Page 6 - April 2024 Issue.indd
P. 6

250  Anniversary                 If the fates did not allow you to attend   350th anniversary of the founding of
                   th
                                               the commemoration in person, that   the Maryland colony, and other vintage
                  Speech and                   is okay. Instead of my usual creative   literary collectibles that tell the story of
                 Proclamation                  non-fiction column this month, I am   the Green Garden County.
                                               proudly sharing my opening remarks
                                                                                 I read all of them so many times -- which
                                               from that night as well as the wording
                     by Chad Dean              of the official 250th anniversary procla-  undoubtedly helped to inspire my choice


                                                                                 of college majors at the undergraduate,
                                               mation offered by the Caroline County

                                                                                 graduate, and PhD level; my vocation as
                                               Commissioners:
                                                                                 a Social Studies educator, membership
            As faithful readers of the Caroline
                                               Good evening. My name is Charles Dean   in literally every history-based organiza-
            Review will attest, I, since at least 2021,

                                               the Th ird. This is going to sound corny,   tion in this area, the Caroline Past and
            have noted on these hallowed pages
                                               but I have been preparing for this event   Present side hustle, and has led me to
            and elsewhere that Caroline County
                                               for almost forty years. Growing up, I   generally pursue history as not just a
            should celebrate its founding through-
                                               spent a fair amount of time at my grand-  hobby or job but a lifestyle. Even my

            out 2023 and 2024. The time has come,
                                               parents’ house. My grandfather Charles   wife, historical fiction author Rebekah

            and with the help of many volunteers
                                               Dean Sr. was county commissioner at   Colburn, was lured into the gravitational
            in the community, the 250th anni-
                                               the time, but was also a charter member   pull of that mindset.
            versary of the creation of the Green
                                               of the Caroline County Historical Soci-
            Garden County will be celebrated in                                  So it is indeed an honor to provide
                                               ety and served several years as the presi-
            myriad ways, starting with an event at                               the historical context tonight prior to
                                               dent of that prestigious organization. His
            the Museum of Rural Life in Denton                                   the proclamation off ered by the Caro-
                                               dedication to Caroline and its history is
            on March 15th. This date is of crucial                               line County Commissioners as well as

                                               undisputed, so it stands to reason that

            importance because the first meeting of                              the archaeology presentation by the
                                               his coffee table book selection included

            the county commissioners, call it a court                            esteemed Washington College professor,
                                               the locally published commemorative
            session as well if you must, occurred on                             Dr. Julie Markin. That’s my alma mater!

                                               booklets that celebrated the 200th anni-
            that exact day in 1774. Serendipity, folks.                          You’re going to love both her fi ndings
                                               versary of the county and the nation, the
                                                                                 in Oil City and her Alabama twang, by
                                                                                 the way.
                                                                                 Anyhow, while it is true that Mid-Shore
                                                                                 residents had for decades prior inter-
                                             GREENSBORO                          mittently discussed, albeit perhaps
                                                                                 theoretically, carving another county
                                               HISTORICAL                        from the Choptank-Tuckahoe corridor,
                                                                                 with local lore even going so far as to
                                                  SOCIETY                        suggest a “King William County” was
                                                                                 proposed to exist here starting in the
                                                                                 1740s, such an administrative unit did
                                                                                 not materialize until years later. Th e time
                                                     presents
                                                                                 was indeed right by the 1770s. Caroline
                                                                                 County was created on paper in 1773
               The history of pro-wrestling in Caroline County:                  not by overwhelming popular demand
                     A scholarly look at sport and spectacle                     or acute necessity since our population
                                                                                 was so small, spread out, and isolated,
                                                                                 however, but ostensibly as the legis-
                       April 5, 2024                                             lative equivalent of a ledger to ledger
                          6:30 PM                                                transaction. When Harford County
                                                                                 was organized earlier that same year, an
                                                                                 Eastern Shore counterpart was deemed
                Greensboro Historical Museum                                     necessary to geographically balance the
                      104 E. Sunset Ave.                                         number of Maryland counties as part of
                       Greensboro, MD                                            a roughly applied and informal tradition
                                                                                 first observed by the colonial legislature

                                                                                 in 1674.
                  Light refreshments will be
                     served. FREE Event                                          Regardless, while the esteemed William
                                                                                 Richardson is revered in especially the
                                                                                 southern half of this county, where the
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