Worth Preserving

September 1, 2026 (Vol.20 No. 32) - I have been very fortunate to have been able to call communities steeped in history as my home. I grew up in Talbot County, Maryland, in the heart of the Delmarva Peninsula. Some of its communities predate the Declaration of Independence by more than a century. The white, wood-frame building with the uneven roof pictured above is the Third Haven Friends Meeting House in Easton Maryland. It is the oldest house of worship in the United States that has been in continuous use since its construction in 1684. It is so old, in fact, that there were no nails used in its construction. It was, and for the most part still is, held together by wooden pegs.

Next to it is a red brick building where the Meeting gathers during the winter months. It is known as the "new church" because it was built in 1880. My grandmother's funeral service was conducted there. The Meeting House is a source of great pride for its worshipers, as well as the people of the town, county and state. It connects the present with an exciting past, reminding us how we came to be the people we are today. And, of yes, it attracts tourist dollars that help drive the local economy. These are just some of the reasons why it is worth preserving.

Just a few miles down the road, the road stops and the ferry begins! That's the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, America's oldest continuous privately operated ferry. It began operations in 1682 - that's right, one year before the Quaker Meeting House was completed. It shortens an otherwise a 30-minute drive from Oxford to St.Michaels. Frankly, more cars take the ferry for the experience of doing it than to save on gas. It's an opportunity to cross the historic Tred Avon River and see Oxford, one of the state's oldest points-of-entry, in much the same manner as our ancestors.

Speaking of St. Michaels, it's a veritable history lesson unto its own. Founded in 1677, St. Michaels is a community that embraces its rich history. One way it does that is through the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, which celebrates three and one-half centuries of the region's sea-faring and maritime agricultural heritage. I was actually there when the museum was dedicated in 1965 as a Boy Scout on flag-raising duty. I have also been honored to make two book talks at the museum. It's an impressive institution that I am proud to have been associated with.

So, you may be asking, "What's your point?" It is not about being proud of my hometown, which I am. The point is this: Our past is worth preserving. As one who went to college just outside of the District of Columbia, it breaks my heart to see the reckless damage that is being done at the behest of an aging pedophile's warped vision of aesthetics. Just yesterday, we saw images of bulldozers mowing down a historic grove of Cherry Blossom trees to make way for a golf course. His love of bright, shiny gold objects has transformed the Oval Office into something akin of a French brothel. And don't get me started on that $400+ billion ballroom, the greatest rape of history in the name of building something nobody - and I mean nobody - wants. Worse, was the U.S. Supreme Court's cowardly ruling yesterday to suggest that the American people do not have legal standing to stop what even Chief Justice Roberts says is a "likely unlawful" construction project.

This administration has not limited its lilly-white warped view of history to the Nation's Capital. From Independence Hall, to our national parks and America's schools, Diaper Don has placed his tiny thumb on the scales in favor of a sanitized and, in some cases, just plain false view of our history. If it hasn't already, this "ethnic cleansing" of American history may soon reach your own town. This is being done in an effort to "restore truth and sanity" to American history - neither quality readily apparent in this administration's push.

At a time we find ourselves having to defend our rights on so many fronts, we need to also resist efforts to erase and modify our history in favor of an incompetent and incontinent oligarch's vanilla view of the world. Donald Trump will not live forever. But the damage he is doing will outlast him for many generations. Our history is worth preserving. However, the time for doing so is running out. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.