In 1997, The Cricket Theater rented The Avalon Theatre to put on “A Christmas Carol,” a three-day Christmas show. It was a hit, and the Avalon Foundation approached the group and with an offer to assume the business side of the event if Cricket Theater took care of the craft side. Since then, in the past 22 years, more than 1,000 people have been involved in the Christmas shows, bringing to life such shows as “Miracle on 34th Street,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Sto

On a Sunday afternoon in early August, Foxy’s Harbor Grille is a sociable cacophony: laughter, chatter, drink orders, and televised sports blur into an atmospheric din as thick as Saint Michaels’ baby blue skies are clear. Glance outside, and a postcard-perfect view of the Miles River gazes affably back at you. Singer, multi-instrumentalist, and Saint Michaels native Sean F. Schultz, 50, is wholly in his element here. This is where he works, where he performs, where he knows

Sam Shoge, owner and proprietor of Shore Studios, uses aerial drone photography to tell stories. Working mostly during sunrise and sunset, Shoge seeks golden light, dynamic skies, and magical, fleeting moments in his documentary-style images. He is interested in Eastern Shore landscapes. Never formally trained in art, Shoge was drawn to drones as a tech-savvy adult who had long been seeking a creative outlet. The new horizons of drone photography provided a maker’s path for S

Threshermen’s shows offer a glimpse into the history and industrial beauty of antique farm machinery #StageLeft #Tractors #Farms #August2019

Wooden ships never go out of style. And neither does great live music played well on the Eastern Shore. And those two things come together with John Brittingham, J. Guy George, and Jon Jacobs and their band, Wooden Ships. The band takes its name from a Crosby, Stills, and Nash song. That’s a feeling and an image for which the Eastern Shore is known, and it’s also part of the reason for the name — band members are connected to the water, sailing, and the classic, free, and eas

For Avra Sullivan and Chris Rogers, Shakespeare is a lifelong love. They each encountered and were changed by “the Bard” (as Shakespeare is affectionately referred to) when they were in elementary school, and for the past seven years, they have made it their mission to bring Shakespeare to the Eastern Shore. “The first Shakespeare I ever memorized was Macbeth’s tomorrow speech, when I was in fifth grade,” Rogers said. “I didn’t understand what it meant, but it was really cool

One snowy afternoon in February, a short stack of poetry postcards sits on the industrial paper cutter in the print shop at Washington College’s Rose O’Neill Literary House. Red ink on white paper and featuring a poem by Nick Flynn, the postcards are from a student project, the tympan paper for which is still sitting on the platen of an early 1900s press. The print shop is operated by Mike Kaylor, a man with a certain Hemingway-esque look about him, a master printer who also

Our conversation with members of the local band about how they got started and what influences them to make music. Dell Foxx Company Members: Vocals – Duan Wright Guitar/Vocals – Brent Schraffenberger Bass/Vocals – Cody Shingleton Drums/Vocals – Jake Shingleton What kind of music do you play? D.W.: We play an eclectic mix of music including genres ranging from classic rock and country to pop and rap. We all love music and do our best to play songs that anyone in the audience

To call WACappella a musical group falls short. Officially considered a club by Washington College, it is more a tight-knit community, small with between 20 and 25 members, comprising students who share a passion for one thing singing. Having formed about 10 years ago, WACappella is a more recent addition to the offerings at the historic liberal arts college in Chestertown and likely one of the few to include beat-boxing. Alum Taylor Goss, who grew up in Denton and is now in

’Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring ... except for Amy Clough, who’s just finished several batches of Christmas sugar cookies and is quietly making her way to bed at the witching hour. Snowflakes, gingerbread houses, stockings, snowmen, and snow-capped Christmas trees all quietly sit drying as she tip-toes through her quiet house to bed. It’s been a long night. These cookies were not born out of a log of commercial sugar cook

Her artwork has been on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Animal Planet, and the Bonnie Hunt Show. Among the celebrities who have her pet portraits are TV personalities Anderson Cooper, Conan O’Brien, Rachel Ray, and Shorty Rossi of Pit Boss. Painter Dawn Tarr of Snow Hill has been painting her whole life and even shares a birthday with the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh. She calls herself an Impressionist painter and pop artist. Her style of pet portraiture is whimsical, capturing

Each of the Gargoyle Bells born at Aesthetic Alternatives Art Studio has its own personality, purpose and name. Their faces are unique, some comical and others serious, and they all have their own voices. Although artist Dawn Malosh accidentally stumbled into creating these creatures while making a simple pinch pot in 2001, their beginnings harken back to medieval times when gargoyles were placed on cathedrals throughout Europe to ward off evil spirits from entering the churc

Photo by Walter Bowie It’s 7:30 on a ridiculously gorgeous Thursday night in June. At a wrought iron table on the patio of MaGerk’s, a bustling Baltimore sports bar, sit Mike Buccino and Marc Dykeman of The High and Wides, an up-and-coming bluegrass group with its roots in Kent County. Buccino is wearing a navy baseball cap and an unassuming gray camp shirt. Dykeman is wearing a subtle Western shirt in faint blue and high-waisted pants with a fist-sized belt buckle. Buccino o

Atop a pillar at the end of a private lane in Bozman sits a bright red pepper. It’s shiny and curled upward, almost as if it is waving a welcome. Come in, it says to visitors, I have delightful secrets. Further down the lane, giant stalks of aqua, indigo and green asparagus nod toward one another as if confiding secrets. Just across from them, a lone purple artichoke coolly rests atop another pillar. Sculptures of round, luscious fruits and vegetables live in many spots all o

Catching up with musician Bird Dog Wheeler these days means finding him between music gigs and riding his bike or playing a round of golf. In December 2017, the iconic Eastern Shore musician retired from his job as vice president of sales after 31 years with Kelly Distributors to spend more time doing what he loves most – writing and playing music with his band of over 40 years, Bird Dog and the Road Kings. However, the intertwining of his two professional lives, beer sales a

Over the past 25 years, Marc Castelli has been painting watercolors of the lives of Chesapeake Bay watermen. This year marks his 25th year working with Carla Massoni and her gallery in Chestertown. In his words, his paintings are reflections of the deep and profound magic of the light in the air and the water that continue to inspire him. But, he said, his paintings also reflect the relationships he has built with watermen while becoming a part of their world. He has taken ad

We look behind the scenes at the Paul Reed Smith factory in Stevensville, where world-famous guitars are built for some of the biggest names in music. Some of the most treasured guitars being played by musicians today are being built from a factory on Kent Island. Carlos Santana, Neal Schon, Mark Holcomb, John McLaughlin, Zach Myers, Mark Tremonti, and Alex Lifeson, to name a few, all currently play Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars. The newest person to be added to the list? Gra

The Eastern Shore is an opportunity for artist Kevin Garber. It’s an opportunity to be connected to nature, weather, tides, and to create art that speaks to this connection. And it’s an opportunity to fish. “It’s so visceral here — every day can be different based on the weather. Watching the watermen, who are so tied to natural forces like wind and tide,” Garber said. “I never thought I’d be following the tide like I do. I love to fish and have always fished. I always have a

Many of those who spend time around the Chesapeake Bay are captivated by its beauty and charm. The sunsets, the shoreline, the natural architecture — the uniqueness of the Eastern Shore is constantly captured by cell phones and cameras. Everyone has their own perspective of what makes the Chesapeake Bay area special, and local photographer Jay Fleming has a point of view that truly is captivating. As the son of a National Geographic photographer, Fleming grew up in Annapolis