Page 7 - May 2021 Issue.indd

for Smith Island Cake -- it was virtually try. Smith Island subsequently began equivalents do not yet exist. Let’s see

impossible to find on the mainland well to enjoy an influx of revenue without what the readers of this column nomi-
into the 1990s. Because of the strategic changing its traditional culture one bit. nate so that we may formalize the status
branding of the dessert starting with of each symbol as it relates to Caro-
We need the same type of can-do spirit
the aforementioned legislation over a line County starting with next month’s
in Caroline County. Considered the
decade ago, the cake continues to enjoy edition of the Caroline Review. Who
poorest jurisdiction in the state accord-

increasing, even national visibility, as knows -- we may soon benefit from a
ing to several statistical formulas, locals

celebrities such as Mindy Kaling (of Th e financial windfall initiated by a certain
need to think outside the box to bring
Office fame) tweet out their enjoyment native tourism-savvy writer and some

tourists and tourism dollars here. What
of the multi-layered treat. serendipitous Hollywood exposure.
is tourism? I can tell you what it is not:
Why did Smith Islanders decide to if we continue sleepwalking through the • Cat • Gem
consciously elevate something that same old annual events and advertise
• Crustacean • Boat
locals there had always just accepted as the same old businesses on the same

a part of everyday life? The number of old platforms to the same old groups • Dinosaur • Dessert
watermen declining as that way of life of locals -- that’s not tourism. That • Dog • Drink
becomes increasingly difficult due to may be the proper role of a chamber of
• Fish • Exercise
a variety of bureaucratic and environ- commerce or an economic development
mental reasons was the primary catalyst. office in any region, but what tourism is • Horse • Folk Dance

Rather than waxing nostalgically, put in actuality is the enticement of outsid-
• Insect • Song
bluntly, island residents needed a new ers to visit here and more importantly,
way to make money and their cake was to spend their disposable income so we • Reptile • Sport
a viable solution; tourists soon fl ocked don’t have to. • Fossil • Team Sport
to that Somerset County outpost like a So here’s my suggestion that I offer
confectionary Field of Dreams to experi- free of charge to the relevant Caroline Suggest your ideas for each or for that
ence authentic Maryland cuisine just as County powers that be: I have simply matter other offi cial symbol categories
natives quickly realized they could bake listed below all of the official Mary- by emailing charlesdean3vzw@gmail.
and ship the product around the coun- com.
land state symbols for which our county
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