Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Some people celebrate their birthday upon reaching a certain age. Others celebrate special anniversary years, graduations, or retirements. Today I am celebrating the 12th annual “Chesapeake Bay Day” recently held at Thomas Hunter Middle School. 

The first “Bay Day” was actually held in 1994 for all fourth grade students while I was working as Cooperative Extension 4-H Agent here in Mathews and living in Newport News. Upon moving to Mathews full time in 2007, I continued the yearly event for each sixth grade class. 

The celebration is not for the longevity of the program, but for the presenters who converge in the multipurpose room at the middle school each year. Amazingly, the same crew, with a few changes, returns each year upon my call.  It is like a reunion when Oyster Gardeners Mike Sanders and Bob Morgan, Mathews Planning and Zoning representative James Knighton, Tidewater Soil & Water Conservation members, Kry...