Letters to the Editor
Volume VII Number 21
May 27 - June 2, 1999

Virginia Clagett Takes the Cake

Dear New Bay Times~Weekly:

You state [Dock of the Bay May 13-19] that Del. Virginia Clagett's idea on how to recover the Patuxent Greenway's Missing Link took the cake. You further state that she has a very good record in preserving precious Patuxent property.

Del. Clagett deserves more than a cake. Ever since her election to the Anne Arundel county council in 1974, she has been a driving force in a lot of areas. She once told me that when she was first elected to the council, she was involved in a number of sewer projects that were discussed both in council meetings and in her home.

So much so, when they had Parent's Day at her daughter's elementary school, her daughter proudly announced: "My mother is the sewer lady." How sweet.

-Tom Gill, North Beach

Death in Rockhold Creek

Dear New Bay Times~Weekly:

We live on Mason's Beach and we were awakened about 1:30am on May 22 by anguished shouts of "Help" and "Call 911!" coming from the direction of the breakwater on Owings Beach at the entrance to Rockhold Creek. We called 911 when the shouts continued; others had already called, we found. Still, the shouts continued. About 45 minutes later, the helicopter arrived with its powerful light and the next morning, we heard that many other rescue units had responded.

But it was too late for the 18-year-old, Scott Bond Jr., who drowned in the night.

The new reports made the folly of the six boaters clear: too late, too many people in too small a boat, suspected drinking, no life preservers.

Was rescue possible? How soon after the shouts commenced did others get to the surviving five and start to look for their missing companion? Is there a plan for the rescue of boaters in distress on the Bay? What role do we residents play? Whom do we call who is nearby and can be on the water in seconds, not minutes, knowing what to do?

We shall hear those anguished cries for a long time to come. As a community, we residents around Rockhold Creek owe it to the dead man to get to those in distress much quicker in the future.

Tell us what we should do.

-Carolyn Stearns and Chris May, Deale

Department of Corrections

This week, we really know how young poet Carolyn Reiner, author of the poem featured in last week's "Not Just for Kids," feels:

We wish we had spelled Heather's name Garofolo

We wish we had spelled it last week.

Because if we'd written Heather Garofolo,

We wouldn't be blushing this week.

We wish we wrote Jeffrey McMullen

We wish we had done it last week.

Because if we'd named Jeffrey McMullen,

We wouldn't have red on our cheeks.

We're chalking too many errors up to exhaustion after our birthday bash. It didn't help that most of the staff was out till the wee hours before we went to press, catching the first showing of Phantom Menace.

| Issue 21 |

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