Pollinators like bees are an essential part of the food web but they are in sharp decline as urbanization and the widespread use of pesticides continues to wipe out their habitat.  You can help the environment and keep the world fed by learning to start your apiary, or beehive, with Chesapeake Forum’s Beekeeping Fundamentals and Apiary Tour starting Wednesday, May 15th. 

In the first session, instructor Jim Scoggins takes students through the ins and outs of starting and managing a hive. Learn about hive design, protective clothing, harvesting and essential tools.  In the second session, students will visit a working apiary just outside of St. Michaels to gain practical experience with the concepts explained in the classroom.

Beekeeping Fundamentals and Apiary Tour is two sessions, Wednesday May 15th and 22nd from 1 – 2:30 PM. HYBRID classroom (in person at the Easton Family YMCA, ZOOM or recording) on the 15th and in person FIELD TRIP on the 22nd. To register, visit https://chesapeakeforum.org

Chesapeake Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing lifelong learning opportunities to residents of the Eastern Shore.  Chesapeake Forum is a part of the YMCA of the Chesapeake.  To receive Chesapeake Forum’s newsletter, please send your name and contact information to:  [email protected]

Join Chesapeake Forum for Lights, Camera, Action: A Legacy of Fine Filmmaking – an evening of fascinating, humorous, and, amazing behind-the-scenes stories from two generations of filmmakers on May 9th at the Academy Art Museum.  Enjoy refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres. The event kicks off the 2024 Lectures on the Shore series from the Chesapeake Forum. 

Husband and wife filmmakers are rare and entire filmmaking families even rarer, but in the Fine family, it’s the norm. Holly and Paul Fine spent more than 40 years making documentaries for 60 Minutes, 20:20, Nightline, National Geographic, and more.  Their son, Sean, has won an Oscar for his filmmaking work. 

Holly and Paul Fine met at Chanel 7 in Washington DC where Paul shot and directed and Holly edited and directed.  They were known for the distinctive style they employed while giving a human face to complex contemporary issues. 

In 1982, they joined CBS where they produced documentaries for CBS Reports and 60 Minutes. Together, they produced stories on just about everyone who has been in the news including, Barbara Streisand, Kirk Douglas, Ray Charles, and the opera singer Denise Graves. 

Their 1982 broadcast on the near assassination of Ronald Reagan, The Saving of the President gained them national attention. Their documentary, The Plane That Fell from the Sky, about a mysterious nose dive of a commercial jet in which all 49 passengers and three crew members survived, won them national acclaim.  

The Fines’ distinctive and compassionate journalism won them a trophy case full of awards including 4 Peabody Awards, a Columbia Dupont Award, over 80 Emmys, and 50 other national and international citations.

Sean Fine followed his parents into the business but he has been carving his distinctive path with his wife, the filmmaker Andrea Nix Fine. The two of them have been working together for 20 years since meeting at National Geographic. 

The first film they worked on together, War/Dance earned Sean and Andrea an Oscar nomination.  They followed that with Inocente, which took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short in 2013.  The pair are also Emmy and Peabody Award winners. 

Be prepared for an evening of amusing, wild, and surprising stories about the making of some of the most important documentaries of our time. The Fines will be interviewed by their long-time friend and Chesapeake Forum Board Member, Bruce Purdy. 

Lights, Camera, Action is Thursday, May 9th from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.  In-person tickets are $70, Livestream only tickets are $30. To register, visit https://chesapeakeforum.org.

Chesapeake Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing lifelong learning opportunities for residents of the Eastern Shore. To receive Chesapeake Forum’s newsletter, please send your contact information to [email protected].