We welcome your opinions and letters — with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to us at [email protected].

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Roll up Your Sleeves and Save a Watershed
Dear Bay Weekly:
Thank you to Bay Weekly and Bill Burton for his recent column [Vol. XII, No. 22: May 27] paying tribute to one of Maryland’s most neglected natural treasures: the Patapsco River. While Bill’s certainly no Pollyanna when it comes to environmental issues, his writing always conveys a sense of hope that things can change — that with just a little more personal commitment and governmental gumption, we can improve water quality. So let’s all roll up our sleeves and Save the Patapsco, the Patuxent, the Potomac or whatever watershed lies in your backyard!

—Rebecca Kolberg, Pasadena,

The Right Definition of Multiculturalism
Dear Bay Weekly:
Looking back to your editorial of “Schaefer’s Big Mac Attack; Ehrlich’s Red Meat” [Vol. XII, No. 13: May 20], I think it would be wise to put Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s remarks in context. Right before he made the comment in question, he talked about how important it is to celebrate our ethnic heritage and celebrate the root from whence we came.

What Governor Ehrlich is fighting is this multiculturalism ethic that says immigrants should not be assimilated into the culture but should be allowed to breeze through life without learning our customs, mores and language. Multiculturalism says that society should bend to the needs of this ethnic minority.

When my parents arrived in this country from Mexico, they did not speak English. You can bet your bottom dollar that they learned the language quickly. And they assimilated, which provided for their children, myself included, to live a productive life in this country. If they believed in this multiculturalism bunk, I would not be where I am today.

Governor Ehrlich is right on this issue. And the people who promote multiculturalism do a disservice to the citizens of this country, as well the immigrants, by insisting that society conforms to the individual.

—Benny Gonzales, Annapolis

Thanks from the Calvert Chamber of Commerce
Dear Bay Weekly:
On behalf of the Board of Directors and all of the members of the Calvert County Chamber of Commerce, thanks for your support of the chamber’s Spring Awards Gala.

Nearly 100 chamber members and guests gathered March 27 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Hall in Prince Frederick to participate in the Spring Awards Gala.

In addition to providing a network venue for chamber members, the event also raised revenue that will assist the chamber in implementing programs for the year.

—Carolyn McHugh, President/CEO, Calvert County Chamber of Commerce