Bohanan & Fowler Continue Bay Efforts

Posted by Del. John Bohanan

Pax Leader

 

John Bohanan grew up on the St. Mary’s River, can trace his family roots back to the cemetery overlooking the river and has to his legislative credit an array of programs he has helped put into place at St. Mary’s College and Historic St. Mary’s City that support the care taking of this river.

A peninsula between the Potomac and Patuxent rivers with shoreline on the great Chesapeake Bay as well, St. Mary’s County has a history of fighting to keep the rivers of the state healthy. One of the first successful battles goes back into the late 1970s when St. Mary’s joined Calvert County to stop sewage treatment plants discharging into the Patuxent. The champion of that cause became then-State Senator Bernie Fowler.

More than a quarter century ago, to dramatize the cause, Sen. Fowler waded into his beloved Patuxent River with a pair of white tennis shoes on. It used to be, Sen. Fowler explains, when he was growing up on the Patuxent, he would never be able to lose sight of his shoes walking into the river.

The tradition is carried on today, his youthful observation of his feet becoming  an increasingly  significant measurement. Sen. Fowler grew into a tall man. Here he explains to Del. Bohanan how the task was a greater challenge for Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

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