Features

Out of the Ashes

After a New Year’s Eve fire ravaged The Old Stein Inn, owner Mike Selinger looks to rebuild his dream

“No more tears,” says 41-year-old Mike Selinger on the 12th day since flames ravaged his family restaurant, The Old Stein Inn in Mayo. The predawn fire on the last day of 2010 shook his world, stole his livelihood and made him find words to explain to his parents what happened to the restaurant they founded 28 and left in his hands 15 years ago.

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– by Sandra Olivetti Martin – 1/27/11

Jumping to Conclusions

Digging up the origin of Jumpers Hole Road led to a few facts and plenty of fiction

Part of our What’s With That series has been a challenge to you, dear reader. We invite you to write in your queries, with the promise of an upcoming solution in our pages. Turns out, this was a foolish assertion. Pat Nesbit of Arnold wrote seeking the origin of the name Jumpers Hole Road. After a day of research, I got a bad feeling that I was about to be stumped. I was.

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– by Diana Beechener – 1/27/11

Where There's Smoke ... There's Barbecue

Parole Rotary promises to feed the hungry and comfort the afflicted with its Naptown barBAYq contest and festival

This spring, the worlds of competitive cooking and barbecue culture will collide in Annapolis, as the capital city unveils its first-ever barbecue contest. Parole Rotary’s 2011 Naptown BarBAYq, planned for May 13 and 14 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, is a first-time event with big hopes. If it works, it will be a grand success on many scores, including bankrolling charities of Parole Rotary’s choosing.

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– by Sandra Olivetti Martin – 1/27/11

When It Snows, There Will Be Snowmen

And in Anne Arundel County, prize-winning snowmen

“Who doesn’t love making snowmen?” Carolyn Ryan, organizer of the first annual Snowman Building Contest, speaks for her fellow snow lovers at the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks, sponsors of the first of what they hope will be an annual contest. The contest, which is open-ended from the time of the first measurable snowfall to its last blanketing, will be judged in three categories: Traditional; Most original/creative; and Just for kids (14 and under).

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– by Aries Matheos – 1/20/11

What’s with the Cow on the Roof of that Store?

For more than 25 years, Bowen’s plastic bovine has been great advertising.

Is it a cow? A bull? A steer?Whatever, the life-size brown and white bovine perched atop Bowen’s Grocery in Huntingtown is a community fixture. And a handy navigational aide: Turn right at the store with the cow on the roof. Long-time locals, accustomed to the roof adornment, barely give it a passing glance. But newcomers and passers-by want to know What’s with the cow? So Bay Weekly asked owner Gordon Bowen to explain.

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– by Margaret Tearman – 1/20/11

Playing Sick

Two Colonial Players shift stage to teach medics to treat you right

It’s a classic case of depression. The patient can’t sleep. She’s losing weight, she fidgets, feels guilty and is withdrawn since her partner’s fatal accident. Finally she sobs out her woes to the psychiatric nurse practitioner, who listens attentively to her story. “It’s not you fault,” the nurse assures his patient, Dianne Hood. She’s doing the right thing in coming for help, and he understands what she’s going through.

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– by Jane C. Elkin – 1/13/11

What's with That?

Finding the source of a local river

“What on earth does Magothy mean?” asked a guest as we walked down to the river by my Pasadena home. “It’s the name of the river,” I explained. “But what is it? Is it a person? Or a special word?” persisted my curious guest.

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– by Diana Beechener – 1/13/11

Inspiration to Last a Lifetime

Boys & Girls Club artists hang their own art show

Michelangelo was 17 when he finished his first sculpture. Courtney Johnson, the youngest artist showing her work this month at BayWoods of Annapolis, is eight — and her photo is nationally recognized. Beat that artistic legend. “I paint to show people that everything has some kind of beauty in it,” said 18-year-old Colby Slade, the oldest artist in the BayWoods show and an art class regular at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.

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– by Aries Matheos – 1/13/11

What Goes Around Comes Around

Pay it forward in 2011

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted –Aesop The truck driver approached the tollbooths on the Bay Bridge, laboring to maneuver his big five-axle rig into an open lane. Heavy traffic made it a tough job. An elderly couple approaching the toll lanes behind him saw his predicament and slowed, waving the trucker into their lane, directly in front of them.

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– by Margaret Tearman – 1/6/11

What’s with That?

Discovering the truth behind everyday curiosities

A Gaggle of Geese What do a flock of political geese, an American flag and an uprising of religious symbols have in common? They’re all visible from Aris T. Allen Boulevard and all products of Jerry Blackwell’s creative self-expression. The flag, cross, crescent moon and star are nothing new.

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– by by Aries Matheos – 1/6/11