Our rivers are never more beautiful than they are right now, with the leaves reaching the peak of their autumn color. But now and again, it’s good to get out beyond Curtis Point and connect with the rest of the Bay. Just a week or so ago, I sailed aboard the schooner Mystic Whaler on the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race from Baltimore to Portsmouth.

When you’re sailing by the stars in the middle of the night, in the middle of the Bay, you get time to reflect; you can gain perspective on where our efforts to protect the West and Rhode Rivers fit in to the overall Chesapeake Bay program.

We’ll have the opportunity to do just that at our annual meeting on Friday, November 14, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the main dining hall at Camp Letts. Nick DiPasquale, the head of the Chesapeake Bay Program, will be there to talk about the new Bay agreement, and you’ll see where we play a vital role in the big picture.

We’ll celebrate some of the impressive goals we’ve achieved over the past year – like the reforested horse pasture at Camp Letts – and some of the impactful projects we have lined up for next year – like the restoration of a section of Muddy Creek and a new 900-foot living shoreline along Bear Neck Creek, thanks to a major grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

And we’ll reveal a new partnership with the Department of Natural Resources that will provide an astonishing opportunity to access the water.

Please plan to be there – you’re welcome to bring a pot-luck dish to share, and we’ll have oysters! Send me an email or give me a call to let me know you’re coming. See you there!

Your Riverkeeper