The Root Cellar | November 2008
Chessie, Beast of the Bay
With the recent hoopla over the Bigfoot hoax (the creature’s “corpse” turned out to be a rubber gorilla suit), we got to thinking about the Chesapeake Bay’s own elusive enigma, Chessie. Much like Scotland’s Nessie (the famous Loch Ness monster), Chessie is a huge serpentine creature that lurks somewhere beneath the water’s surface.
Accounts from eyewitnesses who claim to have seen Chessie (or Chessies—they’ve often been spotted in groups) have been coming in since the 1800s, mostly during warmer months. In 1934 two fishermen reported seeing a 12-foot-long black sea creature with a football-sized head come up for air near Baltimore. Others describe seeing sea serpents that range in length from 25 to 40 feet. The most famous sighting took place in 1982, when Robert Frew caught one of the dark, snakelike creatures on videotape near Kent Island. On this day the legendary Chessie was apparently wiggling through the Bay near a group of swimmers—yikes. The tape was shown to scientists at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History, but because of its poor quality no concrete conclusions were made. Sightings continued, and Chessie has been seen in Anne Arundel County as recently as 1997, near Fort Smallwood State Park in Pasadena.
Keep a sharp eye on the Bay—you could be the next to see the mysterious serpent emerge.
Searching for a Cause?
It seems as if we busy Annapolitans are always using a search engine for something. We search for restaurant reviews, movie times, menus, services, song lyrics, weather updates, classes—the list goes on and on. “If I had a dime for each time I searched for something on line,” you might say. Well, now you can. And better yet, you can donate it to your favorite charity.
Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly 10 cents, but when you use the GoodSearch search engine (
www.goodsearch.com), 50 percent of the money generated by your searches goes to the charity or school of your choice. The more you search (what was the name of that actor in Fargo?), the more they make. (And when you consider that search engines generally generate about $8 billion in revenue annually, that isn’t half bad!)
And you—scrolling through screen after screen of shoes for a pair to wear to your holiday party—you can help, too. Avid online shoppers can use the related website, GoodShop (
www.goodshop.com), to make purchases through participating retailers, who will donate a percentage of their shopping-generated proceeds to charities. Now we can all be philanthropists by simply doing what we normally do—so get clicking!
A Natural Beauty
Photo by David Menke
Six thousand acres of forest, 800 acres of wetlands, 100 miles of rippling streams. An Audubon-designated Important Bird Area, a haven for reptiles, and a known spawning area for yellow perch and river herring. A colonial wharf, a Native American burial ground, a hospital that dates back to 1911. Would it surprise you to learn that all of these are elements of a geographic gem that exists right here in Anne Arundel County?
The South River Greenway is in Crownsville, bound by Crofton to the west, Generals Highway to the east, Route 50 to the south, and Severn Chapel and Waterbury roads to the north. In four distinct watersheds, streams flow through the greenway and into the South River. The area’s wetlands and forests provide vital protection to the river and, consequently, to the Chesapeake Bay. The South River Greenway Project is a comprehensive land protection, restoration, and community outreach project developed by the Scenic Rivers Land Trust and the South River Federation to protect the greenway, which is vulnerable because it’s smack dab in the middle of several major metropolitan areas. Hopes are to turn it into a natural park area with a system of connecting trails to different cities in the county. A recent donation by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (to the tune of $50,000) will greatly help the project’s efforts. To learn more, contact Scenic Rivers Land Trust’s Rich Mason at
Rich_Mason@fws.gov.
Gearing Up for New Years
Pop those champagne corks–there will be a New Year’s Eve party in downtown Annapolis!
“New Year’s Annapolis: Sailing into 2009” is a celebration of the arts and community, providing a safe family-oriented environment while featuring various entertaining acts in different locations. With Brendan Curley (of Maritime Heritage Festival management) at the helm, New Year’s Annapolis has planned two sets of fireworks, ice sculpturing, VIP parking downtown and lots of events around town. The 10+ venues include City Dock, the Recreation Center, St. John’s College, St. Mary’s, City Hall, Banneker-Douglass Museum and Maryland State Teachers Association.
Young and old alike can marvel at fireworks at 7:30–8 p.m., and then head home, while the late owls can watch more fireworks over the harbor at midnight. While this will not be an alcohol-free event, the emphasis is on drinking responsibly. Held rain or shine, New Year’s Annapolis will cost $10, with tickets purchased online at
www.newyearsannapolis.org permitting a $2 donation to designated non-profits. Kids under 5 are free. After Dec. 29, tickets are $15 at any of the venues. Happy sailing into 2009!
Cheese of a Different Flavor
So deeply rooted in Eastern Shore culture is the Maryland blue crab that we often tend to incorporate the flavor of this delectable crustacean into other foods and treats, such as crab-flavored ice cream and sorbet, crab-flavored potato chips, and, more recently, crab-spiced cheddar cheese. This unique, homemade, all-natural, artisan cheese contains no synthetic hormones, antibiotics, or chemical compounds. The crab-spiced cheddar cheese originates from a small farm in Talbot County called Chapel’s Country Creamery and is sold from the nation’s capital to Rehoboth Beach. Fans include Wolfgang Puck, who buys 20 pounds per week for his restaurant, The Source, and Anthony Bourdain of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations.
Honey, Bring the Dog In!
Residents of Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties were surprised this past September to look in their backyards and see a young black bear wandering freely. Estimated to be a two-year-old male weighing between 100 and 125 pounds, the bear was first seen near Fairlee in Kent County before wandering through Centreville and eventually to the Goldsboro area of Talbot County. Paul Peditto, Director of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Heritage Service, says this was the first confirmed sighting of the species on the Eastern Shore. “Experience has taught us that the safest response for the bear and Maryland’s citizens is to let the bear wander through on its way to a more acceptable habitat,” Peditto says. “It is not uncommon for a dispersing bear to roam more than 30 miles in a day.” Conversely, it is not uncommon for residents to hurriedly bring their cats and dogs inside when bears begin wandering through their otherwise quiet neighborhoods.
Strength in Numbers
Snow geese, differentiated from the gray goose by its white plumage, breeds in Canada and winters in the southern portions of North America, from New Jersey down to Texas. Snow Geese seem to love the Delmarva Peninsula due to the marshes and ponds of the region.
Snow goose populations in the region have risen drastically as a result, to a point that they threaten other bird populations, primarily the Black Duck, because they threaten winter wheat crops as well as tidal marshes. As a result, area hunters have frequently been granted reprieve to target the Chen caerulescens after snow geese destroyed winter habitats in the refuges of Prime Hook and Bombay Hook.
For the snow geese, there appears to be strength in numbers. While snow goose hunters in Maryland have been granted increased access to snow geese, many hunters remain unenthusiastic about switching their hunting interests to the overpopulated bird because its increased numbers complicate hunting strategy. The geese travel in flocks of thousands, which means thousands of decoys are required to divert their attention.
nov 08
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