(l to r) Fox 5’s Holly Morris and Wisdom Martin interview Leonardtown Mayor Dan Burris and St. Mary’s County Tourism Manager Carolyn Laray. Photos by Ron Bailey.
Leonardtown, MD — A team from a Washington, DC TV station zipped through Leonardtown on Friday Aug. 7. Every Friday during the summer months DC’s Fox 5 is doing Zip Trips to towns in their viewing area and Leonardtown was one of the ones chosen for the honor.
Throughout the entire four-hour morning news block numerous live and recorded reports were presented by the three-person news team sent to Leonardtown – Holly Morris, Wisdom Martin and Gary McGrady. The three were greeted upon their arrival with corsages from Town Florist.
A pre-recoded tour of town by McGrady was played several times throughout the morning that showed five must-see locations in town – Port of Leonardtown Winery, Maryland Antique Center, the Old Jail, the Leonardtown Wharf Park and Front Porch Restaurant.
A number of live interviews were conducted through the morning with a cheerleading crowd behind them. Among those interviewed were Mayor Dan Burris and St. Mary’s County Tourism Manager Carolyn Laray, some of the artists at North End Gallery, Joe Orlando at Fenwick Street Used Books and some of the staff at the Rex Restaurant. Morris and Martin posed on the Clydesdale-drawn carriage from Sutter Post Farm.
During each Zip Trip, a Hometown Hero Award is bestowed on a local citizen. For their Leonardtown visit, Corporal Timothy Snyder of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department’s Lexington Park COPS unit was honored for helping a homeless man get back on his feet. That man, Robert Long, also was part of the interview conducted by Morris. Long told Morris, “The sheriff’s department saved my life.”
For a closing segment the Fox 5 team did a culinary tour of town with samples of food and drinks from Café de Artistes, Kevin’s Korner Café, Old Town Pub and Front Porch. The restaurant representatives all praised Leonardtown as a good place to do business.
McGrady, who was the one who wandered farther from town square for interviews, was chauffeured around by Town Councilman Roger Mattingly.
The town square was blocked off to traffic during the four hours. Several vendors set up and a mini-festival broke out from the event.
Please enjoy the Photo Gallery of Fox 5’s visit by The Bay Net’s Photojournalist Ron Bailey.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com
