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Tuesday, Sept. 14
5:30 - 8:30 p.m.
The Wild Orchid, Severn Savings Building, 200 Westgate Circle, Annapolis

Living Local
That is the Wild Orchid's tag line and indeed their committment

At our event, The Wild Orchid will explain the intricacies of their commitment to sustainable living -- not only in their menus but in their authentic lifestyles. Here's what theey say: "We feel lucky to be local owners, neighbors ( we live .6 miles from our business) local vendors and local retailers. We live the local life."

It's a beautiful new location, with the same commitment to tasty, local food. At our event, The Wild Orchid will explain the intricacies of their commitment to sustainable living -- not only in their menus but in their authentic lifestyles.

In addition to providing fabulous appetizers and organic wines, The Wild Orchid will offer Green Drinkers a dinner special.

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August Green Drinks Wrap-Up

A Fun Evening all about Oysters at the Annapolis Maritime Museum,
with the Chesapeake Outdoor Group, Oyster Recovery Partnership, and Them Eastport Oyster Boys

It was kind of a wild night at the Annapolis Maritime Museum on August 5 when Green Drinks piggy-backed on the Museum's concert series and brought our Green Drinkers to hear Them Eastport Oyster Boys. We were joined by the Chesapeake Outdoor Group and the Oyster Recovery Partnership and the concert audience for a standing room only event in the old McNasby's oyster packing building. Thank you to our hosts!

It was all about oysters

We returned to the beautiful setting of the Annapolis Maritime Museum where the interactive exhibit "Oysters on the Half-Shell" is installed. Green Drinkers enjoyed the exhibit and learned about oystering in the Annapolis area, saw the implements and boats used and learned about how disease and environmental degradation has changed this industry that was once the lifeblood of this area and its people. The exhibit is housed in the McNasby building, one of the last local oyster packing plants to close.

The Oyster Recovery Partnership was on hand with exhibits about its efforts to bring the oysters back to pre-pollution, pre-disease levels. Read more about the Partnership below. Thank you for supplying a bag of great ORP gear that was won by a lucky Green Drinker in our raffle.

We were joined by the Chesapeake Outdoor Group, fun folks who know how to have a good time while doing good for the environment -- just like us! Read more below about COG and its upcoming 12 oz. Regatta, on Saturday, August 14, a really fun event for a good cause. Read more below.

And we were surrounded by Michael Land's beautiful photos of the Bay currently on display in the McNasby Building's Bay Room.

 

 

Pizza and other organic munchies were provided by Leeward Market (corner of Chester Avenue and Second Street).

A few people took us up on our request to bring their own wine glass or cup. Thank you! Anytime Green Drinks is not held in a restaurant we'll ask you to bring your own drinkware. Isn't it nice to be able to identify your own drink when it's in a unique cup? And isn't it nice to use less plastic!

Thanks to your thirsty selves, beverage sales resulted in a donation of over $1000 to the Museum's programs!

Beer - Your favorites will were generously provided by Katcef Brothers and Bud Light Lime -- great friends of both Green Drinks and the Museum. Thank you!

Organic Wines - Wines were provided by VI Imports, a distributor that specializes in direct imports from Greece, Portugal, and Italy. Their portfolio includes over 800 labels for distribution in Maryland and focuses on high quality products at reasonable prices. They carry a number of organic wines and liquors from around the world, including the four available at Green Drinks. The wines are available for purchase at most local liquor stores, including Eastport Liquors in the Eastport Shopping Center. Here is what we enjoyed:

Domaine Ferrer Ribière Cotes Catalanes Red & Domaine Ferrer Ribière Cotes Catalanes Blanc - Domaine Ferrer Ribière is a venture set up in 1993 by Denis Ferrer and Bruno Ribière. The former is a vintner's son, who took over with a desire to tend his vineyard as close to nature as possible. The latter came to wine making in a "second" life, with very precise ideas about the wines he intended to make. Situated west of Perpignan, beneath the 2,800 metre Canigou, the Domaine comprises 44 hectares across the hills of the "Aspres," between Fourques and Terrats, which range from 100 to 250 metres. The Estate operates according to strict bio dynamic and organic principles. Click to read more if you speak French.

Tetramythos Roditis White V.Q.P.R.D. - The Tetramythos vineyards lie on steep slopes of Mount Aroania, on the most southern tip of Greece's mainland. In an area famous in antiquity for its excellent quality of grapes and wine, Tetramythos cultivates the grapes, faithfully applying to the vineyards the principles of organic agriculture. This is an organic dry white wine that is 100% Roditis, one of Greece’s most popular grapes. Tetramythos is Greek for “four myths, or stories.” Four brothers, originally organic olive and currant farmers, own the winery and were told that because they were farmers, not winemakers, they would never succeed. This wine won a silver in the Decanter Wine awards, proving the naysayers wrong – this was no myth, but four successful winemakers. Click to read more; some of the site is in English.

Bocopas Alicantes Co-op Ermita de Petrer Tinto 2008 - Bocopa devotes special attention to the care of the vineyard in the manufacture of the wines, with growers working on foot in the seven associated wineries. Each wine is the highest expression of its Terroir, grown in calcareous clay and surrounded by a privileged Mediterranean microclimate that make our vineyards unique in the world for wine production. The wine heritage their forefathers, combined with respect for their terroir and nature compelled Bocopa to develop, in 1998, the first organic wine from Alicante. A great compromise with the past and the future of wine, Bocopa is now becoming a major producer of organic wine on the international scene.  Bocopa Winery has one of the most privileged areas of Alicante for organic production. More than 325 hectacres of the upper and middle basins of the Vinalopó River is where their growers cultivate in the traditional way, as required by the Committee of Ecological Agriculture. Bocopa uses careful manual cultivation, without chemical synthesis, so as to not affect the natural process of growth and maturation of the grapes while keeping alive their land without destroying the natural balance. Read more.

The Chesapeake Outdoor Group was formed by a group of friends who share common interests in enjoying and protecting the Chesapeake Bay area. COG provides a framework for its members to interact in pursuit of our common love of outdoor activities while also providing the vehicle for sponsoring community wellness and social gatherings.

Some of the fun activities provided for members include organized hikes, picnics, monthly happy hours and COG’s signature event, the COG 12 oz. Regatta (see sidebar). In return, COG members donate their time and talents for various philanthropic events and with assisting organizations that are actively helping our community and environment around Annapolis and the Chesapeake Region. COG has helped numerous organizations through both volunteerism and donations.
COG, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, serves three main purposes:

• Education regarding the natural environment through outdoor, wilderness, and other recreational group activities
• Promotion of environmentally harmonious cooperation, goodwill, camaraderie, and entertainment among members and the public at large
• Provision of volunteer projects, services, and general assistance to public and other organizations involved in protecting or bettering our environment, community, state and nation.

For more than 15 years, the Oyster Recovery Partnership with its coalition of partners, has been planting hundreds of millions of disease-free oysters back into the Chesapeake Bay. Costing only a few cents to produce and plant, a small donation can plant thousands of oysters and help restore the Chesapeake Bay.

If you are wondering what our environmental message was at our event, it too, was all about oysters. The health of the oyster is key to the health of the Chesapeake. That is the Oyster Recovery Partnership's message, and we hope you will learn more about what they do, especially the Shell Recycling Alliance. That focuses on collecting empty oyster shells from restaurants, caterers and seafood wholesalers in the Baltimore, Annapolis, Ocean City and Washington, D.C. area.

Oyster shell is a limited natural resource that provides crucial natural habitat for baby oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and is used exclusively by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Hatchery for its oyster setting process. A century ago, oyster shell was so plentiful in the Chesapeake Bay that it was used in roads and building materials. But with the limited commercial oyster industry that remains, whole oyster shell is now at a premium. The material is very important to restoring the Chesapeake's oyster population. If you frequent a restaurant that recycles the shell, tell the manager you approve. If you frequent a restaurant that doesn't, tell the  manager to sign up!

As our happy hour wrapped up the fun music of Them Eastport Oyster Boys, the duo of Jefferson Holland and Kevin Brooks and their band, began, with a standing room only crowd. It was just great -- all about living and working on the Bay -- and so much fun! Thank you to Jeff, Kevin, Pete Smith on bass, Randy Neilson on accordion, and the very Green Keith Manuel who played drums on a cast-off 5-gallon paint bucket and empty beer bottle with a recycled dowel!

Them Eastport Oyster Boys recently performed live on Maryland Public Television’s “Chesapeake Bay Week,” debuted as co-hosts of the Chesapeake travelogue series, “Seize the Bay,” and were featured on German public television’s MARETV program. When not lighting up the small screen, they’ve been delighting audiences throughout Eastport and even across the Spa Creek Bridge with their irrepressible brand of humorous “Chesapeake cruisin’ tunes” inspired by living in a neighborhood where the best things in life are a “good hat, a good dog and a good boat.” Their original songs, inspired by the Bay, swing from island rhythms to “Country/Western Shore,” some poking fun at stinkpotters while others pay homage to the plight of the waterman.

At the end of the evening a striking full double rainbow appeared in stormy skies. Maybe that's a good omen for baby oysters!

What is Green Drinks Annapolis?

Green Drinks is a happy hour that gives the environmentally minded a chance to get to know one another in a fun informal way facilitating working together for a common cause: The Health of the Chesapeake Bay. There are over 600 Green Drinks organizations around the world. More about Green Drinks International.

It's free and no reservations are required. Cash bar.

Join us, have fun, learn, and make connections!