2011-03-03 Southern Calvert Gazette

March, 2011

Priceless GazetteEverything Solomons, Lusby, Dowell, and St. Leonard

Southern Calvert

Frying Pan Offers Slice of Home

18 Cliff Homeowners Seek FEMA Grant

Story Page 5Story Page 3

Delegate Aims to Preserve African American Ball Field

Story 2

Field of Dreams

Thursday, March-20112

newsmakers

local newsSteve Rusch, left, Lee Blankenship and Troy Meister all share about 10 years of The Frying Pan comradery. Blankenship has been a waitress there for 10 years. Rusch and Meister have been meeting for breakfast with others for the last 10 to 15 years.

20-year-old photographer Bark Danger is making a name for himself as an artist. An exhibit of his work is on display through March.

Also Inside

On The Cover

3 Local News

8 Community

11 Sports

12 Cover Story

14 Letters

15 Locals

16 Obituaries

18 Education

20 Fishing

21 Out & About

22 On Water

23 Entertainment

John Clyburn led Patuxent with 11 points in their loss to Central on Friday night in the 2A South Playoffs.

Solomons Island

Tide ReportSolomons Island

Tide ReportSolomons Island

Tide Report

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon /Low Time Feet Sunset Visibl

F 4 High 1:29 AM 1.0 6:34 AM Rise 6:06 AM 0 4 Low 7:54 AM -0.1 6:02 PM Set 6:09 PM 4 High 2:11 PM 1.1 4 Low 8:21 PM 0.1

Sa 5 High 2:10 AM 1.1 6:32 AM Rise 6:31 AM 0 5 Low 8:35 AM -0.1 6:03 PM Set 7:05 PM 5 High 2:41 PM 1.1 5 Low 8:46 PM 0.0

Su 6 High 2:49 AM 1.1 6:31 AM Rise 6:56 AM 0 6 Low 9:15 AM 0.0 6:04 PM Set 8:02 PM 6 High 3:12 PM 1.0 6 Low 9:11 PM 0.0

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon /Low Time Feet Sunset Visibl

F 11 High 6:08 AM 1.3 6:23 AM Rise 9:41 AM 29 11 Low 1:14 PM 0.2 6:09 PM 11 High 6:29 PM 0.8

Sa 12 Low 12:14 AM 0.0 6:22 AM Set 12:52 AM 38 12 High 7:00 AM 1.2 6:10 PM Rise 10:31 AM 12 Low 2:15 PM 0.2 12 High 7:23 PM 0.8

Su 13 Low 2:13 AM 0.0 7:20 AM Set 1:46 AM 48 13 High 8:59 AM 1.2 7:11 PM Rise 12:28 PM 13 Low 4:15 PM 0.2 13 High 9:21 PM 0.9

March 4-6 2011

March 11-13 2011

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New Maryland State Delegate Mark Fisher (R-27B) plans to preserve a historic baseball field in Owings where African Americans played for decades.

out & aboutFOR EVENTS HAPPENING IN YOUR AREA, CHECK PAGE 21 IN OUT AND ABOUT

Thursday, March-2011 3

LOCALNEWS

Matt LaidleyGary SimpsonKatie Facchina7800 Crain HighwayLa Plata, MD 20646301-934-8437

Housing trends are likely to change soon in Calvert County, planning and zoning officials say, particularly with a projected increase in demand for rental and multifamily housing.

Greg Bowen, director of the county’s planning and zoning department, said that local residential building proj-ects have been much reduced in the past eight years and with the entire housing stock at 92 percent single family homes, the new Board of County Commissioners may need to consider other options to meet the needs of what officials believe is an aging population.

“Seniors are often looking for something other than the big house and the big yard,” Bowen said of the benefits of having more rental stock available. “It provides more va-riety of housing.”

A letter sent to commissioners by Bowen, who were briefed Tuesday on the trends and housing issues facing them, also stated that the market for rental properties is be-ing fueled by the current economic struggles that have hit the region and the nation.

“The recession and new housing trends are leading many to conclude that attached and multi-family housing

will dominate the housing market in the next few years,” the letter stated. “The retirement of ‘baby boomers’ may perpetuate that pattern.”

Developers are also pressuring the county to either reduce or waive transfer of development rights (TDRs) re-quirements to facilitate the build out that county planners project.

TDR’s require that developers or builders purchase de-velopment rights that are then used to preserve forested or rural land elsewhere in the county.

Bowen said that the county’s TDR program along with other programs has allowed planners to preserve 27,000 acres of undeveloped land.

There are currently 12,000 TDRs still available for purchase in Calvert County, planning and zoning docu-ments show, and zoning officials have stated that one op-tion to balance the growth required would be to increase the requirements to buy development rights for projects outside of the densest sectors of the county, while reducing the TDR requirements to build in the county’s most highly developed areas. By Guy Leonard (CT) [email protected]

Planning Director: More Rental Properties Needed

In the last issue of The Southern Calvert Gazette a headline incorrectly stated that Rousby Hall is currently for sale. The home for sale is the King’s Custom House where John Rousby II was the Keeper. The adjacent property is the actual Rousby Hall, and it is not for sale.

The Cliff Stabilization Committee (CSC) has asked Cal-vert County Planning and Zoning and Public Safety depart-ments to assist 18 homeowners in completing an application for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pre-disaster mitigation grant.

The county and committee identified 83 homes along the cliffs within 20 feet of the cliff face that “are potentially in im-mediate danger.”

These homeowners need short term solutions, one of which might be buyout and relocation if the county receives the award of the $3 million grant.

The national grant is competitive and requires the state submit the application on behalf of local communities. The grant pays only 75 percent of the cost anticipat-ing the additional 25 percent comes from the state, local government or individuals.

Only 18 homeowners respond-ed to the committee’s attempt to in-form them about the availability of the grant. Even if the county receives $3 million it will not cover the ex-penses for all applicants, according to the committee members.

Bobby Fenwick, Calvert Coun-ty Public Safety Emergency Man-agement Division Chief, is tasked with supplying all the county-spe-cific information on the 21-page ap-plication and helping the interested homeowners in filling out their in-formation. The deadline for this por-tion of the application to the state is April 1st.

According to FEMA’s website, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program provides funds for “haz-ard mitigation planning and the implementation of mitigation proj-ects prior to a disaster event. Fund-ing these plans and projects reduces overall risks to the population and structures, while also reducing reli-ance on funding from actual disas-ter declarations. PDM grants are to be awarded on a competitive basis and without reference to state alloca-

tions, quotas, or other formula-based allocation of funds.”According to David Salvesen, University of North Caroli-

na at Chapel Hill, the advantages of Natural Hazard Mitigation is it “saves money, provides permanent protection, enhances natural flood protection and protects private property rights.”

The Calvert County Board of Commissioners charged CSC with making recommendations for erosion control and mitigation, keeping the affected property owners informed. The third meeting of the CSC revolved around getting this application submitted by the deadline and setting up working groups to address short-, mid- and long-term solutions for cliff erosion. By Corrin M. Howe (SCG) [email protected]

18 Cliff Homeowners Seeking FEMA Grant

Wayne Gross, a high-way maintenance crew leader with Public Works/Highway Maintenance Division, was named Employee of the Year at Calvert County’s annual Employee Recognition Pro-gram in February.

An Em-ployee of the Month for June 2010, Wayne was recognized for the out-standing work he did in learning and maintaining the Highway Maintenance customer service database during the medical absence of the employee normally charged with this task. He

then simultaneously served as customer service coor-dinator while ensuring that his own crew continued to

effectively carry out its duties. He not only learned an entirely new database, he main-tained a high level of personal com-mitment to both the crews perform-ing the work and the citizens calling

the county.In presenting the

award, county officials praised Gross, saying he embodies the professional-ism and dedication that is the hallmark of the coun-ty’s workforce.

Employee of the Year

Correction


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Terry Anthony Clarke faced literally decades in prison for numerous charges of assault, reckless endangerment and illegal firearms when he walked into county Circuit Court Wednesday morning to finish what started in December 2007 when he fired on several teenaged hunters who were hunting goose on land adjacent to his home on St. An-drews Church Road.

But Judge William Missouri, visting from Prince George’s County and administra-tive judge for the entire 7th Circuit, sentenced him to just two years incarceration in the state’s Department of Corrections, taking into account how Clarke had turned his life around from a 1986 drug conviction to a successful employer and community philanthropist who was legitimately sorry for his admittedly reck-less actions that day.

Clarke was visibly shaken at his sentenc-ing hearing, sometimes to the point of tears, and admitted his wrongdoing.

“This has broken me as a person,” Clarke told Missouri. “I’ve really questioned my very existence.

“I freely admit my guilt. It truly was a knee jerk reaction and I’ve regretted it ever since,” he said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel White

agreed that Clarke was not a hardened criminal, but argued that Clarke had received the benefit of his changed life and community generosity, as well as numerous statements on his behalf by employees and friends,

by having more serious first-degree assault charges and stiff mandatory penalties for be-ing a convicted felon in possession of firearms taken away by a previous plea deal.

Some who spoke on Clarke’s behalf la-beled the victim in the case as instigators who provoked Clarke to action.

White also questioned the defense’s move to deliver a DVD recording to Missouri about a week before the sentencing hearing, which apparently tried to show Clarke as a man who was concerned that his home and family were in danger of harm from projectiles being fired too close to his home.

Victim’s who were on the receiving end of gun fire from Clarke’s AR-15 assault rifle testified at the hearing that they never had any intention of firing at Clarke’s house nearby and were never aware that any of their bird shot ever did.

Clarke apparently made those claims in the DVD, but the sheriff’s deputy who took the initial report that day testified Wednesday that Clarke never mentioned to him that errant bird shot had ever been a problem or that his house had been deliberately shot at.

Kevin Gragan, one of the hunters who went into a pond that day to retrieve felled

geese, recounted his experience of having per-haps up to thirty rounds of .223 ammunition fired at him and two of his friends.

Clarke had had disputes with the young hunters several times before over concerns of their hunting near his land, despite their tes-timony that the adjacent property owner had given them permission to hunt, court testimo-ny revealed.

On that day, Dec. 29, Clarke went out to confront the hunters in what Missouri termed as a perfect storm between those with the right to hunt and a man who felt that he had to protect his family and home, but still acted recklessly.

“When we shot it was completely away from Mr. Clarke’s house,” Gragan said at the hearing. “[Clarke fired] in three shot bursts, he just kept pulling the trigger.”

Victims who testified said that Clarke’s shots, which were aimed at the water, came within 25 yards to just a few feet of where they were standing in the pond, though Robert Bonsib, Clarke’s defense attorney, attempted to impeach them with the report taken that day where they told police the rounds came within 30 or 40 yards of their position.

Karen Anderson, the mother of one of the young hunters, said that her son Paul Anderson and his friends were not troublemakers, just lovers of the hunt.

“They’re good boys… they’re not out there destroying people’s stuff,” she said. “By any one stroke or moment of anger, any one of those boys could’ve been gone.”

Following the shooting incident, police

investigating the case seized numerous weap-ons from Clarke’s home as well as about 3,000 rounds of ammunition for the AR-15.

Clarke, who is co-owner of The Tiki Bar in Solomons Island, is prohibited from own-ing firearms as a result of a nearly 25-year old felony drug charge.

Bonsib’s request for a sentence of proba-tion before judgment was rebuffed by Missouri, despite the attorney’s argument that Clarke had suffered a great deal of mental anguish from realizing the depth of his actions in 2007.

“There’s absolutely no reason to believe Mr. Clarke is a danger to the community,” Bonsib said. “He has been punished and more.”

Clarke was also a witness for the grand jury in the lengthy investigation into Leonar-dtown lawyer John Andrew Mattingly and his real estate business partner Daniel Jason Brown that came to trial last year.

Both Mattingly and Brown faced charges of witnesses tampering for allegedly taking $20,000 of Clarke’s money to persuade the victims in the shooting case to drop charges against Clarke.

Brown pleaded guilty to conspiring to tamper with witnesses in the case as well as conspiring to affix a false notary seal to a deed, but Mattingly was cleared of all the charges against him both by a jury and by the special prosecutor trying the case.

Clarke had two weeks to report to the county sheriff’s office to begin his sentence in state prison. By Guy Leonard (CT) [email protected]

Clarke Dodges Heavy Sentence in Shooting Case

During one of the last Calvert County Board of County Commissioners meeting prior to the General Election, a request was made to have a comprehensive review of business signage regulations, according to President Susan Shaw.

“People are getting creative to get the word out (about their businesses),” said Shaw, adding the pressure comes “especially with a down economy.”

“Mobile signage” or vehicles painted or shrink wrapped with advertising is one area that falls under signage regulations. The De-partment of Planning and Zoning has a 10-page customer assistance guide available at their third floor office in the County Services Plaza on Main Street Prince Frederick.

According to the regulations such signs attached to vehicles are allowed under the following conditions:

• “The vehicle is parked at the business location and the vehicle is operable, tagged and parked in an approved parking space,” or

• “The vehicle is not parked at the busi-ness, it cannot be parked on property zoned FFD, RCD, or RD, unless the vehicle is parked at the driver’s residence and it is the resident’s primary means of transportation to and from his or her place of work.”

During a recent article about CareNet Pregancy Center’s move to Prince Frederick, the parking of the organization’s mobile unit became a matter of topic. They had parked the blue truck in front of Calvert County Bap-tist Church next to Adam’s Ribs on Route 4 in Prince Frederick.

However, someone from planning and zoning told them they would have to move their truck.

CareNet’s new facility is located in the Wildwood Office Center behind Adam’s Ribs. Both the pregnancy center’s direc-tor and Planning and Zoning Director Greg Bowen suggested the request to move the van probably fell under the “at the business loca-tion” part of the regulations. Since CareNet’s business was not on Route 4, they were asked to move their vehicle.

When asked about a number of other specific business vehicles parking along Route 4, Bowen said his office would have to look into them.

“It’s like police and speeding tickets. We do catch a lot of folks, but there are some who still slip through. We try to consistently apply the regulations,” said Bowen.

He does have two inspectors for the county who investigate sign violations. Ninety percent of their investigations come through complaints, he said. The inspectors go out to the property, make a determination, generate correspondence and follow up. In rare cases they will take the matter to court.

“Signage is a perpetual issue for many businesses in our county. No one should be surprised when businesses get creative in order to get visibility,” said Calvert County Chamber of Commerce President Carolyn McHugh.

Shaw concluded that with three fifths of the BOCC being newly elected, a com-prehensive review of all signage has been delayed; however, this and asking the coun-ty’s “Economic Development Department to weigh in on ways the county can be more business friendly” are two directions she wants to board to move toward. By Corrin M. Howe (SCG) info@somdpublishing

Some Mobile Signs Slide Under Radar


LOCALNEWS

In his early 20s, Scott Adams had a lease to run a 12-stool bar in Solomons and was talking to a banker about a loan to start a seafood place at the intersection of Chancel-lor’s Run Road and Route 231. Adams said the loan officer called him an “entrepreneur.”

“I had to go home and look the word up,” he said. “I was just doing it.”

A few years later after losing the lease with the bar and failing at his own seafood place, Adams contacted Willie and June Ouellette about leasing to purchase The Frying Pan on H.G. Trueman in Lusby, north of Calvert Cliffs State Park.

With the exception of a period of time in the late 1980s, the Frying Pan has been serving up dinner faire since 1969.

“I came here with my dad went it was a television re-pair shop,” said John Baki, who was eating his second meal at The Frying Pan that day.

Adams said he knew it was Pardoe’s Snack bar in 1959, but wasn’t aware it was something else prior.

“Except for adding my paintings I haven’t really changed the place.”

He did “brighten it up” by replacing the dark flooring and dark stain on the chairs. The menu is pretty much the same. In fact, he had to ask several regular customers if they could remember what he might have added since the dinner opened.

“We’re most widely known for breakfast,” said Adams.Their menu consists of anything from a BLT to sea-

food and steak. He said he’d put his steak up against any national chain restaurant and all, but possibly one local sea-food restaurant, but only because the other place purchases more expensive types of seafood.

One patron raved about the size and taste of the fried scallops as she was walking out the door. That particular day there were five customers in for dinner at 3:30 p.m., which is really good in the restaurant industry which tradi-tionally is slow between 2:30 to 5 p.m.

In the current economy Adams is holding his own. He said he would do much better if the construction workers would get back to 40 hour a week jobs.

Baki, who works mostly nights at the power plant, said he regularly meets his wife Joyce at The Frying Pan since she mostly works days for the Calvert County De-partment of Economic Development.

For the last few months Adams has been working on creating a presence in the social networks, understanding that businesses are listed on GPS and websites where their

phones (“which are really mini personal computers,” said Adams) access for directions, hours of operation and even customer reviews.

Another idea he is thinking about is adding to his din-ner’s wine selection. He’s only offered Sutter Home and a few brands of beers because he wants to maintain his fam-ily style restaurant; however, he’s finding his consumers are becoming more sophisticated about wines they drink.

“This little place is special,” said Adams who plans to be around for years to come. By Corrin M. Howe (SCG) [email protected]

Frying Pan OFFers a LittLe sLice OF HOme

Watermen from all over Southern Maryland had a week to harvest oysters planted four years ago by a federally funded oyster restoration project even though it was inside a state-mandated sanc-tuary area.

Tommy Zinn, president of the Calvert County Watermen’s Association, said that the Oyster Recovery Project seeded nearly 30 acres of the Patuxent River near the Benedict bridge back in 2007 in hopes of bolstering the area’s dwindling bivalve population.

The project placed an esti-mated 26 million oyster spat on the river bottom, which was then closed off until now.

“They’ve got to give us a chance to harvest them, because they were planted with federal money,” Zinn told The Southern Calvert Gazette.

Zinn said that the state’s re-cent closing of prime oyster habitat to harvesting has pushed water-men out of their traditional work-ing areas.

High winds on Monday meant that only about a dozen watermen came out on their boats to hand tong the seeded oysters.

Yields that day were mostly low, Zinn said, since the weather conditions drove many of the wa-termen away.

“They’re not breaking any re-cords,” Zinn said.

He hoped that conditions would improve to allow more har-vesting, or that an extension of the harvesting time would be granted by the state’s Department of Natu-ral Resources due to bad weather.

“It’s going to be a boost for watermen at the end of the season,” Zinn said of the one-time harvest-ing opportunity.

J.P. Nelson, a Hollywood wa-termen, said that the brief opening represented a good opportunity for him, since the closing off of much of the St. Mary’s River took away much of his business.

When harvesting in the Wic-omico River he only gets about two or three bushels, he said.

“I hope they keep doing more recovery openings like this,” Nel-son said after taking 15 bushels Monday. “They’ve taken so much from us we’ve got to take whatever we can get.” By Guy Leonard (CT) [email protected]

Oystermen Get Shot at Harvesting Inside Sanctuary

Hollywood watermen J.P. Nelson, left, and Melanie Wheeler, harvest oysters from the bottom of the Patuxent River after the area had been closed for four years to allow planted oysters to grow.

Photos by Corrin M. HoweSteve Rusch, left, Lee Blankenship and Troy Meister all share about 10 years of The Frying Pan comradery. Blankenship has been a waitress there for 10 years. Rusch and Meister have been meeting for break-fast with others in the antique business two or three times a week for the last 10 to 15 years.


LOCALNEWS Saturday morning dawned clear and cool, with no

rain and only a little breeze, a far cry from the gusts and rain from the day before, which caused Dominion Cove Point in Lusby to halt their latest nature conservation for

a day. All in all, it was a beautiful day for the last 150 of 400 volunteers to show up at Dominion Cove to spend their morning planting dune grass along the shoreline.

Freshwater wetland marshes, which are already rare in Maryland, are shrinking.

To help preserve one of the shrinking freshwater marsh areas, and the wildlife that needs it to survive, Dominion Cove Point in conjunction with the National Aquarium has been using volunteers to plant 66,000 sprouts of American Dune Grass to extend the marshland by approximately 10 feet out, with plans to plant another 190,000 dune grass shoots in May, according to Mike Frederick, the director with Dominion Cove.

The plants should help prevent erosion and, along with a stone revetment, should protect the marsh and the animals that need it to survive. Frederick said the marsh began hav-ing problems when a nor’easter breached the beach and al-lowed saltwater to invade the marsh.

Dominion is using volunteers from the community to plant the dune grass and extend the shoreline, including groups of students from local schools, like Our Lady Star of the Sea, the Leadership Southern Maryland and several independent individuals from the community.

Even representatives from the Maryland Conservation Corps got involved, coming down to the site to dig holes in the compressed sand to make the planting a little easier. Each plant had to be set in a hole nine inches deep, with two shoots per hole.

Curtis Blaik, a worker with the conservation corps, said he was happy to be part of the marshland preservation and to work with the National Aquarium and Dominion.

“I love it, it’s the absolute best job I’ve had in my life,” Blaik said.

Local volunteers and large organizations weren’t the only ones to come down to Lusby on Saturday morning to help with the dune grass project. One group of young women from Perry Hall Middle School in Baltimore came down to plant grass as an environmental science project.

Lydia Harrison, along with Shailey Sheif and Kaelyn Shaw, had to do a project that was either research or action based and they chose to do something that required them to take action.

“Basically, we had to help the environment in some way,” Harrison said.

Even the National Aquarium, as well as supporting and helping to plan and organize the project, sent volunteers Sat-urday morning. Mary Sidlowski said she has spend the last 10 years helping the aquarium plant dune grass at other sites like the one in Lusby.

‘I think it’s wonderful,” Sidlowski said. “You come back in a few months and it’ll be green.”

The problem is people won’t be able to come back and see the final product of their work. Frederick said the only other time the wildlife preservation area will be open to the public again is during the second planting in May. At all other times, the area is closed to even Dominion employees, who utilize an underground tunnel and bikes to get from the facility to Dominion’s offshore site. There is a boardwalk to the water so, if needed, the employees can get to the site from above ground, but it is used only in emergencies or if there is equipment coming in that can’t be transported in the tunnel, Frederick said.

Because the planting scheduled for Friday was can-celed, Frederick said the groups that would have come in will get first priority in May. Other individuals wishing to help with the next phase of the dune grass project can sign up through the National Aquarium. By Sarah Miller (CT) [email protected]

Dominion, Volunteers Work To Preserve Freshwater Marsh

Know When To Hold ‘Em

Some Calvert County watermen are opposing a proposed project that would bring oyster aquaculture to the waters off Myrtle Point, saying that both the oyster floats and underwater cages upon which larval oysters would be placed to grow will take away valu-able crabbing areas.

Tommy Zinn, president of the Calvert County Watermen’s Association, which claims membership from both counties, stated in a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers and the state’s Board of Public Works that the proposal would take away one of the few legal methods left to watermen and recreational crabbers in the waters of the Patuxent River near Mill Creek.

“Trotlines are one of the few means by which commercial watermen can legally harvest crabs in the Patuxent River tributary; crab pots are not permitted,” Zinn wrote. “The cages and floats described in the proposal would stop watermen from using trotlines in these protected waters.”

Zinn claimed in his letter than trotlines would be-come entangled with tackle used for the aquaculture project proposed in public waters.

“The inability to trotline in these areas will ad-versely affect the personal income of watermen,” Zinn stated.

According to project maps from the corps of engineers the project consists of three separate areas where the oyster seed would grow. In total the three oyster growing areas encompass about 11 acres of ei-ther river bottom or surface water.

The lead on the project is Hollywood resident Raymond Combs, Sr. who has, with his family, sought for years to put an oyster aquaculture project in local waters.

The first growth area is planned for floating aqua-culture of oyster seed, project documents state, with a minimum of 20 feet between each row tied together and anchored by ground tackle.

The other sites would be for growing more mature oysters below the river surface, about one foot from the actual bottom tethered by line and more ground tackle, documents read.

Combs denied that his project, which keeps with the state’s push for more aquaculture, would interfere with crabbing in the waters in and around Myrtle Point.

A state official with the Maryland Department of Agriculture, one of the three agencies working on the permit for the project, disagreed.

“It [trotlines] could get tangled in the cages,” said Karl Roscher, aquaculture coordinator. “It wouldn’t be practical to set a trotline underneath floats.”

Combs said that he has offered to address the watermen’s group’s concerns, but only now are they trying to derail the project when it seems ready for ap-proval. By Guy Leonard (CT) [email protected]

Local Watermen Oppose Myrtle Point Aquaculture Project

Volunteers at Dominion Cove Point plant American Dune Grass on Saturday.

Chloe and Steve Oberg plant grass with Leadership Southern Maryland.

Over 100 volunteers came together to help extend the freshwater marsh’s shore-line and prevent future erosion.


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Know When To Hold ‘Em

Wine Shipment Laws Under Consideration

Joyce Baki, of Calvert County Economic Development, and Clint Houck, Rock Remodeling and Building are among some Black Jack players. St. Mary’s and Calvert County Chambers of Commerce held a joint Business After Hours (BAH) at the Hilton Garden Inn in Solomons on Feb. 23. While both Cham-bers hold separate monthly BAHs, this time they combined their event as an opportu-nity for businessmen and women to meet others from across the Patuxent River and to raise funds for their scholarship programs.

In the last is-sue of The Southern Calvert Gazette,

I wrote about property assessments. These comprise 65% of Calvert County’s tax rev-enue, are declining, and therefore, there would be less and less money for County government to spend each year of this term.

Here is a question I am getting a lot lately: The assessed value of my primary residence went down, but my property taxes went up. Why and how could this happen? Or will my property taxes go down now that my assessment on my primary residence went down?

Your property taxes are based on the as-sessed value of your home. Using myself as an example, my assessment (assessed value) went down 17% last year, but my taxes went up. Why? Because of the Homestead Tax Credit on my primary residence, each year my tax increase was held to 10% no matter how much my assessment increased. My tax bill never caught up to my assessed value. Even with a 17% decrease in my assessment, my assessment was still more than my tax bill had been. So, I am paying slightly more taxes. Had my assessment been less than my previous tax bill, I would be paying less.

While the Homestead credit limits the

tax increase to 10% annually no mat-ter how much the assessment increas-es, it does not work in reverse, where the assessment is decreasing. Please remember that you can contest your tax as-sessment if you believe it is more than your house is worth on the open market. Infor-mation is on the back of your assessment notice explaining how to do that. Howev-er, for the challenge to be successful, you must be prepared to prove that your house is over-assessed by bringing in sales infor-mation on comparable properties that have sold for less than your assessed value. A realtor can help you with the comparables.

Also, if you make less than $60,000 per year, and your net worth not counting the value of your primary residence and not counting any retirement accounts is $200,000 or less, you may be eligible for the Homeowner’s Tax Credit on your pri-mary residence. (www.co.cal.md.us).

If you are 70 years old or older, you can receive the credit for up to 3 years retro-actively. A friend told me recently that his 73-year-old father got over $4,000 back ret-roactively. However, you must apply for the Homeowner’s credit. The tax rate in Cal-vert County has remained the same since 1987 at .0892 per $100 of assessed value.

cc

ommissionerso

rnerBy Susan Shaw,

County CommissionerAssessments And Taxes

Volunteers at Dominion Cove Point plant American Dune Grass on Saturday.

Chloe and Steve Oberg plant grass with Leadership Southern Maryland.

Over 100 volunteers came together to help extend the freshwater marsh’s shore-line and prevent future erosion.

Photo by Corrin M. Howe

Under the current law, neither out-of-state wineries nor wine retailers, can ship product directly to Maryland consumers. They can ship wine to another wholesaler or a retailer but, according to Maryland Wineries Association president Kevin Atticks, that drives prices up.

And it’s because of that provision in current law that has made shipping unpopular in Maryland.

“Both were permitted to charge a fee and it’s become unworkable,” Atticks said.Atticks said that in surveying other wineries in nearby jurisdictions, the freedom to

ship products directly either through wine clubs or via the Internet helped many operations boost their sales by as much as 15 percent.

The same kind of success could be replicated at new winery in Leonardtown, he said.The Leonardtown winery has received interest in having its wine shipped to out-of-

state consumers, but its representatives say they’ve had to turn those requests down because state law doesn’t allow direct shipping to consumers.

Caroline Baldwin, president of the winery’s managing cooperative, hopes that two bills in Annapolis up for consideration will change all of that.

“We have no sense how much of a benefit it would be but we’ve had questions about whether we ship wine,” Baldwin told The Southern Calvert Gazette. “You’ve got a lot of out of state folks who don’t understand Maryland doesn’t allow wine shipping.”

Atticks said that wineries in Maryland did not fear competition from other operations in other states because the types of wine they manufactured, with different kinds of fruit, were not available from operations in the state anyway.

Atticks believed that liquor store operators were “fearful of competition,” and that Marylanders had been trying for decades to get the law changed.

“This is the 31st year wineries and citizens have been asking for wine shipments,” At-ticks said. By Guy Leonard (CT) [email protected]


CommunityLiz Prouty turns her head with cres-

cent moon and star earrings swishing in her medium length brown hair as she looks into Richard Due (pronounced “Dewy”) startling blue eyes. They share an intimate smile before she answers questions about their 19-year-old business Second Looks Books in the Fox Run Shopping Center off Route 4 in Prince Frederick.

Twenty years ago, they were engaged and talking about starting a retail business for used books. The shopping center was under construction and they leased the last space. However when the shopping center had their grand opening celebration on Oct. 12, 1991 Prouty and Due declined to participate, choosing to follow through with their scheduled wedding instead.

They opened the store a month later with 8,000 books collected from garage sales, friends of family, and the Penny Saver.

“I spent that month cataloging the books in the computer and Richard stained the shelves,” said Prouty.

Before they opened they toured other second hand bookstores picking qualities they liked best to incorporate into their new business. For ex-ample Due built the shelves so that they could get a lot of books on the case without a lot of wasted space. His shelves were something he wanted to “build fast, cheap, but long lasting.”

They also wanted a good trading system. The shop splits the resell value with their custom-ers. The customers receive their currency in store

credit. They’ve never had any complaints.

Customers can bring in their books for trade-ins Wednesday through Sunday. The owners keep the best books and give cus-tomers store credit. If the custom-er doesn’t want rejected books back, those books are repurposed and recycled in the form of giv-ing to the library, giving to annu-al book drives, placed in a “free box” outside the store or recycled with white papers.

Due said he is gratified to find anonymous notes on his desk from people who have been blessed by books they give away. His wife agrees.

“Just the other day a customer said ‘Thank you so much for the service you provide to the community.’”

Another key to their success is keeping a well organized shop, according to Due.

“One of the things we have that I’ve never seen in a bookstore like it is we are incredibly well orga-nized. I think that’s key in getting someone to come back,” said Due.

“We do have an awful lot of people say ‘How do you keep your books so organized?’ Which is incred-ibly gratifying because, of course they are never per-fectly organized. They are always in the state of hav-ing everything fly apart at the seams,” added Prouty. Well trained staff and even regular customers help keep the books organized.

One of the highlights of their years in business was being part of the last three historical Harry Pot-ter novel releases. Although they primarily sell used books, they did pre-order Harry Potter books for lo-cal customers.

“It was like a Carolina basketball game,” said Prouty about how customers started showing up with their folding chairs during the day for their place in line for the 12:01 a.m. release.

The store had a party starting at 9 PM where everything revolved around the Harry Potter theme from decorations to customs including music and snacks. They set up a system so that they were able

to pass out hundreds of books by 12:25 a.m.. A fact they are proud of when they heard horror stories of big box bookstores opened until after 3 a.m..

“There really has been nothing else like it…” said Prouty of their Harry Potter experience.

“…everything else has been a drudge or bore,” Due finished. They both laughed and share another intimate look. By Corrin M. Howe (SCG) [email protected]

Second Looks Books Closing in on 20 Years

Gary Greer, resident of Great Mills, thumbs through books during his regular visit to the book store. His wife, Monique (not pictured) said a friend told them about Second Looks Books about ten years ago. “It was a good guide.”



Richard Due and Liz Prouty, owners of Second Look Books, are looking forward to their 20th anniversary for both owning the book store and their marriage.

Experience a magnificent afternoon on the waterfront at the Chesapeake Beach Resort & Spa’s Bridal Show.

Come tour this spectacular total desti-nation wedding venue and luxury hotel locat-ed on the Chesapeake Bay just minutes from Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington DC.

Consult with the area’s leading wed-ding vendors, view the latest in bridal fash-ion and enjoy com-plimentary tastings, champagne, prizes and samples.

The event is on Saturday March 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.

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Bridal Show Coming to Chesapeake Beach


Community

What others promise, we deliver.

St. Mary’s Hospital

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Photo by Corrin M. HoweRichard Due and Liz Prouty, owners of Second Look Books, are looking forward to their 20th anniversary for both owning the book store and their marriage.

The Maryland Commission on African-American History and Culture (MCAAHC) and the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) will be hosting a series of workshops about the African-American Heritage Preservation Grant Program throughout the state in March.

The Southern Maryland workshop will be Thursday, March 10, at the Cal-vert Marine Museum, from 1:30 – 4 p.m.

These workshops are free, but regis-tration is required. Log on to the Mary-land Historical Trust website at http://mht.maryland.gov/grants_africanameri-can.html to register.

Other workshops will be held: March 7, Cambridge, Md.; March 14,

Baltimore; March 15, Brentwood, Md.; and March 16, Frederick, Md.

The African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program is adminis-tered as a joint partnership of MCAAHC and MHT.

The program provides support for the acquisition, construction, and capital improvement buildings, sites, or com-munities of historical and cultural impor-tance to the African-American experi-ence in Maryland. This competitive pro-gram, offered once per year, is supported through an annual appropriation from the Maryland General Assembly. The amount available for award is not known until the General Assembly adopts the

state budget in early April.To ensure that your proposal will

be competitive, MHT strongly encour-ages applicants to discuss your project parameters and budgets with MCAAHC and MHT staff before developing a pro-posal. Applicants should closely read the application guidelines and instructions prior to submission to ensure that your application is complete.

The 2010 Annual Report for the African-American Heritage Preservation Grant Program is available for review at: http://mht.maryland.gov/grants_afri-canamerican.html.

Workshop to Explain African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program

The 19th Annual Southern Maryland Caregivers’ Confer-ence is being held Friday, April 15, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, located at 44219 Airport Road in California.

Designed for the family caregiver, this one-day event is a wonderful opportunity to enrich one’s knowledge and skills in caring for older people.

The $20 conference fee includes a continental breakfast, lunch, conference materials, exposure to service providers in the exhibition area, and the opportunity to attend professionally pre-sented educational sessions on the following topics:

• The Sandwich Generation• Intergenerational Challenges in Caregiving• Your Department of Aging• Montessori Activity Techniques and Dementia• Disability Etiquette• Legal Planning for the Future• Challenging Behaviors Associated with Dementia• Spirituality & Caregiving• Hospice• Benefits & Health Care Reform• Body Mechanics in the Home Setting• Diabetes Management• Substance Abuse, Addictions & Older Adults• Simulated Aging Sensitivity Training• Creative Environmental Modification• Caregiver WellnessThe conference is sponsored by the St. Mary’s and Calvert

counties’ office on aging, the Charles County Department of Com-munity Services and the Geriatrics and Gerontology Education and Research Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

19th Annual Caregivers’ Conference Set

The Coastal Conservation Asso-ciation Maryland (CCA MD) is call-ing upon Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to continue its closure of the gill net season until three criteria are met, including it being able to “conclusively demonstrate that illegal gill net fishing is under control.”

CCA MD, a non-profit association of recreational anglers urged this action in a letter sent to DNR Secretary John R. Griffin. The Department closed the season Feb. 4 after approximately 20,000 pounds of striped bass were dis-covered in illegally placed gill nets near Bloody Point. Since then 5,000 more pounds of illegally-caught fish have been found, and illegal nets were dis-

covered in the Choptank River, near the mouth of the Chester River, and around Poplar Island.

CCA MD additionally called for the season to remain closed until DNR can effectively manage the gill net fish-ery and that the fishery’s catch can be fully accounted for so that it is recorded against the commercial quota.

“The fact that the annual man-agement scheme can be completely undermined in a matter of a few days indicates an underlying weakness in the program,” wrote Ed Liccione, CCA MD state chairman, in the letter to DNR.

CCA MD is also calling upon ad-ditional organizations concerned with

the Bay fishery to seek closure of the gill net season until the three criteria are met and has released its letter to other stakeholder groups, including the Maryland Sports Fish Advisory Com-mission and the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Foundation.

“The illegal taking of striped bass that we have seen this month is an as-sault on all Marylanders who support conservation and recreational angling,” said Tony Friedrich, CCA MD execu-tive director. “We need to come togeth-er to urge the commercial industry to police their own, or, if they cannot, for the state to consider more drastic measures to ensure such abuses cannot occur.”

Group Calls For Continued Gill Net Closure


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CommunityCalvert Memorial Hospital Foundation

will host a Casino Night benefit on Saturday, March 12 from 7-11 p.m. at St. John Vianney Church Family Life Center in Prince Freder-ick to raise funds for the purchase of pediat-

ric IV equipment to enhance medication safety.These ‘smart pumps’ only let you deliver a small,

pre-determined amount that is safe for children,” said Kara Harrer, clinical pharmacist at CMH. “They are equipped with sophisticated software that prevents acci-dental overdoses.” Last year, 244 children were admitted to the local hospital.

“If you’re like me, nothing is more important to you than your family’s health,” Kathy Dickinson, foundation president, and director of operations at Dickinson Jewel-ers said iin a press release.

Southern Maryland native John Luskey of Hunting-town, who has appeared with Kenny Chesney, Brooks-n-Dunn, Rascal Flatts and Toby Keith, will be performing live.

“No worries if you don’t know how to gamble,” said Dickinson. “With ‘fun-ny money’ and professional croupiers who will teach you the rules of the game – all you need is a little luck.”

Last year’s inaugural event drew some 185 attendees and raised over $11,000 to purchase high-definition cameras for the new endoscopy center set to open this spring.

With the purchase of a $75 ticket, participants 21 years and older can try their luck at classic games such as black-jack, Texas Hold’em, roulette and craps provided by Fantasy World Entertain-ment while enjoying light fare by Mary-land Country Caterers, a special dessert from Sweet Sue’s Bake Shop of North

Beach, beer and wine.Guests will receive a stash of “funny money” and

can purchase extra if they run out of betting dough. Many casino tables will be offering special prizes donated by sponsors from the community. There are a variety of sponsorship opportunities for businesses, community and civic organizations as well as community members who want to be a part of Casino Night. Packages are available at levels ranging from $350 to $2,500.

At the end of the evening, guests will be able to use their winnings to buy tickets for an exciting prize raffle. Guests will be able to put their tickets in as many or as few basket drawings as they want; increasing their chanc-es to win the one they want the most. Each prize basket is worth at least $150.

Tickets must be purchased in advance and are avail-able by calling the foundation office at (410) 535-8178 or by downloading an order form at www.calverthosptial.org.

Casino Night Fundraiser Set

Register now to participate in the Tri-County Job and Ca-reer Fair at the College of Southern Maryland’s La Plata Campus, Physical Education Center (PE Building). The event is scheduled for Thursday, April 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Employers can meet with hundreds of qualified candidates. Job seekers can find out more about current job openings or future possibilities. Register now as space is limited.

The cost to employers is $300 and all registrations must be received by March 24.

For more information, see http://www.csmd.edu/CareerSer-vices/Employers/fair.html.

Tri-County Job Fair

Ladies Day at the Point The Drum Point Club will host its spring “Ladies Day at the

Point” Fair from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. , Saturday, March 26, at the Drum Point Clubhouse, located at 465 Overlook Drive, Lusby.

Many well-known artists, crafters, and vendors will be at the event. Raffles, light lunch, items for sale and more. It’s a great time to pickup Easter, Mother’s Day or Graduation gifts.

Free admission. For more information or questions, please call 410-326-6669.

Sp rts


The Patuxent boys’ basketball season came to an end Friday night with a 64-49 loss to visiting Central (Prince George’s County) in the 2A South regional playoffs’ first round game.

“I knew they would be athletic and would want to get up and down the floor,” Pan-thers coach Lou Bruno said of his opponents. “I concentrated on defense more because we had been giving up more points than usual in the past few games.”

The Panthers (3-20) trailed 15-12 after one period of play, but a 34-19 burst in the second and third quarters put the Falcons comfortably in front for the remainder of the contest. The difference in Bruno’s eyes was execution and hustle.

“Central hustled after loose balls and seemed to want it more at times. For us they did exactly what we thought they would do but we just didn’t execute,” he explained. “I thought we would be ready but I don’t believe we were. It could have been nerves or lack of confidence but the team that played Friday is definitely better than what we showed, Central did a nice job and did what they had to do to win so I don’t want to take anything away from them.”

John Clyburn and Daryus Taylor led Patuxent with 11 and 10 points respectively while Markus Gross and Colin Gantt each added nine points. Bruno was proud of his players’ willingness to compete even when the bounces didn’t go their way.

“I think a few seconds here or there and a few more made easy shots were the dif-ference of us being 10-13 instead of 3-20,” he said. “Things didn’t go our way but my kids never gave up. We had close games that we needed to be a part of in order to grow as a team. If you lose a close game it hurts more than losing big and we had a few of those that stung this year.”

Bruno returns four starters next season and hopes that they and some kids moving up from junior varsity will understand how much work it takes to succeed in SMAC.

“The good teams beat you in the off season and we have to have more dedication during that time,” he said. “I have had no problems with the kids working hard for me but they need to do a better job working on their own. If they can do that then next year is going to be better.” By Chris Stevens (CT) [email protected]

Panther Boys Fall to Central in 2A South Playoffs

Patuxent girls’ basketball coach Stan Hampton was confident going into Friday night’s 2A South first round game against host Marriotts Ridge that his girls could be successful after a very good showing against SMAC powerhouse Westlake earlier in the week.

“We played well against Westlake earlier this week, so we felt that if we came out with that same energy, we could have a good chance for a playoff win,” Hampton said.

Marriots Ridge had other ideas and walked away with a 53-40 victory, ending the Panthers’ season.

“They had some really good shooters, and were more athletic than we expected,” Hampton said. “They were also very disciplined and it showed throughout the game.”

The Panthers were led by junior guard Amy Samil-ton, who scored a game-high 21 points in the loss.

“Amy had a great game. She was on fire the first half and she really gave everything she could to keep the season going,” Hampton said.

The Panther girls finished with just one win, a mem-orable 47-42 overtime victory against Thomas Stone in early February, but Hampton, completing his first year as head coach, was encouraged about the end of this sea-son and how much better his team could be next winter.

“It was definitely a learning experience for every-one this year. We really started to play better in Febru-ary, it took us awhile to click, especially on offense,” Hampton said. “If we play together in the off-season, we should have a very successful 2011-12.” By Chris Stevens (CT) [email protected]

Patuxent Girls Eliminated by Marriotts Ridge in Playoffs

Patuxent High School’s Matt Gancayco, above, and Zack Pilkington were two of the big winners Saturday, Feb. 19 at the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference wrestling championship meet at Patuxent High School.Gancayco won the 135-pound class over Huntingtown’s Joey Rice with a 12-7 decision and Pilkington earned his championship with a technical fall win (20-3) against La Plata’s Robbie Patterson.As a team, the Panthers finished third out of 13 teams with 155 total points.

Panther Wrestlers Claim SMAC Titles

Amy Samilton scored a game-high 21 points in the loss Friday.

John Clyburn led Patuxent with 11 points in their loss to Central on Fri-day night.


By William PoeImagine hearing the

jeers and cheers of base-ball fans as they root for their favorite local he-roes, the Owings Eagles. Eagles player, George Gray, Sr. warms up in the batter’s box at his home turf of Gray’s Field. The unmistakable echo of Son Smith’s cracking bat sends the baseball soar-ing high over the heads of the opposing team’s out-fielders on a sweltering summer night on Fowler Road, just off Mt. Har-mony Road.

Of course, those sounds are only memo-ries. Although not quite so long ago, if you hap-pened to travel slightly off the beaten path in Cal-vert County, this is what you’d find at Gray’s Field in Owings.

Surrounding corn-fields and cow pastures of yesteryear have given way to paved roads and housing sub-divisions. But progress has yet to trample underfoot this field of dreams that brought hope and joy to so many African-Amer-icans for decades during the past century.

If one prominent local man has his way, Gray’s Field will remain intact and preserved as a tribute to those men who toiled in the fields by day, playing baseball at night on this very different type of field to the delight of the families that continually came out to support them.

This unlikely player stepping up to plate today at Gray’s Field does not wield a baseball bat nor wear an Eagles jersey. Instead, he wears neatly-pressed black trousers, a suit jacket

and tie, and wields a pen as his weapon of choice.Newly elected Maryland Delegate, Mark Fisher (R-27B),

a Baltimore native with blue-collar roots, has taken up the cause to help preserve Gray’s Field. Moving to Calvert Coun-ty in 1989, Fisher almost literally stumbled upon the field one afternoon when he heard commotion in his new backyard.

“One day my wife and I heard all of this yelling and screaming and we were looking at each other wondering where was that coming from. It sounded like it was com-ing from the property behind us. So we walked through our backyard, and saw about 150 African- Americans, only Af-rican-Americans, playing baseball, in literally our backyard! We thought, ‘Well, that’s kind of odd, you know, here we are, in the end of the twentieth century and this just seems like a real throwback. So we walked through and I introduced my-self and that’s when I found out my backyard abutted Gray’s Field.”

According to Fisher, “Albert Gray, the original owner of Gray’s Field, created the field because there was a huge desire in the African-American community to play baseball. They were not allowed to play baseball because of the Jim Crow laws (state laws discriminating against blacks) in Calvert County, which basically enforced defacto segregation, so the family decided ‘we want to play baseball, so let’s create our own field,’ and so they did, and my understanding was that this was in the 1930’s.”

As Fisher’s family grew and his children became in-volved in local sports, he saw a need for a location for his children and their teammates to practice.

“We decided to approach the Gray family because si-multaneous with the growing soccer interests, the actual field itself by then was falling into disrepair. The team, the Ow-ings Eagles, decided to start playing somewhere else, and the stands were falling apart. So I approached the family, and said ‘hey look, what if we came and we used your field, could we do a lot of cleaning up, I mean, literally the field had to be reclaimed.’ The family agreed and that started the relationship.”

As Fisher took to shaping up the field for recreational new uses he was approached by Albert Gray’s last surviving son, Oscar.

“He said ‘I have a quarter interest in the property and I would like to sell it. I see what you guys are doing, I think it’s kind of cool that you want to continue the tradition of using it for sports and I really appreciate that. I have to ask you to give me your word, that you will not ever build houses or use the property for something other than for the community and make it available to the Gray Family and so that’s what I did,”

Fisher says.Albert Gray’s grandson had been in charge of the

field, Fisher stated. “Oscar Gray’s family decided that they wanted to sell their interest as well but they wanted to re-main involved and so they did. We bought the rest of the field minus a small portion.”

With the building boom that took place in Calvert County in the 1990’s, the Gray’s may have had legitimate cause for alarm when initially approached by Fisher.

“A portion of the Gray family was highly skeptical of my intentions because here I am, this young white guy in the late 1990’s who had only been in the county at that time for maybe 12 years who is saying to them, ‘trust me, I’m not going to develop your property’ and then I start buying pieces of their land. I promised I’m going to let you stay involved and stay connected to your heritage,’ and of course I followed through.” Fisher adds, “Trust is some-thing that is earned.”

Gray’s Field was the first baseball field in Calvert County to have lights. “The Gray family called it ‘Twi-

STORYLocal African-American Baseball Field to Be Restored

Delegate Mark Fisher Assumes Project

The Owings Eagles are posing for an early-1950’s team photograph at Gray’s Field in Owings. From left to right are: (First row) unidentified, Bernard Rawlings, Judy Evans, Frances Wallace, Billy Spriggs, Taberius Reid, and John Jones. (Second row) George Gray Sr., Marion Holland, Son Smith, Ellsworth Conte, William Jones, Bob Jones, Lawrence Gray, Hammy Wallace, Albert Gray Jr., and owner Albert Gray Sr.,holding the baseball. (Oscar Gray family photo, from William Poe’s book, African-Americans of Calvert County.)

William Poe

Today, numerous local soccer teams use Gray’s Field on Fowler Road in Owings to practice.


Fisher says.Albert Gray’s grandson had been in charge of the

field, Fisher stated. “Oscar Gray’s family decided that they wanted to sell their interest as well but they wanted to re-main involved and so they did. We bought the rest of the field minus a small portion.”

With the building boom that took place in Calvert County in the 1990’s, the Gray’s may have had legitimate cause for alarm when initially approached by Fisher.

“A portion of the Gray family was highly skeptical of my intentions because here I am, this young white guy in the late 1990’s who had only been in the county at that time for maybe 12 years who is saying to them, ‘trust me, I’m not going to develop your property’ and then I start buying pieces of their land. I promised I’m going to let you stay involved and stay connected to your heritage,’ and of course I followed through.” Fisher adds, “Trust is some-thing that is earned.”

Gray’s Field was the first baseball field in Calvert County to have lights. “The Gray family called it ‘Twi-

light Baseball’,” says Fisher, “Because they, of course, couldn’t play baseball during the day, they were too busy working and so it has that unique distinction as well.”

Fisher has set long-term goals for Gray’s Field. “I want to keep the property available to the family and to the community. The house that exists, which was Albert Gray’s house, I’ve promised the fami-ly that one day when we raise sufficient funds, we would renovate and turn the house into a museum and it would essentially be a pictorial history of Gray’s Field. Not just the past, but also the present, with the goal of showing how things have come full circle and clearly that’s something we’re go-ing to need a lot of help with.”

Fisher adds, “I would love to reach out to the community and say, if you have pictures that you’re willing to allow us to make copies of or if you have stories that you would like to send us of your times at Gray’s Field, please send us those stories so that we can memorialize them because memories fade and valuable history could be lost.”

Anyone looking to donate to a building fund for the mu-seum, which is priority number one, can contact Mark Fisher.

As Fisher said: “Once the house is rebuilt and the mu-seum established, the rest comes easily ... namely, that a promise made will be a promise kept.” William “Billy” Poe is a home-improvement contractor who lives in Dunkirk and is a published author, poet, essayist, and documentary photographer. Among his credits is the book, “African-Americans of Calvert County.”

STORYLocal African-American Baseball Field to Be Restored

Delegate Mark Fisher Assumes Project

The Owings Eagles are posing for an early-1950’s team photograph at Gray’s Field in Owings. From left to right are: (First row) unidentified, Bernard Rawlings, Judy Evans, Frances Wallace, Billy Spriggs, Taberius Reid, and John Jones. (Second row) George Gray Sr., Marion Holland, Son Smith, Ellsworth Conte, William Jones, Bob Jones, Lawrence Gray, Hammy Wallace, Albert Gray Jr., and owner Albert Gray Sr.,holding the baseball. (Oscar Gray family photo, from William Poe’s book, African-Americans of Calvert County.)

Today, numerous local soccer teams use Gray’s Field on Fowler Road in Owings to practice.

Albert Gray Sr. purchased four acres of land in 1935 where he built his home (above) and Gray’s Field, where the Owings Eagles played baseball in the Negro League. Gray’s Field was the first ball field in Calvert County to have lights installed for nighttime play.

Delegate Mark Fisher (R-27B) who now owns Gray’s Field, wants to restore Albert Gray’s house and create a museum to memorialize the site and the African-Americans who enjoyed baseball there for many decades.


Publisher Thomas McKayAssociate Publisher Eric McKayEditor Sean RiceOffice Manager Tobie PulliamGraphic Artist Angie StalcupAdvertising [email protected] [email protected] 301-373-4125Staff WritersGuy Leonard Government CorrespondentSarah Miller Community CorrespondentChris Stevens Sports CorrespondentCorrin Howe Community Correspondent

Contributing WritersJoyce BakiKeith McGuire

Southern Calvert Gazette is a bi-weekly newspaper providing news and information for the residents of Southern Calvert County. The Southern Calvert Gazette will be available on newsstands every other Thursday of the month. The paper is published by Southern Maryland Publishing Company, which is responsible for the form, content, and policies of the newspaper. Southern Calvert Gazette does not espouse any political belief or endorse any product or service in its news coverage. Articles and letters submitted for publication must be signed and may be edited for length or content. South-ern Calvert Gazette is not responsible for any claims made by its advertisers.

Southern Calvert GazetteP. O. Box 250 . Hollywood, MD 20636

LET

TERSto the Editor

With rare exceptions (NJ’s Chris Christie and Sheriff Arpaio being two of them) politicians are great at promising, threatening, prevaricat-ing, and talking, but you don’t see many of them actually doing anything effective.

I’ve been watching the Wisconsin teacher “sick out” and the Demo-cratic senatorial “bug out” with great interest. I’ve heard a lot of talk, but actually, little action. The kids aren’t in school and the government isn’t fully functioning. What to do? Oh, woe, what to do?

Here are a couple of suggestions:1) Give the teachers 48 hours to get their butts back in the school

room and start teaching the kids. Any teacher who has not been at work during the sick out will be docked their wages for days missed. No give backs at a later date. Any teacher who produces a doctor’s excuse must also produce a doctor’s diagnosis of the illness suffered, the treatments given, and the cost of those treatments. That should put a spike in the fraudulent excuses handed out at the rallys. Any teacher not reporting for work as ordered will be fired. No re-hire at a later date. I’m sure there are a lot of qualified teachers out there that would be willing to replace those who are terminated.

2) With regards to the senators who are hiding out of state, they, too, should be ordered to report to their workplace in the capital within 48 hours. Those who refuse to do so should be placed in contempt and appropriate steps should be taken for either their recall or a special elec-tion to replace them. If they refuse to do the work their constituents hired them to do, then they should be replaced. Those senators who return to their jobs as ordered should be docked a pro-rated portion of their salaries to cover the days they failed to be at work.

Please explain to me why the above actions should not be taken. And please, PLEASE, don’t tell me definitive actions CAN’T be taken. Can’t is a word that doesn’t exist in my dictionary. In my mind, anyone who would oppose positive actions to restore schools and government to its proper function is, in my mind, condoning and supporting coercion, extortion, and illegality for the purpose of fulfilling a political and anti-democratic agenda.

James H. HilbertMechanicsville, MD

Can’t is Not in My Dictionary

By Nick Garrett“Dad… my trombone is still in the trunk.”It’s all she could muster as her father arrived at

the scene of the accident and began sorting through the range of emotions any parent would encounter as they get nearer to the crushed metal and broken glass. As the fog lifted from the scene of the ac-cident, it revealed mangled cars, and as the shock wore off, broken bones, bruises, bumps, and pain, both emotional and physical.

It’s an experience no young driver on his or her way to school ever forgets.

That morning, like many others, cars passed the intersection at Ponds Wood Road in Hunting-town and hit their brakes. Perhaps you looked over just long enough to get a sense of what was going on as the accident scene interrupted your thoughts of morning coffee, what you’re listening to on the radio, and the days’ priorities ahead.

This is a true story involving a family I know, a story that we can all relate to with similar expe-riences. Some of us have had our own, and others have likely had loved ones involved in a brutal car accident.

Unfortunately, this is a common story in our area because of several dangerous intersections along high-speed Route 4. I don’t have numbers. But I feel that the frequency of accidents on Route 4 has increased by leaps and bounds since 2004. My classroom at the Music Academy faces this high-way, and the number of sirens that we hear go by on a daily basis is enough proof to convince me that we have a big problem.

The intersection of Route 4 and Ponds Wood Road has become public enemy number one to many families, who from now on will pass by it ev-ery day of their lives cringing at the memories that day holds.

The numbers of accidents there are continuing to grow for several reasons. It is easy to misjudge the time you have to turn northbound. It is also a game of “who’s going first” Russian-Roulette when it comes to determining whether the north bound driver merging south, or the south bound driver turning onto Ponds Wood will go first.

Many in our commu-nity may recall the danger of the intersection at Brick-house Road and Route 4 in Northern Calvert County.

As a result of three fatal accidents and decades of other near fatal encounters, our board of commis-sioner working with the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), experimented with clos-ing off the southbound turn onto Brickhouse from Route 4 to improve traffic safety. SHA did eventu-ally close off the crossover and kept track of acci-dents after having done so. They compiled a report and in March of 2010, sent a letter to our county commissioners that said the following:

“We are pleased to report that the closure of the left turn lane has been a clear success in improving the safety of the Maryland Route 4 at Brickhouse Road intersection in Dunkirk, without having an appreciable negative impact to the roadway network resulting from redirecting traffic.” The report goes on to say, “The most recent data indicates that there have been no reported collisions at the intersection since the closure.”

It is no secret that initially there were com-plaints about the closure because it affected people who live or have businesses on Brickhouse Road. Several of the individuals who initially complained about the modification assert that it is still inconve-nient but better in the long run because people are safer.

Kelly McConkey, owner of Kelly’s Nursery in Dunkirk and a former candidate for Calvert County Commissioner shared his thoughts recently by clari-fying, “No matter how inconvenient it may be, we all want our children and loved ones to be safe. That is what was at stake here. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

I think that it is time to ask our commission-ers along with SHA to take a look at Ponds Wood Road. We have a successful precedent to look at in the Brickhouse Road project. There are too many accidents at Ponds Wood Road to warrant at least looking into it.

I encourage you to please write or email your commissioners and let them know you are interested in seeing them contact SHA about modifying the in-tersection. Yes it may be temporarily inconvenient for some, however, we must think about everyone’s safety above all else. This would be a worthwhile and necessary initiative.

For a copy of the letter from SHA referring to Brickhouse Road, please email Nick at [email protected]. Nick Garrett is the owner of The Garrett Music Academy in Owings, a published author and serves on various boards and commissions.

Accidents Hitting Too Close to Home

Send to:

SOMD PublishingP.O. Box 250 • Hollywood, MD 20636

Make sure you include your name, phone # and the city you live in. We will not publish your phone #, only your name and city

Do you have something to say?Would like your voice to be heard?

Send us a letter telling us what’s on your mind!E-mail letters to: [email protected]


LTo set the record straight up

front, his real name is not Bark Danger.

“My first name is really Mark. But I tried things that rhyme with Mark, and liked Bark. I chose the last name Danger be-cause it’s completely the opposite of who I really am,” he says. “So Bark Danger is the name I use as an artist. It separates me from my personal views, biased opinions, and I think it creates a "persona" that makes me feel and see things more freely and open.”

This 20-year-old budding photographer who’s lived in North Beach for the past three years has an amazing portfolio and is thrilled about the first exhibit of his work at the Chesa-peake Beach Town Hall during March. Last summer, he entered seven of his photos in a photo contest at the Calvert County Fair, and four of them – a portrait, a still life, and two abstracts – won first place. All of these are in-cluded in the Chesapeake Beach exhibit.

“My style is a little dark, but not every one has a dark element. But in many of my photos there is some sadness. They’re often somber. Some people get disturbed when they see it but that, I think, it’s the more interesting side of the human mind,” he says.

So how does he achieve these amazing ef-fects? “I use inexpensive and non-traditional means to get a great picture. An example of this would be I've used a simple hardware shop light to get impressive shadows and contrast,” he adds.

So what are the strangest things he’s ever photographed? “I have done many portraits, and most of those are ‘normal’ But I’m not your typical JC Penney portrait photographer – that’s not what I do. I’ve done some burlesque scenes and people portraits that are more romantic. Hey, if you want it, I’ll shoot it!” he adds.

“For in-stance, there’s the black and white portrait I took of the girl with a big bow with tears com-ing down her face, smearing her mascara. That’s one of my favorites,” Bark says. His sub-

jects include friends, relatives, and especially his girlfriend but he also loves nature and photo-graphing things in his surround-ings in unusual ways.

“Back to the weirdest thing I ever did for a shoot question, I thought about it more and I realized I should have said it would have had to be the time I wrapped a girl up in plastic and then wrapped Christmas lights around the plastic. There is a pic-ture of it on my Facebook page!” And he invites you to see more photos on his web site, www.BarkDangerPhotography.com.

He’s been taking pictures for just two years, and is self-taught, although he hopes to be formally studying photography soon. “I check books out of the library every week and read everything online I can find about photography,” he says. “I now use a Can-on Rebel and have a couple different lenses and filters. Some of my early work was done with point and shoot cameras from Wal-Mart and then a simple Nikon L-22.”

He does not have a darkroom; all his pho-tos are digital and enhanced by PhotoShop. He prints them at home.

So who does he want to be? Where does he want to go?

“Bark Danger is here to stay! My goal is within three years to have my work featured in some magazine. In 20 years, I want people to know my name,” he adds. He’s currently pursu-ing some DC galleries and hopes to have his work displayed there in the future.

“If someone sees a photo at Chesapeake Beach Town Hall they like, sure, they’re for sale. There will be a little paper there so they can write down their contact info and I’ll get it to them… most will be just $15,” he adds. He will also have some of his poetry on display as well.

His favorite subjects are his friends, who rave about his work. “Bark Danger has taken my picture on different occasions and does wonderful work. He is not afraid to step out of the box, and is a one of a kind photographer.“

Friend Lindsay Haas adds, “Bark Danger is an incredibly talented photographer. This guy really has a gift. The vision that he has for his photography is very unique and as I always tell him, it is a sort of vision that high fashion magazines look for just because of the types of pictures he enjoys taking. He doesn't settle for average pictures. He wants to make the best out of every photo shoot he has and he wants to ensure that his client is satisfied with the work they accomplished that day. Never have I met someone who was so determined and so set on becoming something in this world. He knows what he wants and he is going for it. He is defi-nitely going to be something big one day and I surely hope that that day comes soon.”

Meet Bark DangerBarking Up the Right Tree

See photos by Bark Danger at Chesapeake Beach Town Hall March 1-31. Most prints are just

$15 in case you see one you would like to take home.

Scan this Current Code to see more of Bark Danger’s work!


George Ernst, 71George Mc-

Clellan Ernst, 71, of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland passed away on February 18, 2011 at home surrounded by his family.

He was born on January 6, 1940 in Reading, Penn-sylvania to the late

Allen and Florence (Long) Ernst. He was one of four sons. George attended public school in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. He married Joyce Marie Moore of Werner-sville, Pennsylvania on June 27, 1959. George served in the Vietnam War, was deployed to Saudi Arabia and continued his military service in the United States Air Force for 22 years. He retired from Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs, Maryland. George continued his career as a mechanic on subway trains for 24 years and retired from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in 2002.

George and Joyce, his wife of 51 years, retired to Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. This move enabled them to be closer to their children and grandchildren. They also had a summer home on the Delaware Bay, so George could enjoy his retirement and his passion for fishing.

George was the beloved husband of Joyce (Moore) Ernst. He was the loving fa-ther of Teresa Suite and her husband, Rob-ert of Dunkirk, Maryland; Kim Ruth and her husband, David, of Owings, Maryland; and Lori Norton and her husband, Justin, of Owings, Maryland. He was a devoted grandfather to six granddaughters, Jenna Suite, Casey, Megan and Brooke Ruth, and Kendall and Kamryn Norton.

George is a long time member of the VFW Post 9619 in Morningside, Maryland and American Legion Post 274 of Lusby, Maryland.

The family received friends at the Lee Funeral Home, Owings, on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 1 am until the start of Memorial Service at 3 pm. Inurnment will be private.

Memorial contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to Calvert Hospice, P O Box 838, Prince Frederick, MD 20678 or the American Cancer Society, P O Box 22178, Oklahoma City, OK 73123.

James Fink, 80James Don-

ald Fink, 80, of St. Leonard, Maryland peacefully passed away surrounded by family at home on February 11, 2011. He is survived by his loving wife, of 37 years Mary.

He was raised in Riverdale, Maryland – Joined the Army

and served as an Army Ranger during the Korean Conflict. Don Fink was resident of Calvert County since 1977. He retired in 1985 from National Park Service in Wash-ington, D.C. A life member of the Elks Lodge for 51 years – served as an active member of the Calvert County Fair Board for over 25 years and recently became an Honorary Member. His memberships in-clude Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the American Legion and a Life Member of the Riverdale Heights Volunteer Fire Depart-ment. An active member in his community; Don Fink often volunteered his time to-wards programs involving youth and chari-table events.

He is preceded in death by daughter Susan.

He is survived by children: Don Fink Jr., (Mimi), Kerry Pezzuti (Joe), Cherie Aker (Jean), Tom Fink, Amy Eizeldin, and stepchildren Bob Breeden, and Cathy Wolfe (Larry) - 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

The family received friends at Calvert Elks Lodge 1015 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, on Sunday, February 20th.

Bertha Garner, 85,Bertha Vera

Rodey Garner, 85, passed away at her residence in Lusby, Maryland and went home to be with the Lord on Febru-ary 18, 2011, sur-rounded by her lov-ing family. She was born on August 4, 1925 in Baltimore, MD to the late Anna

Mae Jenkins and Edward Christian Rodey.Bertha was preceded in death by her

devoted husband Victor A. Garner, Sr. She is survived by her loving children Lyndall L. Aurand and her husband Harold J. Au-rand; Victor A. Garner, Jr. and his wife Ema J. Garner; Valerie A. Garner; Judith C. Gott and Laurie R. Nelson and her hus-band Hooper Rick Nelson all of Lusby, MD, five grandchildren, Craig, David, Eric, Barbara and Wayne and thirteen great grandchildren.

The family received friends on Wednesday, February 23, from 2 – 4 and 6 – 8 PM at the Rausch Funeral Home, Lusby, MD. A service celebrating her life was held on Thursday, February 24, 11:00 AM at Southern Calvert Baptist Church 12140 H. G. Trueman Road, Lusby, MD with Pastors Steve Fehrman, Rick Hancock and George Secrist officiating. Interment followed at St. Paul United Methodist Church Cemetery, Lusby, MD.

Pallbearers were Eric Garner, Craig Gately, David Gately, Christian McCready, Martin Rodey and Wayne Whiting.

In lieu of flowers tax-deductible do-nations can be sent to: (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) TEAM, P. O. Box 969,

Wheaton, IL 60187-0969 www.teamworld.org in Bertha’s memory.

Arrangements were provided by the Rausch Funeral Home, P. A., Lusby, MD. www.rauschfuneralhomes.com.

Paul Greenwell, Sr., 68Paul Louis

Greenwell, Sr., age 68, of North Beach died at his home February 22, 2011. He was born Au-gust 31, 1942 in Prince Frederick, MD to Alfred H. and Delaware A. (Hall) Greenwell.

He attended Calvert County schools and enlisted in the United States Army December 6, 1963. He served with the 121st Engineer Battalion until being discharged as a Specialist E5 on December 5, 1969. Paul was employed by Thomas Somerville Plumbing for 25 years before becoming an engineer for the United States Government. He retired after being injured. Paul was a gracious host and always enjoyed having people over to eat crabs, swim in the pool and overall just have a good time. He especially loved spending time with his grandchildren. Paul was very mechanical and could fix anything. He en-joyed rebuilding his “Lil Jewel” Firebird Trans Am.

Paul was preceded in death by his par-ents, a brother Alfred Greenwell and a son Paul L. Greenwell, Jr. on August 17, 2008.

Surviving are a daughter Tammy L. Marlowe and her husband Rick of Hun-tingtown, MD; four grandchildren Kristen, Caitlyn and Joshua Marlowe and Zachary Greenwell.; two sisters Betty Gibson and her husband Jim of Drum Point, MD and Dale Cusick of North Beach and a brother Bernard Greenwell, Sr. and his wife Doro-thy of Brandywine, MD.

The family received friends on Feb. 25 at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, where a funeral service was held on Feb. 26. Intern-ment followed at Southern Memorial Gar-dens, Dunkirk.

Memorial contributions can be made to the American Cancer Society, Calvert County Unit, P.O. Box 752, Prince Freder-ick, MD 20678.

Ellery Haynes, Jr., 79Ellery Cleary

Haynes, Jr., 79, of North Beach, MD passed away Feb-ruary 14, 2011 at Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick, MD.

He was born July 18, 1931 in Washington, D.C. to Ellery Sr. and

Marguerite (Zenns)Haynes and was raised in Mt. Rainier,

MD. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Janu-ary 15, 1952 and served during the Korean Conflict and was awarded the Korean Ser-vice Medal with 3 Bronze Stars, the United Nations and Good Conduct Medals and the Combat Infantry Badge. He was discharged as Tech Sergeant on October 19, 1953. He married Patricia Jane Hussey on Sep-tember 17, 1955 and they lived and raised their family in North Beach, MD. He was employed as a plumber in the construction trades, retiring in 1993. He was a member of the Stallings-Williams American Legion Post 206 in Chesapeake Beach, MD. In his leisure time Ellery enjoyed collectables, including coins and baseball cards. He en-joyed pitching horseshoes and was a Wash-ington Redskins fan, and loved spending time with his grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife Patricia J. “Pat” Haynes on April 4, 2007, by his parents and by his brothers Loring, Robert and Roger Haynes.

He is survived by two daughters and their husbands, Sharon K. and Gary De-nis of Lusby, MD and Janet E. and Bill Thomas of North Beach; four sons, John E. Haynes of North Beach, George A. Haynes of Chesapeake Beach, Donald C. and wife Aimee Haynes, also of Chesapeake Beach, and Ellery C. Haynes III of North Beach. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, a brother Donald Haynes of Woodbridge, VA and sisters Ja-net Gray of North Beach and Nancy Clock of Milford, Ohio.

The family received friends on Sun-day February 20 at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, where a funeral service and cel-ebration of Ellery’s life followed at 5:00 PM. A service of committal with military honors for both Ellery and his wife Pat was held at 1:00 PM Thursday February 24 at Maryland Veterans Cemetery, Cheltenham, MD. Inurnment will be in the cemetery columbarium.

Expressions of sympathy in Ellery’s name may be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058-5216.

Henry Hennen, 83Henry R. “Happy” Hennen, age 83, of

Churchton, MD died February 12, 2011 at his home. He was born December 27, 1927 in Fairfax County, VA to John and Bessie May (Cox) Hennen.

Henry served in the United States Army entering service March 28, 1946 and being discharged, as a PFC, March 31, 1947. He married Mary Elizabeth Manyette in Prince Georges’s County on October 23, 1950. They resided in Cottage City, MD be-fore moving to Churchton in 1960. Happy was employed as a plumber for Simpson Plumbing before retiring in the early 1980’s. After retirement Happy became a commer-cial crabber and also cut lawns. He enjoyed fishing and hunting. He was a former mem-


ber of the Board of Directors of the Frank-lin Manor Citizens Association.

He was preceded in death by his par-ents, his wife Mary Elizabeth Hennen on September 27, 2003 and siblings Randolph William, John William and Gilbert Frank-lin Hennen, Hughie Vogel, Mamie Made-line Mosier and Opal Wavelene McDonald.

Surviving are his daughter Karen M. Lundy of Lusby, MD and a son John R. Hennen and his wife Mary of Sunderland; four grandchildren Richard W. Hennen and his wife Allyson of Bowie, MD, Tina M. Sinclair and her husband Kenny of Sunder-land, MD, Tiffany M. Hennen of Sunder-land, MD and Ralph G. Lundy, Jr. of Mor-gantown, WV; four sisters Carrie Elizabeth Jordon of GA, Bessie Christine Dennis, Cynthia Eleanor Nahrwold, and Gloria Maxine Phillips all of Florida. and a brother George Leslie Hennen of Florida.

The family received friends on Feb. 23 at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, where a funeral service was held on Feb. 24. Intern-ment is at Maryland Veteran’s Cemetery, Cheltenham.

Edna Moore, 81 Edna J.

“Sissy” Moore, 81 of Solomons, MD, formerly of Deale, MD passed away on February 17, 2011 at Solo-mons Nursing Center.

She was born on October 17, 1929 in Washington, DC to the late Clayton Linkins and Pauline Kruter.

Sissy was a Film Inspector and retired after 30 years of service in 1995. She moved to Solomons, MD in 1997 from Deale, MD. She loved bowling and playing bingo. Sissy will always be remembered as a wonderful mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. She will always be loved and missed dearly.

She was preceded in death by her par-ents; husband, Elmer Moore; siblings, Jai-me Linkins, Joe Linkins, Angela Brooks, and Helen Linkins.

Sissy is survived by her children, Nor-ma Woodburn and husband Woody, and Mary Sullivan and husband Patrick; sib-lings, Mary Linkins, Thomas Linkins, and Pete Linkins; four grandchildren and one great grandchild.

The family received friends on Mon-day, February 21, 2011 from 10 AM till 12 PM in the Rausch Funeral Home Chapel, Lusby, MD where a funeral service was held at 12 PM with Fr. Eamon Dignan of-ficiating. Interment followed in the Charles Memorial Gardens, Leonardtown, MD.

Pallbearers will be Patrick Sullivan, Dennis Sullivan, Justin Sullivan, Joe Penn, Joe Penn, Jr., and Mike Abernathy.

Robin Oliver, 58Robin M. Oliver of Bowie MD passed

away peacefully the morning of February 16, 2011, in Baltimore from an extended ill-ness at the age of 58.

She was born in Washington, DC on October 4, 1952. She was the Daughter of Barbara M. Bowles and Otto M. Neilson III of Sunderland MD and the late June Oliver formerly of LaPlata MD.

She was the sister of Sam Oliver, Deb-bi McGuigan, Bill Neilson, Mary Martines, Hope Benson, John Neilson, Roberta Kolb and Judy Gray and the sister-in-law of Da-vid Benson and Kaye Oliver. Robin was the Godmother of Grace Falcone, David and Michael Benson.

Mass of Christian Burial was celebrat-ed on Monday, February 21, 2011 at 10 AM, at St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church, 7185 Benedict Avenue, Benedict, MD. In-terment will be private.

Earl Rawlings, Jr., 53Earl How-

ard Rawlings, Jr., age 53, of Lusby, MD passed away suddenly Febru-ary 19, 2011 at his residence.

Known as “Brother” or “Bub-ba”, he was born August 17, 1957 in Cheverly, MD to

Earl, Sr. and Shirley Ann (Hutchinson) Rawlings.

He was raised in Prince George’s County, MD and married Penny L. Bu-chanan on June 6, 1975. They resided in Prince George’s County, MD and had lived in Lusby, MD for the past 17 years.

Earl was a flooring mechanic and in-staller for many years and had owned and operated Rawlings Floors for the past five years. He was a fan of NASCAR and the Washington Redskins. He loved his work, and in his leisure time enjoyed spending time with friends and family, especially his grandchildren.

Earl was preceded in death by his parents, Earl, Sr. and Shirley Rawlings.

He is survived by his devoted wife Penny, sons Earl H. III and wife Tonya Rawlings of Hyattsville, MD and Don-ald L. and wife Amy Rawlings of Dover, DE and daughter Jennifer L. Rawlings and fiancé Paul Ruby of Laurel, MD. He is also survived by his grandchildren Bobby, Christopher, Joseph, Gina, Don-ald and Nicole, his mother-in law Mildred “Nana” Buchanan of Lusby, brothers Ricky Rawlings of Elkridge, MD, James Rawlings of Laurel, MD and Randy Raw-lings of Lusby, sisters Diane Rawlings of

Daytona, FL, Brenda Greene and Deb-bie Weese, both of Savage, MD, Bonnie Richardson of Warrenton, NC, Lisa An-nadale of Elkridge and Tracy Risinger of Laurel, MD, and by numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

The family received friends on Feb. 23 at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, where a funeral service was held on Feb. 24. Internment followed at Washington National Cemetery.

Andrew Thomas, 64

Andrew Clif-ford Thomas, 64, of Edgewater, MD passed away Feb-ruary 20, 2011 at his residence after a brief illness.

Andrew was born July 31, 1946 in Prince Frederick, MD to Harry & Colleen (Mohre) Thomas.

He enjoyed motorcycle trips and working on his motorcycles. He was also a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, Lodge #296, Annapolis, MD. He was also a veteran of the Vietnam War.

Andrew was preceded in death by his parents and a sister Charlene Thomas.

He is survived by two daughters, Lynn and Christina Thomas. He is also survived by his brothers Joe Thomas of Lothian, MD, Robert Thomas of North Beach, MD, and sisters Susie Carder of Rotonda, FL., and Vicy King of Chesa-peake Beach, MD and by numerous niec-es and nephews.

A memorial visitation for family and friends was held Sunday February 27 from 12-2 pm at Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., 8325 Mt. Harmony Road, Owings, MD.

Denise Woodward, 59

Denise Helen DeBoliac Wood-ward, 59 of St. Leonard, MD passed away on February 8, 2011 in Washington Hospital Center.

Denise was born in Miami Florida on Octo-ber 22, 1951 to the late Alfred E. and Helen Kelley DeBoliac.

When her children were younger and in school, Denise worked as a substitute teacher for the Calvert County Board of Education for many years, and was very ac-tive with the PTA, sports and many other community functions. Later she worked for B.G. and E., Calvert Cliffs and for Bechtel Power Corp. She owned and operated “The Galley”a local sandwich shop in St. Leon-ard for 15 years. Denise was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Port Republic, MD.

Denise is survived by her husband, William Walter Woodward, mother of Wil-liam W. Woodward, Jr., Kristina H. Wood-ward, April M. Woodward and Ralph Au-brey Woodward. Grandmother of Michael L. Woodward, Jayden R. Woodward and Briana D. Woodward, she is also survived by her brother Ernest DeBoliac.

The family received friends at the Rausch Funeral Home, Port Republic, MD on Friday February18, 2011. Funeral servic-es were held on Saturday February 19, 2011, at Christ Episcopal Church, Port Republic. Interment followed in the church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to either Christ Episcopal Church or St. Leonard Volunteer Fire Department.

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Spotlight On

The high school and middle school with the best science fair projects gathered at Cal-vert Middle School to display their work and find out which students will get the opportu-nity to move on to the regional science fair in Prince Georges County on March 27.

The students were given marks for scientific thought, rigor, creativity and communication.

Laura Collins, a science teacher with Calvert Middle School, said the students learn life skills from the experience of being involved in a science fair. The skills include criti-cal thinking and the ability to tackle large projects in small, manageable chunks. She said it’s best if the parents help the students, but allow the students to do the bulk of the project themselves.

“It gives them an excellent sense of accomplishment,” Collins said.

Being involved in a science fair and the things it teaches the students can be applied to more than just scien-tific undertakings.

“You don’t have to be a science lover to appreciate this,” she said.

Students learn to come up with theories, test them and present their findings, which are skills they will need in any field.

She was also impressed with the scope of some of the projects at the fair.

“These kids have done some amazing work,” Collins said.

“It was a lot of fun to do,” said Plum Point seventh grader Ethan McComb.

McComb’s project involved making a solar water heater in min-iature. He said the project itself took about a month to complete and the presentation took another week and a half.

Other projects included the best way to remove oil from wa-ter, the effect of fertilizer on algae growth and the growth of horse-shoe crabs.

In addition to the awards given by the school district, there were special awards given by places like the Calvert Memorial Hospital, Radio Shack, the Cal-vert Soil Conservation District, Cove Point National Heritage Trust, the Calvert County Water-man’s Association and Johns Hop-kins University Whiting School of Engineering.

The students moving on to the regional science fair are Thomas Mattson from Calvert Middle School, Siddarth Plakkot and Nora Keller from Hunting-town High School, Brett Cocheron from Plum Point Middle School, Ryan Evans, Adriel Godfrey and Trent Herzog from Southern Mid-dle School and Connor McCarthy from Patuxent High School.

“I encourage and congratu-late you,” said Jack Smith, super-intendent of Calvert County Public Schools, during the presentation.

He told the assembled stu-dents they had to think critically and think ahead without living in the past.

“This pays off in the future,” he said. By Sarah Miller (CT) [email protected]

Calvert County Shows Off Science Projects

Qualified area students in Calvert, Anne Arundel, Charles and St. Mary’s counties are encouraged to apply by March 15 for one of the scholarships awarded by the Calvert Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Since the scholarship program began in 1991, the CMH Foundation has given 267 scholarships totaling $302,650 to area students. The scholarship fund was created by an endowment from the Calvert-Arundel Medical Center. Recipients are not required to repay the foundation or accept employment.

Applicants must have been a resident of Maryland for at least one year in order to qualify. Preference is given to residents of Calvert and Anne Arundel County. In order to be eligible, applicant must be a full-time student at an accredited school of nursing or other allied healthcare curriculum offering a course of study leading to licensure as a practical or registered nurse or other allied health-related classification. They also must have a letter accepting them into their major.

To obtain an application, call 410-535-8178 or download the form at www.calver-thospital.org. Applications should be mailed to: CMH Foundation, PO Box 2127, Prince Frederick, MD 20678. Applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of their applica-tion. However, students are responsible for making sure that all of their material has been received.

Healthcare jobs offer many advantages including competitive salaries, generous ben-efits, flexibility and continued growth. To learn more about a career in health care, consider job shadowing or volunteering at Calvert Memorial Hospital.

Job shadowing allows students 16 and older to spend time with an experienced health-care professional in their chosen field of interest. For more information or to apply, call the CMH human resources department at 410-535-8122.

Volunteering is another way that students can find out more about their options. To participate, students must be 16 and older, complete an orientation program and commit to four hours per week. For information, contact the volunteer coordinator at 410-414-4523.

Healthcare Scholarships Open to All SOMD Students

Adriel Godfrey’s project, How Horseshoe Cabs Grow, will be displayed at the regional science fair. It will also be displayed with others displayed at the Board of Education.

The recipients of the Johns Hopkins Engineering Alumni award post for pictures on Stage.

Brett Cocheron and his project, Algae Blooms, will be moving on to the fair in Prince George’s County on March 27.

Isabelle Gholl waits for the results to be announced at the science fair at Calvert Middle School on Saturday.

Thursday, March-2011 19Phone: 410-326-3999

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Angler AnglerThe Ordinary

By Keith McGuire

Despite the stories you might have heard about the true first signs of spring, the real one is the annual spawning run

of the Yellow Perch. When the ice melts from the smaller parts of many rivers and streams in Maryland the time is right to start looking for the fish.

Last weekend presented an opportu-nity for me as my son invited me on the first fishing trip of the year. We trailered his small boat to the northern reaches of the Patuxent River and fished below the tidal/non-tidal boundary for yellow perch. To my surprise, we were not alone. There were three other boats in the area that we chose, and there were likely more in other areas of the river. As we cruised to “the hole” we noticed anglers along the shore line, also pursuing yellow perch. I’m sure that if we had chosen to go to Mattawoman Creek, Nanjemoy Creek or Allen’s Fresh, we would have found even more anglers looking for the perch.

Looking for yellow perch is not something that we have ever done in ear-nest. Sure, we’ve dabbled at it in previ-ous years, but it was easy to see that our hearts weren’t in it. This year seems dif-

ferent, somehow, and we struggled to plow through our novice levels of experience to catch these fish. We anchored among the other boats over a 30’ deep hole and of-fered a variety of jigs on ultra-light gear and watched as a few fish were being caught on the other boats. The secret – on this day – was the bait. Everyone else had minnows.

Admittedly, we are early for the an-nual spawning run. Every year the yellow perch females migrate to the tidal bound-aries of local rivers to expend their ribbons of eggs. The males (or neds) follow closely behind to fertilize the eggs. When the task is done the fish migrate back to deeper wa-ter and disperse widely throughout the riv-ers and the Bay. The whole process seems to be over in a very short period of time. If you don’t pick the right weekend, you could easily miss prime time. Just before the spawning run, the fish stage in deeper parts of the upper reaches of the rivers and creeks. Anglers in the Susquehanna River near Northeast, Maryland have been catching yellow perch for a few weeks now. Last weekend, we were looking for one of these staging areas, and if we had been armed with the right bait, we may have actually caught a perch or two. But, we were early. Sometime in the next week or two will be prime time and we aim to be there with minnows.

Yellow perch fishing isn’t the only

game in town d u r i n g these early m o n t h s . If fishing ultra-light tackle in foul weather gear and gloves is not your cup of tea, you might try to hit some of the fishing tackle shows and seminars. The Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association just announced their schedule of fishing shows throughout the State.

March 12 – Dorchester Chap-ter MSSA Fishing/Hunting/Boating Flea Market at the American Legion Post #91, Cambridge, MD.

March 19 and 20 – Essex/Mid-dle River Chapter MSSA Fishing Flea Market at Commodore Hall, Essex, MD.

March 26 and 27 – Southern Maryland Chapter MSSA Fishing Fair at Solomons, MD.

Looking for yellow perch might break the ice on your cabin fever, but looking for fishing tackle deals and infor-mation could work better for you – espe-cially if you can’t find minnows.

[email protected]. Keith has been a recreational angler on the

Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for over 50 years; he fishes weekly from his small boat during the season, and spends his free time supporting local conservation organizations.

Olí Yeller

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Tim Lowe with a couple of nice Yellow Perch.

The 5th Annual Potomac Wildlife Art & Decoy Show is an art and decoy exhibit cel-ebrating the Potomac’s natural beauty through the eyes of some of the most acclaimed decoy carvers and wildlife artists in the region.

The show directly benefits the commu-nity: proceeds from the show will support both the foundation and its grant program, and the newly created scholarship supporting the arts

at the College of Southern Maryland. Dona-tions to the Community Foundation are wel-come and appreciated.

The Potomac Wildlife Art & Decoy Show at CSM’s La Plata campus opens Friday, May 13 with the “Cattails and Cocktails” re-ception and dinner with music by the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The show continues on Satur-

day, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission.

In addition to the contemporary wildlife art and decoys on display, members of the Po-tomac Decoy Collectors Association will be exhibiting antique duck decoys for show and sale. Free decoy identification and appraisals will also be available to visitors. Also on Sat-urday, a decoy competition will be held.

For inquiries about the competition, please contact Heck Rice at 804.537.5033 or email [email protected] (I.W. C.A. rules apply).

For more information, contact foundation executive director Gretchen Heinze Hardman at (301) 885-0108 or [email protected].

Southern Maryland Sailing Association (SMSA) is starting its 2011 racing program by inviting every Laser and PHRF rated keelboat yacht to participate in its Spring Frostbite programs. SMSA membership is not required to race. A series of Laser races are planned to start at 1:00 PM each Saturday in March. A series of PHRF races are planned to start at 1:00 PM each Sunday in March. For safety, the PHRF keelboat series are all non-spinnaker. Sailing instructions are published on our website.

SMSA is located in Solomons, Maryland. Facilities are available at the SMSA clubhouse to launch the Lasers. All of the races will be held on the Patuxent River near Solomons. There is a racing fee for participants. For more information, please email:Laser Racing: Robert Herbig, Jr. ([email protected]) or call 410-630-1234PHRF Racing: Marc Briere ([email protected]) or call 410-630-1234

SMSA is a member owned and operated club dedicated to being the best sailing venue on the Chesapeake. SMSA hosts the nationally renowned Screwpile regatta. We enjoy full programs of PHRF keelboat racing, dingy racing (both one design and Portsmouth), cruising, summer junior sailing programs and adult sail-ing education. In addition, we even find time for great social events! Our website is www.smsa.com. For more information, call 410-630-1234.

Wildlife Art & Decoy Show

2011 Sailboat Racing Starts in March


Angler AnglerThe Ordinary

By Keith McGuire

Despite the stories you might have heard about the true first signs of spring, the real one is the annual spawning run

of the Yellow Perch. When the ice melts from the smaller parts of many rivers and streams in Maryland the time is right to start looking for the fish.

Last weekend presented an opportu-nity for me as my son invited me on the first fishing trip of the year. We trailered his small boat to the northern reaches of the Patuxent River and fished below the tidal/non-tidal boundary for yellow perch. To my surprise, we were not alone. There were three other boats in the area that we chose, and there were likely more in other areas of the river. As we cruised to “the hole” we noticed anglers along the shore line, also pursuing yellow perch. I’m sure that if we had chosen to go to Mattawoman Creek, Nanjemoy Creek or Allen’s Fresh, we would have found even more anglers looking for the perch.

Looking for yellow perch is not something that we have ever done in ear-nest. Sure, we’ve dabbled at it in previ-ous years, but it was easy to see that our hearts weren’t in it. This year seems dif-

ferent, somehow, and we struggled to plow through our novice levels of experience to catch these fish. We anchored among the other boats over a 30’ deep hole and of-fered a variety of jigs on ultra-light gear and watched as a few fish were being caught on the other boats. The secret – on this day – was the bait. Everyone else had minnows.

Admittedly, we are early for the an-nual spawning run. Every year the yellow perch females migrate to the tidal bound-aries of local rivers to expend their ribbons of eggs. The males (or neds) follow closely behind to fertilize the eggs. When the task is done the fish migrate back to deeper wa-ter and disperse widely throughout the riv-ers and the Bay. The whole process seems to be over in a very short period of time. If you don’t pick the right weekend, you could easily miss prime time. Just before the spawning run, the fish stage in deeper parts of the upper reaches of the rivers and creeks. Anglers in the Susquehanna River near Northeast, Maryland have been catching yellow perch for a few weeks now. Last weekend, we were looking for one of these staging areas, and if we had been armed with the right bait, we may have actually caught a perch or two. But, we were early. Sometime in the next week or two will be prime time and we aim to be there with minnows.

Yellow perch fishing isn’t the only

game in town d u r i n g these early m o n t h s . If fishing ultra-light tackle in foul weather gear and gloves is not your cup of tea, you might try to hit some of the fishing tackle shows and seminars. The Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association just announced their schedule of fishing shows throughout the State.

March 12 – Dorchester Chap-ter MSSA Fishing/Hunting/Boating Flea Market at the American Legion Post #91, Cambridge, MD.

March 19 and 20 – Essex/Mid-dle River Chapter MSSA Fishing Flea Market at Commodore Hall, Essex, MD.

March 26 and 27 – Southern Maryland Chapter MSSA Fishing Fair at Solomons, MD.

Looking for yellow perch might break the ice on your cabin fever, but looking for fishing tackle deals and infor-mation could work better for you – espe-cially if you can’t find minnows.

[email protected]. Keith has been a recreational angler on the

Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for over 50 years; he fishes weekly from his small boat during the season, and spends his free time supporting local conservation organizations.

Rock-n-Roll for Rescues

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Tim Lowe with a couple of nice Yellow Perch.

The 5th Annual Potomac Wildlife Art & Decoy Show is an art and decoy exhibit cel-ebrating the Potomac’s natural beauty through the eyes of some of the most acclaimed decoy carvers and wildlife artists in the region.

The show directly benefits the commu-nity: proceeds from the show will support both the foundation and its grant program, and the newly created scholarship supporting the arts

at the College of Southern Maryland. Dona-tions to the Community Foundation are wel-come and appreciated.

The Potomac Wildlife Art & Decoy Show at CSM’s La Plata campus opens Friday, May 13 with the “Cattails and Cocktails” re-ception and dinner with music by the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The show continues on Satur-

day, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission.

In addition to the contemporary wildlife art and decoys on display, members of the Po-tomac Decoy Collectors Association will be exhibiting antique duck decoys for show and sale. Free decoy identification and appraisals will also be available to visitors. Also on Sat-urday, a decoy competition will be held.

For inquiries about the competition, please contact Heck Rice at 804.537.5033 or email [email protected] (I.W. C.A. rules apply).

For more information, contact foundation executive director Gretchen Heinze Hardman at (301) 885-0108 or [email protected].

Southern Maryland Sailing Association (SMSA) is starting its 2011 racing program by inviting every Laser and PHRF rated keelboat yacht to participate in its Spring Frostbite programs. SMSA membership is not required to race. A series of Laser races are planned to start at 1:00 PM each Saturday in March. A series of PHRF races are planned to start at 1:00 PM each Sunday in March. For safety, the PHRF keelboat series are all non-spinnaker. Sailing instructions are published on our website.

SMSA is located in Solomons, Maryland. Facilities are available at the SMSA clubhouse to launch the Lasers. All of the races will be held on the Patuxent River near Solomons. There is a racing fee for participants. For more information, please email:Laser Racing: Robert Herbig, Jr. ([email protected]) or call 410-630-1234PHRF Racing: Marc Briere ([email protected]) or call 410-630-1234

SMSA is a member owned and operated club dedicated to being the best sailing venue on the Chesapeake. SMSA hosts the nationally renowned Screwpile regatta. We enjoy full programs of PHRF keelboat racing, dingy racing (both one design and Portsmouth), cruising, summer junior sailing programs and adult sail-ing education. In addition, we even find time for great social events! Our website is www.smsa.com. For more information, call 410-630-1234.

Wildlife Art & Decoy Show

2011 Sailboat Racing Starts in March


&Out About Angler AnglerThe Ordinary The first Friday of every month is the First FREE

Friday program at the Calvert Marine Museum and the museum is open free to the public from 5 to 8 p.m. Each month special entertainment and activities is featured.

On Friday, March 4, enjoy entertainment by the Calvert Dance Band beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the museum’s auditorium. Visit www.calvertmarinemuseum.com for details.

The Maker’s Market at Annmarie Sculpture Gar-den is the place to find handmade, homemade or home-grown products like arts and crafts, hanging baskets, organic skin care products, farm-fresh produce, cut

flowers, baked goods, batik and fleece clothing, hand-made soaps and candles, herbal teas, ornaments, folk art, handmade gifts and more. Arrive early Saturday, March 5, for choice items. Maker’s Market is open from 9 a.m. to noon and it is free. (www.annmariegarden.org)

Wine specialist Dee Peters will begin a series of wine tasting classes at DiGiovanni’s Restaurant, Solo-mons. The series is designed to take the beginning or seasoned wine enthusiast through a series of informa-tive classes from basic to more advanced. Although the classes are offered in a series, they are also suited to take individually as well. On Saturday, March 5, learn “Grape Varieties and Grape Growing” as the class ex-plores six wines from different grape varieties, with dis-cussions on creating quality in the vineyard and ways grapes can be improved by site management. For more

information on times and fees call 410-394-6400 or visit www.digiovannisrestaurant.com.

On Sunday, March 6, the Chamber Or-chestra of Southern Maryland in Concert (COSMIC) presents a family concert featur-ing Katelyn Lyons and Elizabeth Kimmel at Hunting-town High School beginning at 4 p.m. Be delighted by an Overture to Merry Wives of Windsor, Schubert’s

Symphony No. 8 in B minor (“Unfinished Symphony”), Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 featuring Katelyn Lyons on violin and a poem by Charles Griffes featur-ing Elizabeth Kimmel on flute. Call 410-414-7036 or visit www.cosmicmusic.org for ticket information.

Dr. Doug Sampson will speak on “The Complex Case of Cove Point Marsh,” Thursday, March 10, at Calvert Marine Museum’s PEM Talks. Dr. Sampson is senior scientist with the Maryland/DC Chapter of the Nature Conservancy and a member of the Science Ad-visory Group for the Cove Point Natural Heritage Trust. The Conservancy has held a conservation easement on 600 acres of land owned by Dominion LNG at Cove Point, including the 150-acre Cove Point Marsh, since 1993. The program begins at 7 p.m. in the museum au-ditorium. www.calvertmarinemuseum.com

The College of Southern Maryland Student As-sociation will hold a Community Yard Sale on March 12, 8 a.m. to noon at the College of Southern Maryland, Prince Frederick Campus. Proceeds from the yard sale will benefit Project Echo, Calvert County’s homeless shelter. Entrance is free. If you would like to partici-pate, tables can be rented for $10 each. To reserve your table, contact Ricardo Perez at 443-550-6020 or [email protected].

From March 18 to 27, the Calvert Artists’ Guild will hold their annual Spring Multi-Media Art Show at Annmarie Garden. The Spring Multi-Media show

will feature many Southern Maryland artists displaying their talents in watercolors, oils, photography, ceramics, woodworking, jewelry, silks and more. This weeklong exhibition begins with an Annmarie After Hours recep-tion on Friday, March 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. featuring live music by Folk Salad Trio and complementary appetiz-ers by Dream Weaver Events & Catering. Wine, beer and beverages will be available for a nominal fee. Join Annmarie Garden in sustaining local artists and the arts community while observing impressive talent. www.annmariegarden.org

The Calvert Marine Museum presents Sunday Conversations with Chesapeake Authors on March 20. Nick Caloyianis, photographer and author of The Shark Handbook will share some of his exciting stories and videos from his travels around the world photograph-ing these amazing creatures. The Shark Handbook is a comprehensive handbook that gives a captivating tour of the world of sharks – a must have for anyone inter-ested in sharks. The free program begins at 2 p.m. in the member’s lounge. www.calvertmarinemuseum.com

On Saturday, March 26, participate in the 6th an-nual “Keep Your Colon Roll’n’” 5K Walk/Run at Jef-ferson Patterson Park & Museum, sponsored by the Calvert County Health Department. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Cal-vert County and Maryland. Proceeds benefit Calvert Healthcare Solutions, a nonprofit organization helping people without insurance receive healthcare. The race begins at 10 a.m. Contact the race director at 410-535-5400 or 301-855-1353, ext. 348 or by e-mail at [email protected].


� theWater

By Anna Chaney WillmanMy birthstone is a pearl. I can remember watching my

grandfather shuck oyster after Chesapeake Bay oyster, star-ing at the inside of the shell as he gently and swiftly shucked the oyster into a stainless steel bowl or bucket awaiting a thorough rinsing by my grandmother. If there were a little imperfection, a small pebble, I would say, “Pop, is that a pearl?”

Their driveway was covered with crushed oyster shells; my grandmother fried up the best oysters every Sunday for lunch, and oysters were so abundant and plentiful, just like

the perch, Rockfish, and crabs that were constantly served at their kitchen table. I have to say that my grandmother, Agnes Dixon, now 106 years old and a lifelong resident of Gales-ville, MD is certainly that pearl in her own right!

A n n a p o l i s Green hosted its first Film Fest on Febru-ary 5 at Maryland Hall where I enjoyed four locally produced films on the Chesa-peake Bay. The most compelling, I thought, was one titled, “Who Killed

Crassostrea Virginica? The Fall and Rise of Chesapeake Bay Oysters.” I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

It is common knowledge that the oyster population has diminished greatly over the years. The overall assumption has been that pollution and over-harvesting were the two main culprits. As a native of the Chesapeake Bay region and the granddaughter of a professional waterman, I was surprised to learn about a third cause. What’s so fascinating about this documentary to me is the missing link to the ab-solute decimation of the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.

After World War II, Herbert Hoover proudly announced the opening of trade and importing/exporting between Japan and the United States. In the spring of 1946, Thurlow C. Nelson, bivalve expert and scientist, announced at the An-nual Shellfisheries Association annual convention that it was time to try planting oysters from Japan in East Coast waters like Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. Nelson was a well-respected biologist/scientist who spent his lifetime studying oysters. His message was powerful and the West Coast had experienced great success in importing, planting, and har-vesting a Japanese oyster called Crassotrea gigas.

Nelson extolled its fast growth in high-salinity waters and passed along reports of four-foot oysters once found in Japan. “If it were possible to obtain in our Eastern oyster the rapid growth of the Japanese Oyster,” he argued, “It would revolutionize our industry.” He called for Japanese oysters to be “promptly shipped” to shellfish laboratories on the East Coast. To an audience of oyster growers he also suggested that, “test plantings be made on a small commercial scale

under natural conditions.”Some key information may not

have been shared with this influential and powerful group of oyster profes-sionals. In the 1930’s Thurlow Nel-son attempted to grow some of these Japanese Oysters in Barnegat Bay in New Jersey. At first, the oysters grew very quickly, but after two weeks the oysters stopped growing and even-tually died out, perhaps from low salinity and low oxygen. However, Nelson felt that perhaps under bet-ter conditions, this Crassostrea gigas could potentially revive the strug-gling oyster industry in Barnegat Bay and along the East Coast as well.

Slowly, starting in the late 1940’s the gigas oyster was intro-duced in a variety of areas from Maine to Virginia, including, Dela-ware Bay and the Chesapeake Bay. Commercial oystermen as well as seafood enthusiasts participated in the experimental breeding/growing of the Japanese Oyster with no regu-lation whatsoever. The hope was to compete with the West Coast oyster markets and to raise plump, juicy oysters. And, fortuitously, our native oyster species, Crassostrea Virginica began a quick decline.

Fast forward to the 1990’s. The oyster popu-lation was measured at maybe 5% of the historical population on the Chesapeake Bay. With this rapid and unprecendented death rate of our Crassostrea Virginica, the Virginia Seafood Council, in hopes of saving a declining seafood industry, was asking scientists to find an alternative oyster to replace the rapidly disappear-ing native oyster. The first strong candidate that scientists put forward for planting in the Chesapeake was, ironically enough, the Japanese oyster, Crassostrea gigas. And one of the scientists who went to work researching the potential for gigas in Chesapeake waters was Gene Burreson.

Burreson began studying the gigas oyster and through intense research tracked the historical process of the impor-tation of the gigas oyster over the last 50 years. He also stud-ied the gigas oyster itself and drew blood samples to make determinations about the viability of this oyster in our native waters.

His studies led him to several key conclusions: 1) Our Chesapeake Bay oysters (Crassostrea virginica)

was not only decimated by over harvesting and pollution, but, also by the parasite named MSX.

2) The Crassostrea gigas brought the deadly MSX para-site to our East Coast waters. 3) A third potential carrier of this deadly disease was the retired fleet of military vessels that were anchored in the James River after the end of World War II. The theory being that the parasite could have trav-elled on the hulls of these massive steel ships and/or in the ballast water, which was emptied in the James River upon arrival.

The Japanese Oyster had immunities to this parasite. However, our oysters did not. As Burreson studied our sickly oysters, he discovered the DNA of this foreign parasite, and thus one of the primary killers was definitively identified.

The film was impressively enlightening in telling this story about our beloved oysters. And, as good fortune would have it, just days after I saw this film, the annual oyster re-port was released by the University of Maryland.

The two-month survey by the Department of Natural Resources found an average of nearly 80 baby oysters, called

spat, in every bushel of shells dredged up from 260 locations checked throughout the bay and its rivers. That’s the highest tally recorded since 1997. Additionally, when the oysters are dredged up, a death count is taken and DNR biologists found the lowest percentage of dead oysters last fall that they’ve seen since 1985 before the parasitic outbreak began!

State Fisheries Director Tom O’Connell said the fall survey results show “some evidence that the native oyster may be establishing some disease resistance.” He said the young bivalves that were produced last year will help seed the sanctuaries the state set up last year in an attempt to re-build the bay’s population. Since last fall, 26 people have ap-plied for 35 new leases to raise oysters, officials said. The state plans to distribute more than $2 million in startup as-sistance for such aquaculture ventures.

Per the Baltimore Sun, O’Connell said the fall survey results show “some evidence that the native oyster may be establishing some disease resistance.” He said the young bi-valves that were produced last year will help seed the sanc-tuaries the state set up last year in an attempt to rebuild the bay’s population. Since last fall, 26 people have applied for 35 new leases to raise oysters, officials said. The state plans to distribute more than $2 million in startup assistance for such aquaculture ventures.

The parasitic diseases that kill off our oysters are harm-less to humans who consume the infected oysters. There-fore, when I enjoyed dinner last evening at Skippers Pier in Deale, we indulged in their featured Chesapeake Bay oysters prepared three different ways: on the half-shell, baked with jumbo lump crabmeat, and of course, fried. Chef John Kozik graciously stopped by our table to confirm our satisfaction and we were no less than delighted!

So, go on out there and support our oystermen. We are on a positive path toward health and abundance. Enjoy! Anna Chaney Willman is the founder of Herrington on the Bay Catering in Rose Haven.

What Really Happened to Chesapeake Bay Oysters?

Scientist Gene Burreson studies the Crassostrea Virginica to determine the best ways to revive the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.

Spat on shell (baby oysters growing on an old shell) and a bag of spat on shells, ready to be put into a submerged cage to grow.

Photos by Bruce Wahl


Local musician Jay Armswor-thy recently released his fourth CD, which is his first gospel CD, titled “I Couldn’t Make If Without Him.” To celebrate, there was a CD release party at the weekly Bluegrass jam at the Prince Fredrick Volunteer Rescue Squad.

“It’s been a dream,” Armsworthy said. “It’s just something I’ve wanted to do.”

The CD features guest artists like Jason Moore of Mountain Heart and Kristin Scott Benson of The Grascals.

Armsworthy said he’s wanted to do a gospel CD for 15 years and it is a follow-up to his first CD. Accord-ing to him, he has finally reached a time in his life where he could do his gospel CD.

“It takes a lot of time, money and effort to put one out,” Armsworthy said.

He said he’s spent the last 10

years collecting songs and finding artists to feature on the CD. He said the writers the songs are from write for coun-try, bluegrass and other genres, in addition to gospel. None of the songs on the CD are covers, which Armsworthy said he’s lucky to be able to say.

Armsworthy said he’s been a musician since he was 10 years old, when his father first showed him some chords on the guitar.

“I picked up the rest,” he said.

Armsworthy put together his first band when he was 12, and is in a band still, now called Jay Armsworthy and Eastern Tradition.

To celebrate the realization of his dream of doing a gospel CD, the people at the weekly bluegrass jam in Prince Fred-rick threw him a surprise CD release party with the help of Armsworthy’s wife of 11 years, Michelle.

“I’m just totally f loored,” Armsworthy said.

The bluegrass jam is held every Friday evening from 7 until 10 p.m. and Chris Tenney, one of the orga-nizers for Armsworthy’s party, said any kind of bluegrass, gospel or older country music is welcome at the jam. The cost for people to play is $2 and the money is donated at the end of the night to the Prince Fredrick Volunteer Rescue Squad, who hosts the weekly jam.

“We’re really proud of him [Arm-sworthy],” said Tenney.

She said they got a party together to celebrate the release of Armswor-thy’s CD because he wasn’t going to. Michelle got involved by blindfolding Armsworthy and driving him to the rescue squad for the party.

“I think it’s awesome that they’re willing to do this for Jay and that they included me in bringing him here,” she said.

Armsworhty said Blue Circle re-cords in North Carolina, owned by Tom T. Hall, recorded the CD.

“I love what I do, I’m in it for the long hall and I’ll do it until the day I die,” Armsworthy said.

When he’s not playing with his band or working on a solo proj-ect, Armsworthy said he’s a bus driver with St. Mary’s County Pub-lic Schools and he hosts three radio shows. One show, “Bluegrass on the Bay,” is broadcast on www.world-widebluegrass.com on Wednesdays from 6 until 8 p.m. The other two are pre-recorded, hour-long segments, one broadcast in Pennsylvania and the other 107.5 FM on Thursdays from 9 until 10 p.m., which can be heard locally.

He also organizes the annual Bluegrass For Hospice event and an annual fundraiser for the American Legion.

“It’s a very busy life I lead,” he said.

While there’s a lot on his plate, Armsworthy said he’s happy and he loves what he does.

“Music is my life,” he said.Anybody interested in purchas-

ing a CD can go to www.cdbaby.com or send a check for $15 made out to Armsworthy at PO Box 741, Califor-nia, Md 20619. By Sarah Miller (CT) [email protected]

Local Musician Releases Fourth CD

Jay Armsworthy gets ready to sign some CDs during the release party last weekend.

Armsworthy performs a couple of the songs from his new CD during the bluegrass jam at the Prince Fredrick Volunteer Rescue Squad on Friday.


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2011-03-03 Southern Calvert Gazette

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