Bay Weekly Has Brought — and Meant — the World to Me

By Mark Hendricks

When I learned of Bay Weekly’s eminent closing I, like many of you, met the news with melancholy. This paper is like a family member to many in its readership; we take for granted that it’s always going to be there.

I know I cannot give Bay Weekly total justice, but at least I could convey how special the publication is to me.

After all, this is the very same paper where I wrote about the eventful story of my daughter’s birth and becoming a father. It is only fitting that, in this last piece, I can share that my daughter is going to become a big sister in the spring of 2020. Woah!

I’ll admit that I’d rather not pen a goodbye letter or similar-sounding epitaph; it is much easier to write of bird migration and autumn foliage, which Sandra always assigned me.

If you have ever wondered what it is like working with an editor, I must let you in on the secret of the anomaly of Sandra. She’s great, easy to work with and plays to her writers’ strengths. That is not to disparage my relationship with other editors I have had the pleasure of working with. I’ve been blessed to write for many great people. However, there is a down-to-earth quality that Sandra possesses that I find comforting and impossible to replicate. The mighty Chesapeake flows through her veins. To say I have been spoiled is an understatement.

Now all the stories the paper has covered over these last 27 years make my brief time with the publication seem like a sojourn. For Sandra, Bill and Alex it has been a life in journalism. Of those humble beginnings Sandra explained, “we worked like demons were poking us with pitchforks.” They worked overlapping day and night shifts in those early years. The dedication and care they have shown to this region has been well represented in the many stories they shared with us.

Twenty-seven years is a long time. In that time the paper has lived through four presidents, three name changes and provided a forum to over 500 writers! Thousands upon thousands of Chesapeake Country residents read the paper religiously. I met a diverse coalition of patrons who refer to Bay Weekly as “their paper.” From those who pick up their issue at the library to the politicos strolling down Main Street in Annapolis, this paper has been the go-to news source for all things Chesapeake to so, so many.

Most impressive is that it never cost those readers a dime. A free, independent newspaper cherished by people of all walks. That alone deserves to be lauded.

Sandra’s most memorable moments as editor of this fine paper not surprisingly involved an assortment of characters from their office.

“So we were a true newsroom, with the news swirling around us,” she says. “While we were pouring our concentration into the paper, intrusions of all sorts rained down on us: We’d be presented with a box of rescued baby ducklings and expected to figure out what to do with them.” That’s taking journalistic research to a whole new, um, veterinarian level.

Additionally there was “the Vietnam vet biker with stringy hair and a pot belly who made regular calls on our female staffers — leading to more visits by territorial boyfriends.”

She told me of an intern who went missing only to learn he could not change a flat tire, and of staffers fainting at the site of shed snakeskin found under the kitchen sink.

Hopefully I can convince Sandra to share these comedic stories of what goes on behind the scenes. Or maybe write a sitcom?

In closing it has been a pleasure sharing stories of nature and seasonal change in Chesapeake Country. As a photojournalist, it is those moments that get me most excited, and I hope it has inspired you to experience the wonderful flora and fauna of the watershed.

I also want to send a big thank you to Sandra, who was always open to my ideas and always pushed me to inspire readers. It was an honor writing for you. I look forward to your memoirs.

Bay Weekly is small-fry among the papers and magazines — including Chesapeake Bay Magazine — to which conservation photojournalist Mark Hendricks contributes. He is also the author of the book Natural Wonders of Assateague Island.