Not Just for Kids
by Mary Catherine Ball

Summertime brings sun and fun. We dream about it all winter long. That's when Spencer Willis Todd, a fourth grader in Mrs. Kort's class at Cape St. Claire Elementary, wrote about how it would feel to go surfing.

Spencer's short story earned him first place in the Anne Arundel County Public School's 1999 Young Authors' Contest.

Now that it's summer, it's time to cool off with Spencer.

The Great Surfing Experience

It is the perfect day for surfing. The sun is shining, there is a cool breeze and it isn't too crowded on the beach. The waves are mild but big enough to surf--- especially for me, because I am small and it is my first time surfing.

I warm up by bodysurfing out on the sandbar. That's a good way for me to test out the water. It also keeps me busy while my brothers are out surfing. (We only have two surfboards for four people.)

Then I watch my brothers and other people surfboarding and boogie boarding. Some of them look like they are going slowly, but when you are on the board, it feels like you are going fast. I also have a snack while laying under our beach umbrella. Then I am ready to go.

It feels like a long time before my brothers come back into shore. Then I can try one of the boards. I bring the big surfboard out to the sandbar by paddling on top of it.

At the sandbar, I can touch the bottom. Waves crash all around me. I wait for the perfect wave. Finally, I see the perfect wave coming!

I get on my stomach on the surfboard and then I paddle as hard as I can. The wave is sucking me into it. I think I am going to catch the wave. Then the wave spits me out like a cork from a champagne bottle.

Quickly and carefully I hop up on the board. It feels like I am walking on the water because I am standing on a board above the water. The air is going past me like a big gust. I don't have to paddle anymore because the wave is pushing me.

It is easy to steer the surfboard back and forth. I turn to go into the arc of the wave, but then the wave closes on me. Then I steer again toward the beach and the foam pushes me all the way in.

I stand up all the way in!

It is fun going on the wave. I feel great, and I can't keep from smiling.

-Spencer Willis Todd, Annapolis

Unscramble these words to discover what awaits you and your family at the beach this summer.

1. wimmsgni

2. hnisifg

3. rnusgfi

4. nsda slcaste

5. bestu

6. hlslse

7. cebkuts

8. hvosles

9. ratfs

10. vweas

Get in the mood for a water-filled summer. While you're getting wet, see if you can say these tongue twisters three times fast. How about 10 times fast?

She sells seashells at the seashore.

Swan, swim over the sea.

Swim, swan, swim.

Swan, swim back again.

Well swum, swan.

Check out the rad waves waiting for you below. Finish this picture by drawing you on your surfboard riding the wave.

Hang ten, dudes!

Kids' Calendar

Explore Extinction Fri. July 16 (1-2pm)-Wonder why some species can't survive in our world? Discover why certain animals no longer exist. Learn what animals are most likely to become endangered or extinct. Patuxent Research Refuge North, off RT. 198 Between BW Parkway and Rt. 32 in Laurel: 410/674-3304.

Be a Badd Bucc Sat. July 17 (10am-2pm)-Spend this fall on the field. Join the Twin Beach Youth Club's football team, the Beach Buccaneers. Become a player or cheer from the sidelines. Teams filled by weight and age while cheerleaders and poms must be 6-16 years. New participants need birth certificate & parent drivers license. Chesapeake Beach Townhall, $45 w/discounts for families: 301/855-6603.

See a Suffragist Sat. July 17 (1-4pm)-Meet a character from the past. Elizabeth Chandler Sinclair is a modern woman and suffragist, or person wanting the right to vote, in 1925. Make a suffragette's badge. Enjoy this Star-Spangled Saturday @ Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St., Baltimore. $4 w/discount: 410/685-3750.

Investigate Insects Sun. July 18 (1-3pm)-Want to start your own insect collection? See how at an introductory workshop. Learn insect trivia and how to capture and prepare specimens for a collection. Practice your techniques. Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, Port Republic: 410/535-5327.

Search a Stream Sun. July 18 (2-4pm)-Explore the aquatic life of a stream and pond. Look for frogs, turtles, tadpoles, dragonflies and other insects. Equipment and field guides available. Expect to get wet. Bring a change of clothes and towel. Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, Lothian. $2.50 w/discounts, rsvp: 410/741-9330.

Cuddle & Read Tues. July 20 (10am)-Parents and very young children strengthen listening skills at the Calvert County Public Library reading program: 20 minutes of books, flannel board stories and songs. Parents w/ages 0-24 mos. Twin Beaches Branch, rsvp: 410/257-2411.

Meet Margaret Brent July 20 & 21 (10:30am & 2pm)-Do you know Margaret Brent of Maryland? Hear about this colonial woman's life. Learn why she raised a Native American princess. Mary Ann Jung presents this Calvert Co.Libraries' Summer Fun Program July 20 10:30am @ Prince Frederick Rescue Squad; July 20 2pm @ Dunkirk Fire Department; July 21 10:30am @ Northeast Community Center, Chesapeake Beach; July 21 2pm @ Southern Community Center, Lusby: 410/535-0291.

Answers: 1. swimming 2. fishing 3. surfing 4. sand castles 5. tubes 6. shells 7. buckets 8. shovels 9. rafts 10. waves

| Issue 28 |

Volume VII Number 28
July 15-21, 1999
New Bay Times

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