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June 30, 2025

Chestertown Spy

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Arts Chesapeake Lens

Chesapeake Lens: “Crossings” By David Sites

June 28, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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The Stad Amsterdam, a Dutch Clipper, sails under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

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Filed Under: Chesapeake Lens

Publisher Note: Just Once for the Chestertown Spy 2025!

June 27, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Dear Readers,

First, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has already stepped up to support our one and only fundraising campaign of the year. You are the reason we can keep doing what we do. We’re now breathing easier as the heat finally breaks, coffee in hand, and deadline anxiety still along for the ride.

For those who haven’t had a chance yet: no pressure. We’re halfway there and still trying to close the gap.

As major news outlets fold and independent publications shutter across the country, publications like The Chestertown Spy are becoming an endangered species. Since 2011, we’ve been here at 3 p.m. sharp each day—covering town meetings, highlighting local voices, and sharing stories that matter to Kent County. It’s local journalism by humans, for humans (with occasional interruptions from opinionated parrots).

If The Spy has ever made you think, laugh, rally, or breathe a little deeper about this town we share, we ask: help us stay and online. Help us stay free for everyone.

Let’s keep the porch light on for independent journalism—one reader at a time.

Please donate online here, or send a check to:

CSM – Chestertown Spy Fund
Mid-Shore Community Foundation
102 East Dover Street
Easton, MD 21601

With gratitude,
Jim Dissette
Publisher | The Chestertown Spy

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Filed Under: Archives, Spy Highlights

Buzzers and New Clothes By Nancy Taylor Robson

June 23, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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“Beware any enterprise that requires new clothes,” warned Henry David Thoreau. I think he meant getting married or becoming a stockbroker or undertaker, but it could easily apply to beekeeping.

People, who haven’t actually kept bees, think of it as a set-it-and-forget-it enterprise. It’s not. It’s animal husbandry. Like other animals, honeybees need food, water, protection from weather extremes, and periodic health checks. And, when they get too crowded, they’ll swarm. A large portion of the colony boils out of the hive and goes off to find a new home together. (This is wonderful to watch – a tornado of bees 30 feet or so in circumference maybe 15 feet in the air flying counter-clockwise until the queen lands, and they all eventually bunch around her in a Big Ball o’ Bees. Unless a beekeeper comes along and bops them into a swarm box, they’ll send out scouts looking for likely new digs. The scouts each come back with a report about what they’ve found and offer it to the swarming colony. Then the colony votes. Democracy in action.).

While honeybees (Apis mellifera) are not native, they have long been productive naturalized citizens of our ecology.

“Honeybees have been here for four centuries,” says Kim Mehalick, past president of the Maryland Beekeepers Association. “Settlers brought them from Europe.”

“Our connection to honeybees is ancient,” says Dr. Anthony Nearman at van Englesdorp Bee Lab at University of Maryland. “There are cave paintings of beekeepers and bees.”

Honeybees have always been treasured for their honey and their beautiful wax comb for candles. But gleaning these products without getting stung requires new clothes – and equipment.

“There’s an outlay to start,” says Mehalick. “After the second year, you have the hope of honey.”

That outlay includes the cost of hive boxes, frames, tools and packages of bees – or a captured swarm.

While their products are great – I’ve put an indecent glob of honey in my morning coffee since my husband started keeping bees – it’s long been their efficient pollinating for which they are most valued.

One of the reasons honeybees are such great little pollinators is they tend to return to the same blossom more than once, which is crucial.

Queen emerging from queen cell

“It takes eight visits to an individual bloom to produce a cucumber, for example,” Mehalick says. “The year before we got our bees, we got no cucumbers. But after we got them, I made so many pickles the kids were pleading with me not to do anymore.”

The majority of honeybees in agricultural pollination are commercially raised and trucked around the country to coincide with regional bloom times, but there has been a significant rise in honeybee hobbyists as well. The Maryland Beekeepers Association has over 800 members, and the Virginia Beekeepers Association boasts over 900.

Mehalick insists that keeping bees is ‘easy.’ (But then, she’s worked on the NASA telescope so everything else must seem easy). Having watched it up-close-and-personal, I disagree. Fascinating? Yes. Easy? Not so much. The deadly Varroa mite, hive beetles, pesticides, pathogens, development, which has decimated their natural food supply, and the increasing extremes in our climate challenge the bees and the keeper.

“When I first started forty years ago, I could put out a hive and just make sure it had some food at the end of the summer,” says Bruce Hamon, 1st VP of the Virginia Beekeepers Association (VBA). “In August, I’d take off a couple of boxes of honey, and that was life. Now, you’re reading, you’re planning…”

VBA treasurer, Ian Henry, who began keeping bees in his native Australia and has been keeping bees here for over 30 years, agrees.

“There are so many more pests here,” he says. “They don’t have Varroa in Australia, and the nectar flow there is ten months long. Here it’s only two months.”

Nectar from successive blooms of native plant colonies is the source of honey, the colony’s food. Which is what makes upping our complement of native plants throughout the season for all pollinators so crucial.

“What we’ve lost is really good forage,” Mehalick explains. “Clover is one of the first sources of nectar in spring. Black locust, tupelo trees, American holly. Many people don’t realize that trees bloom. Maple trees are the first pollen [a source of protein] in Maryland.”

To find nectar, honeybees generally forage two miles from the hive. They’ll go farther when pickings are slim, but beyond four miles it’s like asking a person to do a daily 15-mile walk for water and food. It wears out their wings, shortens life expectancy and therefore threatens the colony. Forty years ago, there were still corridors of native plants that offered forage from spring through fall. Development has destroyed those corridors and replaced them with hardscape and uninterrupted turf. (Which is what Homegrown National Park is working to change).

Gary & Dick install bee captured swarm

Since the 1950’s, we’ve been persuaded to chemically purge our once-diverse lawns of dandelion, chickweed, and clover to the tune of billions of dollars, and subsequent damage to ground water, waterways, and the Bay. It’s also been death on pollinators and other wildlife.

Fortunately, things are beginning to change.

“People are now recognizing that a green lawn is a desert to a pollinator,’ Mehalick says. “They need to have a diverse season-long environment with different native plants and food sources, and awareness of not using pesticides for a green lawn.”

“Because gardens are… groups of plants, they have the potential to perform the same essential biological roles fulfilled by healthy plant communities everywhere,” says entomologist Doug Tallamy, PhD, who urges each property owner – private, public, and commercial – to devote at least 50% of the available landscaping space to native plants.

This kind of stewardship, which is also like adding the Nature Channel to your yard, has multiple benefits since it also helps prevent fertilizer runoff, which produces algae blooms. And it costs less and draws and supports a host of diverse and fascinating creatures. Win-win.

Homegrown National Park

https://homegrownnationalpark.org

Maryland Native Plant Society/Washington College Conference

September 6-7. To register: https://mdflora.org/fall-conference

Upper Eastern Shore Beekeepers Association

https://www.uesbees.org

Bee swarm video: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=bee+swarm+videos&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:260f2fd9,vid:sDZa3h5NFUc,st:0

Longtime journalist and essayist Nancy Taylor Robson is also the author of four books: Woman in The Wheelhouse; award-winning Course of the Waterman; A Love Like No Other: Abigail and John Adams, a Modern Love Story; and OK Now What? A Caregiver’s Guide to What Matters, which she wrote with Sue Collins, RN.

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Filed Under: 3 Top Story, Archives

Remembering Theodore “Ted” Holt Chase

June 23, 2025 by Spy Desk 1 Comment

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Theodore “Ted” Holt Chase, 93, civic leader and Washington College supporter, dies.
Theodore “Ted” Holt Chase, a beloved member of the Chestertown community and longtime supporter of Washington College, passed away on June 17, 2025, at the age of 93.
A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Ted was a Yale graduate, U.S. Army veteran, and retired IBM executive. After decades of civic leadership in New York, he and his wife, Barbara, moved to Chestertown in retirement, where Ted continued his lifelong dedication to service.
He served as Chair of the Washington College Parents Committee and Lifelong Learning Program, a member of the Chestertown Ethics Committee, Director of the Chestertown Lions Club, Chair of the Magnolia Hall Board of Directors, and a member of the Chester River Health System and Chester River Country Club boards. He also volunteered as an AARP tax preparer.
Known for his integrity, warmth, and tireless civic spirit, Ted made a lasting impact on many lives through both quiet service and thoughtful leadership.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Barbara “Bobbie” Chase; their three children: Eliza Chase Morton (Mark), Theodore Van Vleck Chase (Katie), and Susannah Chase Sutley (Stuart); his brother; six grandchildren and four step-grandchildren.
A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Ted’s honor may be made to Washington College (www.washcoll.edu/give) to support an annual dinner for business students. Please note “Chase Dinner” with your gift.

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Filed Under: 5 News Notes

MSDE Celebrates Teachers of the Year

June 23, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Kent County Teacher of the Year Cheryl Fracassi, center, is joined by Director of Human Resources Dan Hushion and Superintendent Dr. Mary Boswell-McComas at a Maryland State Board of Education meeting in Baltimore Thursday, May 29.

Kent County Middle School teacher Cheryl Fracassi was among the top educators recognized recently at a Maryland State Board of Education meeting for their accomplishments.

This spring, Fracassi was named the Kent County Public Schools Teacher of the Year. Her trip to the board meeting in Baltimore Thursday, May 29 was celebration of the Teachers of the Year from all 24 school systems.

“As a teacher, I always strive to be the best I can be, and it was truly an honor to be recognized for my efforts by the Maryland State Board of Education,” Fracassi said.

Dr. Joshua Michael, president of the Maryland State Board of Education and a former middle school math teacher in Baltimore, welcomed the 24 teachers of the year to the meeting.

“We know from the research that having an excellent teacher can have a two- to three-times impact on improving student achievement,” Dr. Michael said. “Today, we have the great privilege of recognizing 24 of Maryland’s leading educators, reminding us of what’s possible when dedication meets purpose and when high expectations are matched with deep care.”

Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carey Wright said the educators represent every grade level and core subject areas and “an array of programs that reflect the world-class education delivered each day in all 24 Maryland school systems.”

“Our Teachers of the Year work unselfishly, giving the best of themselves to the children and youth in classrooms across our great state,” Dr. Wright said. “On behalf of our nearly 892,000 students statewide, I am both grateful and honored to express my deepest appreciation for all that you do.”

Kent County Superintendent Dr. Mary Boswell-McComas and Director of Human Resources Dan Hushion were on hand at the state board meeting to cheer on Fracassi.

“We are so proud of Mrs. Fracassi and all she does for our students in Kent County,” Hushion said. “She consistently demonstrates leadership and her passion for education through her role as an educator in Kent County Public Schools and her work with the Horizons of Kent and Queen Anne’s summer learning program.”

As part of the annual Teacher of the Year program, Fracassi will be vying with her fellow award winners from throughout the state to see who will be named the 2025 Maryland Teacher of the Year.

“It was humbling and exciting to meet the other Teacher of the Year candidates,” Fracassi said. “I look forward to what is in store for us in the upcoming school year.”

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Filed Under: 7 Ed Notes

Chesapeake Lens: “Gulp” By Sherri Baton

June 21, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Take-out from the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

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Filed Under: Chesapeake Lens

“Colorful Visions” By Carol McClees Featured at The Artists’ Gallery July 4

June 20, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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Break of Dawn By Carol McClees

The Artists’ Gallery will feature the work of one of their exhibiting artists, Carol McClees, on First Friday, July 4th in her latest body of work entitled “Colorful Visions.”  Carol’s goal is to create a vibrant painting conveying a sense of life, vibrancy and movement, or in Carol’s words…”ALIVE WITH COLOR!”  A contemporary artist and award-winning painter, Carol’s self-directed education has included studying with some of the best national and regional artists.  While she has worked in a variety of mediums, Carol favors painting in oil.

Carol McClees paintings have been exhibited in many juried shows throughout the United States, including but not limited to Coos Art Museum (Oregon), American Society of Marine Artists East Regional Show hosted by Biggs Museum of American Art (Delaware), Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (Maryland), and Buffalo Naval Park Museum (New York) and Working Artists Forum “Local Color” and Waterfowl Festival (Easton).  Her work is part of many private collections throughout the mid-Atlantic, Mid-West, West
Coast and New England. Carol is an active member of many art organizations, including American Society of Marine Artists, Working Artists’ Forum and Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association. Her degrees include an RN and MBA in marketing.

Deep in Thought By Carol McClees

Born and raised in New England, Carol is married to a native Marylander and lives in Baltimore.  She enjoys sailing on the Chesapeake Bay aboard her 36′ Skean Dhu, tennis, Nantucket basket weaving, embroidery and reading.
Carol’s artistic inspiration comes from a maritime landscape, a beloved animal, or an architectural delight, whether painting in plein air or in her home studio.  “Striving to achieve a painterly realism one brush stroke at a time, using abundant color, and supporting textural tools is my artistic goal.  I love to find and capture the unique moment in time when the subject matter comes to life: that fleeting moment when the magical effects of the sun cause dramatic play between lights and darks.  When accomplished, I believe that artistic tension is at its best, revealing a painting alive with color, which evokes thoughtful emotion and allows the viewer to complete the story.”
The public is invited to visit The Artists’ Gallery’s opening reception for Carol McClees on First Friday, July 4th from 5-7:30 p.m.  Carol’s paintings will be featured in the gallery throughout the month of July.  The Artists’ Gallery is located at 239 High Street in Chestertown,
Maryland.  The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.  For more information about The Artists’ Gallery, please visit www.theartistsgalleryctown.com or call the gallery at 410-778-2425.
Lead photo: Upwind Leg By Carol McClees

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Filed Under: 1A Arts Lead, 6 Arts Notes

Letter to the Editor:  Getting the Bang for the Buck

June 19, 2025 by Spy Desk 2 Comments

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President Trump proudly announced that because he is so wealthy he need not collect a salary. While $400,000 sounds like a lot, it pales in comparison to how he is personally benefiting from the office of the presidency itself.

Trump has refused to do as his predecessors have done: sever ties to the companies or financial interests that may pose, or present the appearance of, a conflict of interest. By keeping his assets in a family-managed trust, which he can revoke at any time, Trump and his family are in the unique position to profit directly from his public service. Here are just a few cases in point:

Trump’s recent crypto-currency event held at the Trump National Golf Club in D.C. brought in $394 million from the “contest winners”. Trump made his brief remarks behind the presidential seal. The money raised is going to his crypto businesses. The top donor was Chinese born, crypto-currency entrepreneur, Justin Sun, who was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission until Trump paused it.

As in his first term, Trump made his first trip abroad to the Middle East where his sons had preceded him and brokered a range of deals including a golf resort in Qatar, a Trump Tower in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, a Trump International Hotel and luxury golf club in Oman as well as leasing his brand to two projects in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. And then there is the “gift” of a jet from Qatar that could cost $1billion to retrofit over several years time and then be gifted to the Trump Presidential Library.

I recently navigated the Trump Store website (www.trumpstore.com).  The range of offerings is quite extraordinary including men’s and women’s fashions and accessories, “45” wine and whiskey, skin care products, travel items… even pickle ball rackets with Trump’s name on them. He is now hawking a “collection” of items that have embroidered on them, “2028”. The hat is only $50. The site states that everything is made in America. Really? Weren’t his watches and bibles from China?

So… How can the President of the US intertwine his business ventures with his office? Does that serve the American people well? Does it lend itself to prioritizing self-interests over national ones? Looks like a great investment…give up your salary and make millions and millions of dollars on the country’s dime. Guess he’s a great businessman after all.

Barbara Vann

Chestertown

 

 

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Filed Under: 8 Letters to Editor

Acoustic Folk-Rock Duo The Nields at The Mainstay

June 18, 2025 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

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On Sunday, July 6, The Mainstay is excited to welcome the powerful and frequently referred to as “magical” acoustic duo The Nields to their stage. Often heralded for their DNA-infused sibling harmonies (think Everly Brothers, The McGarigle Sisters, and of course the Andrews Sisters), Nerissa and Katryn’s shows are also coupled with their oft-hilarious stage banter, and direct engagement with their audience. As evidence of their high esteem in the acoustic music world, they have opened for James Taylor, The Band, The Indigo Girls, and Ani DiFranco. They have been headlining major coffeehouses and folk festivals for the last thirty years and have 16 CDs to their credit.

Katryna and Nerissa live in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. In addition to their touring schedule they also lead a very popular children’s singing class in Western, Massachusetts called Hootenanny, which draws new pre-school-aged fans to their already substantial grassroots following.

Apple Music describes their sound as “equal parts The Beatles, the Cranberries, and Joni Mitchell.” A concertgoer perhaps put it best when they said “If you don’t like The Nields you need to get your ears checked.”

Showtime for this special Sunday Mainstay concert event is 7 pm. Tickets are $20 in advance of the show and can be purchased online at mainstayrockhall.org. Phone reservations are accepted by calling (410) 639-9133 (tickets reserved by phone are $25 when paid at the door). The Mainstay is located at 5753 N Main Street in Rock Hall.

 

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Filed Under: 6 Arts Notes

Letter to the Editor: Surprise! I Liked The Parade

June 17, 2025 by Spy Desk 5 Comments

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Let me introduce myself by saying I spent Saturday afternoon at our local No Kings rally (fabulous turnout) followed by sign waving with like-minded liberals on street corners around Chestertown. After that I decided to check in on the military parade in D.C., choosing CSPAN over the nattering sycophants on Fox.

To my surprise I rather enjoyed the parade, which I had been firmly against. It is, after all, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Continental Army which is no small deal. And the Army rarely gets the spotlight, the credit and recognition they deserve. Huff Post had written: “Estimated to cost upward of $45 million to taxpayers, the parade, which was a late addition to celebrations planned for the 250th anniversary of the Army, should give Trump the flashy militaristic display he has wanted since his first term. At the time, Pentagon officials shut down the idea because they thought tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue would make the United States look “very Red Square.”

It seemed to me that the Army thwarted Trump’s grand ambitions. I enjoyed watching a military parade American style. This did not appear to be the display of awesome power that Trump wanted, and his dour face throughout the event seemed to reflect that. It recalled a storied history while presenting a restrained demonstration of modern power. (I loved the Robot Dogs)

Except when passing the presidential reviewing stand, the soldiers were very relaxed and engaged with the crowd. Most wore combat uniforms rather than dress or parade attire. No stiff faces or robotic stepping like you see in dictatorships. In fact, the drivers of the tanks were grinning and waving at the crowd, two of them were making heart signs with their fingers and some flashed peace signs. Wow! You’d never see such a thing in any other country’s military parade. Putin’s jaw must have been on the floor. The culprits would have been sent to Siberia, or worse. But these are American soldiers after all. Our guys — the ones who handed out Hershey Bars, gum and cigarettes while they were by-the-way saving our world for democracy in WW2.

The parade ended with the elite West Point and Citadel troops and only then did we see snazzy parade uniforms and precision marching. I felt the Army chose to celebrate their history their way and pretty much ignored Trump’s desires. It’s said the president requested the planes flying overhead, but any military parade would have had an aerial component.

I feared the Army band would be forced to play Happy Birthday but happily there was nothing so demeaning. In fact I heard no acknowledgment of the “other birthday” during or after the parade. They did have young country music singer Warren Zeider performing songs totally irrelevant to this patriotic event. His hits “Pretty Little Poison,” and “Guilty As Charged”. Whaaat? Maybe that was a tidbit they threw out for Trump. None of the big stars would allow their music to be used.

It’s a shame that this historic celebration was almost ruined by the wannabe King birthday boy. And that many people stayed away because of him. But the Army did itself proud in spite of the pressure. Mission accomplished. No Kings.

Lolli Sherry

Chestertown

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Filed Under: 8 Letters to Editor

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