DockTalk
Calling All Students!
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Learn About Careers in the Marine Trades
ater, water everywhere and many cool jobs to be discovered! That’s what students find at the Marine and Maritime Career Expo to be held Saturday, February 24 from noon to 3 p.m. at Annapolis High School. For the eighth year in a row, more than 50 exhibitors will gather to share their expertise, vision, and rewards of a career on or related
to the water with students. All students are invited to attend for free. Parents and siblings are welcome. Marine careers from marine biology to ocean engineering and maritime careers from boat maintenance to shipping will be showcased. Exhibitors in the past have included boat builders, maritime colleges, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, ocean expeditions and research, ##Photo by Rick Franke riverkeepers, tour boat operators, boat sales professionals, boating magazines, full service boatyards, and community boating programs. It doesn’t matter if your teenager doesn’t know what he or she wants to do for a living—learning about the wide and interesting options is the goal.
Attendees may enter into a raffle for fun door prizes (in the past students have won paddleboards!), and many exhibitors have hands-on exhibits to explain their fields. At 12:30 p.m. in the auditorium, SpinSheet’s Molly Winans will moderate a discussion about how marine and maritime professionals got started in their fields. Special guest Jim Toomey, the artist and creator of the syndicated cartoon Sherman’s Lagoon, will be there, as well as young professionals from the marine trades and sciences. All students may attend and ask questions. Event chair Tim Wilbricht says, “We expect our largest turnout ever with over 50 exhibitors and 600 attendees, so come on out and learn more about careers in one of the largest industries in our area.” The Marine and Maritime Career Expo is a partnership between the Eastport Yacht Club Foundation and Anne Arundel County Schools. Team SpinSheet will be there. To learn more, visit eycfoundation.org.
Eastern Shore Waterkeepers Merge
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hree Eastern Shore conservation organizations have joined forces. The Chester River Association, Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, and Sassafras River Association officially merged late last year to form ShoreRivers, a new nonprofit dedicated to healthy waterways across the upper and middle Eastern Shore. Jeff Horstman, who will serve as the new executive director of ShoreRivers, says, “I am thrilled to lead this exciting organization and its passionate staff as we work to develop real solutions to improve the health of our waters.” Horstman, who served as the chair of the board of the Midshore River Conservancy from 2011 to 2013 emphasizes, “ShoreRivers is more than just the sum of our parts. We are now one committed voice with more influence on policy, more capacity to enact programs, and more potential to undertake large regional agricultural and restoration projects to reduce pollution.” 14 February 2018 SpinSheet.com
ShoreRivers’s new headquarters will be in Easton, with regional offices in Chestertown and Georgetown, the former offices of the Chester River Association and Sassafras River Association, respectively. The new organization will include four Waterkeeper programs: Chester Riverkeeper, Choptank Riverkeeper, Miles-Wye Riverkeeper, and Sassafras Riverkeeper. Each individual river program will continue to have its own staff and boat. They will continue to patrol and monitor their individual waterways and serve as key spokespersons for them. “Each of our three legacy organizations has a proud and productive history of advocacy and restoration work on the Shore,” says Brennan Starkey, incoming Chair of
the ShoreRivers Board of Directors. “By merging together, we draw upon our collective expertise, passion, and innovation to improve our Eastern Shore rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.” In addition to monitoring waterways, waterkeeper programs offer education and outreach. In addition to being a more powerful advocate at the state and local levels, the new ShoreRivers program anticipate being a greater force for education and outreach.