| Where We’ve Been … Where We Are
After seven and a half years in a small office tucked into a small industrial park in the small town of Deale, Bay Weekly has finally outgrown its original habitat.
On July 29 we moved into our new digs, a freshly renovated home by Rockhold Creek in Deale. It’s pretty grand, considering we’ve moved from a cozy little nook by Tri-State Marine’s service and showroom depot to a two-story abode complete with glassed-in porch, pine plank floors and a water view. Our yellow Lab office dog Max finally has plenty of room to spread out without tripping the casual production floor pedestrian and we, as he, couldn’t be happier. Even the writers are allowed to benefit, as we’ve been moved to a writer’s loft in the finished attic.
Our thanks to all the helpers: Mary Catherine Ball, Mark Behuncik and Betsy Kehne, Sharon Brewer, Mark Burns, Kim & Mike Cammarata, Kathy Flaherty & Kevin Litkowski, Jackie, John and Chris Gallagher of Room Smart ReDesigns, Chris Heagy, Don Kehne, Alex Knoll, Amy Lines, Sandra Martin, Kitty O’Dowd, Lori, Paul and Emily Sikorski and Janie and Arthur White. Helping us prepare for the move were Connie Darago, Christy Grimes and M.L. Faunce.
Here we’ve gathered a few photos of our office then and now.
At the Convention: Elephants — and a Donkey— in Philly
When Maryland’s Grand Old Party took a boat ride on the Delaware River at the Republican National Convention, it wasn’t like sailing the grand old Chesapeake Bay.
“It was muggy, hot, and the water was dirty,” observed Del. Tony O’Donnell, a Republican delegate from Calvert County.
But O’Donnell seemed less disturbed by polluted water than by what he saw as polluted politics by Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening and Democratic intruders at the Republican gathering.
Glendening was part of a Democratic “Truth Squad” that convened in Philadelphia this week delivering pinpricks to the GOP’s good-time balloon. It was part of a hard-edged Democratic strategy that also featured attack ads on television and conference calls with journalists each evening the moment the convention closed.
Those tactics didn’t sit well with O’Donnell, who is attending his second GOP convention.
“One party has always given the other party its place in the sun,” he said.
“Glendening’s visit,” O’Donnell asserted, “showed no class. It set him up in the role of political hack.”
To Glendening, there were larger issues at stake — perhaps even a place in an Al Gore administration. In an interview with Bay Weekly, Glendening said that part of his motivation was his concern about the anti-environmental record of Gov. George W. Bush in Texas.
“We need a federal government to be in partnership with us in protecting the Chesapeake Bay,” Glendening said.
Glendening also remarked that the gathering of GOP delegates hardly reflected his state. A survey showed that more than 95 percent were white, and one in five were millionaires.
If not rich, Maryland delegates needed to be hearty to keep up with the social swirl and to survive streets clogged with parading protesters.
On Wednesday, for instance, many delegates took part in a VIP shopping trip to the King of Prussia Plaza. That is, if they survived the party the night before at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Then there was lunch with Laura Bush, spouse of George W., more receptions and parties than they could possibly attend and the lighted-boat parade and fireworks.
But few fireworks went off inside the convention hall, which was okay with O’Donnell.
“It has been a positive event instead of the negative tone of the past,” he said, referring to the usual attack politics and platform debates on the convention floor.
Appreciation: Craig Carr
Our Little Pond Loses Its ‘Big Fish’
Ooh life you’ve made it clear
You cannot be controlled
There isn’t anyplace or anything that anyone can hold
So I’m cutting loose the reins
No matter what you have in store
I will not resist you anymore
— “I Will Not Resist” by Craig Carr
I first met Annapolis musician Craig Carr in 1997. Newly 21 and exploring the downtown Annaoplis music scene, I found my way to Ram’s Head Tavern — and to Carr.
For a year, I drove from Calvert County to Ram’s Head every Thursday night. Carr typically opened with the Eagles and the Beatles. I followed him across the Circle to Armadillo’s on Mondays and Tuesdays. My song was “Dixie Chicken,” and by the end of a year he’d play it as soon as he saw me.
So in my new job as a Bay Weekly reporter in 1999, I battled my nerves when I arrived at Carr’s Cape St. Claire home to interview the musician. We chatted about his life, the things he had done and seen. Carr spoke about his love of music, and I got an inside look at the recording of his 1999 CD Big Fish.
Now our paths cross again, as I write the hardest story of my career.
Carr played his final performance last Friday evening at Eastport’s Chart House Restaurant. In Saturday’s early hours, Carr’s Jeep Cherokee struck a utility pole in St. Margarets. Carr died late July 30 at Prince George’s Hospital in Cheverly.
“He was not just an entertainer, he was a true artist off stage and on stage,” said Larry Griffin, Mama Jama percussionist and founder of We Care & Friends. “People are going to miss his music, but more, they’re going to miss a brother, a human being who cared about people. I know that I’m going to see him again. I know he’s going to be there waiting for all of us.”
If Carr found the time to relax, he would turn to his other love, the water. He spent most of his childhood out on the Bay, and he canoed local rivers, laughing as fish leapt around him.
But music always remained his true passion. “Catharsis,” a word Carr was fond of, came to him in the form of the Beatles wafting from a stereo over a suburban swimming pool. The nine-year-old dedicated his life to music from that day forward.
In 1978, Carr played in Pegasus, “one of the top D.C. bands,” living in a farmhouse with the band until 1982. Then Carr tried family life, but that didn’t satisfy him. In 1990, he set out to make his music in Annapolis.
Van Dyke & Glaser, a popular Annapolis duo, asked Carr to join them in 1991. “You can tell a musician’s ability by the type of musicians that want to keep playing with them, and Craig had them lined up,” John Van Dyke says. “I’ve always had these fantasies about creating the most awesome bands and he was always in them.”
Carr played with the band for three years. Becoming a full-time musician, he never looked back.
As music filled his life, so did it occupy his Cape St. Claire home. In his basement studio, Carr retreated to be with his music. Drums sat in the corner, guitars lined up against the wall. He turned his music room into a recording studio, where he finished Big Fish, using the computer program CubaseVST — for virtual studio technology — to sequence recordings and playbacks of tracks, editing with equalizers and mixing boards.
With Big Fish, the 43-year-old musician hoped to establish his independence. “I don’t think anyone knows about my music,” he had told me. “I’ve always played cover songs to make a living. Now, I’m hoping people will regard me more as a songwriter.”
Ooh life you’ve made it clear
You cannot be controlled
There isn’t anybody anywhere that anyone can hold
So I’m flowing with the pain
I’m trying to love the here and now
I could not resist you anymore.
On Sun., August 27, join We Care & Friends at the Craig Carr Memorial Tribute, with local musicians remembering Carr in song and words: 1-8pm at Maryland Hall.
Earth Journal
Midsummer Night
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities
—Hippolyta: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Midsummer is defined as the middle point of the light half of the year. Calendars of modern times tell you this date should be June 21, the date of summer solstice. Isn’t that the first day of summer? Then what does that make August 6? The date when we have already experienced 47 days of summer and we have 47 left before fall. Ah … Midsummer.
William Shakespeare’s famous fairy-filled romance is not about a date on the calendar but about a time when nights were magical and dreamy. In that mystical past, fairies are said to have roamed the night and morning dew to hold special powers.
While some shun such non-Christian beliefs, others find it whimsical to set out candles and gather flowers to weave into wreaths that will be hung on the doors of loved ones on August 6. Young girls will also float the wreaths along rivers in hopes of marriage predictions. It’s said that the farther the wreath floats, the sooner they’ll marry. It’s also important which bank the wreath will stop at; a possible future spouse may live close to that location.
Bonfires are lit, although not for warmth. It is said that the fire will draw the fairies closer. Staying up into the wee-hours hoping to catch a glimpse of these tiny-winged spirits is sure to bring good luck and fortune to all who witness them.
By morning light, as dew dances on the blades of grass, women of all ages should rub the palms of their hands through the dew, then apply it to their faces. The young will search for beauty, the old for youth. A quick walk with bare feet is said to keep the skin from chapping during colder months.
Of course the celebration is not complete without a midsummer’s feast. Colors are important when planning the table. Blue for water, green for plants and vegetation and yellow for the sun. The season’s best fruits and veggies are spread out with breads and ale. Children delight in tall glasses of mint iced-tea and lemonade. Lavender is strewn amongst the edibles to bring balance and serenity.
As August 6 approaches, why not make some midsummer traditions for your family? Stay up late and watch the stars, reflect on what is happening in your life and make wishes on fireflies that dance about. Plan a late picnic along the river or Bay.
Best yet, why not get out that tattered copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and read aloud.
—Lori Sikorski
Update: Harley at the Wedding
If Harley Davidson missed his usual Sunday calls on Annapolis Rehabilitation and Nursing Home [Vol. VIII, Issue 20: Bay Life: “Harley at the Nursing Home,” May 18-24, 2000] he’ll have a good excuse to offer on his return. The 130-pound harlequin Great Dane, a Pets on Wheels volunteer, was waylaid for duties as best dog to his master Raphael Jurkovic who, the day before, married Cynthia Ann Robinson in the formal gardens of Hidden View Farm in Crownsville.
A tiny flower girl led the bridal procession down the wooded pathway to the garden, strewing rosebuds along the way. Following her was Harley, regal in a black bow tie with a corn flower boutonniere affixed to his collar. Harley joined the groom and best man while two bridesmaids, one in a bright pink satin gown, the other in periwinkle blue, brought on the bride.
Even Harley could not upstage the bride, blond and radiant in her long, ivory satin sleeveless gown.
Way Downstream …
In Virginia, criticism about the heavy harvest of threatened horseshoe crabs is hitting home. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted unanimously last week to cut in half, to about 350,000, the number of horseshoes that can be harvested this year as bait …
On Long Island Sound, lobster fishermen are devastated and outraged after 11 million lobsters — 90 percent of the adult population — were wiped out, apparently by the spraying of pesticides in New York and Connecticut as a precaution against mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus …
In Massachusetts, ballplayers at the Red Sox new Fenway Park now under construction might be worrying about sliding into home plate. The state’s EPA said yesterday that some of the land on the site is contaminated with pollutants, including arsenic …
In Hawaii, the Kauai Surfing Association moved its surfing tournament this week because of the birth of an endangered Hawaiian monk seal on the beach where the surfers planned to gather …
Our Creature Feature comes from Manhattan, where a sheep named Franklin earned his freedom. Where Franklin came from, or what his real name might be, is a mystery. What is known is that police spotted him near 120th Street. Two miles later, at 88th Street, Franklin was still eluding them.
Along the way, Tina Salaks of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals joined the pursuit, which was a good thing for Franklin. Rather than taking out their frustration on Franklin, officers sent him to an ASPCA shelter.
Copyright 2000
Bay Weekly
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