EDITORIAL

Benefits of Summer: During Easy Livin', Time for Givin'

Summer along the Chesapeake, unmistakably. We are smack in the midst of the Bay's shining season, a time when we're not looking ahead to the next season or living on the cusp of the last.

Were it not for the heat, we might turn up the volume on those lyrics: "Summertime, when the livin' is easy. The fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high."

The cotton may not be poppin', but the tomatoes, squash, beans, cantaloupe, peaches and much more are ripe. And the fish are indeed jumpin', so many spot, perch and croaker up and down the Bay that anyone with a boat or money to grab a charter can feed their families for days.

Throw in a meal or two of crabs, hard or soft, and it is possible to eat nearly every meal for weeks on end solely from what is caught, grown and canned from in and around the Bay. Try it; it is an exercise in sustainability that is rewarding in many ways.

The bounty coming our way in the Chesapeake's premier season is indeed rich. And that is precisely why now is time to give something back to your community and your Bay.

We've seen wonderful examples in the recent past: The 600 people who came to the New Bay Times birthday benefit contributed $6,500 for the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

On Sunday, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Edgewater, a benefit pumped $15,000 into the Larry Taylor Sunshine Fund. Taylor, a victim of liver cancer, has been unable to work since last September.

There's more opportunities on the horizon. On Saturday, July 25, Goombay Fest '98 at Herrington Harbour South in Rose Haven will raise money for the Chesapeake Bay Trust, which in turn parcels out money to communities and schools along the Bay for conservation projects. What better excuse for spending the hours from noon until 7pm devouring Caribbean food and letting island music lighten your load? "I must go to Herrington Harbour," you can tell people. "The Bay needs my help."

That's not all. The 2nd Annual Eastport a-Rockin' Street Fest on the same day will benefit We Care & Friends plus Family & Children's Services and Sexual Assault Crisis Center. Here, at the end of Second St. at Back Creek in Eastport, also beginning at noon, there'll be loads of food and games and a whole lot of live music.

In other words, Anne Arundel County has not one but two golden summer opportunities for weekend fun of the highest order with proceeds headed to worthy destinations.

Of course, you can figure out your own charity or cause. When you do, visit or send something. And there's no better time for givin' than the days of easy livin'.

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VolumeVI Number 29
July 23-29, 1998
New Bay Times

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