Seasons of Bay Life

Advance on 2006 with Chesapeake inspired calendars

by Carrie Steele

Want to know where you’re headed even before the clock strikes midnight on December 31? Buy your calendar now, and you’ll kick off 2006 with map in hand for your new year. When you buy a local calendar, you reap the benefit of 12 months of local art and culture.

January ~ O Happy Days

Annapolis artist Daniel Vong’s signature line drawings with soft watercolors put a local face on the seasons, sometimes with cute, cartoonish characters or animals. Skiers track a heart in the snow for February; in August, a bridge scene depicts both boater and convertible driver pulled over for tickets; in December, a line of ice skaters glides past the Baltimore skyline. This, he says, is The Way Life Should Be.

Available at Chesapeake Trading Company, Main St., Annapolis: 410-216-9797; or order from White Rose Printing. $12-15: 800-441-3346.

February ~ The Maryland Natural Resource 2006 Calendar

A ruby red sunset, a laughing horse and a perched bluebird make for a colorful year in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ calendar. The photos, all winners of the recent DNR photo contest, feature both sweeping landscapes and closeup shots of wildlife taken by nature lovers from all over the state. The bonus is monthly tips for making the most of your state’s — and DNR’s — resources.

Order at www.dnr.maryland.gov or by phone. $9.99: 410-260-8009.

March ~ The Belles and Whistles of Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department 2006 Calendar

These men and women (yes, this year’s calendar is gender integrated) of Kent Island rely on well-placed fire-fighting equipment and other obstructions to raise not eyebrows but money for a new fire station. Some 100 men and women — including an entire crew of firefighters and a garden club — disrobed to show off their island community. There are no supermodels in this calendar, but more than a few witty scenes will keep you smiling through 2006. We just hope firefighting in the nude isn’t too dangerous.

Send check to: Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 27, Stevensville, MD 21666. $13 plus $2 shipping/handling: 410-643-6288

April ~ Anne Arundel County’s Lost Towns Project 2006 Calendar

Romantic ruins of long lost mansions, recovered seals from aristocratic wine and 1700s English teacups are among the historic treasures you’ll uncover month to month in the Lost Towns Project 2006 Calendar, which brings excavations’ bounty and Anne Arundel’s past into your present. Buying a Lost Towns calendar means you’re participating in county history: Your dollars go toward archaeological research and historic preservation in Anne Arundel County.

Mail check to Anne Arundel County Trust for Preservation, P.O. Box 1573, Annapolis, MD 21404; or buy at Historic London Town and Gardens, Historic Annapolis Foundation, Maryland Historical Society, Homestead Gardens, Art Things and Hard Bean Coffee and Booksellers. $11.95: 410-222-7441.

May ~ Chesapeake Beach 2006

Vibrant Chesapeake Beach vistas splash across the pages of the town’s 2006 calendar, with lone herons, a ruby-red sunrise, a storm rolling across the water, kids exploring the Bay, a lighted holiday gingerbread house and a flying osprey backed by a teal-blue sky. Most of these scenes of Bay and seasonal life are captured by citizens of Chesapeake Beach.

Chesapeake Beach residents receive their calendar by mail; anyone may pick up a copy around town in local businesses, libraries and town hall. Free: 301-855-8398.

June ~ Hank Caruso’s 25th Anniversary Aerocatures Calendar 2006

Civilians and military buffs alike can appreciate the detailed ink drawings of caricatured old warplanes. Cartoonish planes — and this year a spaceship — show their personalities and temperaments with the addition of facial expressions and special features from artist/engineer Hank Caruso’s imagination.

You get a calendar-ful of notable dates, including Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (January 30), birthday of the Zamboni (June 23, 1953) and first controlled, manned, powered flight by the Wright Brothers (December 17, 1903).

Published by ForeFeathers Enterprises, California, MD: $15: 301-863-9939; www.aerocatures.com.

July ~ Chesapeake Bay Watermen 2006

In its 15th year, the Chesapeake Bay Watermen’s calendar celebrates those who make their living on the Bay. Scenes of crabbers, boats, oyster tongs and a flock of snow geese become art in twilight, calm waters and blanketing snow. Each month’s page features characters of land and water captured by local photographers, including Marion Warren, Bryan Hatchett and David Harp.

A bonus is Bay recipes for each month so you can make P.E. Pruitt’s Oysters Rockefeller to warm you in January and Old Maryland Baked Apples for your Thanksgiving feast.

Available at local bookstores and shops. Published by RatMink, Inc., Hampton, VA. $13.95: 757-722-7712.

August ~ Maryland

Sweeping vistas from hilly western Maryland juxtapose with Bay skipjacks on this photographic journey with former National Geographic photographer Steve Uzzell. This year you’ll encounter the Turkey Point Lighthouse, the Pocomoke River, snowy Garrett County and northern Baltimore County. This mid-size calendar showcasing the Old Line’s natural beauty may well inspire you to travel statewide.

Available at local bookstores or online. Published by Graphic Art Center Publishing, Portland, Oregon. $12.99; www.gacpc.com.

September ~ 2006 Chesapeake Bay Retrievers

The bold, bright Chesapeake Bay retriever takes you through 2006 in bounds and leaps in the 2006 Chesapeake Bay Retrievers wall calendar. In this canine compilation, the curly-haired red dogs jump obstacles, pose by pumpkins and dive into water to display the magnificence of their breed.

(You’ll see many of the admirable qualities of Maryland’s state dog here, but still more in Kat Bennett’s forthcoming, 2006 Bay Weekly story.)

Order online or at area bookstores. $13.99: www.calendars.com.

October ~ Sunday Mornings in Annapolis

Sunday mornings in the city are bright, peaceful spaces for early risers, and these are the times photographer Garry Fritz has captured — and transformed — as a dozen bright scenes, nooks and shiny storefronts in his 2006 calendar. On a Polaroid picture, Fritz uses a wooden stylus and digital techniques to create an even more alluring Annapolis you’ll want to get to know. Fritz’s photographic art is part impressionistic, part plein air painting and part like looking through flowing water.

Pick up a copy at City Dock Coffee, where you’ll find more of Fritz’s works on display through Jan. 8; or order one by email. $25: [email protected].

November ~ Benevolent Beacons 2006

Up and down the East Coast, lighthouses stand for strength and guidance, which is why local groups and residents pour time and money into preserving these mostly-19th-century historical beacons. Photographer David Biggy traveled from Maine to Sanibel Island, Florida, to collect lighthouses for this mid-size color calendar.

After traveling the East Coast all year, you return home in December to the Chesapeake’s western shore with the 35-foot-tall 1836 Piney Point Lighthouse, rising out of a tuft of golden marsh grasses. On the same page is our own Drum Point Lighthouse in Solomons, framed by grey skies and the Calvert Marine Museum pier.

As a bonus, some of your dollars go to the American Lighthouse Foundation to keep those lighthouses around for generations.

Order online or by phone. $8.95: 877-463-6817; www.biggysphotosetc.com.

December ~ Chesapeake Bay, Naturally

Bay photographer David Harp captures water and wildlife in crystal-clear photographs for the 2006 Chesapeake Bay Naturally calendar. Scenes this year include snow-covered workboats, marshes, aerial shots of rivers, a white hibiscus, golden orange fall landscapes and twilight waterways.

Your dollars benefit the nonprofit Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, advocating and educating on the Bay since 1971.

Order online or find a copy at area bookstores. $12.95: 888-461-4619; www.tidemark.com/chesapeake.html.

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