Spoken word artist Ellouise Schoettler interprets the story of a World War I nurse at Veterans’ Memorial Park.
Chesapeake Beach, MD – A beautiful day, good turnout, great music, patriotic displays and even a letter from the White House made for a memorable open to the Town of Chesapeake Beach’s sixth annual Stars and Stripes Festival. However, the recollections of one woman’s service in World War I—delivered by a “spoken word artist”—added a major component to the Saturday, May 27 ceremony at Veterans’ Memorial Park.
Ellouise Schoettler, a storyteller and television producer/host, served as the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony, which officially starts the annual festival. Event organizers have used previous conflicts as the themes for the festival and this year the focus was on World War I.
“It’s always the first busiest weekend of the summer,” said Connie O’Dell, who coordinates the festival and other special events in Chesapeake Beach. She thanked members of the festival committee for their work in planning for the event, which is always held Memorial Day weekend.
While the Stars and Stripes Festival has often received praise from state officials, this year a letter from President Donald Trump was sent to the town. O’Dell read it during the ceremony.
“Melania and I send our warmest greetings to everyone taking part in the Chesapeake Beach Stars and Stripes Festival and Memorial Day Ceremony. As you gather 100 years after our nation entered World War I, we join you in honoring the indelible memory of all our Nation’s fallen heroes. We applaud the Town of Chesapeake Beach, Mayor Patrick Mahoney and all those who helped organize this weekend’s activities,” the president’s letter read in part.
Schoettler’s interpretations of the recollections of Army nurses sent to France in 1917 are the subject of a one-woman show she will perform seven times in July at Gallaudet University’s Eastman Studio Theater in Washington, DC. The show is called “Ready to Serve.”
“So many veterans have stories locked in them because nobody asks,” said Schoettler, who told her story as an 80-year-old woman telling strangers here recollections of her time serving in France with over 60 other nurses from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Those embarking on the mission to staff a war hospital in France were “told to make a will” before leaving the country, said Schoettler, in character. A subsequent 12=day voyage on a retrofitted luxury liner followed. In France, the nurses had less-than-standard living conditions inside a school house and sleeping on small cots. “We didn’t come here to stay at the Ritz, we came here to help these boys,” Schoettler’s storyteller character stated. During their tour the nurses endured the cold and muddy elements. Some became sick and died. Schoettler’s character stated the youngest nurse in the group died of scarlet fever. Five nurses were sent home “because they were physically unable to cope with the cold.” The narrator responded to her mother’s inquiry of “when are you coming home?” but affirming, “I’m not coming home ‘’til it’s over!”
The nearly 50-day Battle of Argonne Forest produced the war’s most bloodshed but was soon followed by the Armistice. Schoettler’s character told of a Thanksgiving dinner at the hospital in late November which a few months later was followed by a return to America. Schoettler’s story was based on accounts from the Baltimore Sun.
The ceremony featured patriotic music by the U.S. Naval Academy Band Wind Quintet, Dana & Jeremy singing the Star Spangled Banner and the playing of Taps by MUC Davy DeArmond. The Presentation of Colors was done by the Huntingtown High School Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Color Guard.
The Master of ceremonies was MUCM Robert Snider, U.S. Navy Retired: The Rev. James Stack of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in North Beach gave the invocation and Chesapeake Beach Mayor Patrick “Irish” Mahoney gave brief welcoming remarks to the attendees.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
