Marketing students from George Washington University in Washington, DC got a tour of some of the beautiful landscapes Charles County has to offer on a beautiful Saturday afternoon across Charles County. The field trip, organized and paid for by Charles County Commissioner Ken Robinson (D: 1st) and his wife, George Washington University Professor Dr. Sheryl Elliott, was part of a competition to create tourism marketing plans for the county.
12 of the students spent the day with Robinson, touring Mount Aventine at Chapman State Park in Indian Head, the Indian Head Rail Trail, the Mattawoman Creek, General Smallwood State Park in Marbury and Swan Point. Alex Nesser, Joshua Gammon, Sam Chung, Wei “Shelly” Xue, Daphne Wang, Ariela Fridman, Michelle Yeboah, Stephanie McMahon, Jake Newstadt, Heather Cox, Aria Varasteh and Tiffany Hingley all got a taste of the sights and sounds of Charles County.
The tour started at Mt. Aventine where renovations are being made with the intent to use the manor for weddings. The manor was built by Pearson Chapman, who was the great grandson of Nathaniel Chapman, prior to the Civil War. It is one of Charles County’s most important examples of pre-Civil War architecture. Renovations are continuing to take place during the summer months.
Next up, students were exposed to the Indian Head Rail Trail, which Robinson called, “the jewel of Charles County as far as outdoor recreation.” The trail runs for 13 miles along the old railroad tracks from Indian Head to White Plains and hosts many bicycle clubs during the year.
The students then visited the Mattawoman Creek, where several residents were taking advantage of the picture perfect weather to spend their day kayaking on the water. Paula Marquis from the Southern Maryland Kayakers spoke about the efforts to clean the Mattawoman. She also spoke about kayaking and its popularity in Charles County.
Park Ranger Patrick Bright spoke about the popularity of bass fishing at General Smallwood State Park.
“The Mattawoman is a healthy waterfront,” Bright said. “It’s also politically divisive. Any impact north of here has an impact on this ecosystem. Economic concerns and environmental concerns don’t always have to be apart from each other.”
Bright also spoke about the importance of bass fishing competitions and the popularity of them nationwide, saying the county used to sponsor bass fishing competitions and said it brings exposure, and out of state tourist revenue, to the county. He stated that bass fishing is popular and even has many nationally televised competitions on ESPN and NBC Sports Network.
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