Articles by Sandra Olivetti Martin

Article - History & Lore; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/18/12

October Skirmishes at Herring Creek

If you can’t wait to know more about 1812, you’ll have your chance at month’s end, when skirmishes at Herring Creek are commemorated. At the end of October 198 years ago, the British sailed into Herring Bay and invaded Town Point and Tracys Landing. Up to 300 soldiers destroyed farms and burned a tobacco warehouse. A scouting party advanced to the West River Methodist Church, likely on what is now Muddy Creek Road near Swamp Circle Road. On October 31, the...

Article - History & Lore; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/18/12

You Can’t Escape the War of 1812

Grants and historians revive this old conflict

At two centuries distant, the War of 1812 is unlikely to sweep away your sons, sink your boat, burn your barn or your nation’s capital. It will, however, invade your consciousness. It’s inevitable. With $1.5 million in Star-Spangled Banner bicentennial grants, war memorials will be popping up all over Chesapeake Country. Twenty-two projects in 14 counties (and two statewide) will use the matching grants to enroll the War of 1812 in our memories. ...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/11/12

In Chesapeake Country, a Good Man Is Not So Hard to...

You meet them in newspapers and boatsheds, street corners and museums

It is a good thing that we live in Chesapeake Country, not Pagford. Muggles muddle into miserable messes in the scenic village of J.K. Rowling’s first novel set outside the world of wizardry. A teen antihero whose only value is trying to live authentically gets into particularly nasty trouble. Maybe living authentically is not one of those things you can achieve by trying. If you trust the lessons of fiction in general or, in particular, Rowling’s Casual Vacancy...

Article - Creature Feature; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/11/12

This Week’s Creature Feature ... The Flight of the...

Tagged with a transmitter, one bird’s migration ends in tragedy, mystery

Researcher Rob Bierregaard and his team climb into nests to tag East Coast osprey with radio transmitters. This fall, 11 birds are carrying transmitters that enable Bierregaard to track their every move. Birds have strong individual idiosyncrasies in their migration. Yet laid atop one another the migration lines form a clear pattern: East Coast Birds cling to that coast all the way down through Florida. Follow Cutch from Long Island, Bierregaard suggests...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/4/12

Spotlight on the U.S. Boat Shows

The best show in town reminds us that Chesapeake Country’s marine trades are alive and well

Faceting makes a stone into a gem. Brilliance shines from the cut faces and their interactions. That may be true of places, too. Chesapeake Country is a well-faceted place. The central facet is natural beauty, but the sidelights cut by human imagination and endeavor make this place shine still brighter. With seasonal and calendar changes, new facets catch the light. Week by week, Chesapeake Country turns new facets to fascinate us. ...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 10/4/12

What’s Your High School’s Signature?

Southern signs on to Preservation and Innovation, with a party

It’s not your grandparents’ high school any more. Or your parents’. Or your big sister’s. In Anne Arundel County’s 12 high schools, Signature adds a new level of specialization to the way teens learn. Signature is the newest addition to a menu of choices county students can make in shaping their education: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; International Baccalaureate; Advanced Placement; Applied Technology; ROTC;...

Article - Creature Feature; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/27/12

This Weeks Creature Feature ... So Long, See You...

Osprey leave Chesapeake Country

Somebody’s bound to be the last osprey to turn out the lights on summer 2012 on Chesapeake Bay. By eight weeks old, this year’s babies were as big as their parents and ready to leave the nests. By the end of July and early August, you could see the youngsters trying out their wings, fishing skills and independence. Babies raised, parent osprey were free to head south. Mothers were out of here by mid to late August. They weren’t turning...

Article - Green Living; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/27/12

One in a Thousand Ways to Save Our Bay

Homestead Gardens gets its stormwater under control

A new river runs through Homestead Gardens. It’s a little out of the way, off to the side of the garden center with its plants, trees and shrubberies. But this river, which only runs when it rains, is at the center of making Homestead’s 12 acres a zero contributor to the pollution of Beard’s Creek, the South River and Chesapeake Bay. This river flows at the bottom of a grassy bowl. Before it was built, rain rushed down the sides of the bowl in a torrent...

Article - News; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/20/12

Money Flows Down Four Rivers

Mini-grants help preserve Bay heritage

When the U.S. Lighthouse Society wanted to get Thomas Point Shoal Light ready for visitors, Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South County helped with a mini-grant. Kneseth Israel Congregation used a mini-grant to explore a century of the Jewish Experience in Anne Arundel County. Annapolis Maritime Museum used another to show people around historic Eastport. Another mini-grant supported a kayak tour of the Rhode River. Yet another helped the...

Article - Letter from the Editor; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 9/13/12

Plenty to Read, Plenty to Do

We write Bay Weekly for many tastes — especially yours

Bloody Murder is a play that “will slay you,” according to Bay Weekly theater reviewer Jane Elkin. Do you care? Is 2nd Star Productions on your radar? Jane’s opinion matters a lot to 2nd Star and the dozen community and professional theater companies whose plays are routinely reviewed in our pages. Davina Grace Hill, Bay Weekly’s other regular theater reviewer, and Jane damn or sanctify months of effort with their opinions....