Letter to the Editor
Volume VII Number 48
December 2-8, 1999

Hooray for Murphy & Ruark

Dear New Bay Times Weekly:

Wow! What an incredible story! Your article [Nov. 24-Dec. 1] on Captain Wade Murphy's presentation at the Captain Salem Avery House Museum recently brought the evening vividly back alive to those of us in attendance. Chills returned to my spine as I came to the end of the article that is the story of the Bay itself.

Thank you so much for bringing Captain Wade and the sinking of the Rebecca T. Ruark to a much larger audience. They are each truly among our national treasure, and the restoration effort to save the Rebecca deserves the support of all of us who call the Chesapeake home.

-Susan E. Savage-Stevens, co-president of the Shady Side Rural Heritage Society

Editor's note: Meanwhile sailor and veteran writer Jack Sherwood, of Soundings, has offered friendly corrections to a couple of imprecisions in our story. The Rebecca Ruark went down in the Choptank, not the Bay proper, and Murphy's crew did not "unreef" her sails but "shook out a reef." Sherwood also notes that technically the Rebecca is not a skipjack but a round-bottomed sloop with a skipjack rig.

Last Call for Holiday Stories

The holidays are not only time to get together and begin new stories but also to grow closer by reminiscing. When fit together like puzzle pieces, our shared stories reveal who we are.

This holiday season, New Bay Times will be sharing favorite holiday stories. We'd like your story to be among them, but you'll have to act fast.

Write a simple narrative of a holiday experience or tradition you treasure. Tell us who and where and when and how and even why. You don't need to dwell too much on what your feelings were; the plain facts of the best stories pack their own punch. Try to keep your story to 500 or 600 words.

Send a photo or two, too.

By sharing your stories in New Bay Times, you'll touch other holiday hearts and help draw Chesapeake Country into community.

All stories will be read. Stories selected by our editorial board will be published Wednesday, December 22. (We're publishing a day early the last two weeks of the year.)

Send your stories and pictures to: Sandra Martin, Editor, NBT, P.O. Box 358, Deale, Md. · Fax 410/867-0307 · E-mail [email protected].

All photos will be returned.

Don't delay: The window of opportunity is closing.

Department of Corrections

In last week's holiday supplement, Local Bounty, the number for ordering tickets to Twin Beach Players' production of A Christmas Carol was misprinted. The correct number is 301/812-0253.

| Issue 48 |

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