Star Democrat covers Johnny opening Easton's 54th Waterfowl Festival

Johnny, a Talbot County native and longtime supporter of the Waterfowl Festival, brought down the duck gavel at the Tidewater Inn and officially opened Easton’s 54th Waterfowl Festival — a fitting role for a senator who has spent his career defending the very traditions the festival celebrates.

The Waterfowl Festival is more than a weekend in Easton. It’s a working tribute to the conservation ethic, the hunting heritage, and the small-town community life that define the Eastern Shore. Decoy carvers. Retriever demonstrations. Calling contests. Money raised year after year for the wetlands, the waterways, and the wildlife that make this region what it is.

Hunting. Conservation. Community. That’s the Shore — and Johnny keeps standing up for all three in Annapolis, where each one is too often misunderstood by people who’ve never spent a cold morning in a blind on the Choptank.