The Chesapeake Bay Program held a biennial retreat in Richmond, Virginia on March 13-14, 2019. This retreat was organized by Kristin Saunders, with help from Dave Goshorn and many others. The goal of the retreat was to review the progress of the adaptive management cycle after the initial two years of its implementation. Kristin asked me to make the opening talk with the theme “We are Trailblazers” on March 13. In my talk I introduced the younger members of the Chesapeake Bay Program team to Harry Hughes, the former Maryland Governor and Chesapeake Bay advocate. As part of the talk, I played a song I had adapted from the Eurythmics entitled “Sweet Dreams” which was released in 1983, the same year that the Chesapeake Bay Program was formed. The point I made with the song was that the Chesapeake Bay Program was the sweet dream of Governor Hughes. We didn’t learn until later in the day that Governor Hughes had passed away at the age of 92. It was a bittersweet moment, as I still had the tune from “Sweet Dreams” running through my head.

I was fortunate enough to get to know Governor Hughes when
he served as the founding chair of the Board of Visitors for the University of
Maryland Center for Environmental Science. At the Board of Visitors luncheons, I
would sit with Harry and his college buddy Joe Drach and we talked about
sports. My late father, John Dennison (who also featured in my “We are
Trailblazers” talk), graduated from high school in 1943, just like Harry, so I
felt instantly comfortable with Harry and Joe. My father played football for
McGuffey High School in Oxford, Ohio under Wilbur “Weeb” Ewbank and then joined
the Army during World War II. Harry played baseball for Caroline High School,
in Denton, Maryland and then joined the Navy during World War II. Joe played
football for the University of Maryland, and both Harry and Joe knew Weeb
Ewbank, as he went on to coach the Baltimore Colts and then the New York Jets. These
men were truly the “Greatest Generation” who did so much for our country
without asking for anything in return.

I was able to serve as the chauffeur for Harry when we celebrated the 90^th Anniversary of the founding of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in 1925, the forerunner of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The celebration was held in the Annapolis Maritime Museum and Harry confined in me during the drive from the Eastern Shore that when he helped create the Chesapeake Bay Program that he thought it was only going to take a few years to sort out the problems in the Bay. And here we were, over three decades later, still working on the problems. This conversation with Harry is part of what prompted me to think of “Sweet Dreams” to describe the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Harry wrote a wonderful autobiography entitled “My Unexpected Journey: The autobiography of Governor Harry Roe Hughes”, with John Frece. In this book, Harry recounts a speech that he made to Maryland’s General Assembly in which he said “Undoubtedly, one of the greatest tests of our stewardship will be our ability to restore the Chesapeake Bay. As our mountains and barrier islands define our boundaries, the Bay defines our central character.” Those were beautiful words.

The trailblazing that Harry did to create the Chesapeake Bay
Program has endured, and the Chesapeake Bay Program still leads the effort to
restore the Chesapeake Bay. Harry also signed the 1984 Chesapeake Bay Agreement
which called for a 40% nutrient reduction. He also set up the Chesapeake Bay
Trust, the Critical Areas Commission, a saltwater sportfishing license to fund
Bay restoration and he supported the phosphorus ban from cleaning detergents.
Harry courageously enacted a rockfish moratorium as well. Many of the benefits
of these initiatives were not realized until well after Harry left office,
which demonstrates his vision and humility.

My version of “Sweet Dreams” was recorded by Kat Parsons
(katparsons.com) with help from Jamie Currie. When I played the song, the
audience gave it a warm round of applause, but I think they were applauding
Harry Hughes as much as anything else. The lyrics for my tribute to Governor
Harry Hughes (1926-2019) were the following:

Sweet Dreams

13 March 2019

William C. Dennison

Sweet dreams are made of this

Who am I to disagree?

I travel the world

And the Chesapeake,

Everybody’s looking to save the Bay.

Some of them want the oysters

Some of them want the blue crabs

Some of them want the rockfish

Some of them want clear water.

Sweet dreams are made of this

Who am I to disagree?

I travel the world

And the seven seas

Everybody’s looking for something.

Hold your head up

Keep your head up, movin’ on

Hold your head up, movin’ on

Keep your head up, movin’ on

Hold your head up

Keep your head up, movin’ on

Hold your head up, movin’ on

Keep your head up, movin’ on.

Some of them want to use the Bay

Some of them want to get used by the Bay

Some of them want to abuse the Bay

Some of them want to be abused.

Sweet dreams are made of this

Who am I to disagree?

I travel the world

And the seven seas

Everybody’s looking for something.

Reference: Hughes, Harry Roe with John Frece.
2006. My Unexpected Journey: The autobiography of Governor Harry Roe Hughes. The
History Press, Charleston, South Carolina. 224 pp.