Associate Publisher & Editor: Andy Goddard has spent twenty plus years operating the local watering hole and restaurant Andy’s, in downtown Chestertown. The venue was also a favorite on the East Coast circuit for regional and national musicians. A Washington College graduate, she now spends her time promoting all things local – food, music, the Eastern Shore, and the Chestertown Spy, of course.
Video Editor: Kurt Kolaja has over thirty years experience in film and video production. While on assignment Kurt has been tear gassed in Washington, DC, pelted with fried chicken at a NASCAR race, and attacked by hookers in Paris. He has carried cameras into locker rooms and operating rooms – down coalmines, and into deserts. He shot the first launch of Space Shuttle Columbia. Kurt was ringside for a Lenox Lewis knock out, assured Dan Quayle that he looked perfectly fine standing in the pouring rain, and trembled while pinning a microphone on the chest of Sophia Loren. Currently in production is an independent film, ‘Band Together’.
General Assignment Reporter: Simon Kelly. Simon is a native of Centreville where he attended the Gunston School. While competing his undergraduate degree from Guilford College in North Carolina, Simon interned at the Queen Anne’s Record Observer covering local news. He graduated in 2010.
General Assignment Reporter: Dan Menefee grew up in Baltimore City, a few blocks from Penn Station, and lived the blue-collar life until earning a degree at 39. He received a Bachelor of Science in communication from University of Baltimore and completed some graduate work in journalism at University of Maryland. He lives in Chestertown with his wife of 27 years, Ruth, whose landscaping and gardening endeavors have created an entire ecosystem of plants, trees, and critters around their home. Eleven years out from UB, Dan has worked in education and nonprofit administration. He has also contributed to small print and online publications. In his spare time, Dan continues to renovate and restore their home — with all the joy and frustration inherent to the task. Dan will be on leave during the spring of 2011.
Senior News Editor:Melissa McIntire has worked for The Washington Times, The Kent County News, and the American Cancer Society. She has a Bachelor of Science in communication from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she majored in journalism and minored in speech communication and English. She has lived and traveled all over the world, but is currently making her home in Worton with her husband, son, and an overweight bulldog. Melissa will be on leave during the spring of 2011.
Contributing Editor : James Dissette is the founder of monthly community newspapers in Oregon, Michigan and on the Eastern Shore, including the Chestertown-based Eastern Shore Milestone. He is the 1971 winner of the Sophie Kerr Award for Creative Writing, and most recently published Fierce Blessings, a collection of poems in 2008. He is a partner at Chester River Press and recently designed their current publication, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as translated by Alexander Pope and is currently working on his book, A Hungry Moon.
Contributing Writer: John Mann. Growing up in Baltimore, MD, John Mann fell in love with the outdoors while taking weekly hikes with his family. In 2005 he successfully hiked the Appalachian Trail. After moving to Kent County later that year to teach at Echo Hill Outdoor School, John discovered a passion for the Chesapeake Bay. As a crew member on the John Smith Shallop in 2007, he rowed and sailed a replica of Smith’s vessel to nearly every corner of the Bay. In 2011 he returned to Sultana Projects as the Director of Educational Programs. John lives in Chestertown with his wife and two dogs. He continues to enjoy exploring the Delmarva peninsula, teaching others about the natural world, and writing about his excursions.
Contributing Writer: Mary McCoy is an artist and writer who has the good fortune to live beside an old steamboat wharf on the Chester River. She is a former art critic for the Washington Post and several art publications. She enjoys the kayaking the river and walking her family farm where she collects ideas and materials for the environmental art she creates, often in collaboration with her husband Howard. They have exhibited their work in the U.S., Ireland, Wales and New Zealand.
Contributing Writer: Mary Wood. Mary Wood’s life long addiction to reading led to writing some short stories, some plays, and a slim volume of verse. A Washington College graduate, she lived for many years amid three children and a lawyer husband in a cornfield on Indiantown Farm outside Centreville. Widowed, she is now enjoying the city life of Chestertown.
Contributing Writer: Kathi Ferguson. Kathi Ferguson is a freelance writer whose honed skills result from an extensive professional career in event planning, administration and marketing. A graduate of the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Kathi is an artist in her own right, her focus being drawing, oil painting and portraiture. After many years in Chicago and Alexandria, Virginia, Kathi moved in 2008 to the Eastern Shore. “This is truly a special place. Its stunning natural beauty and genuine people keep me connected to what is really important,” she says. “I really can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
