According to the Wicomico Environmental Trust, a publicly owned local forest is in danger of being clear cut to make way for the dumping of dredge spoils from the Wicomico River. Citizens of Wicomico County need to make their voices heard in opposition to this action.

The forest is part of a 350-acre
parcel purchased by the county using state funds from Program Open
Space. The forest contains numerous species typical in our native mixed
forests: pine, yes, but also oak, dogwood, beech, holly, sweet gum,
magnolia, and many other plant species, and deer, woodpeckers,
raccoons, turtles, voles, skunks, and hawks. This forest should be left
alone for the benefit of humans and other living things. It is absorbing
carbon, producing oxygen, and filtering rainwater into the aquifer.

But right now a bulldozer sits in this forest. It is there because
Wicomico County and the Army Corps of Engineers are testing this
site as a place to dump mud from the next phase of a Corps project
dredging the Wicomico River. The bulldozer is there to clear a path for
the core driller, and the core driller is there to check the soil and the
aquifer level before clear-cutting the forest to create a dump site for the
dredge spoils begins.

WET encourages all concerned citizens to contact officials of Wicomico County to express their opposition to the clear cutting of this forest.

John Redden, Acting Director of Public Works, 410-548-4810
Gary Mackes, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, 410-548-4900, ext. 106
Jim Grindle, Public Works civil engineer, 410-548-4810

If you are not satisfied with what they tell you, you can call your county
council member or Rick Pollitt, the County Executive (410-548-4800).

Tell them to build the dredge spoils dump facility on a field instead of
cutting the forest.

The March of Dimes is asking Eastern Shore residents to save the date in Spring 2009 for the March for Babies. Wicomico County will host a walk on Sunday, April 19, 2009, starting from the Salisbury Moose Lodge at 10:00 AM. Caroline County will be the site of a march on Sunday April 26, 2009, starting at 10:00 AM in Federalsburg. Worcester County has selected Assateague as the site for the walk on Saturday, May 2, 2009, beginning at 10:00 AM. For more information, visit March of Dimes or March for Babies, or call 410-546-2241. The goal of the March of Dimes is to “help moms have healthy pregnancies and give hope to families of babies born too soon or sick.”

Discover the seafood, sights and serenity of Queen Anne’s County, Maryland, with online information about this gateway to the Eastern Shore. The web site includes a Calendar of Events which offers the upcoming Centreville Christmas Parade scheduled for Friday, December 5th, at 6:30 PM. Queen Anne’s County is rich with historic sites and museums along with outlet stores and one-of-a-kind shops.

A partnership between several Maryland tourism and natural resource groups has resulted in a new web site called Wilds of Worcester. WoW offers information on outdoor activities including kayaking, birding and exploration away from the usual beach scene in Ocean City. Visitors can also find information on camping, hiking, boating and biking. Check out the Wilds of Worcester and add some adventure to your next visit to Worcester County, MD.

I have had some luck this year on both the buying and selling side of Craigslist classified ads. Craigslist covers the Delmarva peninsula with two regions. One region covers the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia. The rest of the peninsula is covered by the Delaware site. I have sold a couple of bikes and some other outdoor equipment that our kids have outgrown. I bought an old rear engine riding mower from a guy in Delaware. The ads are free, and all correspondence can be handled by email if you don’t want to give out a phone number. I am a big eBay fan, but Craigslist is the best for stuff that doesn’t fit easily in a box.

The call for submissions is out for the 2009 edition of The Delmarva Review.

The Delmarva Review is a literary review publishing short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and short reviews. We feature new writing from the Delmarva and Chesapeake Bay region, but all writers will be considered. Send us your best work.

Submissions can also include illustrative artwork in the form of line drawings and black and white or color photography that can be considered for the cover. All material must be unpublished, and the deadline is December 31, 2008. The Delmarva Review web site includes specific requirements for the categories and form of the submissions. The Delmarva Review is sponsored and published by the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association.

The 1st Annual Chesapeake Bay Wine Festival will take place on May 31 and June 1 at Terrapin Park in Stevensville, MD. Entertainment and activities are scheduled from noon to 6:00 PM each day. Wine will be offered by fifteen different Maryland Wineries accompanied by live music and displays by artisans and crafters.

I ran across a link today for some sort of online newspaper called the Tidewater Trader based in Chestertown, MD. I can’t figure out from the web site if this publication has a print version, but that seems likely. The landing page currently has a funny picture of a local legend that appears in Chestertown for St. Patrick’s Day. The site includes classified ads and an extensive list of current and ongoing events for the Chestertown area. Dr. Truth gives advice to a confused Mom about the existence of a ghost in her house. My favorite page on the site is a Word Search. The current puzzle has a St. Patrick’s Day theme, and the puzzle is run by a Java applet that allows you to detach it from the page and rescramble the puzzle if you want to search again. The Tidewater Trader provides a little of that small town flavor on the web.

The 25th Annual OC Seaside Boat Show will take place February 15th-17th at the Ocean City Convention Center. There is an admission charge for this event which is sponsored by the Ocean City/Berlin Optimist Club. The OC Seaside Boat Show claims to be the #1 boat show on the Eastern Shore with 350 boats on display and over 140 exhibitors. The show also offers visitors a chance to win an 18 foot pontoon boat and 40hp motor donated by North Bay Marina. Check out the boat show web site for details. Events like this one tell us that winter is almost over.