More than 70 people of all ages participated in the Chestertown Earth Day Festival’s first annual Community Trash and Recycle Walk on April 24. Community members were assigned specific blocks in downtown Chestertown as well as the Gilchrest Rail Trail, where one group of Washington College students found a mangled, half buried shopping cart and carried it to Fountain Park. The cart will go to Infinity Recycling, not the landfill!  Participants in the walk received a coupon for a treat at Evergrain, Figg’s Ordinary, Play It Again Sam’s or Stam’s Luncheonette.

In addition, the Chestertown Environmental Committee collected 28 pounds of #5 plastics, 200 pounds of one-use batteries, 100 CFL bulbs and 50 fluorescent tubes from town residents. 

The event was hosted by the Chestertown Environmental Committee and the Town of Chestertown, and sponsored by Chesapeake Investment Advisors, Infinity Recycling, LaMotte Company, ShoreRivers and Washington College Center for Environment and Society.

On March 12, 2021, we described how a Chestertown group decided to honor the murdered Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. They had learned from a Washington Post article, that he was devoted to rescuing, caring and finding good homes for, abandoned, abused Dachshunds.

He himself had adopted two, one young and healthy and the other old and blind. After work, he went home, put one on a long leash and carried the senior Dox from tree to tree, until an acceptable one was found.

The ten Chestertown residents created a memorial fund and donated it in his name to the American Dachshund Rescue and Adoption organization. Its Board knew about Brian’s attachment to Doxies and was very excited to receive the check. It will be used for the initial medical and other care their rescues receive.

Fast forward to April 14, 2021 when Ingrid Hansen, the owner of Figgs Ordinary and very involved in the memorial fund, found a note taped to her business’s door. It was from Ken Sicknick, Brian’s brother, who had driven hundreds of miles to Chestertown, to thank Ingrid and the others for “remembering his brother in such a thoughtful way.”

Given the depressing, dreariness of the past year and the lingering shock of the 1/06/21 assault on the Capitol, Ken’s effort was a very nice coda to the story. . .

Jane Barrett passed away on April 7, 2021, after a difficult battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). She had been staying with her family in Virginia Beach where she was staying with her family. She was 68. In Jane’s last days, she spent time near the water she loved so much; played with her granddaughter, Ellie; and was in the company of her beloved son Christian, his wife, Annie, family members and friends.  

Jane lived to the fullest to the end, including enjoying March Madness. She met her ALS diagnosis with courage and determination, traveling to Boston to be trained on innovative speech devices and in recent months on the Eye Gaze Speech machine where she most recently communicated by having her eyes type out text and email messages. In the early years of her illness, Jane was supported by family and friends with great adventures and get togethers – including trips to Cuba, the Galapagos and Europe. The memories are priceless.

Jane’s distinguished legal career as a trial lawyer, state and federal prosecutor, white collar defense counsel and legal educator is storied and the stuff of legend. She was foremost devoted to serving the public interest and doing all the good she could for who she could when she could. Her avocation was mentoring others, in the law and life and, as her University of Maryland law students and legal colleagues knew well, she always had your back with support and good advice. As a single mother raising a young son, Jane was creative in managing the so-called work-life balance and achieving great success in life and law with a little help from all her friends and colleagues. Her stories of the early days at the U.S. Attorney’s Office getting ready for trial with kids here and there playing under tables, were hilarious, belying the real challenge of it all. 

Jane’s love of the Chesapeake Bay and protecting our environment drove her passion in the environmental law field and many of her most loved recreational activities – kayaking, boating, nature walks, hikes, and cycling. She was a very active person with many varied interests and many diverse friends who loved her dearly. 

Jane graduated with a B.A. from Loyola College in 1973 and with a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976. She started her legal career as an attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and then joined the State of Maryland Attorney General’s Office to lead the Hazardous Waste/Environmental Crimes Task Force. Jane then served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, successfully pursuing groundbreaking environmental crime prosecutions and serving as the Chief of Environmental Litigation. In 1998, Jane entered private practice in Washington DC , working in environmental compliance and white collar defense as Partner for Dyer Ellis and Joseph and then Blank Rome. The capstone of her career was her appointment as tenured faculty and the Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis Cary School of Law in 2007, retiring as Law School Professor Emeritus in 2017. Jane loved young people and teaching law students. She was a lifelong learner with a sense of wondrous curiosity, even for the disease that has cut her beautiful life way too short. 

After living in Baltimore and Washington for most of her career, Jane moved to a home on the Bay at Tolchester Beach in Kent County, Maryland in 2014.  She was active in Sacred Heart Parish in Chestertown and in various community projects throughout the county, including serving as a pro-bono lawyer to the Chester River Association.  After her diagnosis, Jane moved to Harbor’s Edge in Norfolk, Virginia to be near her son and his family; she was a member of The Basilica of St. Mary Catholic community in Norfolk.  

In addition to son, Christian, daughter-in-law, Annie, and granddaughter, Ellie, Jane is survived by four siblings and their spouses (Barbara and David Foster, Philip and Linda Barrett, Richard and Carrie Barrett, and Christina and Terry Moss); 3 nephews (Jeremy Foster, Sean and Brian Barrett); 3 nieces (Lucia Foster, Megan Barrett and Melissa Morris); two grand-nieces (Brooke and Lindsay Morris); and one great-nephew (Wren Sebastian Foster).

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in Jane’s honor to I Am ALS or the ALS Association – DC/MD/VA Chapter.

The Garfield Center restarts live performances from the stage with a streamed production of 1959 Pink Thunderbird opening April 30th.

For most of 2020, the pandemic kept the Garfield Center for the Arts closed to the public. Only their initial production of Greater Tuna made it to the stage before the pandemic closed everything down in March. The GCA remained active, though, offering free weekly streamed programs under the banner of GCTV: The Garfield Streams the Arts, and by presenting two ticketed streamed programs: September’s Short Attention Span Theatre Online 2020 and December’s (STAY) Home for the Holidays! Both ticketed events were video-captured, edited programs.

The Garfield Center is excited and pleased to announce its return to live performances starting April 30th with 1959 Pink Thunderbird. Written by James McLure, the program is a presentation of two one-act plays, Laundry and Bourbon and Lone Star, which are related to one another by events, characters and plot. The production is being rehearsed and staged with social distancing and health considerations in mind, and it will be performed live from the Garfield stage and streamed online for home audiences. There will be no live audiences in the theatre. The production contains adult language and themes and is for mature audiences.

Performing Laundry and Bourbon are Sharon Herz, Jen Friedman and Melissa McGlynn. The Director is Jennifer Kafka Smith. The setting is the porch of Roy and Elizabeth’s home in Maynard, Texas, on a hot summer afternoon. Elizabeth and her friend Hattie are whiling away the time folding laundry, watching TV, sipping bourbon and Coke, and gossiping about the many open secrets which are so much a part of small-town life. They are joined by the self-righteous Amy Lee who, among other tidbits, can’t resist blurting out that Roy has been seen around town with another woman. The ensuing conversation is increasingly edged with bitter humor as Elizabeth’s inner strength is tested while important understandings are realized.

Performing Lone Star are Paul Cambardella, Brad Chaires and Brian Whitaker. The Director is Steven Arnold. The setting is the backlot of the local bar. Roy, once the local high-school hero, is back in town after a hitch in Vietnam and trying to reestablish his position in the community. Joined by his younger brother, Ray (who worships him), Roy sets about consuming a case of beer while regaling Ray with tales of his military and amorous exploits. Roy cherishes three things above all; his country, his wife, and his 1959 pink Thunderbird. But with the arrival of Cletis, the fatuous son of a local store owner, the underpinnings of Roy’s world begin to collapse as potentially devastating revelations are made with pathos and humor.

The production’s Technical Directors and set builders are Butch Clark and Nic Carter, scenic designers are Steven Arnold and Butch Clark, and the Streaming Engineer is Nic Carter with Charlie Joiner assisting as a Streaming technology consultant. Paul Cambardella is overseeing props and Barbi Bedell provides costuming assistance.

The production is offered to ticket buyers for 4 live-streamed performances only, each beginning at 8:00 PM, on Friday, April 30, Saturday, May 1, Friday May 7 and Saturday, May 8. Tickets are $15.00 (plus a modest processing/streaming fee) and can be purchased starting April 8th on the GCA website at garfieldcenter.org/pinkthunderbird.

Rev. Joel Tolbert of the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown, MD and Rabbi Eric Linder of the Congregation Children of Israel in Athens, GA have launched a new podcast called “REALigion… a Rabbi and a Reverend walk into a podcast… and talk REAL about religion.”

Joel and Eric became colleagues and friends in 2012 when they both found themselves serving congregations near Athens, GA. They were founding members of an area Interfaith group that grew from seven to over sixty clergy. Today, they live in different states but come together here to discuss faith, God, religion, entertainment, and tech. They dive into social, cultural, and political topics too, like the January Capitol Invasion, Cancel Culture, and Truth in a Postmodern world. Joel and Eric have fairly quick minds, fairly sharp tongues, good hearts, and hope anyone can enjoy being a part of their conversations!

The podcast may be found here. You’ll also find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google Podcasts, and many other podcast apps. To find out more about Rev. Tolbert, see the Spy interview with him here.

Editor’s Note: Douglas Megargee died unexpectedly on March 11th at the age of sixty-three. A graduate of Washington College, Doug was a realtor with Coldwell Banker Chesapeake Real Estate for many years, coached countless lacrosse teams, and a member of the Vestry at Shrewsbury Parish Episcopal Church. A collection of friends submitted the following for publication. 

Friendships come in many forms, and while acquaintances may be easy to define, genuinely good friendships: not so much. Those can never be adequately described, only felt. That’s what friendship was like with Doug Megargee.

Douglas showed up on the Shore in the fall of 1975, with surfboards and a massive personality in hand. Enrolled as a freshman at Washington College, the boards immediately earned him the “Moondog” moniker. Simultaneously, that personality (dwarfed only by the size of his compassionate heart) had him known by the entire student body in about a day and a half.

The following four decades of school, hunting, carpentry, boatyards, real estate, his church, and finally, the County’s Planning Commission allowed Moon to touch many lives. His wit and inherent ability to command the attention of an entire room from the moment of entrance until 5 minutes after departure could, on rare occasions, annoy the hell out of some. However, far more regularly, it left most, if not all, better and happier for his having been there.

But the banter and humor were not the only constants in Doug’s life. Friendship was crucial to him, but the most evident uninterrupted thread throughout his time was his devotion to his family. First, as a son (of a lawyer as he was apt to add) and brother, then-husband, and father, Moon’s love of his brood was the compass that guided him along life’s passage. Few conversations didn’t include a reference to his folks, an acknowledgment of Mary’s desire to have him be healthy, and a listing of Paige’s achievements since your last conversation.

While Moon’s buddies were essential to him, he was as, if not more important, to them. At times, the entertaining, obnoxious, wisecracking, and laughter were contributing factors, but they were secondary to a different trait. What set Doug apart was his extraordinary ability to empathetically listen to a friend’s pain and comfort them through whatever loss they were experiencing. His laughter was good medicine, but his compassion was lifesaving.

Doug, your friends, bid you goodbye. You’ll be greatly missed. We may no longer be able to share laughter with you, but we will enjoy your humor for many years to come. By the way, Douglas, we are aware this is giving you the chance to get your side of the story out first, but we’re ok with it. Just keep them laughing.

One of our many spies in the community was kind enough to share with Spy HQ a superb long-form article in the Baltimore Magazine on the Eastern Shore’s challenges with Black history and race relations from Kent County to Dorchester.

Beautifully written by the Mid-Shore’s own Lydia Woolever, accompanied by brilliant photography by Greg Kahn, it will make compelling reading for our Spy readers.

Read the full story here