Green Drinks was all about Oysters at Maritime Museum

Great Fun, Great Company ... and Great Music

as we enjoyed an evening all about Oysters

at the Annapolis Maritime Museum

It was kind of a wild night (weather too!) at the Annapolis Maritime Museum last Thursday, when Green Drinks piggy-backed on the Museum's concert series and brought our Green Drinkers to hear Them Eastport Oyster Boys. We were joined by the Chesapeake Outdoor Group and the Oyster Recovery Partnership and the concert audience for a standing room only event in the old McNasby's oyster packing building. Thank you to our hosts!

If you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and come visit the Annapolis Maritime Museum and the interactive exhibit "Oysters on the Half-Shell." As Annapolitans, it's a subject you should be knowledgeable about. And in seeing and learning, you might be inspired to get involved. As you know, the exhibit is housed in the McNasby building, one of the last local oyster packing plants to close.

The Oyster Recovery Partnership was on hand with exhibits about its efforts to bring the oysters back to pre-pollution, pre-disease levels. Thank you for supplying a bag of great ORP gear that a lucky Green Drinker won in the raffle.

We were joined by the Chesapeake Outdoor Group, fun folks who know how to have a good time while doing good for the environment -- just like us! And this upcoming weekend is COG's 12 oz. Regatta. On Saturday, August 14, at the Port Annapolis Marina Pavilion, it is a really fun event for a good cause. Read all about it on the COG website.

Mike Land's beautiful photos of oyster workboats and other Bay scenes made a super backdrop to our event. See more about his exhibit in the art sidebar.

We warned you all about the minimal munchies, but we were saved by pizza and other tasty organic munchies that were provided by Leeward Market (at the corner of Chester Avenue and Second Street). Beers were generously provided by Katcef Brothers and Bud Light Lime -- great friends of both Green Drinks and the Museum. Thank you!

Organic wines were provided by VI Imports, a distributor that specializes in direct imports from Greece, Portugal, and Italy. The wines we enjoyed are available for purchase at most local liquor stores. Read more about the wines on our website.

Thanks to your thirsty selves, beverage sales resulted in a donation of over $1000 to the Museum's programs!

As our happy hour wrapped up the fun music of Them Eastport Oyster Boys, the duo of Jefferson Holland and Kevin Brooks and their band, began, to a standing room only crowd. It was just great -- all about living and working on the Bay -- and so much fun! Thank you to Jeff, Kevin, Pete Smith on bass, Randy Neilson on accordion, and the very Green Keith Manuel who played drums on a cast-off 5-gallon paint bucket and empty beer bottle with a recycled dowel!

Thank you to our volunteers, especially Stephanie Duncan Troxell and Trish DiPietri, and to the Museum's volunteers too.

If you are wondering what our environmental message was last week, it too, was all about oysters. The health of the oyster is key to the health of the Chesapeake. That is the Oyster Recovery Partnership's message, and we hope you will learn more about what they do, especially the Shell Recycling Alliance. That focuses on collecting empty oyster shells from restaurants, caterers and seafood wholesalers in the Baltimore, Annapolis, Ocean City and Washington, D.C. area.

Oyster shell is a limited natural resource that provides crucial natural habitat for baby oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and is used exclusively by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Hatchery for its oyster setting process. A century ago, oyster shell was so plentiful in the Chesapeake Bay that it was used in roads and building materials. But with the limited commercial oyster industry that remains, whole oyster shell is now at a premium. The material is very important to restoring the Chesapeake's oyster population. If you frequent a restaurant that recycles the shell, tell the manager you approve. If you frequent a restaurant that doesn't, tell the manager to sign up!

We are thrilled to announce that our next Green Drinks will be at the new location of The Wild Orchid Cafe and Catering, on Westgate Circle, on Tuesday, September 14. More details coming soon.

Thank you to those who brought your own glasses and cups. We saved some plastic because of you and that's a good thing.

Cheers ... and did you see the double rainbow at the end of our evening? Maybe that's a good omen for baby oysters!

Elvia & Lynne