Featured Articles

  Old Wives and Their Tales  by Helen Chappell 
When it rained and the sun was shining, my mother would look up at the sky and say, “The devil is beating his wife.” She wasn’t entirely serious, but even as a kid, I could hear the faintest bat squeak of belief in her voice. Her mother told her that, and doubtless her mother’s mother had told her, and somewhere down along the line, someone actually believed that old wives’ tale. Recently, my friend Howard told me his grandmother told him if he stuck a pin in the ground, he would actually be able to hear the unholy domestic violence!  Read More …

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  Avalon Theatre Restores Past Glory to Preserve Future by Dick Cooper

Up in the far corner of the Avalon Theatre’s balcony, a few steps from the door to the projection booth, Al Bond pauses in front of a hole in the wall where water seeped in over the years, eroding the plaster. “That’s what we had all over the building before all of the mortar on the outside of the theatre was replaced,” he says, pointing out several large sections of the interior walls that have already been repaired and are awaiting fresh paint. The open wound is one of the last to be fixed.   Read More...

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  Red Letter Days for Fall Bird Migration  by Michael Valliant

Delmarva is designed for birds migrating in the fall. Whether it’s songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, or raptors, they stop here on their way south for the winter. We are in the right place, at the right time, with the right conditions. Birding enthusiast, Dr. Wayne Bell, says of birding on the Eastern Shore, “Any day is a red letter day.” I have a thing for songbirds ~ warblers in particular. I’m not alone. Books have been written just about warblers; classes have been taught on warbler identification, and to learn their songs.  Read More…

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  Seeing Stars by Roger Vaughan
The majority of Oxford’s population is retired, and the town supports four restaurants, two real estate offices, the Oxford Market, a car repair shop (no gasoline), a volunteer fire company, a four-man police force, a popular handmade ice cream destination, five boatyards, a community center, and the Tred Avon Yacht Club (TAYC), which adjoins the ferry landing. Not much disturbs the quiet routine of this town. That will change on October 5, the day the TAYC will begin hosting what is probably the largest and most prestigious one-design sailing regatta outside the Olympic Games: the International Star Class World Championships.  Read More…

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  More Addenda & Errata  by Gary D. Crawford
The articles I scribble here each month sometimes result in commentary. Feedback is always welcome (well, usually) because writing for a magazine is quite different from public speaking. There, one may gaze out and see one’s audience ~ people rolling in the aisles, listening in rapt enjoyment, stamping out of the hall in disgust, rummaging for something to toss up at the podium or simply dozing off. (These last is especially disheartening, for sometimes they awake with a snort and mutter, loud enough to be heard at the stage, “My God, Evelyn, is he still talking?”)  Read More…

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  Ferry Fun and Cape May Caper  by Bonna L. Nelson

Cape May, New Jersey, a quaint Victorian beach resort, was our destination, and a mini-cruise on the Cape May-Lewes ferry across the Delaware Bay was our mode of travel. The ferry ride was part of the adventure on that brilliantly sunny, cloud-free day. After driving onto the ferry departing from Lewes, Delaware, we easily found seats on the upper deck. The Bay was calm, allowing us to watch dolphins frolicking in the gentle waves and gulls swooping overhead.  Read More…

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Tidewater Times was established in 1952 as a specialized monthly magazine which would appeal to the tourist, the prospective land buyer, and others for whom the Eastern Shore has a special allure. It was created to be small enough to fit into a woman’s purse or a man’s coat pocket. Today it has blossomed as a vital symbol of our thriving community.

Our award-winning group of Feature Writers include Helen Chappell, Dick Cooper, Gary Crawford, Pamela Meredith, Roger Vaughan, Bonna Nelson, Michael Valliant, Tom Horton, and Marc Teffeau. Distribution covers an area including Dorchester, Talbot, Caroline, Queen Anne’s and Kent counties.

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