday, October 30 and the second on Saturday, October 31.  Both cruises are from 5:30-7:30pm and will depart and return to Chester River Landing, just south of Chestertown.  Guests on these gala cruises will have an unparalleled opportunity to cruise Chestertown’s Waterfront at twilight and watch as the tall ships are illuminated.  Tickets for the Downrigging Weekend gala cruises are $150 per person or $125 per person for groups of four or more.

Tall Ships Illuminated

6:00-9:00pm, The Chestertown Waterfront / Free

First Ward Election Forum this Sunday

On Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 pm, the League of Women Voters will be hosting the Chestertown First Ward Town Council Seat Candidates’ Forum.  Candidates Jim Gatto and Frank Rhodes will answer questions and give statements about key issues facing Chestertown.  The forum will be held in the Wesley Room at Heron Point.   Call the League at 410-810-1883 for further information.

Harwood Colloquy Continues: “The Age of Obama”

Award-winning journalists from both sides of the political spectrum will convene to discuss “The Age of Obama: Do We Need a Middle Ground?” in Hotchkiss Recital Hall at Washington College’s Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts on Wednesday, October 28, at 7 p.m.

The event, presented as this year’s Richard Harwood Colloquy on National Affairs, will feature bestselling author and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne and award-winning syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker. Moderating the disussion will be CNBC Washington correspondent and New York Times political writer John Harwood.

E.J. Dionne is a twice-weekly columnist for The Washington Post, writing on national policy and politics from a liberal perspective. He previous worked at The New York Times, covering local, state and national politics, and also serving as foreign correspondent in Paris, Rome and Beirut.

A professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Dionne has been a frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio, ABC’s “This Week” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He is the author of several books, including the bestseller Why Americans Hate Politics, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award nominee.

Kathleen Parker is an award-winning conservative syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group. Her twice-weekly opinion pieces appear in more than 350 newspapers. Parker started her column in 1987 when she was a staff writer for The Orlando Sentinel. Her column was nationally syndicated in 1995 and she joined the Washington Post Writers Group in 2006.

Her writings in support of American troops, first-responders and other front-line participants in the war on terror were among the reasons The Week magazine named her as one of the country’s top five columnists in 2004 and 2005.

John Harwood is the chief Washington correspondent for CNBC and a political writer for The New York Times. He began his career at The St. Petersburg Times, where he served as state capital correspondent, Washington correspondent and political editor. He was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and subsequently spent 16 years at The Wall Street Journal, covering the White House, Congress and national politics. In addition to CNBC, Harwood also frequently appears on MSNBC, “NBC Nightly News,” “Meet the Press” and PBS’ “Washington Week.”

In 2002 Harwood was part of the Wall Street Journal team that won the Pulitzer Prize in the breaking-news category for its coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Also on that prize-winning team was Gerald Seib, with whom Harwood co-authored the 2008 book Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power, hailed by The New York Times as a major new work of Washington-insider journalism.

As the 2009 Richard Harwood Colloquy, “The Age of Obama” joins a long list of notable panels and lectures presented over the years. The series was established to honor the distinguished career of the late Washington Post columnist and ombudsman Richard Harwood (John Harwood’s father), who served as a trustee and a lecturer in journalism at Washington College. Speakers have included such political and media figures as Karl Rove, Howard Dean, Robert Novak, John McCain, James Carville, Judy Woodruff, Al Hunt, Mark Shields, and Paul Gigot.

Admission to “The Age of Obama: Do We Need a Middle Ground?” is free and open to the public.

Stickin’ It to You

Now you can get drive-by shot at three places in Kent County. I’d better rephrase that. You can get “drive-thru shots.” It’s for the flu, the seasonal kind. All you have to do is squat, plant your feet, tremble and whine. Well that’s what I recommend.

What they say You’re supposed to do is, put on a short sleeve shirt and no jacket, drive to one of three handy locations, stick your arm out the window of your vehicle, and ouch. You’ve got seasonal flu protection. The dates and places are Tuesday at Rock Hall Volunteer Fire Company, Wednesday at County Roads Building on 709 Morgnec Road in Chestertown, Thursday at Galena Volunteer Fire Company. The same time – 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. – for each location. At each site there will be a walk-in clinic for children under age 9. Bring a $20 in exact change or a check made out to “Kent County Health Department” – or a medicare card. You can print a registration form found at www.kenthd.org and bring it will you to be fast-tracked.

Oh, one more thing. When you come for drive-thru shots, they say, “For safety’s sake please NO dogs, cats or other animals in your vehicle.” Amen to that, says I.

Founder of Black Television Coming to WC

Robert L. Johnson, founder and former chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), will deliver the annual J.C. Jones Seminar in American Business and receive the inaugural J.C. Jones Award for Visionary Entrepreneurship, in the Decker Theatre of the Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts at Washington College on Tuesday, October 13, at 5 p.m.

Johnson was named by USA Today as one of the 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years. In 2001 he sold BET to Viacom for approximately $3 billion. BET is the the nation’s first and leading television network providing entertainment, music, news, sports and public affairs programming for the African American audience. Under Johnson’s leadership, BET became the first African American-owned company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

After selling BET to Viacom, Johnson remained the Chief Executive Officer through 2006. He has since gone on to found and chair the RLJ Companies, an innovative business network that owns or holds interests in a diverse portfolio of companies in the banking/financial services, real estate, hospitality, professional sports, film production, gaming and automotive industries.

Admission to Johnson’s seminar is free and open to the public.

Salute to the Firefighters on Parade

Everybody loves a parade. That’s a saying to remember today. All. Day. Long.

A parade of more than 200 units — fire trucks, fire department cars, floats and bands, majorettes — will be parading through Chestertown from noon to 3 p.m. And of course they’ll be coming earlier to assemble and taking some time afterward to get away.

The occasion is the 100^th birthday of the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Department. Everybody in it is likely to bring their friends and families. So there will be crowds.

Traffic will probably jam. That’s probably an understatement. Or, as Mark Mumford, drum major of the Kent County Community Marching Band, puts it with nonpareil understatement: “Traffic will be challenging.”

Mumford says the State Highway Administration was asked to put detour signs south of town at Rt. 544 to direct through traffic away from Chestertown and around through Crumpton. And Organizers also asked that southbound traffic on Rt. 213, be detoured east on Rt. 291 and away from Chestertown.That’s not happening. Because of ongoing construction elsewhere, none of these signs were available.

It will be more fun if everyone remembers who and what is being commemorated: a bunch of ordinary guys who normally don’t get near enough credit for the work they do saving homes and saving lives.

The Community Marching Band leads off the parade, immediately followed by the Chestertown unit.

Look for the car with the most senior past chief, Evans Neal; the most senior living nember, J. Willis Wells, 96; the most senior member still responding, Dewitt Lott, 93; and the still active member with the highest number of answered calls (6,000), Bill Coleman, 83.

Hats off for them and what they do.

A Tribute to McCowns

The deaths four days apart of Joan and Richard McCown leave an emptiness in Chestertown, where for over half a century the couple stood tall as leaders in business, church and community service.

Their passings put an almost symmetrical end to a marriage and romance of 59 years but of course came as doubling sorrows for their five children, thirteen grandchildren and countless friends and neighbors.

Services for Dick are set for 4 p.m. Wednesday at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Interment will be private. Joan’s memorial service was last Tuesday at Emmanuel, the church where she had been at various times parish secretary, vestry member and Alter Guild member.

The McCowns, he was 84 and she was 82, both were born in Philadelphia and came to Chestertown in 1950. Both quickly became fixtures in social, arts, commerce and sporting circles.

He started in the insurance business with Brian B. Kane and Son Insurance Co. This became Kane & McCown and is now Fleetwood, Athey, MacBeth & McCown Insurance. Dick served as president of FAM&M until his retirement.

He loved trout fishing and bird hunting and was a master falconer. He had been a gifted athlete. After serving in the Marine Corps from 1943-45, he returned to Penn State University and was captain of the track team where he excelled in the 100-yard dash and 440 relay. He played tailback for four years for the Nittany Lions.

The couple married in 1948 at St. David’s Church. Joan’s father, Roland T. Addis, had been the architect who designed that part of the church.

After coming to Chestertown, Joan started a travel company and traveled extensively throughout the world. She was a past ladies golf champion at Chester River yacht and Country Club. She had attended Smith College and studied theater and dance in Philadelphia, and she took numerous classes at Washington College, pursuing her passion. She was a devoted volunteer at Kent County Hospice.

Dick, a gifted musician, played piano and ukulele and was a member of the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia. For 10 years he volunteered to play the piano at Magnolia Hall.

And oh, he could tell a story.

Joan, the family recalls, “always had a dog and loved each one dearly.”

They are survived by five children: Sally McCown Harding and her husband Preston of Chestertown; Andrew McCown and his wife Betsy of Betterton; Mary Taylor Medlin of Damascus, Md.; Ellen Beall McCown and her husband Rodney Smith of Seattle; and Virginia Carver McCown Zullo and her husband Steven of Falls Church, Va. Their grandchildren are Abigail Harding Cola, Ashley Harding, John Andrew McCown, Parker McCown, Naomi Medlin, Eve Medlin, Dakota Spiegel, and Haley, Lucas, Ian, Isabella, Chloe  and Violet Zullo.

Local Tolkien Expert on History Channel Monday

Corey Olsen, Assistant Professor of English at Washington College and a leading authority on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, will be featured on the History Channel program “Clash of the Gods” on Monday, October 5, at 10 p.m.  “Clash of the Gods” is a series focusing on various strains of mythology and legendry. The October 5 episode, “Tolkien’s Monsters,” will explore Tolkien’s “fantastical world of hobbits, orcs and wizards, and uncover the real-life influences that shaped his epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings,” according to the History Channel.

Olsen, an authority on Arthurian literature and Chaucer as well as Tolkien, hosts a popular site, “The Tolkien Professor” (http://www.tolkienprofessor.com/index.html), which has attracted more than 500,000 visitors since launching last summer; there have been more than 60,000 downloads of his podcasted lectures since they first posted to iTunes last July.

After its initial broadcasting at 10 p.m. on October 5, “Clash of the Gods: Tolkien’s Monsters” will re-air on the History Channel at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, October 6.

Attention, Governor

What do you call a man who stands by the side of a road all night long waving a sign?

State Senator E.J. Pipkin.

Tonight Pipkin is holding an all night vigil in Chestertown to show his support for the Upper Shore Community Mental Health Center. He’ll be standing across from the Kent/Queen Anne’s Rescue Squad on Morgan Neck Road, with his sign.

“The Center will be turning patients away in seven days, and there is still no plan for where these individuals will go,” says Pipkin, in a press release.

The senator noted that Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has slated the center to be closed, has twice been invited to tour it. But he said, “There has been no answer from the governor or his staff.”

Pipkin also criticized by name Secretary John Colmers of the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene for failing to provide a plan to care for some 200 patients annually, most without any health insurance, who have no place to go for treatment if Upper Shore is shut down.

And so, Pipkin’s statement said, “I am holding an all night sign-waving vigil for the patients, employees, and other community members impacted by the closure of this facility. This closure is a mistake and the governor needs to see that.”

Spy Chat: An Evening with Dianne Dumanoski

The Chestertown Spy and Washington College’s Center for the Environment & Society are pleased to present an evening with Dianne Dumanoski on September 23, 2009 at 7:00 PM at the Litrenta Lecture Hall – Toll Science Center on campus. Admission is free but registration is kindly requested.

Dianne Dumanoski is an author and journalist, as well as a pioneer in reporting on such issues as ozone depletion, global warming, and the accelerating loss of species since 1970.  Dumanoski has been a Knight Fellow in Science Journalism at MIT (1983–84), a fellow at the University of Colorado’s Center for Environmental Journalism (1993), and a Yale University Poynter Fellow (2002). She is the coauthor of Our Stolen Future, a seminal environmental work.

In a sobering but realistic profile of the humanity’s increasing negative impact on global planetary systems, Dumanoski’s new book, “The End of the Long Summer: Why We Must Remake Civilization to Survive on a Volatile Earth“, makes a cogent and eloquent argument that “the radical experiment of our modern industrial civilization is now disrupting our planet’s very metabolism.” Climate is changing faster than original scientific models predicted, and in unexpected ways with dangerous feedback loops/ We our poisoning our environment with toxins that impact our own reproductive systems.  We are causing irreversible change to soils and water and land that are impacting our ability to grow our food. Given the incresingly short window for action, politicians and the media have done little to heed the warnings and avert crisis. Humanity’s future, Dumanoski argues, will depend on our ability to return to systems based on flexibility, diversity, redundancy, and community and away from current trends that rely on technological fixes, unsustainable economic models of growth, and excessive globalization. This is a work of broad scope and depth, weaving together humanity’s history, science, and culture and ending with a search for honest hope for humanity’s future on a volatile Earth of our own making.

Marty Fujita, Ph.D
Green Editor

Given the limited seating for this free program, we encourage those interested in attending to register in advance:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/407516894

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