For Winter Fun, Go South to Calvert County

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md., -- December 23, 2004 --The holidays are over, the houseguests have gone home and the children have cabin fever. It must be January. After the hectic holidays and in the middle of a dark, cold winter, you may feel like there is little, if anything left to do. But Calvert County is a wonderland of activities and events in January – with something for everyone.

On January 15 and 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the Calvert Marine Museum hosts “Winter Lights: A Celebration of Chesapeake Bay Lighthouses,” in Solomons. Visitors can meet lighthouse book authors and enjoy a number of exhibits and displays that celebrate the romance and folklore of these Chesapeake Bay sentinels.

Jeanine Potas, Tourism Program Assistant for the Calvert County Department of Economic Development expects an enthusiastic turnout for this event. “People are always fascinated by lighthouses,” she said. “The history of these structures along the Chesapeake Bay is a long and rich one and the Calvert Marine Museum provides an excellent setting for learning about lighthouses and Bay life in general.”

Join the vendors of the Calvert Country Market on Saturday, January 15, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for their Post Holiday Sale with special prices and deals on many of the wonderful items the Market has to offer. The week of January 17 gives children and their families a chance for learning and fun at the Calvert Country Market as the Calvert Public Library offers Storytime for little ones on January 18 and 19 from 9:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. and on January 22 from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) will conduct an “Up to Reading” event on January 21 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. All the preschool reading events are free and open to the public.

Located in the Prince Frederick Shopping Center, at the corner of Routes 231 and 4, the Calvert Country Market offers locally grown fresh produce, meats and seafood, ceramics and polymer clay products, baked goods, yarn, candies, hand-made crafts and decorative items.

The annual “Savor the Bay” seminar and dinner series starts on January 26 from 6:00 – 9:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Select Restaurant in Solomons. Co-hosted by the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL), January’s theme for the science and seafood dinner seminar is non-native species in the Chesapeake Bay. Over a waterfront dinner featuring Seafood Chowder, Beef Tenderloin with Crab Imperial and Stuffed Baked Potato, participants will learn about marine life in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest and most productive estuary in the United States. Dr. Mario Tamburri will discuss non-native species, how they got here and what efforts are underway to prevent them from further invading the Chesapeake Bay and encroaching upon its native creatures.

“This dinner and lecture series offers us an excellent opportunity to educate the public about the many elements that affect the aquatic environment of the Chesapeake Bay,” said Jackie Takacs, Education & Outreach Specialist at CBL. “Our ‘Savor the Bay’ series gives us a chance to come out of the lab and share our research in a delicious format that is fun and informative,” said Takacs.

To tickle your musical fancy, the first Waterside 2005 concert will be held on Saturday, January 29, with shows at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons. The Iguanas will warm the night with their eclectic blend of rock, rhythm & blues, jazz and Tex-Mex music.

With so much to do, there’s no reason to hibernate; warm welcomes and new adventures await you in Calvert County. “As a native of Minnesota,” said Potas, “I know a thing or two about long, dreary winters. But Calvert County leaves the welcome mat out all year long and there are plenty of things to do here – even in January.”

For more information on the Calvert County, Maryland Department of Economic Development, our visitor sites and attractions and the services available to assist County businesses, call 410.535.4583, 800.331.9771 or 301.855.1880; or send an e-mail to info@ecalvert.com