Letters to the Editor
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 [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here
Mission Accomplished
Dear Bay Weekly:
Bay Weekly’s mission statement lays out the following:
“Our goal is to provide a quality alternative, to focus on the good in society and to explore ways to improve our world. … We at Bay Weekly invite you to join us. Together, we can make this dream a reality.”
I want to thank Bay Weekly for inviting me on several occasions to share this dream. Often we proclaim lofty visions and then allow the weight of the world to delay and, sometimes, completely derail plans we may have believed our destinies. From several Haley-family and African American history related events to several theatrical and entertainment adventures, Bay Weekly has nurtured dreams of mine. From a statue at the city dock to a forgotten heart surgeon from Johns Hopkins to that, as yet, “undiscovered” rapper or singer serving you wings in a downtown Annapolis restaurant, Bay Weekly has welcomed my lofty visions.
I applaud the paper on continuing to follow your dream and make many of our missions possible.
—Chris Haley, Annapolis
Editor’s note: Archivist and actor Haley hosts “Undiscovered” on low-frequency Radio Clay Street, 1600AM.
Carrie Steele Gets It Right
Dear Bay Weekly:
I just wanted to let you know again how much I appreciate Carrie Steele’s great work. The piece in April 21’s Bay Weekly about things folks can do for the environment [Vol. XIII, No. 16] is really, really well done. Hats off to you.
Carrie’s passion for the environment and journalistic accuracy are very impressive.
—Mike Tidwell, Director:
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
When Past Meets Present
Dear Bay Weekly:
On a whim I decided to Google my great-great-grandfather, Israel Himes, who was a Union soldier. We know that he died in action, and we have a photo of his grave marker. We know that his wife walked miles every month to the county courthouse to pick up $6 from the government.
Imagine my surprise when I found his name in your publication, Vol. XII, No. 18 [“Time for Parole Plaza to Turn a Corner: A New Developer Takes on the Old Battle Ground”].
I was simply wondering if you could forward this note to the writer, Sonia Linebaugh. I’m just curious why she singled out Israel Himes for the article.
—Patty Burdett; [email protected]
Sonia Linebaugh’s reply: When I was working on the article on development in Parole, I thought its history as a Civil War parole camp was one of the more interesting aspects. I wanted to make it come alive for the readers as it did for me when I read the muster rolls. I chose Israel Himes partly by chance and partly because his scanty story told a tale of traveling as well as war. He started in Pennsylvania, battled in Tennessee, was imprisoned in Maryland and died in Georgia. He was a parolee, and he was AWOL for a time. It added humanity to the tale.
You’re Entering the Twilight Zone
Dear Bay Weekly:
I enjoyed Dick Wilson’s Twilight Zone commentary [Vol. XIII, No. 12: March 24. Here’s my nomination: growing Calvert County’s nearby intersection of Route 2 and Grover’s Turn Road. Turning left from Route 2 and Grover’s Turn Road is something else, especially at night. Proof: broken glass from accidents is frequent at the intersection.
—Helena Mann-Melnitchenko, Owings
