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June 5, 2023

Cambridge Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Cambridge

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Point of View Laura Spy Top Story

All In By Laura J. Oliver

June 4, 2023 by Laura J. Oliver
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I was at a dinner party this weekend, and bizarrely, all four women at the table had endured the same emergency surgery. We each had a story. Pretty sure mine was the worst.

My tale begins at Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn’s family estate 30 miles southeast of London. Mr. Oliver and I were visiting our eldest daughter and her family. We had decided to do a little sightseeing that morning when I felt suddenly odd but in an indefinable way. 

The 13th-century house and gardens proved to be a distraction for a couple of hours, although I was becoming vaguely more uncomfortable. Even so, I was absorbed by the framed letter Anne had written to King Henry the 8th the night before her beheading. Knowing she was going to die, she transmuted all the rage, injustice, and terror into unconditional love. I got it. Maybe because I was feeling increasingly ill, I could empathize with the feeling that when you can no longer save your body, you can save your soul. The only room to stand in was compassion and forgiveness. I felt a new sympathy for Anne and a bit of envy that she was at peace. The fact that I was now envying a dead person should have been a clue that something was seriously wrong. 

By that night, I was in so much pain, I asked to be taken to a hospital where I was examined by what is known in the UK as a Junior Doctor. Young and very pretty, she failed to perform the one test that would have quickly led to a diagnosis and sent me back to our rental with a charming shrug.

A day later, still feeling awful, I hauled my luggage to Heathrow and boarded a United Airlines flight back to the States alone. I struggled to lift my overpacked suitcase onto the scale at check-in, to hoist my carry-on over my head, and to endure the 8-hour flight. 

I landed at BWI after dark, where my son met me at baggage claim and drove me home in a blinding thunderstorm. I don’t think I mentioned feeling ill. I hauled my luggage inside the musty house and bumped it up the steep wooden staircase to the second floor. There, I threw worn clothes in the hamper, delighted in a warm shower, and laid down. (Hello, my own bed! Hello my pillows!) It was midnight by then, and I felt dreadful, but I was home. I arranged myself on top of the covers, fully clothed, and waited to die. If I didn’t, I’d make a doctor’s appointment in the morning—whichever came first—didn’t care. 

At 9:00 am the following day, I lay on the crinkly white paper of an exam table, and my very American doctor plunged his fingers deeply and quickly into my abdomen in a rebound test to see if it hurt. I yelped, he nodded with satisfaction and told me I had a ruptured appendix. “Go get an MRI to confirm it,” he said, “then come back here.” 

I walked slowly back to my VW and drove myself to the radiologist, where I’d have to be worked into the schedule. Sagging against a chair, I waited my turn. An elderly lady in a wheelchair was taken back. Someone with a broken wrist was called. I wondered if I should explain (again) to the receptionist that my appendix was leaking toxins into my abdomen—and maybe in this one case belly trumped broken bone—but I didn’t want to be rude. Americans do one thing nearly as well as the English. We queue. We are not line jumpers. We are very democratic about waiting our turn. I like us for this. 

Eventually, I was called back. A kind radiologist said, “How are you doing?” then quickly looked from my face to the screen in front of us and said, “Never mind, I know how you’re doing. You’re one sick girl.” She then showed me the shadowy rupture and the little leaking river of poison.

Having confirmed that my appendix had ruptured sometime between feeling odd at Hever Castle and now, I drove back to the doctor to get a referral for surgery, then drove myself two miles to the hospital. Upon arrival, I wondered if I could make it from the parking garage to the entrance. I decided to try valet parking for the first time and pulled up in front. But the valet wasn’t there.

Somehow that was the first unfathomable obstacle I’d encountered. I stared at the empty podium where he usually stands all zippy-helpful, got out, and looked around. Perhaps he was behind a pillar having a smoke. I walked into the hospital. “I need surgery. I can’t find the valet,” I said, as mystified as if they were hiding him. A kind and intuitive volunteer in a pink smock held out her hand. “Just give me your keys,” she said, and a wheelchair appeared. 

Up on the surgery floor, I was offered a landline at the intake desk to contact a friend or family member. I called my son at work in Baltimore. 

And that’s when I lost it. The instant Andrew said hello, the dam broke. Abruptly I could no longer speak. I tried to choke out my story, but it was such a terrible story I couldn’t articulate it. I think the only understandable thing I said was, “Andrew, it’s Mom.” And all I heard, all I will ever hear in memory, was, “I’m on my way.” 

I lost it at the sound of the cavalry.

 Why is love our undoing? Why is it that love breaches our defenses when no obstacle could? Later, he said the call was horrifying. I was unrecognizable. 

The surgery was a success, but I was hospitalized for five days. I guess it was a close call. But was it?

I wonder if the end is written into the beginning. I’ve fallen through ice on the river as a child, and been held underwater so long by a breaking wave at Cape Hatteras that I could only feel detached surprise that this was how I was going to die. 

I’ve been fired upon by someone with a rifle while exploring the woods with my best friend as a girl. We dropped to the ground in a hail of gunfire as tree bark exploded shoulder-height around us, then stood up and ran. Did the shooter think we were deer? We were 14. We were lucky. Or were we?

If my time of departure is on a calendar somewhere, already marked, it means I only have to drop my resistance to love. How much I love will equal my reluctance to leave when it’s time to let go, so I parse it out. I think I live avoiding heartbreak which is such a waste because I know deep in my soul there is no end to avoid. It’s safe to go all in. I won’t be leaving; I’ll just be walking into another room of the same house.  

So, I could die today, tomorrow, or decades from now. All I ask of grace is that I find the courage to live a life I don’t want to relinquish. All I ask of Love is that I get home first, where I’ll be waiting for you. 

Laura J. Oliver is an award-winning developmental book editor and writing coach, who has taught writing at the University of Maryland and St. John’s College. She is the author of The Story Within (Penguin Random House). Co-creator of The Writing Intensive at St. John’s College, she is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Fiction, an Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, a two-time Glimmer Train Short Fiction finalist, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her website can be found here.e

 

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Filed Under: Laura, Spy Top Story

38 Years and Counting: Chesapeake Music Director Don Buxton Sets the Stage for 2023 Season

June 3, 2023 by The Spy
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In the Spy’s recent interview with Chesapeake Music’s long-tenured executive director, Don Buxton, the veteran mastermind behind one the most prestigious  classical music events in the Mid-Atlantic region revealed exciting details about the upcoming 2023 season, promising a feast for the senses and a celebration of musical artistry.

With an infectious enthusiasm, Buxton shared his appreciation for the exceptional talents of the performers,  marveling at their ability to captivate audiences through their appearances on public television broadcasts, live performances at prestigious venues like Lincoln Center, and their extensive discographies. These musicians, according to Buxton, transcend the label of “world class” and embody something more profound — a level of artistry that makes them household names.

Chesapeake Music’s 2023 season is set to kick off in grand style during the first two weeks of June. Buxton has invited the public to witness the behind-the-scenes magic during free open rehearsals on June 8th and the following Wednesday. These unique opportunities offer an inside look at how these remarkable performances are meticulously crafted, showcasing the power of subtle adjustments that transform musical pieces.

This year’s festival also welcomes rising stars such as violinist Randall Goosby, whose performance earlier this year left audiences spellbound. The festival is further invigorated by the presence of the vibrant Terrorist String Quartet, finalists of a prestigious competition, who infuse the event with their infectious energy.

Buxton spoke about Chesapeake Music’s commitment to cultivating a new generation of classical music enthusiasts. The organization offers free student tickets, extending the invitation to accompanying parents and teachers. Additionally, new patron deals entice first-time attendees to experience the transformative power of live performances, creating lasting connections and cultivating an ever-growing audience.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information and ticket sales please go here.

Chesapeake Music holds its 38th annual Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival for two weekends, June 9-11 and June 15-17, at the Ebenezer Theater in downtown Easton. The program of six remarkable and diverse concerts promises to delight, surprise, and engage you. The festival opening extravaganza features works by Mozart, Wiancko, and Brahms, followed by a light reception following the concert.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Arts Portal Lead, Spy Top Story

Food Friday: In Praise of Rotisserie Chicken

June 2, 2023 by Jean Sanders
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We’ve got lots of outdoor chores to do suddenly – painting the back porch, clearing out corners of the backyard that have been overrun with ivy, watering the window boxes, weeding the tomato farm, coaxing grass to grow in the back yard and admiring the best hydrangea display we’ve ever had. The spring rain has worked its magic on the hydrangeas. And on the neighbor’s encroaching ivy. So I am cheating this week. I am not cooking because it is spring, and I have better things to do. Here are lots of rotisserie chicken ideas from lots of clever sources.

Oddly enough, June 2 is National Rotisserie Chicken Day. You read it here. Proof: https://www.holidaycalendar.io/holiday/national-rotisserie-chicken-day Normally I am a frugal shopper, and believe that I will save money if I do it all myself. This week, however, the garden beckons, and I would rather be outside than hanging in the kitchen, waiting for a chicken to roast. I will be throwing caution to the winds, and will give in to the convenience of picking up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, which not only will be dinner tonight, but lunch tomorrow. And maybe the day after that. Practical, if not rationalizing, as ever.

A relatively inexpensive rotisserie chicken is considered a loss leader for grocery stores and big box club stores, like Costco. They buy the chicken in bulk, cook dozens at a time, and have convenient (though environmentally dodgy) packages of chicken ready as the harried customer stumbles through the door. Stores probably factor into their pricing that if you are buying prepared chicken, you might also spring for prepared salads, side dishes, breads, and desserts. Resist that temptation! Pull some leftover rice out of the freezer. Tear your own lettuce! Peel your own garlic. This is why we freeze chocolate chip cookie dough – for nights when we want a treat, but don’t want to spend another dime.

This is a crazy example of extreme diets, and the ultimate exercise in the consumption of convenience food: as a student the actor Adam Driver is alleged to have once eaten a rotisserie chicken a day, to help him lose weight. Just one rotisserie chicken. Nuts. Chicken is high in protein and low in fat – though it is probably loaded with sodium and preservatives. Adam Driver’s Rotisserie Chicken Diet:
https://nypost.com/2022/11/10/adam-drivers-rotisserie-chicken-a-day-diet-is-put-to-the-test/ This seems obsessive to me, but I shudder to think of my diet during my student days. It ran more toward Doritos, pizza, cheap beer and Tab. Rotisserie chicken is probably healthier.

There are many ways to serve a store-bought rotisserie chicken. I love warming it, and serving it with a side dish of hot, buttered rice, with a vegetable and a salad. I keep rice in the freezer for these culinary moments. You might prefer mashed potatoes, or green beans, or sweet spring peas.

Rotisserie chicken leftovers become the fun. How can you use up every little bit? Rip all the extra meat off the bones and shred it, and use it in dozens of ways. You can use that pie shell that has been lurking in the freezer and make a chicken pot pie. https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/easy-chicken-pot-pie/

Martha-approved chicken club sandwiches, with crispy iceberg lettuce, tomato slice and a bit of bacon, on fresh toast. https://www.marthastewart.com/1090538/roasted-chicken-club-sandwich

This is perfect for a quick lunch, or an impromptu road trip: https://www.keepingitsimpleblog.com/food/rotisserie-chicken-sandwiches/

Chicken soup: https://themodernproper.com/quick-and-easy-chicken-noodle-soup

Tacos! https://30minutesmeals.com/rotisserie-chicken-tacos-recipe/

Soup! https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/rotisserie-chicken-noodle-soup

Chicken carbonara! https://chewingthefat.us.com/2020/11/chicken-carbonara-adapted-from-giada-de-laurentiis.html

Here is a chicken salad worthy of a trip to the beach from our friends at Food52: https://food52.com/recipes/77588-beach-friendly-roast-chicken-salad They also have leftover-rotisserie chicken thoughts: https://food52.com/blog/25147-rotisserie-chicken-recipes

And finally, to completely empty out the fridge, you can add the last of the chicken to a chef’s salad – replete with tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, cucumbers, bacon, bits of leftover ham, Swiss cheese, croutons, grated cheese. Go into all the nooks and crannies in the fridge, and really clean them out. Then you can trot back to the store, get another chicken, and start all over again. The front porch is going to need a coat of paint now, too. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a36753739/chef-salad-recipe/

“Everyone should know how to roast a chicken. It’s a life skill that should be taught to small children at school.”
–Anthony Bourdain

For your further reading:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23207301/costco-rotisserie-chicken-poultry-farming-inflation

https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/rotisserie-chicken-with-chinese-oyster-sauce-glaze/

https://chewingthefat.us.com/2021/10/ten-costco-rotisserie-chicken-recipes.html

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Food Friday, Spy Top Story

A Special Arc Arrives to Help Meet the Mid-Shore’s Affordable Housing Challenge: A Chat with CEO Jonathon Rondeau

May 31, 2023 by Dave Wheelan
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A few years ago, the “affordable housing” issue facing most Mid-Shore communities would rarely make the top ten concerns for voters, but that’s not true anymore.

For various reasons, a community’s need for workforce and young professional housing has risen to the top of pressing issues in towns like Chestertown and Easton. One of those factors was the rise of real estate prices during the COVID pandemic, which made these historically affordable places to live suddenly beyond the reach of so many. And as the region loses valuable workers and much-needed healthcare workers, the Mid-Shore municipalities are seeking strategies to address this crisis.

And like many crises, once unknown partners come to the forefront to help. And in the case of affordable housing, that is certainly the case with the relatively recent arrival of The Arc and its powerful Chesapeake Neighbors division to work with towns, counties, and the private sector to provide the synergy and financial means to make affordable housing a reality.

For the uninitiated, The Arc is not your typical affordable housing nonprofit. Starting in 1961 in Anne Arundel County, the Arc had the stated mission of supporting those with intellectual disability and developmental disability. And while a good portion of their work then was assisting with all forms of assistance and advocacy, it was The Arc’s work in finding homes where those with IDD could live independently.

Over the years, this $200 million organization has increasingly seen affordable housing missions move beyond the IDD population and become far more inclusive for all impacted by a home shortage.

On the Shore, it has become the central focus of the Arc’s Chesapeake Region office and its Chesapeake Neighbors program. Currently working on two major affordable housing projects in Easton and one set for Chestertown, which collectively is close to $20 million of construction, the Arc has almost overnight become an essential player.

The Spy sat down with Jonathon Rondeau, the Arc’s Central Chesapeake CEO, to hear more about the organization’s plans for the Mid-Shore and their approach to real and sustainable affordable housing.

This video is approximately 10 minutes in length. For more information about The Arc please go here.

 

 

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Filed Under: Spy Chats, Spy Top Story

Meet the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s New Maryland Director Allison Colden

May 29, 2023 by Dave Wheelan
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Dr. Allison Colden, the newly appointed Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Maryland program, hails from a background deeply rooted in the marine ecosystem. Born and raised in Virginia Beach, Allison’s first-hand experience with the Bay forged an intimate bond that paved her career path. This connection was further solidified during her undergraduate studies at the Virginia Coastal Reserve, ultimately shaping her lifelong commitment to protecting coastal ecosystems.

In 2015, Dr. Colden earned a doctorate in marine sciences from the prestigious Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Her impressive career trajectory includes a stint in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow and serving as the Senior Manager of External Affairs at Restore America’s Estuaries prior to joining the CBF.

Combining her scientific acumen with her vast policy advocacy experience, Dr. Colden is a consummate fit for her multi-faceted role as CBF’s Maryland Director. She brings to the table an invaluable fusion of scientific expertise and adept advocacy, skills that are central to the numerous roles she will undertake.

Recently, Dr. Colden stopped by the Spy Studio for an insightful interview about the significant challenges confronting the Chesapeake Bay in the upcoming decade. The conversation touched on critical issues, including the role of scientific research in public policy debates and the drastic, detrimental impact of the Red Catfish on native Bay species.

The good news, according to Dr. Colden, is that these invasive catfish are actually quite delectable, spurring commercial watermen to hunt them and seafood enthusiasts to help control the species through culinary consumption.

This unique approach may just be a silver lining to a serious ecosystem problem.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about the Chesapeake Bay Foundation please go here.

 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Spy Top Story

Open Table by Laura J. Oliver

May 28, 2023 by Laura J. Oliver
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I was expressing a desire for more meaningful friendships years ago when a therapist I was seeing suggested I meet another client of hers with a similar longing. She thought we might become friends. 

The no-pressure way we would meet in this arranged marriage was in a small group working on mother issues. I actually didn’t think I had any of those but attended anyway to meet the potential friend. 

We had all been told to bring a stuffed toy that somehow represented our personality. I’d made an aspirational choice, a guileless puppy for whom unconditional love is a dog specialty-of-the-house. As we gathered that first night, sitting in a circle on folding chairs in the therapist’s office, other participants were holding their avatars as well. Representatives included a stuffed kitten, one giraffe with big soulful eyes, a little raccoon… Everyone seemed to have selected a mammal of some kind, including the woman I’d identified as my potential new friend. Mary was lovely, but lovely isn’t necessarily friend material. 

That’s when I glanced directly across the circle and locked eyes with a tall, stunningly beautiful woman who was staring specifically at me. Her expression was one of invitation—a look of intense hope and bossy possibility. It was the kind of stare that makes you glance over your shoulder to see who is standing behind you, for surely that’s the person for whom it is meant. If hope could be brash, if somehow an invitation could be a demand, that was the look.

Conservatively dressed in black slacks and a pale blue turtleneck, she sat clasping a green and brown frog with huge bulgy eyes. It was the only amphibian in the room. I thought, “That frog is the weirdest choice. That frog is hilarious!” And for me, both in friendship and romance, laughter is the love that binds. Two hours later, although I’d come to meet Mary, I left with plans to call Margaret.  

Margaret was seriously yet invisibly ill, which trumped mother issues all to hell and back. And we became good friends though Margaret already had a small infantry of friends wanting to help her kick an insidious invader at least long enough to see her children grown. Which she did until she didn’t. No one can outrun a bullet forever. The point being I’m beginning to think it is true. There are people in your life whom you are destined to meet, even when you come to the party to meet someone else. Or you’re late. Or at the wrong party. 

Whether you love them or leave them, stand by, or stand by them, may be the only choices you get to make. You only get to determine how that person is going to be in your life. Meeting, with a thousand potential outcomes, was a given from the day you were born. 

It’s comforting to think I can’t miss the people bus. I can’t be on the wrong side of the street or late when the bus pulls away from the curb. I simply can’t miss running into the person who will alter the course of my life in a significant way because if I do, fate is going to make us board the same Delta flight a day later or wander down the same aisle at Wegman’s—even if it’s decades in the future in a distant town. 

In my early twenties, I dreamed seven people were sitting around a large rectangular table discussing who was going to take what role in my life. “I’ll be the father,” “I’ll be boss,” “I’ll be the blind date she marries,” “I’ll be the elderly neighbor who leaves fresh camellias on her back steps every morning when she’s a lonely young bride whose husband has deployed to the Med. 

I was watching this strategizing session without sound so I’m inventing the dialogue. But I knew they were divvying up relationships—passing around scripts as if in a play. Later I wondered, is it possible this is how it works? 

The last time I saw Margaret, she was still gorgeous, sitting up in her family room while those who cared about her slipped in one at a time to say goodbye. Margaret was unable to speak by then but seemed to understand everything going on around her, and in typical Margaret fashion (universally and lovingly acknowledged to be opinionated and often critical), she had plenty to say; she just couldn’t say it. 

I sat down next to her when it was my turn, leaning over the upholstered arm of her chair, and tried to speak for both of us, but I was in a foreign country without the language. As I recall, I opened with a comment about what I was wearing (gray sweater dress, suede boots) and what I guessed she’d have said about it! Margaret kept gesturing emphatically. Kept slinging her hands outward as if to say, “What? Wait! Do you believe what’s going on here? Say what I need you to say!” Be who you promised you would be to me before we were born. 

And I could only think, But I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know. 

I think I said I will miss you. I will love you always. But I was so utterly lost I might have said, “See you Thursday.”

If I could talk to her now, I’d say, “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your friend. Thank you for aiming frog at puppy. I was adequate in my role, but if you give me another chance, I’ll be so much better. In the years since you left, I’ve learned a little more about what I might have given. Let’s go back to the table—let me pick a different script.” In reality, I feel that way about everyone, not just Margaret. About everyone. 

I wonder if before you were born, there was a table and everyone you would come to know in this life was seated at it volunteering to play a role: “I’ll be the brother who teaches him to play acoustic guitar,” I’ll be the sister who becomes a dentist,” “I’ll be the daughter who demonstrates parents control nothing,” “I’ll be the therapist who finds her a new friend,” “I’ll be the young mother who dies too soon.” 

It took us a long time to get here, didn’t it? But there was never any doubt we’d arrive. 

Since you are reading this, I must have been at your table, yes? And you, beloved, must have been at mine. 

Laura J. Oliver is an award-winning developmental book editor and writing coach, who has taught writing at the University of Maryland and St. John’s College. She is the author of The Story Within (Penguin Random House). Co-creator of The Writing Intensive at St. John’s College, she is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Fiction, an Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, a two-time Glimmer Train Short Fiction finalist, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her website can be found here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Laura, Spy Top Story, Top Story

Poet Shines Bright Winning Sophie Kerr Award: A Chat with Elyie Sasajima

May 27, 2023 by James Dissette
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The mere opening of an envelope changed the life of Washington College graduating senior Elyie Sasajima last Friday night.

The envelope, unsealed by Washington College President Michael Sosulski, held a check for $80,000, this year’s annual sum for the Sophie Kerr Prize, the largest undergraduate award in the country given to a graduating senior showing the “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor.” The award is larger than the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Ward combined.

Sasajima is the 55th recipient of the prize first given in 1968 as stipulated by Sophie Kerr’s will and part of the larger endowment used for nurturing the literary environment at the College by funding visiting writers, underwriting student publications, offering scholarships, and buying books.

Sasajima, from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, found her way to Washington College when a family member and alumnus recommended that the recent high school graduate consider applying for a Sophie Kerr Scholarship to attend the Cherry Tree Writers Workshop.

She received the scholarship, attended the workshop, and immediately felt drawn to the College’s literary atmosphere.

For four years, Sasajima immersed herself as an English major with minors in Creative Writing, Journalism Editing & Publishing, and Medieval & Early Modern Studies, along with evaluating poetry submissions for Washington College’s literary journal, Cherry Tree, and editing Collegian, the student-run literary and art journal.

Sasajimi plans to continue working as an intern at Alan Squire Publishing in Bethesda, a job she started during her last semester at college while she considers graduate degree programs abroad.

The Spy interviewed the young writer minutes after the award ceremony.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more about the Sophie Kerr legacy, go here.

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Filed Under: Spy Top Story

Food Friday: Old Favorites

May 26, 2023 by Jean Sanders
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Here we are- on the cusp of summer, on the eve of grilling season, keeping a look-out for fireflies, swatting early mosquitoes, and planning a post-COVID cookout. I’m looking forward to familiar and comfortable: a little gathering of old friends on the back porch, with songs from college playing in the background as we laugh and scarf bowls of chips like it was still the good old days of few consequences. We are panning for the gold.

As we catch up with our merry band, hearing about new babies, new homes, lives in big cities, I wonder, as one does, if I made the right choices. Maybe we would have been happier with an urban life. And then I read the newspaper, and chortle, and feel pretty smug. I was never destined to be a New Yorker, someone who might stroll into the Mischa restaurant this Memorial Day Weekend, and plunk down $29 for a hot dog. Nope. I think I plunked down about $29 for our entire cookout. The Mischa hot dog isn’t even on the lunch menu – it’s a dinner entree. For that kind of money, I’d rather learn to love caviar. Mischa: https://mischa-nyc.com

We aren’t going to serve anything that extravagant this weekend, just the old reliable favorites: hamburgers, hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, potato salad, green salad, and strawberry short cake. Also, chips and classic French onion dip, and little bowls of radishes, cucumber spears, celery and carrots for karmic balance. There will be beer. (Nothing like that Hoboken Brewing beer at Mischa for $14 a serving…) Welcome to summer. Welcome to ordinary America. No fancy pants here! Mischa Hot Dog on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrJs0WgPE45/

This is the best sort of holiday meal, one that doesn’t require numerous trips to the grocery store, ordering fancy cuts of meat, or perusing cookbooks. Jacques Pepin and Alice Waters can sit sullenly on the bookshelf – these are tried and true dishes that vary little from year to year, or really from family to family. I sometimes miss the crunchy, charred, hockey-puck-hamburgers of my childhood, but I must say that Mr. Sanders can flip a mean burger. And I still make my mother’s potato salad. Maybe you’ll grill sausage, or have a watermelon. Maybe your family always grills chicken. Be sure to enjoy yourself! COVID seems to be behind us, after all.

We will be putting a personal touch on the corn, to tide us over until our first crab feast:

Old Bay Corn on the Cob on the Grill

Heat the grill to 350° F.

Wrap each ear of corn in aluminum foil.

Generously butter the corn and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning.

Roll the corn in the foil and twist the ends tight.

Grill for 5-8 minutes on each side.

Carefully unwrap the corn and place back on the grill for a quick 1-2 minute char on each side, if desired. The grilled ears will be Instagram-able.

For added flavor, sprinkle with more Old Bay after serving.

For your oh, so, reliable pre-dinner snack’ums:
Onion Soup Dip

We never make this dip when it is just the two of us, so I welcome major religious holidays and group events when we can indulge in a nice, big, retro bowl of dip. With Ruffles. I do a slight spin on the traditional Lipton’s sour cream and French onion soup back-of-the-box dip recipe – I add a generous shakes of red pepper flakes, garlic powder and onion powder. Sometimes I splurge and get Knorr French onion soup mix, so there are attractive bits greenery in the dip, but mostly I buy the store brand. I read that this dip, a staple of the 1960s, is hot again in New York City. Just so you know, too.

Silly folks at Food52 think you might like to make the dip from scratch, but I have the Succession finale to watch this weekend, and I do not want to waste any time standing over a hot stove. May the best Roy win!

Food52’s Homemade French Onion Soup Dip: https://food52.com/blog/27921-absolute-best-onion-dip

“The first ear of corn, eaten like a typewriter, means summer to me— intense, but fleeting.”
― Michael Anthony

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Filed Under: Food Friday, Spy Top Story

Meet the New Director of The Water’s Edge/Bellevue Passage Museums

May 25, 2023 by Henley Moore and Dave Wheelan
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From the Spy’s point of view, the Mid-Shore has never experienced a more exciting era for historians as local efforts to find and recover community history have reached an all-time high. And one wonderful example of this phenomenon is the appointment of Monica Davis as the first director of the the Water’s Edge and Bellevue Passage Museums. 

Monica is a fourth-generation descendant of Bellevue’s Dr. Dennis De Shields. She had recently completed a three-month field study project co-sponsored by Washington College when the opportunity to become the new museum’s first director was presented to her. 

In our first interview with Monica, she talks about her connection with the museums and the projects she hopes to develop as she settles into the new position.  

First on her plate are two events over the next few weeks. The first is a presentation at the Talbot County Free Library on June 3rd, where local leader Richard Potter will join her on the newly released children’s book “RUTH STARR ROSE (1887–1965): THERE IS A CITY CALLED HEAVEN.”

And then, on June 17th, she’s be coordinating the museums’ Juneteenth Celebration Concert by the Maryland Spirituals Initiative at the Avalon.

We caught up with her during the chorale rehearsal. 

RUTH STARR ROSE (1887–1965): THERE IS A CITY CALLED HEAVEN
With Director Monica Davis and Richard Potter
June 3rd, 2023, 11:00 AM 100 West Dover Street, Easton, MD

Juneteenth Celebration Concert by the Maryland Spirituals Initiative at the Avalon Theatre
Saturday, June 17th, 2023, 6:00 PM
40 East Dover Street, Easton, MD

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information and ticket information please go here.

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Filed Under: Spy Chats, Spy Top Story

Spy Profile: Behind the Brussel Sprouts with Lynn Sanchez

May 24, 2023 by Val Cavalheri
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“Trust the journey and enjoy the detours.” That’s not the typical advice associated with parenting, but it’s one that Lynn Sanchez preaches. Author of the light-hearted and practical guide for parents (and grandparents) Behind the Brussel Sprouts: Why YOU Have What It Takes to Be the Best Parent for Your Child, Sanchez draws on her 50 years of experience as both a parent and as an early childhood educator to help guide mothers and fathers through the challenging, messy, often scary, and rewarding experiences of child-rearing. 

Based on 30 years of notes Sanchez kept while raising her three boys, the book was written, she said, to help parents relax and enjoy the experience of parenting, something she had not always been able to do. “In the book, I described myself as more than just a helicopter parent; I was a hovercraft! Since I majored in child development and worked in that field, I considered myself a professional parent and put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself. But there were also a lot of lessons I learned along the way that I wanted to share.”

Born in Nova Scotia, Canada, Sanchez moved 11 times by the time she became a teen. As an only child, her parents were committed to not raising a spoiled child. “They were very, very, very strict,” she said. Despite all that, by the time Sanchez started college, children were her focus, and she earned a degree in Child Development and then a Master’s in Education. She worked in the psychiatric and educational field for some years before moving to the Eastern Shore, where she taught preschool and was an assistant professor at Chesapeake College. However, her association with noted author and pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton and his ‘Touchpoint’ theory of child development helped cultivate and solidify her ideas as she created this parental guide.

The 127-page book contains twelve chapters (and two fun appendices), real-life memories, and quotable quotes that cover a variety of innovative solutions to challenging parenting situations, being also mindful that a one-size-fits-all approach may not necessarily work. Sanchez, however, is quick to point out that this is not a ‘how-to’ but a ‘what-if’ book. What if, she says, you acknowledge instead of praise, guide instead of discipline, or create logical consequences.

Some solutions, Sanchez reflects, are simpler than others. For instance, the value of how changing one word in a sentence turns a bribe or a threat into an agreement., “A bribe goes like this,” she says, “‘If you eat your dinner, you get dessert,’ Instead say, ‘When dinner is finished, dessert will be served.’ That’s an agreement. That helps a child make a choice.”

As her children grew, these choices became written and signed contracts in the Sanchez family. Did it work? “My children never broke a contract,” she said. “And trust me, I had kids who could work a system like you’ve never seen. The contract helped me remember what I had asked of them, and they remembered what they agreed to. It was right there in black and white on the refrigerator door.”

Sanchez also discusses the importance of parental collaboration. Raising three boys born within a four-and-a-half-year span and supporting husband, Rob Sanchez, through the challenges of med school, the couple instituted ‘catch-up calls.’ “It was important that Rob did not walk in the door being bombarded by three humans,” she said. “So I would call him before he came home and tell him what was going on with the kids—from who was spending the night somewhere else to who didn’t do well in math. When he walked in, he already knew the lay of the land.”

The end of the evening after the kids were in bed was ‘we time’ an opportunity to nurture the grown-up relationship between the couple. “He didn’t talk about work, and I didn’t complain about the children.” (Although their children are grown and work is no longer as intrusive, the Sanchez’, after 53 years of marriage, still keep up with this tradition.)

That same one-on-one connection was also established between Rob and the children. Calling it their ‘monthly adventure,’ Rob would pick one Saturday a month to spend individually with each child. Explained Sanchez, “The boys could choose to do whatever they wanted on their ‘date’ with Dad. No matter how long he was gone, when he was with them, he was there 100%.”

These parenting insights have been transmitted into another one of Sanchez’s talents, her deep involvement in the Tred Avon Players (TAP) theater scene. Here she can be seen bringing her characters to life on stage by integrating her unique perspective on empathy, communication, and creative problem-solving. 

Sanchez continues to work on getting her message across. She is on the board at Critchlow Adkins, works with For All Seasons ‘whenever she is needed,’ and she and Rob are an integral part of Talbot Hospice Child Loss Support Group, an organization they helped start after the death of their son, Rion. Her current emphasis is creating collaborative efforts with her connections to deal with the rise in children’s mental health issues. 

That is why Easton’s For All Seasons partnered with Sanchez to launch and make available her book to the community (and beyond). President and CEO Beth Anne (Langrell) Dorman has written a forward to the book praising Sanchez for her ‘moments of wisdom, ’remembering how she, too, had relied on Sanchez’s advice in raising her children. 

The book, of course, is more than just advice; it’s a refreshing perspective for parents who are uneasy or overwhelmed in their role. It’s also an assurance and constant reminder that although they may not be aware of it, parents have what it takes to guide their children to joy and strength. 

“Trust the journey and enjoy the detours,” Sanchez will tell you. It’s the time together on the trip, not the destination, that makes lasting memories.

As to why it’s named, Behind the Brussel Sprouts, you’ll just have to read the book and find out.

For information about Behind the Brussels Sprouts, contact Lynn Sanchez at bsprouts72@gmail.com. The book is available for purchase on Amazon.com 

 

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Filed Under: Spy Highlights, Spy Top Story

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