Good Morning St. Mary’s 👋.

Small milestone this week: there are now more than 4,000 of you reading St. Mary’s Insider.

That is so cool to see. When this started, the whole idea was pretty simple: make it easier to know what is happening here without having to dig through Facebook posts, county pages, and a flyer screenshot someone’s aunt shared.

So, thank you for reading, forwarding, replying, voting in the polls, and generally proving that St. Mary’s County does, in fact, want a better local heads-up. Tell your friends. I’m not above asking.

This weekend has drag racing, graduations, wrestling, bubbles, a horse show, park updates, and a lot going on.

Let’s get into it.

In today's Insider:

  • What Saturday night’s community pitch event says about St. Mary’s

  • Parks & Rec wants your input on the next five years

  • Drag Racing takes over Mechanicsville this weekend

  • $100 winner announced

  • A weekend calendar that somehow includes both oysters and explosions

What I Learned About St. Mary’s County Last Weekend

Saturday night, I went to Be Local’s community pitch event, where residents got the mic and talked about what they actually want to see built, fixed, supported, or taken seriously here.

The biggest takeaway: people are not short on ideas. They want more third places, better youth options, stronger local business support, and a county that feels easier to participate in without needing to decode a 50 page government PDF first.

I wrote more about what stood out, what surprised me, and why nights like this matter for St. Mary’s County. You can read the full piece here: What I Learned About St. Mary’s County Last Night

📰 The Local Scoop

  • Parks & Rec Wants Your Two Cents: St. Mary’s County Recreation & Parks is updating its five-yearplan, which guides parks, programs, facilities, and natural areas.

    Residents can give input online through Friday, July 10. There are also in-person input sessions June 4–6 in Lexington Park, Charlotte Hall, Leonardtown, and Mechanicsville.

    Translation: if you have strong feelings about parks, trails, fields, playgrounds, pickleball, or why every good idea somehow needs more parking, this is the time to say it.

  • Local Shop Wins $20K National Grant: Southern Maryland’s Just Between Kids just scored a big one. They were awarded a $20,000 national grant, making them one of only ten businesses in Maryland to receive the honor. That is real money for a local shop, and a nice little county bragging-rights moment. Congrats to Just Between Kids for bringing it home.

  • Hot Wheels Heads to Baltimore: If you have kids who would enjoy giant trucks, flames and stunts, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow-N-Fire is coming to CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore May 30–31.

    It’s not a local event, but it may be worth having on your radar for a bigger family day trip.

📊The Insiders Have Spoken

Last week’s sandwich poll has a winner: St. James Deli took the crown as making St. Mary’s BEST SANDWICH 🥪. A respectable choice.

Now, as we saw form Saturday’s event, our voice matters to County Leaders.

If St. Mary’s County could add one thing to its parks and recreation scene, what would you pick?

Login or Subscribe to participate

💸 Insider Intel: We Have a Winner

Last week’s $100 Insider giveaway pulled in hundreds of entries, which means two things:

  1. You all understood the assignment.

  2. St. Mary’s County has very strong opinions about where $100 should go.

Our winner is Catherine from Mechanicsville, who chose to spend her $100 prize at Xella Winery and Vineyard.

Good pick. Keep an eye out for more giveaways in the future.

🏡 Around the County

FDR Boulevard Meeting Tonight: St. Mary’s County is holding a public planning meeting for the FDR Boulevard extension tonight, Tuesday, May 26, from 5 PM to 7:30 PM at Lexington Park Library.

Self-Serve Park Rentals Are Coming: The county approved a Rent.Fun agreement to bring self-service recreation kiosks to local parks. Kayaks and stand-up paddleboards at Snow Hill Park, pickleball and bocce gear at Chancellors Run , and disc golf equipment at Lexington Manor Passive Park.

New Oral Surgery Office Opens in California: California Oral & Implant Surgery is holding a Chamber ribbon cutting Thursday, May 28 at 4 PM. It adds another specialized dental and implant option.

Chancellor’s Run Got New Hoops: The basketball courts at Chancellor’s Run Regional Park got new breakaway rims and TrueBounce backboards. If your jumper is still off, we can no longer blame the rim.

Graduation Week: Great Mills High School graduates Wednesday at 10 AM, and Leonardtown High School graduates Friday at 10 AM. Expect extra traffic near both schools.

Heads Up for Monday: A full-cycle test of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear sirens is scheduled for Monday, June 1, at noon across St. Mary’s, Calvert, and Dorchester counties.

⭐ The Top Pick

NHRA Potomac Nationals | Fri, May 29 through Sun, May 31 | Maryland International Raceway, Mechanicsville: This is the big one. The inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals bring Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle racing to Mechanicsville for a full national-event weekend.

There is also a free NHRA Driver Meet & Greet on Thursday, May 28 at 5 PM at The Barns at New Market in Mechanicsville, with NHRA drivers, live music, food, local wine, and classic cars.

Even if drag racing is not your thing, the traffic probably will be. Expect north county and Mechanicsville to feel the impact all weekend.

🍷Insider Spotlight (Sponsored)

Corteau Vineyards on Golden Beach Road in Mechanicsville is a third generation farm growing wine grapes. The tasting room welcomes you with views of the vines and the kind of atmosphere that makes it easy to stay longer than you planned. Though they focus on dry wines, they also offer luscious sangrias with eight flavors to choose from. Corteau hosts live music every Saturday afternoon, so it is worth checking their events page before you go. They’ve got new summer hours and are open every day; all ages are welcome, so bring the family.

Know a local business or hidden gem that deserves a spotlight? Give them some love and let me know.

📅 Your Weekend Calendar

🟢 Thursday, May 28

  • NHRA Driver Meet & Greet | 5 PM | The Barns at New Market, Mechanicsville: Meet NHRA drivers before the Potomac Nationals, with live music, food, local wine, and classic cars.

  • Pour Painting Workshop | 6 PM | St. Inie’s Coffee, Lexington Park: Community pour-painting workshop with supplies and refreshments included.

🟢 Friday, May 29

🟢 Saturday, May 30

🟢 Sunday, May 31

🤝Trusted Local Partners

Does your business need a boost? Reply to this email to see if we’re a good match.

That’s your Insider for this week.

Know someone who always texts "anything going on this weekend?" Send this to them.

If this was forwarded to you, you can get the Insider delivered every Tuesday morning by subscribing right here.

See you next Tuesday. ✌️

St. Mary’s Insider is supported by local businesses and trusted partners who help keep this newsletter going. Reply to this email to learn more about partnership opportunities.

Keep Reading

© 2026 St. Mary's Insider.
Report abusePrivacy policyTerms of use
beehiivPowered by beehiiv