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February 26, 2026

Centreville Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Centreville

6 Arts Notes

Young Artist’s Harp Seminar Returns to Washington College

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Now in its 21st season, the Young Artist’s Harp Seminar (YAHS) returns to Maryland’s Eastern Shore this July. Over 50 of the world’s top young harpists will reside at Washington College for two weeks of intensive study, coaching sessions with renowned instructors, and concert performances open to the public.

The festivities open on July 10 at Chestertown’s Emmanuel Episcopal Church with a chamber music concert featuring Nancy Allen, principal harpist of the New York Philharmonic, and chair of the harp department at The Juilliard School.

Harpists coming from California, to Canada, to Costa Rica, and everywhere in between, will embark on a two-week course of study with renowned YAHS faculty. A training ground for elite artists, many YAHS alumni have subsequently attended top schools and conservatories, such as The Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Paris Conservatory, and many others.  YAHS alumni have also claimed top prizes at major international competitions, including France’s prestigious Concours de Harpe Lily Laskine and Japan’s Nippon Harp Competition.

Throughout their two weeks at YAHS, harpists have opportunities to practice performing on stage, in masterclasses, and in a series of simulated orchestral auditions.

Susan Bennett Brady (Principal Harpist with the Atlanta Opera Orchestra) and Kimberly Rowe (editor of Harp Column magazine) founded the YAHS program in 2002 as a way to give young harpists ages 12–26 an intense performance and practice environment with top instruction. In 2008, they launched the international Young Artist’s Harp Competition, and in 2014, the auxiliary one-week YAHS Prep program debuted for harpists ages 8–17. The YAHS is excited to return to Chestertown to join the passionate culture of music on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Concert-goers will have many opportunities to hear the young harpists—along with faculty and special guests—in action this summer at a series of concert events open to the public.

Most YAHS students are serious about the harp, and many have plans to pursue it as a career path. Some students, however, don’t see a professional harp career in their future, and for Rowe and Brady that’s fine: “Our number one goal is simply to impart a love for music and for the harp.” They are confident the students’ experiences at YAHS will help them meet their goals, whatever they may be.

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Something of the Marvelous Challenge Features Tour of Harleigh’s Magnificent Woodland Gardens

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Pickering Creek Audubon Center’s Something of the Marvelous spring fundraiser for 2023 is a dollar for dollar matching challenge with every dollar being matched up to $50,000.

These funds support Pickering Creek’s science and nature education programs in Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester and Wicomico counties for students from at least one grade level in each school system, ensuring that every student in the grade level, regardless of background, has great outdoor learning experiences with Pickering’s talented staff of educators and scientists.

In addition to supporting school programming, these matching gifts help connect adults and families with the habitats and wildlife that also call the midshore home, and support summer EcoCamp scholarships.  And finally, generous gifts provided by the community to this matching challenge ensure that Pickering is open to the public for free everyday to enjoy the center’s beautiful trails!

Two marvelous donors have stepped forward to collectively offer this year’s dollar for dollar match.  Both are long-term supporters of the Center’s work to connect people to nature.  Supporters who contribute over $100 between May 15 and June 9 will be eligible to enjoy an evening stroll through the gardens of Harleigh, Chip and Sally Akridge’s beautiful estate off of the Oxford Rd.

After dropping off their car, guests will walk down the main lane to take in views of the impressive home that center’s Harleigh’s manicured grounds. Strolling through a formal rose garden, followed by a classic fernery/stumpery, the walk then winds through quiet wonderful woodlands along the banks of Trippe Creek.

Guests will be able to enjoy these paths by early evening light or in the day’s waning light at sunset amongst a beautiful arrangement of lit passageways and lumieres.  Guests then proceed through the English-inspired open-arched pavilion, finding their way to the Harleigh House waterside portico to sip a Martha Washington lemonade, and to ponder the gloaming.

The final place to explore on this exceptional journey is the Akridge’s Monticello-style vegetable and cutting garden.  Staff will be available along the stroll to answer question botanical and otherwise.

The home’s stunning gardens and grounds will be open on June 10 to approximately 200 supporters of Pickering Creek Audubon Center’s award-winning education programs participating in the Something of the Marvelous Challenge.

Timed entrances scheduled throughout the evening on June 10th will include complimentary beverages, time to explore, and a special thank you gift.

Unlike Pickering Creek’s pre-Covid era Tour Toast and Taste, Something of the Marvelous has no tent, no auction, and no dinners for sale.  It is all outdoors- just soaking in the marvelous blooms and scenery of the amazing Harleigh!

Pickering Creek’s fundraising goal for the 2023 Something of the Marvelous Challenge is to raise $100,000 for Pickering’s education programs. Please join us as we celebrate our achievements and prepare for the future.

School groups, families, wildlife enthusiasts and photographers from far and wide visit Pickering Creek Audubon Center throughout the year to participate in hands-on outdoor learning, volunteer experiences and immersing themselves in the natural beauty of the Eastern Shore.

For more information, please visit www.pickeringcreek.org

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Chestertown’s 2023 National Music Festival Includes Something for Everyone

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Chestertown’s renowned National Music Festival has announced its June 2023 concert schedule. From June 4-17, the Festival will bring together 28 of the nation’s most esteemed mentors and 100 promising apprentices, presenting over 30 events, ranging from major symphonies to chamber music, pre-concert talks, and master classes, plus dozens of free open rehearsals. Mentors are professional musicians who teach and perform all over the country; apprentices are young professional musicians on the cusp of their careers. Festival musicians come to Chestertown this season from 10 countries and 30 US states.

Concert schedules, tickets, and Festival Passes are available on the Festival’s website, nationalmusic.us.

Highlights of the much-anticipated 11th season include:

  • Monumental symphonic works, including the 7th Symphonies of Beethoven and Mahler, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, and Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun;
  • Performances by audience favorite and acclaimed guitarist Camilo Carrara;
  • Chamber music, including works by Prokofiev, Barber, Messiaen, Bartok, and Haydn;
  • A free Family Concert featuring percussion;
  • Forest Music, a unique performance art event in collaboration with Adkins Arboretum (tickets available at adkinsarboretum.org).

Garnering national and international attention will be the Festival’s performance of American composer Dana Suesse’s Concerto in E Major for Two Pianos, performed by the young Croatian pianists Petra Akrap & Katarina Nera Biondić and orchestra, conducted by Festival Artistic Director Richard Rosenberg.

“Whatever your musical tastes, we have performances you will love,” said Rosenberg. “In addition to our flagship orchestra concerts, try our ‘Lunchtime Chamber Bites,’ our special Family Concert, or our Market Music in Fountain Park and enjoy!”

Lunchtime Chamber Bites are short, free concerts featuring performances and discussion with the artists. The Family Concert and Market Music concerts are also free, as are several other events. All rehearsals are free and open to the public. Venues for concerts and rehearsals range from local churches to Washington College to the Raimond Cultural Center, MassoniArt Galleries, Sumner Hall, and more. Concert and rehearsal schedules are available on the Festival’s website, nationalmusic.us.

For apprentices, the National Music Festival advances the lives and careers of these promising musicians by providing access to world-class mentors and performance opportunities. Apprentices are chosen in a highly competitive process and attend the Festival on scholarship, free of charge. The Festival is a true community effort as Chestertown area residents open their homes as host families for apprentices and mentors, and Emmanuel Church in downtown Chestertown will provide lunches for the musicians on weekdays.

Visit the Festival’s website for the complete 2023 Festival concert schedule and repertoire and to purchase tickets or Festival Passes: https://nationalmusic.us/eventsand-tickets/concert-schedules/. All tickets are held for pick-up at the concerts; no tickets will be mailed. A number of concerts are free, as are all rehearsals.

The National Music Festival is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org) and the Kent Cultural Alliance (kentculture.org). For more information about the Festival, visit the website at nationalmusic.us or contact [email protected] or (443)480-0221.

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Ethan Morrison and William Fachet Named Constitution Alliance Scholarship Winners

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The Constitution Alliance Fund has named Ethan Morrison of St. Michaels and William Fachet of Kent Island the recipients of their inaugural scholarship program.  Each student received a $1,000 scholarship to be used at the college of their choice.

Fachet is a graduate of Kent Island High School and Morrison is a St. Michaels High School graduate. The students were chosen for leadership and service in the community, exceptional academic performance, and outstanding personal essays on the meaning of the constitution. The Constitution Alliance Fund scholarship program recognizes academic achievement and dedication to the principles of the Constitution and supports future careers in civic leadership.

The Constitution Alliance, in partnership with the Washington College Institute for Religion, Politics & Culture and Operation Frederick Douglass on the Hill, works to promote civic engagement through education and a commitment to uphold constitutional values and the founding principles of freedom.

For more information, contact Michelle Ewing at [email protected], 410-200-5571 or Julie Quick, [email protected] or 410-924-0904.

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Authors & Oysters: Michael Stang

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Michael A. Stang

The Bookplate is happily continuing their popular Authors & Oysters event series at The Retriever Bar in 2023. Author Henry Corrigan was featured in the most recent Authors & Oysters event on May 3rd. Next up on Wednesday, May 31st at 6pm, all are invited to The Retriever to welcome author Michael Stang as he discusses his collection of short stories, “The Monster of the Gunpowder River and Other Fabrications”.

Michael A. Stang has written over forty plays, many of which have been produced in the U.S. and Australia. His love of the short story began in grade school and was rekindled during Covid, when this collection was written. Dr. Stang is a retired emergency physician who came to Baltimore for his residency and remained. Besides writing, he enjoys travel, biking, fly-fishing and woodworking. He lives in Baltimore with his wife.

“Michael Stang’s magic-carpet stories fly us beyond the bounds of the real, into a world similar to this one but more magical, more coherent, and much kinder. Take the trip. A visit will do you good.” –William deBuys, Pulitzer finalist and author of The Trail to Kanjiroba

“The stories in The Monster of the Gunpowder River and Other Fabrications are a moving and elegant display of Dr. Stang’s abilities as a chronicler of history, place, character, and the nuances of time on the subjects on which he chooses to turn his knowledgeable gaze—in this case, the surrounds of the Gunpowder River in Baltimore County. The pieces bring to life real symbols, icons, and landmarks filtered through the author’s vivid imagination, at times melancholic and wistful, other times bawdy and outrageous. His tales are a balm for our current, challenging times.” –Dr. Hortense Gerardo, playwright, screenwriter, and Director of the Anthropology, Performance, and Technology (APT) Program at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego.

“Behold 7 wonder stories, each structured upon a skeleton of geographic and historic truths, made flesh by their able and tender physician/writer and gifted breath by the pure power of his imagination – together forming a kind of benevolent Golem to snuggle up to each night. Bravo!” –Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, Founder/Director American Visionary Art Museum

For more event details contact The Bookplate at 410-778-4167 or [email protected]. This event is free and open to the public and reservations are not required, however the event on 6/14 with Smithsonian curator, Eleanor Harvey, will require reservations to guarantee a seat. Reserve your space by calling the shop at 410-778-4167. The next Authors & Oysters is scheduled for 6/7 with local favorite, Jamie Kirkpatrick. All events are held in the back room of The Retriever, located at 337 ½ High Street in Chestertown, Maryland. 

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The Garfield Center’s Annual Short Attention Span Theatre Opens June 23

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Presenting a diverse set of short plays ranging from the outrageous to the hilarious, this year’s edition of the Garfield Center’s Short Attention Span Theatre received over 1000 script submissions from local, national and international playwrights. SAST opens for live performances starting June 23rd. Produced by Mark Sullivan, and mounted in collaboration between a large cast and crew of local performers, directors and technicians, SAST will once again feature 8 ten-minute plays, some of which will be appearing on a stage for the first time.

Directed by GCA Executive Director Steven Arnold, “On Queue” is a modern, comedic take on “Waiting for Godot.” Written by Morey Norkin, a resident of Japan who has Maryland roots, the director has cast J.W. Ruth and James Fordi in the play. Ruth was seen in GCA’s “The Play That Goes Wrong” as Max, as Chicklet in “Psycho Beach Party,” and in the title role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Fordi is a local resident, a current Washington College student, and a participant in the college’s theatre program.

In “Oh, No! I Flew Too Close to the Sun!,” a comedy by Oregon playwright Rand Higbee, a Roman-era convict attempts to clear his record by appearing as Icarus in a performance at the Colosseum – but there’s a catch! The director is Shannon Carter, who was Fiona in “Shrek,” Sandra/Florence in “The Play That Goes Wrong” and performed in a variety of acting and singing roles all over the Eastern Shore. Carter’s cast features Brianna Johnson, who appeared in GCA’s “Psycho Beach Party” and “Prescription: Murder,” Robert Walton, who performed in last year’s “SAST,” “The Play That Goes Wrong” and “Shrek,” and Ian Stotts, who portrayed Judah in GCA’s “Joseph.”

Police murder procedures meet “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” in “Annnd Scene (of the Crime),” directed by Brianna Johnson. The play, written by Ohio-based John Busser, features Adrienne Wrona, who appeared in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “Shrek” and “SAST,” Dominic Delcoco, who performed in 2022’s “SAST” and as “Gingy” in “Shrek,” and Ian Stotts.

In “Quack,” directed by Jennifer Kafka Smith, a method actor constantly inhabits his current character role much to the annoyance of his wife and her sister. Smith, who directed “Annie” and “Shrek” for the GCA, has cast newcomer Audrey Roberts from Cambridge, newcomer Lydia Clark from Worton, and Gil Rambach, who appeared in “Shrek,” “SAST” and directed 2019’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” for the GCA.

In a fantasy kingdom’s distant past, a tailor asks the Queen to break tradition by determining his own preferred surname. His chosen name, “Dragonslayer,” is also the title of North Carolina playwright Clinton Festa’s comedy. Directed by Patrick Pearce, who has appeared on the GCA stage in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “Psycho Beach Party,” “Prescription: Murder” and “SAST,” the show features a large cast of performers, including Amanda Fry, who has multi-year “SAST” credits, Ian Stotts, Robin Wood, who played FDR in “Annie,” Kyleigh Batchelor, who appeared in the children’s chorus in “Joseph,” Gil Rambach, Robert Walton, and J.W. Ruth.

J.W. Ruth directs “Evolution,” by St. Louis playwright Marjorie Williamson. Set in the dawn of civilization, it imagines that even prehistoric cave dwellers can resist change. The cast includes Colleen Minahan, who recently appeared in Church Hill Theatre’s “Sense and Sensibility” and “The Outgoing Tide,” and Pennsylvania resident and GCA newcomer Craig Stump.

Mark Sullivan is the director and playwright for “That Sounds Like Murder.” Hilarity and confusion abound on a dark and stormy night as three actresses attempt to solve a mystery but are thwarted by an unlikely source. Sullivan has cast Amanda Fry, Shannon Carter, and Adrienne Wrona.

“Game Day” is by local playwright and Live Playwrights’ Society participant Jon Clark. In this comedy, a man is facing a life-or-death situation but his dilemma is overshadowed by an argument with surprising revelations. Directed by Adrienne Wrona, the play features Shannon Carter, Dominic Delcoco, and James Fordi.

Performances begin June 23rd and run at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 PM on Sundays through July 9th. Tickets are $20.00 for general audiences and $10.00 for students and can be purchased online anytime at www.garfieldcenter.org or by calling the box office at 410-810-2060 Wednesdays through Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM.

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Blackwater NWR to Hold Annual Youth Fishing Fun Day on June 3

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In partnership with the Friends of Blackwater and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge will hold their annual Youth Fishing Fun Day on Saturday, June 3, 2023, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.  This family-friendly event will be held at “Hog Range” Pond behind the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, located off Route 335.  Young people 15 years old and under can pre-register for the event by calling 410-228-2677 or register at the event on June 3.  Fishing will begin at 9:00 am and end around 1:00 pm.

The first 100 registered youth to check in at the event will receive a t-shirt and special gift. Each registered youth will also receive a free lunch ticket for a hot dog, drink, and chips. Bait (nightcrawlers) will be provided for anglers, or they may bring their own bait or lures. A limited number of sanitized “loaner” fishing rods will be available, but anglers are encouraged to bring their own if they have one. As always, staff and volunteers are on hand to provide assistance to any of the young anglers who might need help.

Parents should note that this is a non-competitive, catch-and-release event, meant to introduce children to the fun of fishing. Any snakeheads that are caught may be kept, but they must be deceased before they leave the premises. Participants should also note that no pets are allowed at this event. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].

Directions to Hog Range Pond:  From Route 50 in Cambridge, turn onto Route 16 West.  Travel approximately 7 miles to Church Creek.  Turn left onto Route 335.  Travel approximately 5 miles.  Once you pass Key Wallace Drive on your left, turn right at the entrance to the Harriet Tubman Visitor Center.  Park in the secondary parking lot next to the pavilion behind the Tubman Visitor Center.  For further information and pre-registration, call 410-228-2677.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, protects over 32,000 acres of rich tidal marsh, mixed hardwood and pine forest, managed freshwater wetlands and cropland for a diversity of wildlife.  To learn more, visit our website at www.fws.gov/refuge/blackwater or @BlackwaterNWR.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov. 

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Eylie Sasajima Wins Washington College’s Sophie Kerr Prize

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Eylie Sasajima ’23 earned the prestigious honor with a portfolio of poems, academic work and creative non-fiction.

The Prize caps a college career that included editing Collegian, Washington College’s student-run literary and art journal; serving as a poetry reader for the College’s national literary magazine, Cherry Tree; and conducting research as an English major on Frank Herbert’s Dune.

During the award ceremony Friday night, Sasajima, from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, read several poems from her prize-winning portfolio, which she said she had curated with a conscious focus on assembling a manuscript, using the process of applying for the Sophie Kerr Prize as an opportunity to not only showcase her diverse writing, but also to strive to make the portfolio overall coalesce as a larger work.

“Poetry is the genre that I really speak best through. My goal for college was always to grow and mature as a poet,” Sasajima said. “I am right now looking at a career in editing and publishing. Something I’m thinking a lot about is putting together manuscripts.”

Sasajima began working as an editorial intern at Alan Squire Publishing of Bethesda during her last semester and will continue working there after graduation. Liz O’Connor, associate professor of English and acting chair of the department, said that is more of a continuation of Sasajima’s literary career than the beginning of it.

With her work for Collegian and Cherry Tree, as well as her scholarly work and writing, Sasajima has shown “substantial engagement in the literary community of Washington College,” according to O’Connor, and the broad approach to literary endeavors shows through in her poetry.

“In Eylie Sasajima’s poetry, the Sophie Kerr Committee recognized a young writer’s promising creative talents guided by critical acumen as an editor and intellectual engagement with the issues interrogated in the writing. In explorations of climate change, identity, gender, and power, Sasajima deftly translates between the ecologies of the self and the larger communities of our natural and social environments,” O’Connor said. “Eylie Sasajima is a poet and thinker worthy of our attention.”

Sasajima’s thoughtfulness is apparent when she discusses her work as well. Across the genres represented in her portfolio, Sasajima noted that the work deals with themes of gender, apocalypse, and home, including her homeplace of south-central Pennsylvania and her Japanese American heritage. Throughout the topics she addresses, Sasajima sees complexity, danger but also beauty, conflict but also pride.

James Hall, associate professor of English and director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House, serves on the selection committee that reviews student submissions and awards the Sophie Kerr Prize. He saw that complexity, as well as a special rigor and drive in Sasajima’s work.

“Eylie Sasajima’s poems explore the self in our modern world, confronting topics like climate change and oppression that are far-ranging and deeply impressive. As impressive as her writerly vision is the craft of her work: the attention to well-deployed imagery, to meaningful and burnished sonic textures, to poetic form that highlights and develops the wise intellectual and emotional arguments—these are all characteristics of an Eylie Sasajima poem,” Hall said. “And while Sasajima questions what it means to have a self shaped by socio-political powers, she also believes that poetry can restore the world’s beauty: to take from the ruins and build something better.”

While Sasajima won the Sophie Kerr Prize, both Hall and O’Connor noted the overall excellence and versatility of this year’s entrants, especially the five finalists, who also included Queen Cornish of Wilmington, Delaware; A.J. Gerardi of Wayne, Pennsylvania; Sophia Rooks of Williamsburg, Virginia; and Amara Sorosiak of New Milford, Connecticut.

“It was very difficult to narrow down to five finalists,” Hall said. “Reading these finalists’ work is to recognize how good writers draw from every genre and manage to mix in their own imagination to make the world feel new.”

After President Mike Sosulski announced that Sasajima had won the Sophie Kerr Prize, the other finalists turned to her with smiles and encouragement as she covered her mouth then rose to speak. Her remarks accepting the prize were heartfelt expressions of gratitude that reflected the importance of community in the Sophie Kerr tradition.

“This is an honor I never really expected for myself. and I can’t really put my gratitude into words. But I will try. Thank you to the Sophie Kerr committee for the support and for considering my work. I’m just so indebted to the English faculty here and to the Lit House staff. So thank you to all of them for their guidance, for their mentorship and for their support,” Sasajima said. “Amara, A.J., Sophia, and Queen are such amazing writers who exemplify how strong our literary community here is. And I certainly wouldn’t be here without some other members of that community…who made me feel welcome here and who are pretty wonderful writers who I look up to.”

 

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Swimmable ShoreRivers Program Returns, Expands Access to Results

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ShoreRivers is pleased to announce that not only will its Swimmable ShoreRivers bacteria testing program begin Thursday, May 25, but that weekly results from this annual program will be available this year in both English and Spanish.

Every summer, ShoreRivers deploys a team of community scientists to monitor bacteria levels at popular swimming and boating sites to provide important human health risk information to the public. Their samples are then processed, according to standard scientific protocols, in ShoreRivers in-house labs. The program follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard protocols for collecting and analyzing samples and makes public the results of that testing to let people know about current bacteria levels as they make their plans for recreating in our waterways. Results are posted every Friday, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, at shorerivers.org/swim and on both the organization’s and its individual Riverkeepers’ social media pages.

Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards shows off one of ShoreRivers’ new informational signs at Morgnec Landing on Morgan Creek.

A second page, shorerivers.org/swimmable-shorerivers-espanol, has been set up to share this program with the Spanish-speaking community, and 14 signs can be found at public sites around the Eastern Shore that explain the goals of the Swimmable ShoreRivers program and show users where to find weekly results in both English and Spanish. These signs were made possible thanks to funding from the Cornell Douglas Foundation, and ShoreRivers’ Riverkeepers will continue working throughout the season with local county officials to install more. Want to see one at your favorite local landing? Reach out to your Riverkeeper about adding a site, and talk to your county officials about installing one of these free and informative signs.

Weekly results are also shared on theswimguide.org, where descriptions of testing sites have also been added in both languages.

“At ShoreRivers, we believe that access to clean water is an essential right for all of our communities,” said Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards. “It was important to us to be able to offer informational access to more of our community, and we hope to continue expanding this access in the future.”

This public service provided by ShoreRivers truly is a community effort: this summer, 61 SwimTesters will monitor 46sites on the Choptank, Miles, Wye, Chester, and Sassafras rivers; Eastern Bay; and the Bayside Creeks. Special thanks go to our generous site sponsors, who include towns, marinas, homeowner’s associations, and families.

Bacteria levels in our rivers and tributaries vary based on location, land use, and weather—making systematic, scientific analysis of local water quality vital. Major rain events are almost always connected to spikes in bacteria levels, and outgoing tides have a higher probability of carrying bacteria pollution. Potential chronic sources of bacteria include failing septic systems, overflows or leaks from wastewater treatment plants, waste from animal farms, or manure fertilizer.

Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta holds water quality samples.

Also returning for the 2023 season is ShoreRivers’ Pumpout Boat, which begins running during Memorial Day weekend. The Pumpout Boat is a free service offered on the Miles and Wye rivers, that docks at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and operates from May to mid-October. With your help, this boat will help prevent more than 20,000 gallons of concentrated marine waste from entering our waters annually. To schedule a pump-out, contact Captain Jim Freeman at 410-829-4352, on VHF Channel 9, email [email protected], or by using the form at shorerivers.org/programs/pumpout-boat.

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

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