Volume 14, Issue 51 ~ December 21 - December 28, 2006

Features:

Local Bounty 2006

More than 40 Days and Nights of Pleasures for All Ages

From lights displays to gingerbread house workshops to Messiah performances to ringing out 2006 and in 2007, Bay Weekly’s Local Bounty holiday guide will fill your days and nights, all the way from preparing for Thanksgiving through celebrating the New Year. We’ve reported as thoroughly and accurately as our early deadline allows, but it’s best to call ahead to confirm times. Also, peruse the whole calendar early and make your reservations, for the season’s popular events fill up fast.

Christmas Past

When the woods were ours, and dreams came true.
A memoir by Mick Blackistone

Organize the Next 365 Days with a Chesapeake Calendar

Local choices keep you Bay-centered all year. by Carrie Madren

Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold

Local jewelers celebrate the Bay with creatures that glitter.

by Helena Mann-Melnitchenko

Some Assembly Required

Santa’s helpers at Bayside Chevrolet take the fear out of these dreaded words.

by Helena Mann-Melnitchenko

Way Downstream ~ President Bush signs off on Captain John Smith National Watertrail through Chesapeake Bay … Local power: Del. Tony O’Donnell elected Republican House whip … 30 cars to drive to higher mileage … Injured eagle recruited into Scales and Tales … Yes, you can do it: 63 percent of Americans approve of regifting … And last but not least, this week’s Creature Feature, From the North Pole, how reindeer have adapted for the job of pulling Santa’s sled.

Departments:

Letters • Editorial • Bay Reflections

The Sporting Life ~ The wolves of winter: Chain pickerel keep fishermen sane in cold weather. by Dennis Doyle

Earth Talk ~ Driving greener: Which cars go farther on less gas?

Earth Journal ~ Christmas bird counts.
by Gary Pendleton

Bill Burton ~ Longing for a great fruitcake.

Dr. Gouin’s Bay Gardener ~ Keep your grip in snow and ice without harming your plants: Don’t use rock salt around your gardens.

Tidelog® • Sky Watch ~ Celebrating the return of light: Winter’s just begun to clench its icy fist, but the sun is on the rise. by J. Alex Knoll

8 Days a Week ~ Bay Weekly’s Guide to Good Times.
by Carrie Madren with Aubree Stafford

Flickerings ~ Burns on Eragon: A thud of a dud, this one’s a pointless run of ripped-off material, repackaged and tarted up with sharp graphics.