Some people just won't give up - and the Chesapeake Bay is the better for it.  Sunday brings the annual Patuxent River wade-in, begun 24 years ago by former state Sen. Bernie Fowler. Fowler, who spent decades as a Calvert County commissioner and then state senator, recalls standing chest-deep in the Patuxent as a young man in the 1950s and being able to see his feet on the river bottom while netting blue crabs.

In 1988, amid growing concern about the river's decline from nutrient and sediment pollution, he waded in again to see how far he could get before losing sight of his white sneakers. He only reached about 10 inches deep that time. He's made an annual pilgrimage into the river since then, in what's become a signature rite of the Chesapeake - and a testament to his persistence in the protracted struggle to restore the bay.

The wade-in attracts bay lovers and politicians galore.  Last year he was reportedly joined by more than 100 people. Once held at Broome's Island where Bernie used to crab, the wade-in's been moved to Jefferson Patterson Park, 10515 Mackall Road in St. Leonard. It starts at 1 p.m., and it's a great event, full of cameraderie and encouragement by Bernie and others to keep up the decades-long fight to restore the Patuxent and the Bay.

For those who can't make it, there's a way to wade in vicariously - by guessing how deep he'll get. The state Department of Planning is sponsoring a "guess-the-depth" contest. Last year, 21 people guessed everywhere from 20 inches to 41.5 inches. I was one of the more pessimistic, as I recall - it looks like I guessed 21.2 inches. Only one person, a John from Harford County, came within an inch of Bernie's actual depth - 34.5 inches.

Feel free to try your hand again this year. There's no prize for winning, just the bragging rights for knowing how clear the Patuxent is this year.  For more info, go here.

Meanwhile, it's not clear when Bernie will be able to see his sneakers in shoulder-deep water again. He's gotten up to 44.5 inches in 1997, but the water's gotten murkier since then. Last year's depth was an encouraging rebound - coming amid a renewed push to restore the bay.  We'll see if it's clearer still this year, even as there's been pushback lately against some of the new cleanup initiatives. Bernie sure would be relieved to know after all this time that his beloved Patuxent is clearly headed in the right direction.

(PHOTO: Bernie Fowler, right, wades into Patuxent with friends. 1992 Baltimore Sun.  CHART: Depths at which Bernie lost sight of his sneakers, by year.)