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November 30, 2023

Cambridge Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Cambridge

Arts Arts Portal Lead Spy Top Story

CBMM Becomes More Welcoming: Celebrating a New Welcome Center in St. Michaels

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After years of planning (and generous philanthropic contributions), the building is ready for the ribbon-cutting celebration that will take place this Saturday. The Center, which broke ground in the summer of 2022, marked the beginning of a project to transform the museum’s campus to include the Museum Store and three exhibition spaces in this sleek and modern structure. With a soft opening last month, the building has already played a pivotal role in CBMM’s fall festivals, with much more to come.

The Spy met with Exhibition Designer Jim Koerner, VP of Engagement Shannon Mitchell, and Director of Curatorial Affairs and Exhibitions Jen Dolde to discuss some of the innovations and historical aspects of this new space and the festivities planned for this weekend.

Built on the Fogg’s Landing side of campus, the structure is strategically attached to a parking lot. “Previously, when you visited, it would be pretty challenging to find where to go, to enter the museum,” Mitchell said. The Welcome Center addresses this concern, providing a seamless transition for visitors right off the parking lot. It also aligns with CBMM’s thematic storytelling approach, with the building being the opening chapter—the orientation. 

As guests enter the Welcome Center, they will step onto a floor map of the Chesapeake Bay and a third-order Fresnel lens (before the use of GPS, it led the mariner from one point to another along the coast.) This will “guide” visitors through the reception area to the exhibitions. Said Dolde, “Each of these exhibits is connected to the other, and we see them both as separate and as part of a whole.”  

The first one guests will come across is titled Navigating the Chesapeake’s Maritime Culture. Using CBMM’s oral history collection, photographs, and artifacts, it displays the Chesapeake as a maritime highway, habitat, and resource for the fisheries within a changing and constantly evolving community. 

Dolde spoke about how these themes serve as the foundation for the entire museum, guiding the reinterpretation of existing exhibitions and creating new ones. She also highlighted the importance of including diverse and underrepresented stories. “There’s tradition, there’s innovation, and there is the Chesapeake as a source of inspiration and identity.”

Walking further into the Center is perhaps the heart of this building. Called Water Lines: Chesapeake Watercraft Traditions, it showcases CBMM’s small craft collection. This exhibition unveils vessels that have been in long-term storage, some of them being shown for the first time. The boats are shown elevated and presented as the artistic pieces they are. 

Associated with each are panels that honor not only the craftsmanship but also the human stories behind these vessels. In one, you will see and read about the Marianne, originally a work boat converted for leisure use. Another boat and story is the Alverta, owned by a black Waterman on Kent Island, whose fortunes rose and fell with the oystering industry.

Said Koerner, “From an engagement standpoint, we’re setting a foundation. You’ll learn the stories and see the boats and the craftsmanship that goes into them. As you go through the museum, you’ll see an image of either that same boat or one similar to it and how it was used by the w waterman, fishermen, crabbers, or just the casual boater. You’ll have more of an understanding of how all these parts came together and how these things are built. It will be a richer experience for our visitors.”

He also emphasized the cultural value of these vessels, noting that as generations pass, preserving these stories becomes increasingly crucial. “We need to be able to hang on to these stories because those are all part of the fabric of our community,” he said.

Still to come is the Stories from the Shoreline, which will expand the current Waterfowling exhibition, delving into the ecology of the Bay and the experiences of those who have called the region home. Don’t miss the custom-designed glass case from Germany, which connects the various spaces within the Welcome Center and will hold more of the storytelling features.

Mitchell envisions the Center as the starting and ending point of a guest’s journey at CBMM. “On a typical day,” she said, “we’ll orient you to the campus and give you an overview of what’s happening. Perhaps give you some recommendations on what to see and do that day.” It’s a curated journey, ensuring guests leave with a sense of maritime history and a comprehensive understanding of CBMM’s offerings. 

Which is why the Museum Store is such an integral part of the Welcome Center, an opportunity to expand and take home some of the experience. It will offer unique merchandise with coastal, nautical, and regional themes. It is an engaging atmosphere with its stylized ceiling tiles, a historic photo of Crisfield’s Horsey Brothers Department Store, and exhibit vessels.

—–

CBMM invites everyone to the free Welcome Center Grand Opening celebration from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday, December 2nd.

Some highlights include a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 am, after which the “Winter on the Chesapeake” festival will officially begin. It features presentations, hands-on activities, campus tours, and live music for visitors of all ages.

Headlining the entertainment at 11:30 am is renowned jazz saxophonist (and St. Michaels native) Anthony “Turk” Cannon. The festival will also offer unique demonstrations, including an invasive species cooking demo (?) by Chef Zack Mills of Baltimore’s True Chesapeake Oyster Co. and a scrapple-making demo (!) by butchers from The Village Shoppe in St. Michaels.

There will also be a variety of food items and beverages, including festive cocktails for guests to enjoy. Although the event is free, guests are encouraged to get more information and RSVP at cbmm.org/WelcomeCenterGrandOpening.

 

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Promoting the Heritage of the Heart of the Chesapeake in Dorchester

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On November 2, the Heart of the Chesapeake Country Heritage Area annual awards ceremony was held at the Dorchester Center for the Arts in Cambridge. Two individuals and three organizations or projects were recognized for their outstanding contributions over the past year in promoting the culture and traditions of this part of the Eastern Shore. It marked another successful year for the HCCHA, which continues to play a major role in celebrating and developing what’s great about the extended community.

In concert with public and private partners, the Heart of the Chesapeake Country Heritage Area helps people, groups, and government entities preserve and promote the unique historic, cultural, and natural resources of Dorchester County. It’s core mission is to make the positive effect of heritage tourism on the local economy broader and deeper. The HCCHA is managed by the Dorchester County Tourism Department, which relies on the county government for staff, offices, and funding.

When Natalie Chabot left the tourism director position in Allegheny County to take over the one in Dorchester in 2001, a plan had already been made for creating a heritage area here, but it was still in draft form and not in great shape. Fortunately, Natalie had a solid advisory committee to work with, and they commenced the project in earnest.

The community was required to designate boundaries for the heritage area; they at first wanted to make it the whole county, but Maryland preferred to keep the areas smaller. It does encompass the majority of Dorchester, with Cambridge, Church Creek, Vienna, Hurlock, East New Market, and Secretary within the borders, as well as portions of the waterways that surround the county on three sides.

Creating the heritage area was a big process. Natalie and her staff had to attend council and planning commission meetings in every incorporated town and make them part of the project. The management board ended up with a member from each of those towns. According to Chabot, an important aspect of the heritage area is that all the communities within it share a history, heritage, and environment.

“Dorchester County has a very rich history,” she said.

Each of Maryland’s certified heritage areas is defined by the distinctive characteristics that make it unique within the state. Chabot’s team originally decided to concentrate on seven themes for the Heart of the Chesapeake, and one of them involved Harriet Tubman because hers was “such a compelling story.” Evelyn Townsend was the only African American at every meeting, and she just kept saying “Harriet Tubman.”

From the time Chabot took over the tourism director position, the process for the heritage area took about a year. It was formed in September 2002 and celebrated with fireworks at the Visitor Center in Cambridge. It was a big deal, according to Chabot, because “there’s only 13 heritage areas now in the state of Maryland.”

The themes that presently define the Heart of the Chesapeake Country Heritage Area are

  • Agricultural Life
  • Arts, Artists, and Entertainment
  • Chesapeake Landscapes and Outdoor Adventures
  • Dorchester Families and Traditions
  • Dorchester History, Architecture, and Artifacts
  • The Environment
  • Harriet Tubman and the Eastern Shore African-American History
  • Maritime Villages, Trades, and Life
  • Native American Heritage

Throughout the years, the HCCHA has played a significant part in developing the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, Visitor Center, and National Park. It installed large murals, interpreting the area’s themes, on buildings along the Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway. In 2019, it celebrated Dorchester County’s 350th anniversary by creating cell-phone walking and driving guides that showcased Cambridge and the Chesapeake Mural Trail.

Beyond those achievements, the heritage area also awards mini-grants to nonprofit organizations and local municipalities to help with projects that enrich heritage resources and improve the area’s economic health. These grants are made possible by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority. The awardees for FY2024 included the Taste of Cambridge event, the Dorchester County Historical Society, Groove City Culture Fest, Spocott Windmill (for displays and newsletters), and the Pride of Baltimore II’s visit to Cambridge next year. The Heritage Board also supported the funding applications of area organizations for such endeavors as Cambridge Main Street’s Wayfinding Project, Dorchester County’s FY24 Heritage Management Grant, and the Mid-Shore Community Radio Dorchester History Project.

At the November 2 awards ceremony, the Heritage Area Management Board honored the late Shirley Jackson, Melvin “Zeke” Willey, the “Beacon of Hope” Harriet Tubman Sculpture, the Dorchester Skipjack Committee, and Choptank Communications.

“This year’s group of honorees is exceptional,” said Board Chairman Tom Bradshaw. “Their extraordinary efforts are evidenced in the programs, projects, and ideas that have served to aid, enrich, and inspire the Dorchester Community. These unsung heroes have made a significant impact on enriching people’s awareness, understanding, and appreciation of our rich and diverse heritage assets in Dorchester. They clearly exemplify all that is best in Dorchester County.”

In his speech, Bradshaw also mentioned a 2021 economic impact study conducted by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority estimating that the Heart of the Chesapeake Country Heritage Area had contributed $40.2 million to the statewide economy and supported 570 jobs. Additionally, the study concluded that the HCCHA generated around $5.3 million in tax revenues for the state and local governments.

“In the Heart of the Chesapeake Country Heritage Area, our top priority is to protect, preserve, and promote Dorchester County’s unique historic, cultural, and natural resources,” said Heritage Area consultant Julie Gilberto-Brady. “But it is important to note that our heritage area also plays a vital role in both the state and the regional economies.”

According to Bradshaw, the Management Board is preparing for the 250th anniversary celebration of the United States, leading up to area events in 2026.

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Time Enough by Laura J. Oliver

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Emily, my youngest, who lives in D.C., is coming for the weekend. I need to vacuum and plan menus, change the sheets in the loft, scrub the guest bathroom, and yet, I have a manuscript to edit, a workshop to teach, and a column to write. It’s so hard to demonstrate love and write about love at the same time.

On the stair landing, I pause, suddenly arrested by a framed essay in which I not only anticipated this dilemma but chose it. It is a decision I made many years ago and make again in small ways every day.

***

They tell me to breathe, to ride the contraction like an ocean swell, cresting it in rhythmic control. But I barely hear them, diving deep beneath the pain. There is less movement in the depths, less distance to the shore. 

“She’s crowning,” they call out. “Push harder! Again!” I comply just to please them. This child intends to never be born. 

“It’s a girl,” the doctor proclaims, and the pain suddenly stops. I hear a cry, but I am briefly detached. For nine months, we have enjoyed the mystery of this child’s identity. Not knowing whether it was a boy or a girl, the baby became both in our minds. The nursery was decorated a non-committal yellow, and with the choosing of names, “baby” became Adam/Emily. In the last months of pregnancy, I imagined myself holding and dressing newborn Adam one moment, infant Emily the next, and both seemed real. 

Now, the wondering is over, and as delighted as we are to greet Emily, a faint loss accompanies the revelation. Because there is an Emily, there will never be an Adam. The memory of this fantasy child fades as Emily claims her place in reality. 

Peace floods my body at last. It is deep, complete, thorough. A nurse covers me with a warm blanket, and I sleep.

Someone is shaking my arm. I awake in a dimly lit room on the maternity ward where I have been moved. A curtain partially shields from view another bed, where my roommate, whose child is only a few hours older than my own, is also rousing from a few precious hours of stolen sleep.

“It’s 1 a.m.,” the nurse tells us, “And the babies will be brought from the nursery for feeding in a few minutes. Wake up. You must be alert before you handle the infants.”

We struggle to sit upright for the first time since giving birth, sharing a few tentative words in the dimness. During our brief stay, this waking will become a nightly ritual. We will hear the squeaking wheels of the hospital bassinettes as they are rolled one by one down the hall, bringing each infant to its mother. Each night a nurse will herald the coming procession, calling softly into the darkened rooms, “The babies are coming! The babies are coming!” Years later, I will still remember the hushed breathlessness that filled the ward as we waited. 

I brush my hair, hold a cold, wet cloth to my face for a moment, and prepare for the arrival of my tiny daughter. She is rolled in, lying on her side, tightly swaddled. Only her face is visible in the folds of a white blanket, her eyes bright with hunger. 

I pick her up, and she stares directly at me. She looks intelligent, demanding. The nurse retreats, and I feed her, relieved when she surrenders her fierce concentration to the comfort of my arms and closes her eyes. I am temporarily released from her stoic scrutiny. 

In a little while, the nurse returns, and the tiny bundle is put back in her bassinet for the return trip to the nursery. Although I cannot see her as the door closes behind them, I picture her staring in regal intensity at her attendant as she rides down the hall—a tiny Cleopatra on her barge, sweeping down the Nile.

We are home and she has smiled at me. She has also smiled at the blank, quilted side of her crib bumpers and some memory in her dreams. But it’s too late for me. I stay within the orbit of her cradle hoping to glimpse another smile, though they are as predictable as shooting stars. 

She is not my first child. She is my last. Every touch, every moment with this child is more precious, more intense, because I will not pass this way again. 

I had meant to begin work on a novel this spring—to have a real schedule, to live the life of which book jacket bios are made: “Ms. Oliver is a critically acclaimed novelist who lives in Annapolis, Maryland.” But you can’t write about life without participating in it. 

Emily, her brother, and sister, all the people I love and those I’ve lost, are the richest colors, the teachers and tenderizers for the substance of my work, my life.

I will always long for uninterrupted afternoons of creative concentration. There will never be enough mornings spent at my desk in which to harvest these years. But even now, as I seek the heart of an essay I must set aside (Emily is coming! Emily is coming!), I remember a friend saying, “Consider the interruptions holy.”

And so I have. And so I do. 

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.

In Praise of Cambridge Artists and Ukuleles with Joy Staniforth

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Joy Staniforth

Joy Staniforth is a “Guardian Angel” of the arts in Cambridge. Not only does she have decades of growing the arts around Cambridge, she also continues to add to the arts through her ukulele group and through the offerings of her eclectic art interests.

Staniforth came to Cambridge as executive director at the Pauline F. and W. David Robbins Family YMCA in Cambridge. When she retired from there, she looked forward to spending more time with her husband, but she used to be very active and on the go, she says, “I got bored. 

“Wanting to keep some flexibility with her time commitments, she decided to open an art gallery, Joie de Vivre, in Cambridge in 2000. Her thought was that, even though Cambridge had few takers for empty storefronts, the arts could and would bring a new vibrancy to the town. When Adelaide (Addie) Eckardt, a state representative for Cambridge, approached her around 2002 to take on the considerable task of submitting Cambridge for an Art and Entertainment designation, Staniforth was happy to take it on, and, with the help of Heather Rosato, in 2003, Cambridge won its designation. 

According to their website, “The goal of the A&E Districts program is to develop, promote, and support diverse artistic and cultural centers in communities across Maryland that preserve a sense of place, provide unique local experiences, attract tourism, and spur economic revitalization and neighborhood pride.”

Staniforth notes, “I thought: five years and we’ll be really rolling.” While it did not happen in five years, in the 20 or so years following, Cambridge’s main street has indeed grown, especially in the arts and entertainment area. To name only a few businesses, in only a small, three-block area of the A&E district, one can find art at The Dorchester Center for the Arts, the Main Street (Co-op) Gallery, and 3Ten Creative Design & Gift Gallery.

There is RAR Brewing and their newest eatery, The Dive Club – an immersion experience of “nautical escapism and delectable food and drink: shareable plates and classic tiki cocktails,” Vintage 414, a wine/beer/specialty foods retail space and bar, and Black Water Bakery, past years’ winner of Best Bakery on the Eastern Shore and a gathering place for breakfast and lunch. Thomas’s Fine Jewelry offers sterling silver and gold handcrafted and inspired by Shore life [Thomas’s has restored, repaired, and reset at least 4 of this writer’s own rings and bracelets], Choptank Tattoo who did a beautiful script on this writer’s arm to commemorate her late husband, and The Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center.

The closing of Joie de Vivre in 2015 was not the end of Staniforth’s engagement with the arts community in Cambridge.

Not one to sit too still for too long, Staniforth took up the ukulele. Her training is in classical mandolin, and she played with the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra for many years. When traveling to Baltimore every week, requiring an overnight stay, and making it back to Cambridge in time to open her Gallery the next day became too arduous, Staniforth continued to practice by herself. Then a friend, Tom Keating, made her a ukulele from a cigar box, and Stanforth went to Mike Elzey’s music studio to learn how to play, where she was told if she really wanted to learn how to play, she needed a real ukulele. Staniforth bought a real ukelele and began taking lessons from Glen Wong, Honolulu native, ukelele master and local Cambridge teacher.

Missing the company of other musicians, Staniforth started the Cambridge Ukulele Group, which meets every Thursday at Dorchester Center for the Arts from 4 to 6 pm. “The purpose of the group is to have fun,” says Staniforth. “Everyone is welcome, no experience is necessary. Learn five chords and you know all you need to participate, and we have extra ukes to lend out for a few weeks of getting acquainted with the instrument.” An extra added attraction is that Wong comes to help newcomers and experienced players alike.

Staniforth notes that playing the ukulele is very different from the mandolin. “The strings are different, the ukulele tends toward pop music while the mandolin is classical, and you play reading ‘tabs’ as opposed to musical notation.” Her current musical quest is to teach herself to play the ukulele in a classical fashion. She is a fan of YouTube for teaching herself anything that catches her fancy and she says “I gather my IPAD and phone and watch YouTube and take pictures of the tabs to help myself understand and make the transition .” 

This is not as far-fetched as it may sound to some. For instance, “On Tuesday 18th August 2009, with every seat and all standing room occupied, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain played to a sold-out Royal Albert Hall in London, with over 6000 audience members, and well over 1000 of them bringing ukuleles to join in with Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. “

And Staniforth’s interests don’t stop there. She creates beautiful quilling pieces, looping and rolling pieces of narrow paper into decorative designs and tumbles rocks she finds or that are given to her into shiny stones that she wraps with metal and makes into focal pieces to use with her viking knit necklaces. This is a chain-making technique using a rod and fine wire – not actually knitting but it looks like it when finished. The name comes from chains found in Viking digs in Scandinavia that were made from coins melted into fine wire. Today’s “knitters” use craft wire.

You can find Staniforth’s work in the retail shop in the front of the Dorchester Center for the Arts, 321 High Street in Cambridge, Md.

Tammy Vitale has spent many years of her life regularly visiting the Eastern Shore and moved to Cambridge in early 2023. An artist herself, she has fallen in love with all the facets of art available in Cambridge/Dorchester County and wants the rest of the world to get to know and love the arts and artists of this area as much as she does.

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Unverified by Laura J. Oliver

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This was harder than you might think. A few years ago, National Public Radio ran a series called “This I Believe.” Listeners were to submit 500-word essays sharing beliefs they held to be unequivocally true—anything from “I believe in ghosts” to “I believe in democracy.” The only rule was to include the phrase, “This I believe.” 

The response was overwhelming. I submitted one myself. It was about my daughter’s choice to join her high school cross-country team because students were required to have an athletic activity, and she was not an athlete. Cross Country was a no-fail sport. You competed only with yourself, a situation a lot like life, I imagine.

So, my submission was about learning to cheer for everyone—always. We are all attempting to at least place in the same event: a life of consequence lived with kindness. This I believe. 

The topic of what I believe has been on my mind since last week’s class in “Near Death Experiences,” in which we learned about the concept of the Life Review. People who have been resuscitated after being declared clinically dead report remarkably similar experiences across cultures.

I’m not talking about encountering a religious figure or a tunnel of light. I am talking about being greeted by a love of inexpressible depth. I’m talking about the near- universal first words of those revived being, “Why did you bring me back?” And another important commonality: no one dies alone. This I believe.

In my mother’s journals, some of which I read after she died, I found a sketch she’d drawn 50 years ago titled “Image of Death.” A prone stick figure reached up toward three stick figures hovering overhead——their arms extended in invitation. Dotted lines between the figures below and those above indicated an energy flowing between them. A rudimentary sun shone in the sky, one tree, flowers, and grass. 

All my life, I had tried to include my mother in every meaningful moment—every holiday, birthday, vacation, graduation, and school program- often at the expense of my own family. Because she had been alone since the age of 42, I was determined being alone should not mean feeling alone, but death is an outlier. 

It was the week after Christmas; I was working and had a house full of family, guests, meals to make, and a kitchen to clean. I was at my desk trying to finish a manuscript when my mother’s assisted living facility called to say it was time to bring in hospice. Having just visited with Mom up, dressed, and talking days earlier, I was taken by surprise. I thought this meant she might die within 3 months, and I was overwhelmed at the very word. Hospice. I suddenly couldn’t speak. 

But Mom didn’t die within three months. She died within 3 days. 

On what would be her last day, I spent the afternoon in her room, just the two of us. Her bed had been lowered nearly to the floor, so I sat on the carpet next to her. She was unconscious, the room dimly lit, with soft classical music playing. I picked up a book of her published poetry titled A Fine Thin Thread. Since she once wrote, “My poetry is me, inside out,” I thought I’d read to her. 

As I read, I realized I was recalling in exquisite imagery, every relationship, hope, loss, longing, and love she had ever had. I was, in essence, reading a life review.  

That’s another commonality of near-death experiences. You are able to review your life with a compassionate understanding and lack of judgment we are incapable of here. 

After a few hours, I became anxious about the holiday company I’d left sitting at home. My youngest was visiting with a new boyfriend. I’d need to help get dinner started. I’d need not be a big drag. So, I texted home, asked if I should stop at the grocery store for coffee and more eggs, then told Mom, “I’ll see you tomorrow” because, in my inexperience, I fully believed I would. 

At the threshold, I suddenly stopped and turned back, intuitively unwilling to part quite so casually. I went back in, kissed her, and told her something much different. Something about how there would never be a day in my life I didn’t want her to stay and about what I imagined was waiting for her if she chose to go. Hospice was scheduled to come explain their program to us the following week. 

Just before midnight, the night nurse called to say, ‘Come as fast as you can! Your mother is actively dying.” I was the only local daughter, the only one whose name and number they had used countless times over the last decade for every emergency, but inexplicably, when every second counted, they had not called me first. They had called my sister–the only daughter of three who lives out of state. The only one who could not possibly get there in time, which delayed telling me.  

I’d just gotten in bed—so I threw on jeans and a sweater, and we drove back as fast as possible. Christmas lights and stoplights lit the darkness. Within 15 minutes, we were at the facility, but it was nearly midnight, and the doors were locked. We beat on them, rang the bell, and called on cell phones as time dragged on until finally, a lackadaisical security guard came strolling through the lobby and let us in. 

I raced up to the second floor—on the mission of a lifetime—to not let my mother die alone—only to be greeted by a staff member ten feet outside her door, framed by fake tinsel and a string of lights. “She’s gone,” she said. “Your mother died a few minutes ago.” I was stunned. She didn’t say ‘oops’ or ‘my bad,’ but might as well have. 

Had a trio of angels arrived? I’d spent my entire life making sure Mom wasn’t alone for important occasions—once even leaving a New Year’s Eve party with my new boyfriend unkissed at midnight to race the clock home—and here I’d missed the biggest transition to something new any of us ever encounter. 

I went into the quiet room I’d left only hours earlier. My mother was lying on the bed just as I’d left her. But she wasn’t there. 

I have since told myself she knew we were coming and chose to die with the same independence with which she had lived. But it’s hard to forgive myself for being so clueless. For not understanding the significance of what was happening that afternoon. For honoring the wrong priorities. 

I anticipate having a hard time explaining this in my own life review, so I’m telling you. 

But sometimes, I think the indifferent security guard was part of a plan. And the nurse who waited too long and then called the out-of-state daughter was part of a plan. And maybe three angels hovering overhead heard my footsteps on the stairs and whispered, the love that’s approaching can’t compare to the love that is waiting. And with joyous anticipation, she just let go.

A belief is not, by definition, a truth. It’s just a thought you’ve had for a long time. So, although I can’t be sure, and this theory cannot be verified, this I choose to believe.

 

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.

Food Friday: Thanksgiving Prep

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This is the final countdown to Thanksgiving. Six days to go! I went to the grocery store yesterday, just to get some milk, and was practically trampled by stressed-out shoppers with carts full of turkeys, aluminum pans and stacks of canned green beans and pumpkin purée. Here are a couple of things to remember:

Make your pie dough now. Melissa Clark’s All-butter Pie Crust recipe keeps in the freezer for three months; defrost it in the fridge overnight before you need to bake.

After writing out your Thanksgiving menu, divide your grocery list into perishables and non-perishables. Get those non-perishables this weekend, if you can! Join the stressed-out folks at your grocery store!

This is one of my favorite cautionary tales of Thanksgiving. I have since learned to keep it simple. Don’t promise to deliver a dish to the feast if you haven’t made it before. It is perfectly fine to buy items to bring – time is short and we have enough demands on our already-fraying nerves. We are not Martha, and we do not have a staff. And not everything is made to be photographed, Instagrammed or put on Threads. Life is messy. Got it?

I lived in London the year after I was graduated from Washington College, with another WC alum and one of her childhood chums. We were sight-seeing by day, and waitressing in Covent Garden restaurants by night. It was the end of the 70s, and there were Mohawks galore, and cute punky girls wearing Doc Martens, sporting safety pin jewels.

We had been invited to a posh Thanksgiving dinner and were responsible for bringing a dish to share. Our assignment, as the token Americans, was to bring scalloped potatoes. That seemed simple enough. But we were kitchen novices. Our spaghetti sauce had sent boys with potential scurrying from our flat – because we thought chopped onions were an excellent thickener for the runny tomato sauce. Fully aware of our limitations, and these being the olden days before the Internet and smart phones, we set off to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s library, in search of a helpful cookbook. At least we were smart enough to have library cards.

We hauled the weighty Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Cookery and Household Management back to our flat to do our research. Mrs. Beeton’s book, unlike many of Nigella’s or Ina Garten’s friendly and photo-heavy volumes today, was complicated and bewildering to us. Illustrations? Few and far between. Breadcrumbs? Bechamel sauce? Grams instead of cups? And the cooking times were distressingly vague, too. 1 1/2 to 2 hours? That could make the difference between half raw potatoes and a dishful of burnt glue!

After thumbing through the book we finally realized that Mrs. Beeton did not have an easy-to-follow recipe for scalloped potatoes. We were left to our own devices; young women who thought chopped onions were the salvation for watery spaghetti sauce have no business trying to invent scalloped potatoes. We didn’t even have a potato peeler! We hacked the raw potatoes into hunks, covered them with ropes of processed gloopy cheese, and too much milk, and shoved them in our tiny oven. Our scalloped potatoes were a lumpy, sloshing mess.

We somehow transported the now-cooled baking dish (where did we ever find one?) on our knees on the Tube ride to Chiswick. Once we had arrived and said our hellos, we warmed the potatoes up it an intimidating Aga range, which did nothing to improve the potatoes’ appearance. Those sad-looking, gray potatoes were inedible. We were not sure of the etiquette for this situation. Our dish remained untouched by the discerning Brits who were already suspicious of anything American: particularly loud young American women who perhaps drank a bit too much of the Beaujolais Nouveau… Our hearts were in the right place, though, and we helped with the washing up, before retiring to drink port and smoke cigars with the former RAF pilots, who were telling the best stories we had ever heard.

The lesson here: if asked to bring something specific and complicated for Thanksgiving, and you are pressed for time, see what your grocery store or bakery has to offer. You might be surprised. Otherwise keep it simple. Or avail yourself of internet videos. Scalloped Potatoes It is amazing what you can find these days. “Dear Mrs. Butler, I hope it is not too late to apologize for the scalloped potatoes we brought to your very nice dinner party. Thanks again for inviting us.”

The garlic is a lovely, unexpected flavor with the creamy potatoes. And the layers of grated Gruyere melt in a divine fashion; the cheese was evident in every bite. The RAF chaps would have enjoyed these potatoes.

Good luck with your Thanksgiving planning, lists, travel and cooking. We will be having old-fashioned, lumpy mashed potatoes once again this year, but we will be enjoying a very fancy, store-bought chocolate pie. I can’t wait!

“The more we peeled, the more peel there seemed to be left on; by the time we had got all the peel off and all the eyes out, there was no potato left – at least none worth speaking of.”

― Jerome K. Jerome

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Mayor Steve Rideout on Year One and City-CWDI Status Report

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The Spy continues its ongoing collaborative series with WHCP Community Radio in our latest “Check in” session with the City of Cambridge’s mayor, Steve Rideout, this week. 

Yesterday, The Spy’s Dave Wheelan and WHCP’s Mike Starling connected with Mayor Rideout via Zoom to discuss, among other things, his thoughts after serving a year in office, as well as a brief status report on the current status of the relationship between the City Council and the Cambridge Waterfront Development Inc. after the council sent a letter of concern to the CWDI last month. 

This video is approximately 20 minutes in length.

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Creating Space for Dialogue: Adam Himoff’s Frederick Douglass Mural 

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Last week, Easton  saw the unveiling of a 21×16 foot mural of Frederick Douglass. It was created by Park City, Utah-based artist Adam Himoff, whose hope is that the modern rendition of the famous abolitionist will stimulate timely conversations about race, justice, and Douglass’s enduring connection to the Eastern Shore region.

Located next door to the Out of the Fire Restaurant on Washington Street, the project was conceived by Richard Marks and Amy Haines with support from Talbot Arts and Dock Street Foundation. “In 2016, my wife, Amy (owner of Out of the Fire), and I purchased a property on Washington Street in Easton,” said Marks. “Since we love art and particularly enjoy seeing how art displayed publicly integrates with the surrounding community, we recognized the brick wall facing south would be an excellent place for a mural.”

Also in a contemplative state was Himoff. He’d decided to close his finance firm to concentrate on his work as a linocut artist. In this printmaking technique, a design is carved on a linoleum block, from which prints can be made. To critical acclaim, Himoff had been creating colorful representational images of iconic figures (such as Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol) but began to wonder how he could bring historical figures into modern times. One of the people who came to mind was Douglass. As an undergraduate English literature major, he had been impacted by the biographies and speeches written by the abolitionist. 

Modernizing Douglass juxtaposed against the backdrop of contemporary issues felt like a compelling creative challenge for the artist. “I wanted to capture his essence, but not necessarily the literal details of his life,” Himoff said. “What was available to me was his expression–seriousness, courage, fearlessness, and confidence. Then I created these other elements–he’s in the suit, crouched down, wearing Converse shoes and a nice watch.” Also, unlike his previous work, this was created in black and white. This depiction of a contemporary Douglass, Himoff felt, would allow the viewer to imagine Douglass’s role and life if he were alive today and wonder how his influence would impact the current struggle for justice and equality. 

Himoff knew it was the right person at the right time, yet once completed, he wasn’t sure who would be interested in the project beyond his immediate network of friends and family. So, he shared it on social media. Almost immediately, he heard from an African-American music teacher. “She said she loved it and asked if she could share it on her Instagram feed. Within a short time, people in her network reacted. And the feedback was very validating.” 

Then, someone who knew someone who knew Marks shared it with him. Seeing the image inspired Marks to commit to the project and the artist.

But before it became a mural, an art consultant, who also found the image on social media, reached out to Himoff. The ACLU in New York City wanted one of the original 40 print editions for their headquarters. The same image is now part of the ACLU permanent collection.

Of course, Easton is also the perfect location for such an impactful public art piece and as discussions began around bringing the project here, Himoff started revisiting more of Douglass’s biographies and exploring the more profound history and connection to the area. The artist was moved by what he learned. “I get the sense of responsibility that people feel this need to maintain his legacy,” he said. 

The revealing of the mural along Easton’s historic architecture has certainly sparked reaction and discussion, just as the artist anticipated. Himoff has received positive feedback from many in the black community who felt a connection to this contemporary portrayal of a legendary leader. This was the case the Spy observed as we waited for the artist to join us for the interview. 

A woman named Lisa Taylor walked into the building looking for more information. She is from DC and was in town for the Waterfowl Festival. Her husband had seen the mural the night before and had been touched by it, and since Taylor’s mother attended the Frederick Douglass High School in Elm City, North Carolina, he knew it would be of great interest to her as well. Taylor took several pictures, bought a poster and t-shirt (merchandise is available for sale with proceeds to benefit the Frederick Douglass Honor Society scholarship fund) and then said:

“So the story in this mural is about how the then transforms into the now. And an artist brought it all together today so that young people can say, ‘Okay, well, maybe I don’t know who this guy is, but he sure as hell is cool–with the watch and the Converse high-top sneakers. Let me pull out my phone and find out who this dude is.’ When they do that, it brings previous generations to today’s generation. Hopefully, it gets people thinking about what liberty means. So it’s like a rediscovery of him and his legacy from older people like me to young folks who would recognize the shoes and the watch. And the artist, Adam, yeah, he literally knocked it out of the park.”

Not that there haven’t also been disagreements and uncertainty about Douglass being depicted in a modern style. But Himoff welcomes these discussions as part of Douglass’s legacy of free speech and empowering marginalized voices. “Frederick Douglass would believe that that is an important and healing conversation to have,” he said. 

Ultimately, the power of public art is bringing people together for dialogue and change. It is something that Himoff hopes to inspire through his creative work as he takes on more public art projects. Said Himoff, “I think it transforms communities, transforms neighborhoods. You’re not just creating something for somebody’s living room; it’s something that is eliciting a reaction. I love that dynamic; I love this notion of just creating a conversation about important issues.” 

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Harriet Tubman Museum Spotlight: I Got Shoes and More with Linda Harris

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Linda Harris is a force to be reckoned with: storyteller, non-profit executive, and shepherd to new and important art exhibits coming to Cambridge, in addition to being an amazing professional jazz singer and concert pianist who performs regularly in Cambridge and elsewhere.

Harris first came to Cambridge looking “for my freedom.” 

“I was living in a bubble,” says Harris. In her original spoken word song, “Harriet’s Journey,” found on her album “I Got Shoes,” Harris tells of sitting on her bed watching the TV coverage of the George Floyd killing. She says, “I wept, and I wept like I never wept before…at that moment, I felt like my freedom was gone, and at that moment, the moment George Floyd took his last breath, I decided I needed to find my freedom.”

Remembering a book that her father had given her many years before, “Runaway Slave” about Tubman, Harris read the book. And read it again. Then, she came to Cambridge to find out more about Tubman. “Born into slavery in 1822, in 1849, she decided to walk. My way back to freedom was walking,” and so Harris and companions walked the Underground Railway from Brodess Plantation, where Tubman started, 158 miles to Philadelphia, PA. Harris says, “At the end of the walk, my freedom was restored.” And Harris had also found her new home.

During her research into Tubman’s life, Harris talked to Cambridge historians at the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center and found a new life’s passion: helping everyone to “take one aspect of Harriet’s life and embrace it, …it will change you…You will think differently. You will find freedom.”

To that end, Harris has dedicated herself to bringing Tubman’s story alive, and she uses multiple arts to do that. Her album I Got Shoes is a compilation of songs called “signal songs” that were used to share information among slaves. It was illegal to teach slaves to read and to write, and so they used a communication that was common to them – songs. Eventually, these songs turned into coded songs whose language contained messages about the means of escaping to safety in the North. Harris says of the songs, “They came from the belly of the slave ship. Their cadence, sounds, and rhythms encourage perseverance, resilience, love, sharing, caring, strength, and community. We just have to find a way to go inside ourselves and pull it out.”  

Historians tell us that “Wade in the Water” was a signal song to tell Underground Railroad passengers to get into the water so that dogs could not track them and as a way to keep them hidden from view. “Steal Away” was a signal that a slave could soon try to escape, and Nat Turner, leader of a slave rebellion in Virginia, used that song to call meetings to plot the rebellion. “Sweet Chariot” and “The Gospel Train’s a Comin” also spoke of coming opportunities to escape.

There were also “map songs” or “directional songs,” which aided in identifying meet-up places.

In the words, 

“When the sun comes back and the first quail calls,

Follow the drinking gourd.

The old man is a waiting for to carry you to freedom,

Follow the drinking gourd.”

The drinking gourd is said to reference the Big Dipper constellation. Following the constellation line to Polaris, the north star gave travelers a guide to follow in the night sky. The first lines speak to the longer days of springtime as a good time to leave.

Harris brought what she knew best to support the Museum: music. Harris began to create events to bring people in and encourage them to become familiar with the space. A popular yearlong grouping of events is called “Jazz at the [Harriet Tubman] Mural” and is held outdoors next to the Harriet Tubman mural on the side of the Museum. In inclement weather, the concert simply moves inside the Museum building. This coming year, 2024, concerts will include David B. Cole, Paul Carr, Alison Crockett, Sol Roots, Reggie Upshaw, Eric Byrd, Danny Garrett/Same O’Hare, and Jack and Bev Osborne (playing as Hickory Grove).  

Harris has also introduced theater to the Museum in the play, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and says she can see more theater coming to the Museum in the future, noting that, like the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., she hopes to use all of the arts to further the Museum’s mission.

Currently, the Museum’s offerings are being expanded in exciting ways, including a ceramic diptych by Michael Pugh of Chestertown and a recreation of the Bucktown store where the event that changed Tubman’s life took place. 

Pugh’s first diptych represents James and Rebecca Bower, a Quaker couple from Kent County, and the second is of an itinerant African-American woman, Harriett Tillison (a free African-American). All were tarred and feathered in Kent County On June 22, 1858, by a mob on suspicion of aiding enslaved people to escape. Harris expects the large two large ceramic installations to be completed at the Museum sometime in December this year.

Next, and a source of great excitement for everyone at the Museum, Michael Risotto, painter of the Harriet Tubman mural on the side of the Museum, has completed canvasses that will recreate the interior of the Bucktown Store that started Tubman’s journey to freedom for herself and others. An immersion experience, this recreation will be installed in the back of the Museum. Calling the installation “art of defiance,” Harris completes a tour de force of an assortment of arts being brought to bear to continue the legacy of Harriet Tubman.

The CD “I Got Shoes,” containing 15 songs, including most of the ones named above, is available at the Museum and here. 

The Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center is located at 424 Race Street in Cambridge, MD, and is run completely by volunteers. Hours are 12-3 pm Tuesday through Friday and 12-4 pm on Saturdays. For more information, call the Museum at 410-228-0401.

Tammy Vitale has spent many years of her life regularly visiting the Eastern Shore, and moved to Cambridge in 2023. An artist herself, she has fallen in love with all the facets of art available in Cambridge/Dorchester County, and wants the rest of the world to get to know and love the arts and artists of this area as much as she does.  

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