2011-09-29 Calvert Gazette

September 29, 2011

Priceless GazetteEverything Calvert County

Calvert

Photo by Frank Marquart

A Look Inside: The Life of a PrivaTe eye

2

Thursday, September 29-2011 Calvert Gazette2

history

Josh Harrison (Doug Graupman) and Senator Joseph Dolan (James LePore) butt heads dur-ing a rehearsal for the murder mystery dinner “A Murder in DC and More”, coming to Di-Giovanni’s resturant on Oct. 4.

Our 125th annual County Fair runs from Wednesday, September 28 to Sunday, October 2. There is something for everyone at the Calvert County Fair.

Also Inside

On The Cover

3 County News

8 North County News

9 Community

11 Education

12 Cover Story

14 History

15 Letters

16 Crime & Punishment

17 Out & About

18 Obituaries

20 Newsmakers

21 On Water

23 Entertainment

Solomons Island

Tide ReportSolomons Island

Tide ReportSolomons Island

Tide Report

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

F 7 Low 6:08 AM 0.4 7:07 AM Set 2:57 AM 76 7 High 11:32 AM 1.4 6:40 PM Rise 4:19 PM 7 Low 5:51 PM 0.4

Sa 8 High 12:10 AM 1.6 7:08 AM Set 3:55 AM 84 8 Low 6:47 AM 0.4 6:39 PM Rise 4:46 PM 8 High 12:28 PM 1.5 8 Low 6:48 PM 0.4

Su 9 High 12:51 AM 1.6 7:09 AM Set 4:53 AM 90 9 Low 7:20 AM 0.4 6:37 PM Rise 5:12 PM 9 High 1:18 PM 1.6 9 Low 7:39 PM 0.4

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

F 30 High 4:25 AM 1.5 7:01 AM Rise 10:52 AM 8 30 Low 10:27 AM 0.1 6:51 PM Set 8:55 PM 30 High 5:18 PM 2.1

Sa 1 Low 12:22 AM 0.4 7:01 AM Rise 12:00 PM 16 1 High 5:17 AM 1.4 6:49 PM Set 9:49 PM 1 Low 11:16 AM 0.1 1 High 6:14 PM 2.1

Su 2 Low 1:26 AM 0.4 7:02 AM Rise 1:02 PM 25 2 High 6:13 AM 1.3 6:48 PM Set 10:49 PM 2 Low 12:11 PM 0.2 2 High 7:14 PM 2.0

Sept. 29 - Oct. 2 2011

October 7 - 9 2011

Roquel Norris is a former Prince Georges County police officer who runs a private inves-tigation business out of Huntingtown. She said the Private Eye business is not as glamorous as popular belief.

out & aboutFOR EVENTS HAPPENING IN YOUR AREA, CHECK PAGE 17 IN OUT AND ABOUT

entertainment

Calvert Gazette Thursday, September 29 -2011 3

April HancockPO Box 407Bryans Road, MD 20616301-743-9000

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COUNTYNEWSBy Corrin M. Howe

Staff Writer

A white SUV traveled Northbound on Route 4 south of Ball Road in St. Leonard. It drifted slightly around its lane for a few miles, just enough to bring images of distracted driving to mind. Maybe talking on the phone, texting or even chang-ing the radio station.

Suddenly the vehicle swerved to the left, driving over the raised ridges along the shoulder and into the grass almost striking the metal guardrail in the median. The driver man-aged to return to the road in a controlled manner instead of jerking the SUV back onto the road. The incident should have caused the driver to start paying more attention. However less than a mile later the vehicle drifted to the right across the cen-ter line almost side swiping a red compact vehicle.

The cars behind the driver slow down and traded hand signals and exaggerated mouth movements expressing concern.

What can other drivers do in a situation like this?

“A vehicle can kill in a matter of seconds,” said Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans. “It’s a matter of safety. Call 911.”

According to Evans, the emergency dispatchers re-ceive approximately 20 to 30 calls a day about erratic driv-ing. Emergency personnel will ask the caller to stay on the line, follow the vehicle at a safe distance until a law enforce-ment vehicle can meet up with them.

“About 10 percent of the calls turn out to be drunk driv-ers or a diabetic episode. The rest are distracted drivers,” said Evans.

Either way, it is important to the health and safety of both the driver and others around them to check out danger-ous drivers.

Although the Sheriff said to call 911, the caller in the incident above called the non-emergency number for the sheriff’s department 410-535-2800 and received an equally prompt response from a Maryland State Trooper in the area.

[email protected]

Sheriff Urges Citizens to Call 911

By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

The Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SME-CO) wants to build its own solar power-producing facility in Hughesville and it is asking the state to waive the lengthy ap-proval process to get the project done quickly.

The regional utility announced Monday that it had filed a request with the state’s Public Service Commission for an exemption from the certificate of public need process, which is generally a requirement for any applicant who wishes to build any kind of electricity producing facility.

SMECO is required by state law to purchase three per-cent of its load capacity from pro-ducers using renewable resources; a portion of that percentage must be solar power.

SMECO officials have said that sometimes it is cheaper to pur-chase renewable energy credits or even pay a penalty since the cost of energy from solar power is some-times too expensive.

Utilty spokesman Tom Den-nison said the project, which would take 47-acres of SMECO owned land to produce 5.5 megawatts of power, is designed to solve that problem.

“SMECO will own the facil-ity, that’ll allow us to use the output as part of our portfolio,” Dennison said. “That will be more cost ef-fective than buying credits on the open market.”

Dennison said that the facil-ity’s power output was projected to save SMECO customers about $10 million over its 20-year life span.

SMECO expects the project to be completed and running by 2013, and co-op officials want to start the project by the end of the year so it can qualify for federal funds from the American Recovery and Rein-vestment Act.

The utility plans to use the money to cover 30 percent of the construction costs, a SMECO news release stated.

SMECO’s filing with the public service commission was based on a portion of the law which states that certain on-site generating facilities can be exempt from lengthy approvals processes if at least 10 percent of the power produced will be used at the site and the facility overall does not produce more than 25 megawatts.

SMECO stated it meets both requirements because the facility will produce power that would be used at its adjacent engineering and operations facility.

SMECO Files for Solar Power Project

Calvert County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted to add a new category for “Day Care Centers, eight clients or less” to the Calvert County Zoning Ordinance under “industrial use.”

The unanimous vote will allow the eight current pending applications and all future qualifying appli-cants to go into business without seeking approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals, which adds ad-ditional time and fees to their start up costs.

The commissioners accepted the zoning com-mittee’s recommendation to add this new category as a Conditional Use in all districts except wetlands. An-other change to the same section of the ordinance adds the condition that private elementary and secondary schools have to meet the same conditions as those im-posed on Day Care Centers, which are regulated by the state.

The Planning Commission recommended the commissioners wait for the legally advertized public comment period to expire before ruling on a propos-al to reduce the maximum signage size for day care facilities from 16 square feet down to 4 square feet, which is the current allowed size of any other home based business operating within the county. By Cor-rin M. Howe

Meeting Notes


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COUNTYNEWS

Last weekend, while at-tending a fundraiser at Jef-ferson Patterson Park, I was approached by a friend asking me to consider the individual’s spouse for a County job. Other Commissioners were also asked “to put in a good word.” Is this how an employee gets hired by Calvert County government? NO.

If you or someone you know is seeking employment, please go to the Calvert County website at: www.co.cal.md.us On the left side of the home page is a link for Em-ployment Opportunities. That link will take you to the CORE page which looks like this:

Welcome to CORE, the online recruitment and employment system for Calvert County Government. CORE will help you find the job that you are looking for, faster and easier.

The page is self-explanatory. There is a listing of open jobs. As I am writing this column, only one full-time job is open to the public: Project Engineer II in Pub-lic Works. Some jobs are listed as in-house jobs to allow current employees to apply first. This is the method by which promotions occur. An opening is posted. If a cur-rent employee applies and is hired, that person’s former job may well become a job advertised to the public. If no current employees apply, or if none are hired, the job can

be posted for public applications. Some jobs are posted both in-house and public simultaneously. The decision about how the job is posted is made in consultation with Personnel and is based on whether there are a number of qualified applicants in-house or not.

So, how does a qualified applicant for a publicly posted position get hired? In order to make the hiring process as fair as possible, and to remove undue influence, there is a grading system. Each application is screened to see if it meets the qualifications. Those that qualify are assigned a numerical score based on the information pro-vided by the applicant. This step is the one that is critical to getting an interview. The more detailed information provided that meets the qualification requirements, the higher the score is likely to be. Once scored, the qualified applications are sent to the hiring employee, who again screens the applications. Interviews are scheduled with the highest scoring applicants. Depending on the level of the job, a manager may interview and hire. For higher level jobs, an interview panel is assembled. For example, Calvert County recently hired a new County Attorney.

The interview panel consisted of the County Administrator, 2 other department heads and a State’s Attorney. The interview panel selected, using a numerical scoring grid, the top 3 applicants for the Board of County Commissioners to interview. We hired one of those top 3. Had we not been satisfied with the top 3, we could have interviewed more applicants, or we could have re-advertised the position.

Some positions are difficult to fill. Others result in an abundance of very highly-qualified applicants. Sever-al years ago, a job for a receptionist/ telephone answerer/clerk was posted. 800 applicants applied. Those appli-cants that listed the equipment used to answer the main courthouse telephone number scored highest and were in-terviewed. An applicant called me, irate that she did not get an interview. However, she had not listed the equip-ment on her application, and thus, scored too low to get an interview.

Of course, references and all the normal processes for getting a job are important also.

There is very little turn-over in most County jobs. However, retirements occur regularly. There are sea-sonal and part-time positions. Keep checking the Calvert County website if you are job-hunting.

CORE and County Employment


Maryland Secretary of Transporta-tion Beverley K. Swaim-Staley told Calvert County Commissioners last week that there is only enough money to tackle relatively minor transportation and road projects, be-cause federal funding is not reliable enough to ensure that work can continue on the big-ger ticket items such as the replacement of the Thomas Johnson Bridge.

This means that county and state lead-ers will have to find new ways of funding key projects with what Swaim-Staley called non-traditional means.

“We’re really going to have to think about it in a different way,” Swaim-Staley said, offering up ideas such as joint ventures and public/private partnerships to get proj-ects completed.

Commissioner Gerald Clark (R-Lusby) said that the secretary’s ideas were short on details and doubted that they would become a reality in Southern Maryland, especially for constructing the bridge between Calvert and St. Mary’s, which is the region’s top priority.

Clark said that he and other commis-sioners had yet to talk about what kind of partnerships could come up, but he did not hold out much hope for them in building a

new bridge that could cost upwards of $1 billion.

“We haven’t had any discussion … as to how you would pull off a public/private part-nership to build a bridge across the Patuxent River,” Clark told The Calvert Gazette. “The reality of that being done in Southern Mary-land is pretty slim; I don’t see that as being a great option.”

State Highway Administration Deputy Administrator Doug Simmons said that pre-liminary work on the bridge continues.

“We’re moving forward with planning studies,” Simmons said, adding they wanted to have a preferred option for the bridge se-lected in the next several months.

State surveys have showed that a ma-jority of Southern Maryland residents want a completely new bridge replacement for the aging span.

State highway officials told commis-sioners that they continued design work on expanding and improving Route 2-4 in Prince Frederick, which would help to facili-tate traffic flow and numerous intersections but, Clark said, the state had that project on its books for years and he wasn’t expecting them to get it done anytime soon.

“That’s been an item for many years,” Clark said. “They’ve done mostly design and engineering work … when that becomes a project remains to be seen.”

State to Focus on Smaller Transportation Projects

By Sean RiceEditor

A plan that started as an idea to give something back to the community came to fruition last week when Val Spencer, owner of Laser Lube Auto Repair in California, handed a set of keys and a vehicle title to Sam Huff-man of Lexington Park.

Spencer, with the help of the local NAPA and AutoZone stores, solicited a donated vehicle, which Spencer worked on to get road-ready to be donated to a family in need.

Nominations were sought from community members in Calvert and St. Mary’s counties for a person in need of a vehicle that would have the greatest impact if they were assisted.

Spencer said she chose Huffman because he is a member of the St. Mary’s Special Olympics team and there is cur-rently no vehicle at his household.

Huffman said in addition to help-ing his family, the vehicle would also

be used to transport some of his fellow Special Olympians.

Huffman is a member of the soc-cer team that won a Gold Medal this summer for the United States during the Special Olympics World Games in Greece.

“I’ve been here a long time, so I wanted to reach out and help somebody in the community,” Spencer told The Calvert Gazette.

Jim and Jeanine Sanford donated the 1997 Ford Aerostar, Spencer said. It required some minor body work, brakes, a radiator and a few other minor repairs before passing inspection.

Photo by Sean RiceVal Spencer, owner of Laser Lube Auto Re-pair in California, hands a set of keys and a vehicle title to Sam Huffman of Lexington Park. At left are Sam’s parents, Catherine and Stephen Huffman, and Lexington Park NAPA Manager Jimmy Kerns is at right.

Auto Shops Donate Van to Family

By Susan ShawPresident, Calvert County Commissioners


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COUNTYNEWS

The Calvert County Board of County Commis-sioners honored 22 out-standing community vol-unteers during the county’s annual Calvert You Are Beautiful program Sept. 20. Bill Stanton was named Volunteer of the Year for his years of work at Project ECHO, Calvert County’s homeless shelter.

The Calvert You Are Beautiful nominees touched the lives of county residents in myriad ways, including

through organizations such as 4-H, local fire and rescue squads and the American Chestnut Land Trust. Others were recognized for dedicating countless hours to working for local causes while juggling the demands of everyday life.

The 2011 Calvert You Are Beautiful nominees are:• Marie Louise Andrews, for her work with the Calvert

Collaborative for Children and Youth;• Francis “Ed” Baker, Jr., for his work with Calvert

Hospice;• Paul Berry, for his work with American Chestnut

Land Trust;• Christa Conant, for her work with the Calvert Marine

Museum;• Sally Jean Donaldson, for her work with the Town of

North Beach;• Shirley Jean Havelka, for her work with the SMILE

Ecumenical Ministries;• Stanis Inscoe, for her work with the Prince Frederick

Volunteer Rescue Squad;• J. Evans “Van” Ireland, for his work with Jefferson

Patterson Park & Museum;• Jeff Klapper, for his work with the American Chest-

nut Land Trust;• Heather Maertens, for her work with the United Way

and local animal rescues;• Denise Golato Moroney, for her work with the Uni-

versity of Maryland Master Gardener program;• Ginny Murphy, for work with the American Chestnut

Land Trust;• Jôseline Pretto Simmons, for her work on behalf of

earthquake victims in Haiti and an anti-bullying campaign;• Nancy Radcliffe, for her work with the University of

Maryland Master Gardener program;• Norman H. Rea, IV, for his work on behalf of the

Solomons Volunteer Fire Department;• Ken Romney, for his work with the American Chest-

nut Land Trust;• Paula Rosnage, for her work with the American Can-

cer Society, Maryland Relay for Life and Calvert County Lions Club;

• William “Bill” Stanton, for his work with Project ECHO, Inc.;

• Christine Stelloh-Garner, for her work with the Cal-vert County Historical Society;

• Volunteer Counselors at Birthright of Prince Freder-ick, for their work at the Prince Frederick crisis pregnancy center;

• Gerard “Jerry” P. Worrell, for his work with Calvert County 4-H; and

• Nancy Zinn, for her work with the Calvert County Board of Education, Calvert County Fair Board, 4-H,.SME-CO and Christ Church.

Volunteer of the Year winner Bill Stanton was honored for helping to feed and shelter the homeless of Calvert County at Project ECHO in Prince Fred-erick since 1997. He has volunteered hundreds of hours, not only to helping run and manage the shelter, but also gave countless hours to the creation of the new shelter, ECHO House, which opened in October 2009.

In her nomination, Executive Di-rectors Trisha Gipson said that “Bill led our community by example of humility and grace to simply stand by those less fortunate and love them.” She credits his efforts, in large part, as the driving force for getting the new 14,000 square feet shelter built.

Stanton received a special gift bas-ket from the BOCC at the Calvert You Are Beautiful awards ceremony. The other Calvert You Are Beautiful nomi-nees each received a certificate and a

small gift.Judges for the Calvert You Are Beautiful program were

Carrie Lovejoy of The Calvert Recorder, Sandra O. Martin of Bay Weekly, Sean Rice of The Calvert Gazette, Sally Lounsbury of the Voice of Southern Maryland and Wanda Hassler, the 2010 Calvert You Are Beautiful recipient.

For photos of all the Calvert You Are Beautiful nomi-nees, along with the nomination narratives, visit www.co.cal.md.us/News/cyab.asp. To learn more about the Cal-vert You Are Beautiful program, contact the Calvert Coun-ty Department of Economic Development at 410-535-4583 or email [email protected].

‘Beautiful’ People Honored at Volunteer Ceremony


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COUNTYNEWS How many peo-

ple racing to middle age have finally fig-ured out what they want to do with their lives and are willing to enter an unpaid mentorship program to get started?

Local College of Southern Maryland English teacher, Pres-ton Ford finds himself in this position.

“I’m one of the millions kicked out of their careers. Downsized. Reduced. After some soul searching I realized I had an opportunity to put all my energy into pursuing what I wanted to do for a long time,” Ford said.

Ford had already been writing most his life and dabbled in movie scripts. After reading books and doing some Internet research, he came across a CBS television studio Writers Mentoring Program in February 2011.

Part of the application process was to write an origi-nal script for a current television show and submit an orig-inal story. He chose to write for The Office and a send in a short story he’d written about a broadcast executive who airs a “pay-per-view” concert to signal aliens.

Approximately two weeks ago, Ford received a phone call from CBS scheduling him for an interview as a finalist for their program. Instead of requiring him to fly out to Los Angeles, they interviewed him over the phone.

“It lasted about 30 minutes. I thought they would ask the standard interview questions. What’s your greatest strength and weakness? Instead they asked what inspired the stories I submitted. How long I’d been writing, about my decision to pursue a career in TV, how I would handle the relocation, what area did I want to write or develop?”

“It was a fun interview, if there is such a thing? It was a spontaneous exchange. It seemed very comfortable to me. At least two people asked questions, I don’t know how many were on the phone.”

He will find out next week if he was selected for the program, which according to the CBS website is: “Mak-ing an Impact: In its first seven years, a total of 50 emerg-ing diverse writers have graduated from the CBS Writers Mentoring Program. 25 careers have been launched. The goal of the program is to positively impact the presence of diverse writers throughout the industry.”

Last year only four finalists were chosen for the men-tor program. Ford did not know how many applications were submitted this year or how many received inter-views. If he is selected, he will begin the in the middle of October this year.

“The focus of this six month program is on opening doors: providing opportunities to build relationships with network executives and show runners; to support new and emerging writers in their efforts to improve their craft; and to develop the interpersonal skills necessary to break in and succeed,” according to the program’s website.

Ford said, “Just the idea of being able to earn a living doing what you love. People would pay for an opportunity like this.”

Ford feels fairly confident that he’s in the running for a position. Even if he doesn’t receive it this year, he plans to try again next year and the next. In the meantime, he’s learned that other networks have similar programs to re-cruit and train their own writers. He will apply to these programs as well.

A copy of the original short story Ford submitted with his application can be found in his book called Im-pressions in Half-Life found at www.outskirtspress.com/impressionsinhalflight.

For more information about the Writer’s Mentoring Program go to http://diversity.cbscorporation.com/page.php?id=23

Local in The Running for CBS Writers Mentoring Program

By Sarah MillerStaff Writer

Writers from all over the greater Southern Maryland area are encouraged to enter the environmental essay con-test hosted by the Potomac River Association.

This year’s writ-ers are given the chal-lenge of writing an essay on what they would to clean up the Chesapeake Bay if money and resourc-es weren’t limiting factors, and every-body had to do “as if they were a king or queen and their ev-ery command had to be obeyed,” said Potomac River Asso-ciation President Bob Elwood.

He said the hy-pothetical situation, and the creativity it allows for, is meant to encourage people to have fun with the es-say. While they’re not

step by step plans for the future of the bay, the essays are de-signed to find what the community thinks would fix the bay.

“People give us what they thing without worry about how it will play politically,” Elwood said.

Points will be given for how fair the writer is with their rule, and how they compensate people affected by their plan.

He emphasized the fact that this competition is open anybody in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince Georg-es and St. Mary’s counties, not just students, because the bay is “a community wide problem, and the solutions have to come from the community.”

He said the goal of the essay contest is to “spark dis-cussion in the community” and start a dialogue that is all inclusive.

The judging is done blindly, with the judges reading the essays with no name attached. Submissions must be in English and not more than 5,500 words in length, with the pages numbered. Two copies of the submission must be mailed, hard copy, to Potomac River Association, attn: Es-says, PO Box 76, Valley Lee, Md. The deadline is Dec. 1. The winners will be announced at the next Earth Day cel-ebration in Leonardtown.

Last year, there were fewer that 20 entries, Elwood said, but this year he has “no doubt” there will be more, judging by the interest he has heard about the contest.

For more information related to the essay contest con-tact Potomac River Association at [email protected], call 301-769-3840 or visit www. potomacriverassocia-tion.org.

How Would You Fix the Bay?

The Southern Maryland Agricultural Develop-ment Commission (SMADC) is once again offering grants to farms in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties to aid in the purchase of wine grape vines.

These funds are being made available as a con-tinuation of SMADC’s Growing Grapes for Wine Pro-gram which was established to encourage and support the development of a competitive wine industry in Southern Maryland.

The grant program offers matching funds for the purchase of grape vines compatible with the region. The Grapes for Wine Program is offered together with the University of Maryland Extension which will pro-vide ongoing training and production expertise.

To be eligible an applicant must own or be co-applicant with the owner of at least 5 acres of land currently in agricultural use. The site must to be suit-able (determined by a UME educator) and the soils tested for nematodes. Soil samples must be taken this fall and sent to a laboratory for analysis. The grant application and guidelines detail procedures and pro-vide a list of laboratories.

Existing grape growers and new growers may ap-ply, unless the farmer is a prior recipient of a SMADC Farm Viability Grant awarded specifically for vine-yard enhancement. Past participants of the Growing Grapes for Wine cost-share program are eligible.

Awards will be made based on satisfactory test results and pending availability of funding. Grant ap-plications are due to SMADC by December 2, 2011.

To download the grant application and guide-lines Click here or visit www.smadc.com or contact SMADC staff at: (301) 274-1922 Ex. 1.

Growing Grapes for Wine Grants Available

Preston Ford


COUNTYNEWSBy Corrin M. Howe

Staff Writer

At the request of the Calvert County Board of Com-missioners, representatives from Constellation Energy Nuclear Group came to Tuesday’s commissioner meeting to update activities at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant. The update primarily focused on lessons learned from several natural disasters locally and worldwide.

CENG Vice President George Gellrich talked about industry lessons learned from the earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

“As a nuclear expert, prior to Fukushima I would’ve said this could never occur. But the fact is that it did occur,” Gellrich said.

He likened the incident and the lessons learned from Japan to those coming out of the Three Mile Island incident in Pennsylvania in 1979. “I expect it will take performance to the next level.”

Although Calvert Cliffs meets or exceeds many of the

industry and government safety requirements, Gellrich said they have identified several long term projects to address what happened in Japan. For example, their emergency response plans didn’t address “multiple unit events,” stor-age of mitigating equipment, length of time a site can cope without power, flooding beyond design among other points.

One thing Gellrich mentioned others learned from Ja-pan, is that their society is different and a calm, cool and collected response can be taken to extreme.

The first days of September, Calvert Cliffs suffered their own earthquake and hurricane event. Even though the seismic activity was “well below design” and there was no operational impact, the organization did conduct a critique. Based upon that, an update in seismic monitoring equip-ment scheduled for 2014 will probably be moved up. Gell-rich said he had to learn how to read the print out of the current 1980s equipment. It took a little longer to read than they desired.

As far as Hurricane Irene, the response critic was fa-vorable. They were pleased with the site preparation before

the storm, the employee response, placing the safety of the plant above their own homes, they sent Calvert Cliffs staff to Calvert County’s Emergency Operations Center.

Although two things Gellrich did find “very disap-pointing.” First was that a 40 foot section of siding came off during the storm and struck a transformer, and 64 of the 73 sirens were without power forcing them to rely on other methods, which the county implemented. They will be doing a root cause analysis to address these issues in the future.

Finally, Gellrich announced the 2012 Outage is sched-uled to last 70 days as opposed to the normal 25 days. This will mean increasing the number of temporary hires from 600 to 1,000 which further generates income for local ho-tels, restaurants and businesses.

The PowerPoint of his presentation can be found at http://www.co.cal.md.us/assets/PRES-CCNPPUpdate.pdf.

[email protected]

Nuclear Plant Working to Bolster Disaster Mitigation

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Community member and local and state officials gathered Tuesday after-noon for a groundbreak-ing ceremony for Phase II construction at the Prince Frederick Cam-pus of the College of Southern Maryland.

Officials broke ground with ceremonial shovels after a recep-tion that featured re-marks from Maryland Sens. Mike Miller and Roy Dyson, Delegates Anthony O’Donnell and Mark Fisher, Calvert County Commissioner Susan Shaw and Tia

Dickerson, President of CSM’s Stu-dent Government Association, among

CSM Hosts Groundbreaking For Phase II of PF Campusothers.

The nearly 30,000-square-foot, two-story facility will have 3,000 square feet dedicated to the Center for Nuclear En-ergy Training including a training lab and a computer lab, and 3,000 square feet for a flexible multipurpose use

space for concerts, performances, lec-tures and community events, according to college officials. In addition, the sec-ond building will add classroom space, faculty and staff offices, fitness center, computer labs, conference room and tu-toring rooms.

Photos by Corrin M. HoweCSM Development Director Martina Arnold, left, looks at architectural plans for Phase II with Elena Whipple, Member of the CSM Foundation.


The Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail is open for busi-ness. Sept. 30, at 4 p.m., the community is invited to attend the formal dedication and ribbon cutting of the trail. The Dedication will take place at the head of the trail, just off Gordon Stinnett Avenue near the Tot Lot.

Congressman Steny Hoyer, State Senator Mike Miller and former Mayor Gerald Donovan will join with members of the Chesapeake Beach Town Council, other Town, Coun-

ty and State leaders and Railway Museum officials as we officially open this long-awaited trail to walkers, runners, hikers, bicyclers and all citizens of all ages.

There will be food, beverages, music and other activi-ties at the dedication. In addition, experts will be stationed at various locations along the trail to answer questions and provide information about the fish, wildlife, CBOCS oyster program and the history of the Railway Trail.

The Trail runs alongside Fishing Creek in Chesapeake Beach, following the old Chesapeake Beach Railway, and connecting the Town center to Richfield Station and Bay-view Hills via walking/bicycling trail.

For more information, visit www.chesapeake-beach.md.us.

Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail Opens in Style

COUNTYNEWSNorth

North Beach Volunteer Fire De-partment and Rescue Squad is hosting an Open house on Sat-urday, Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. is celebration of Octo-ber being Fire Pre-vention Month.

This event is free and open to the pub-lic. Join volunteer for food, games and in-formational demonstrations.

Highlights include Sparky the Fire

Dog, Car cut demonstrations, K9 Unit and the county SWAT Team.

For questions or more information, contact Fire Prevention Officer Billy Agambar at 410-257-6564 or 410- 610-6279.

North Beach Fire Prevention Open House

Photo Courtesy of Cheryl Emery

The Chesapeake Beach Resort and Spa is aiming to revive a local musi-cal tradition with its new Bandshell Concert Series. The resort has con-structed a replica of the band shell that stood near that spot nearly 100 years. On Sept. 18, the Hank Wil-liams Sr. tribute band, Hankerin’ 4 Hank performed. The bandshell was christened on Sept. 11 with a per-formance by music legend imper-sonator Johnny Rogers, who played tunes by Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty and Buddy Holly.

Hankerin’ 4 Hank

Calvert County is one of five counties participating in Southern Maryland Meats, a new agricultural program that promotes safe, humane, locally produced meats.

Customers have the opportunity to purchase local meats through the Southern Mary-land Meats program on three farms and at two farm stores in Calvert County. The county has also received grant funding from the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC) to purchase two freezer cases to be filled with local Southern Maryland meats at the farm stores.

These new choices for consumers are part of a burgeoning trend toward the use of lo-cally sourced food. “Americans are becoming more and more interested in knowing what is on their plate, where it comes from and who produced it,” Dr. Christine Bergmark, ex-ecutive director of SMADC said in a press release. “Until now, it has been extraordinarily difficult to purchase local meat. Now customers will get a quality, great tasting product and also help support their farm neighbors.”

Southern Maryland meat is available at these county farms:

• Crooked Branch Farm140 Dalrymple Rd., Sunderland (by appointment only)410-257-5527; [email protected]

• Prosperity Acres5811 Sunderland Ct., Sunderland (by appointment only)443-964-4972; [email protected]

• Windy Willow Farm421 Clyde Jones Rd., Sunderland (by appointment only)301-928-6781; [email protected] Freezer cases filled with local Southern Maryland Meats are located at these farm

stores:

• Spider Hall FarmMonday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.3915 Hallowing Point Rd., Prince Frederick; www.spiderhallfarm.com

• Chesapeake’s BountyMonday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.6415 St. Leonard Rd., St. Leonard; www.chesapeakesbounty.com

For more information about the Southern Maryland Meats program, visit www.southernmarylandmeats.com or call the Calvert County Department of Economic Devel-opment on 410-535-4583.

Local Meats Now Available at Farms, Farm Stores


Community

MHBRNo. 103

Patuxent River Appreciation Days (PRAD) is celebrating 33 years on October 8 and 9 at the Calvert Marine Museum. The longest running festival in Southern Mary-land promises two days of free family fun for all ages from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

On Saturday the “Green Village” fea-tures scores of non-profit groups that cele-brate the river in a wide variety of ways. See exhibits, demonstrations, displays, and edu-cational activities about “green” products, recycling, oyster restoration, native plants, wildlife, restoration efforts, and more.

The juried arts and craft fair with over thirty artists and local food vendors will be located in the museum’s parking lot both days. The music stage will host live performances including Bob Zentz and other local musicians. Enjoy free boat rides aboard the Wm. B. Tennison and the

Nathan of Dorchester, and rowing in canoes in the boat basin throughout the weekend. Make model boats with your children on Saturday. Admission is free to the Calvert Marine Museum. Across the street is free parking and pony rides for a nominal fee.

Back by popular demand is Bounty of the Patuxent on Saturday from 12:00 noon – 4:00 p.m. in the Corbin Nature Pavilion. Local wineries will offer wine tasting, locally grown produce from the farm-ers’ market, and other tasty treats will be available to sample and buy.

The Calvert Artists’ Guild will par-ticipate in PRAD. Works by Guild artists will celebrate the Patuxent River in vari-ous media from oil and watercolor paint-ings to jewelry and metalwork.

The annual PRAD Parade with a one-mile route along Solomons Island

Road begins on Sun-day, October 9 at 2:00 p.m. Non-profit orga-nizations are welcome to join the parade with cash prizes offered for “Best Float” entries. To enter your float or organization, contact Randy Geck at [email protected].

For more information about PRAD, in-cluding a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.pradinc.org, or call 410-326-2042 ext. 41.

Celebrate the Patuxent River

Nominations for an appointment to the Calvert Soil Conservation District Board of Supervisors are being accepted by the Maryland State Soil Conservation Committee.

The appointment will be for a term to expire October 17, 2016 and will fill the expired term of David A. Cox.

Nominations should be sent to: State Soil Conservation Committee, Depart-ment of Agriculture, 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Room 306, Annapolis, MD 21401.

Any interested individual or orga-nization may submit a recommendation. Nomination forms are available at the of-fice of Herb Reed, Extension Agent, Uni-versity of Maryland Extension, 30 Duke Street, Room 103, Prince Frederick, MD 20678. Forms may also be picked up at the Soil Conservation District Office, 65

Duke Street, Kaine Bldg., Room 106, Prince Frederick, MD 20678.

Nominations should be received by the State Soil Conservation Com-mittee by October 6, 2011. The form is now available online at www.mda.state.md.us (click on Conservation, then com-mittees). http://www.mda.state.md.us/pdf/district_nom_form.pdf

A supervisor must be a resident of the district. District boundaries are the same as county boundaries. Anyone recommended should be able to attend monthly meetings of the Board of Super-visors, and have knowledge of and a sin-cere interest in proper land use and the conservation of soil, water and related natural resources. Meetings are general-ly held the second Monday of the month in Prince Frederick with an occasional special meeting.

Soil Conservation District Supervisor to be Appointed


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B E F O R E A F T E R


Calvert County Department of Public Safety, Emergency Management Division, will conduct a full-cycle test of the alert and notification sirens throughout southern Calvert and St. Mary’s counties on Monday, Oct. 3, 2011, at 12 p.m.

The full-cycle test includes a three-minute ac-tivation of all sirens within the 10-mile area around Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. All citizens are asked to remember the scheduled testing and relay the information to friends, family and neighbors.

The testing is conducted to enhance siren opera-tion and increase public awareness of the alert and no-tification siren system. If the sirens sound at any other

time, residents should tune to one of the local radio stations listed below for information and instructions.

Contact the Calvert County Division of Emer-gency Management at 410-535-1600, ext. 2638 for additional emergency or disaster preparedness information.

Emergency Alert System stations include:WPTX 1690 AM Mechanicsville, WYRX 97.7

FM Lexington Park, WTOP 103.5 FM Frederick, WKIK 1560 AM La Plata, WKIK 102.9 FM Cali-fornia, WPRS 104.1 FM La Plata, WSMD 98.3 FM Mechanicsville.

Full-Scale Emergency Notification Test

Fall Ladies Day at the Point Bazaar at the Drum Point Club in Lusby will be held on Saturday, October 29, 2011, from 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Over 20 artists, crafters, and vendors are participating, and the Lotus Kitchen will be offering lunch items.

Funds from the donated raffle prizes by the vendors will be donated to the SMILE Food Pantry. For more information, please call Carole Purcell @ 410-326-6669 or email [email protected].

Directions from RT2/4 MD-760, Lusby: turn onto Rousby Hall Road, cross over H.G. Trueman Road/MD765 and proceed to roundabout. Take third exit onto MD760/Rousby Hall Road and proceed to Barreda Boulevard on the left (large sign denotes Drum Point). Continue onto Barreda, which will turn into Overlook Drive veering left. Go through gates and drive down to Club House.

Fall Ladies Day at the Point Bazaar

The Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium announces our first public meeting as a part of our efforts to build the heritage tourism resources of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s Counties. This year for the first time we will hold an informal Regional Update to discuss our progress with our County Boards of Commissioners and other elected officials, as well as members of the public.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday afternoon, October 4, 2011, 3:00 p.m. in Room 119 at the College of Southern Maryland campus in Prince Frederick. The meeting will be brief and will be open to the public. A presentation of the highlights of the SMHAC annual report will be given, and the 2011 Mini-Grant Awards will be announced.

The mission of the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consor-tium (SMHAC) is to enhance the economic activity of Southern Maryland through combining quality heritage tourism and small business development with preservation, cultural and natural re-source conservation and education. Contact the Consortium at 301-274-4083, or by email, [email protected].

Heritage Area Public Meeting Set

Our Lady Star of the Sea School Bas-ket Bingo is back.

Mark your calendar for October 23rd

and come join the OLSS Family Friendly event. Doors at our school will be opening at 12 noon and games will begin at 1:30. Concessions and

Bingo Markers available.Cost is $20 for first packet of regu-

lar games, $5.00 each additional packet. $5.00 for specials, $5.00 for each additional packet.

Children may participate at full price. Great mom’s day out or bring your family.

Prizes include Longaberger baskets

and some will be filled with extra goodies. Sponsors are welcome.

Call 410-326-3171 or 410-326-9036 to reserve your spot or for more information.

Our Lady Basket Bingo


Spotlight On

The average composite SAT score for Calvert County Public Schools increased 16 points over the last five years from 1512 in 2007 to 1528 in 2011.

Over that same period, the SAT composite score for Maryland decreased one point from 1493 in 2007 to 1492 in 2011, and the total composite score for all SAT test takers decreased eight points from 1508 in 2007 to 1500 in 2011.

The composite score is the sum of the scores from the critical reading, mathematics, and writing sections of the SAT. The highest possible composite score is 2400.

In 2011, 65% of the Calvert County Public

Schools graduating seniors took the SAT compared to 60% in 2010. Fifty-six percent (56%) of African American seniors took the SAT in 2011 compared to 55% in 2010.

“We encourage all of our students to take the most rigorous courses possible so they are well-pre-pared to take the SAT,” Superintendent Jack Smith said in a press release. “The SAT opens doors for students since it is often used by colleges and univer-sities as one component of the admissions process. While some students may choose to pursue other options after graduating from high school, we want them to have the choice.”

County SAT Scores Dip Slightly

The Calvert County Board of Education is seeking residents of central or northern Calvert County to serve on its Ethics Panel.

On Aug. 11, 2011, the Board appointed two members from southern Calvert County and is looking for diversity in geographic representation.

Applicants may not:• Be an incumbent member of the Board of Education;• Be an employee of the Calvert County Public Schools;• Hold an elected or appointed office in, or be a candidate for of-

fice in the federal government, the State of Maryland, Calvert County, a municipal corporation, or a political party;

• Be employed by a business entity subject to the authority of the Board of Education;

• Be a registered lobbyist for any organization in the State of Maryland that may create a conflict of interest;

• Be a student in Calvert County Public Schools; or• Be the spouse of any person previously listed.To apply, send a resume to: The Calvert County Board of Educa-

tion, 1305 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD, 20678, attention: Robin Welsh. Applications will be accepted until the Board fills the vacancy. Once an applicant expresses interest in serving on the panel, he or she will be asked to complete a short questionnaire.

The Board of Education Administrative Procedure 1740.2 Re-garding the Ethics Panel describes the responsibilities of the Panel. It is available on the school system’s website at: www.calvertnet.k12.md.us/departments/administration/policies/policysection.asp?section=1000

For more information call Robin Welsh at 410-535-7220.

Ethics Panel Members Sought


It’s a scene played over and over – students in sports teams go door-to-door selling candy bars, work concession stands at sports games and persuade friends and family members to buy magazine subscriptions.

Calvert County Athletic Director Brad Criss said most teams have their sig-nature events, and other fundraisers are done by multiple groups throughout the district.

One popular fundraiser picked up by several teams during the year are discount card sales. The gold cards go for $20, and the teams split the profits 50-50 with the or-ganization that prints them. Criss said the company does all the legwork to get stores and restaurants to sign on with the discount cards, and they are individualized for dif-ferent regions in the county.

“The beautiful thing about it for a coach is there is no up front cost,” Criss said.

The company printing the cards does so for free, and approaches the students to sell them. Teams can raise up to $9,000 selling discount cards, keeping $4,500 to use for team needs.

In the past, some teams would spon-sor raffles during games, a practice that Criss said has been dropped due to state regulations.

“By law, we are not allowed to do that,” Criss said.

School-related groups who have formed their own non-profit organization, like the PTSA, are allowed to host raffles and basket bingo nights but groups like the sports boosters are not.

Not being allowed to hold fundrais-ers that include a form of gambling didn’t mean the teams will have no way to raise funds at all.

“There’s other ways to make money, and our coaches have had to be creative,” Criss said.

Some coaches prefer for their stu-dents to do one big fundraiser, or fundrais-ers that don’t involve selling merchandise. One mens’ baseball team hosts a dance every year as their main fundraiser, Criss said. The Calvert High School cheer team holds a silent auction every year, which is a lot of work but can be worth it if they get items that go for a large sum.

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Calvert Gazette Thursday, September 29 -2011Thursday, September 29-2011 Calvert Gazette 1312

STORY

By Corrin M. HoweStaff Writer

Roquel Norris is young, petite, spunky and African-Ameri-can. Nothing like the stereotypical Private Investigator or process server people might expect. And she uses it to her advantage as owner of Twin Shield Investigations, based in Huntingtown.

“Look at me. Do I look like a process server? I look like I’m lost. They are expecting an older white man,” Norris said.

People being served court paperwork often expect it; there-fore, they are wary of strangers. Despite her unassuming appear-ance even Norris has to be imaginative in how she approaches them.

Currently, she has been hired to actually attempt to serve an experienced process server, who “already knows all the ins and

outs.”A widowed mother of two boys, Norris begins planning her

week on Sunday and Monday.“And by Tuesday everything changes,” she laughs. “It takes a

lot of planning for surveillance. Safety is my number one priority.”Most of Norris’ cases are ‘domestics’ which normally involve

cheating spouses, finding missing persons and child support is-sues. When she’s following a cheating spouse she doesn’t know where she’ll end up or how long it will take her to “get my money shot.”

So her relatives help her with her sons. And her boys know she tries to be “convenient to them,” working around their football, soccer and basketball schedules, but in the end they understand there is no set date or time for her work.

“Once I followed a guy two hours away and was gone for 24 hours,” she said.

As much as she can control her work, a typical day starts out at 7 a.m. and ends at mid-night if she’s lucky. After she gets her kids off to school, she’ll make phone calls and organize her cases. Besides following cheating spouses, she does background checks for three different fed-eral agencies, she interviews witnesses for at-torneys, fingerprints for organizations, conducts accident investigations, investigates insurance fraud and much more.

She started off serving four years in the U.S. Army as an administrative assistant and then as a secretary for the federal government.

“I looked out the window one day and real-ized I needed to be outside helping those peo-ple,” Norris said.

So she joined the Department of Natural Re-sources for three years and then became a police officer for Princes George’s county for 10 years. An injury on the job caused her to leave. How-ever, she said she wasn’t done with police work. Fortunately, the state of Maryland will license former police officers as Private Investigators.

With her husband, also a Prince George’s police officer, they began looking for a home in Calvert County with the idea of opening up a PI company. Their plan was for Roquel to start and after he retired, for him to join her. Unfortu-nately, he died before that could happen.

However, in the process of driving around Calvert, they drove past Twin Shields Golf Course. Norris mistakenly thought Twin Shields was the name of a community, like Dunkirk, Huntingtown or North Beach. She liked the name and decided to name her company it. She did receive a call from the owner of the golf course questioning her decision.

Twin Shields Investigations was established in 2006. Her husband passed in 2008. Her first case was a cheating spouse.

Not having ever experienced a cheating spouse, Norris said she was doubtful when she took the case; however, the wife turned out to be correct.

“You don’t want to do what I do. Sometimes it can be very emotional. After my first three or four cases I had to remind myself this is a busi-ness and I can’t become emotional. I hope it’s not true, but I’ve never had a case where it hasn’t been,” she said.

Norris said she likes to think of herself as “helping good people out of bad situations.” First, she’s never had a cheating wife case. In all her cases it has been a husband who has tried to convince his wife that she is imagining things,

she’s crazy or jealous. Sometimes the wife has proof and some-times she just has a feeling something isn’t adding up. Either way, if there is a divorce involved, courts require an independent veri-fication of cheating.

“It doesn’t have to be kissing and holding hands. It just has to be being with the wrong person at the right time.”

Norris found that cheating spouses can be difficult to prove.“They are good. They lie, they tell stories that make no sense.

I’ve learned they stick together like a secret society we can’t get into. I call them the ‘Boy’s Club.’”

She’s found the professionals like doctors, police, and fire-fighters tend to be able to hide cheating.

When asked how she is able to crack the ‘Boy’s Club’ she smiled and said, “You have to use other means.”

Sometimes, the men aren’t cheating with one particular woman, they pick up many. In those cases Norris will go out to bars to try and catch them. She’s had the ‘target’ hit on her. She discovered early on that her clients don’t like paying her if their spouse tried to pick her up, so she tries to get her money shot with other women.

She has cameras in jewelry and in her baseball cap. But her preference is to be as far away from her target as possible. Keep-ing in mind three things, “cheaters don’t want to be discovered”, “people are crazy” and “safety first” Norris will try to stay about a small commercial parking lot away from her target.

However, she did have a situation where her target walked right by her as she sat in the car. He even looked directly at her, but had forgotten about her as he walked back by with the girlfriend.

Norris said she has noticed a significant drop in her cheating spouse cases since 2007. She feels women are deciding they can deal with it until the economic times are better. Norris charges $1,500 for a cheating spouse case and asks for $500 up front.

Norris will do background checks on people for clients other than the federal government. She’s done this for those who she calls “serial Internet daters.” These women in particular concern her because people are not who they claim to be. As a result of her years in investigations, she recommends that people find out the Social Security number and/or a date of birth. A correct birth date is often enough for police to locate a person.

She mentioned a police investigation in a nearby county where a husband killed his wife by setting a fire. It turned out she married him not knowing he was in serious financial trouble. He planned to use the insurance money to help him out.

Norris said she has a network of attorneys and other PIs to help her. For example, she had a man who wanted to find his fa-ther. She located the father down in Atlanta and asked a local PI to confirm he was still there before contacting him. She gives the lost parent or child the opportunity to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to meeting. Her recent case involved a boy who last saw his father when he was 3 and was reunited when he was in his 40s.

She had another case where an out of town PI hired her to take him to interview a witness. Since PIs need to have a license to operate in the state, hiring local PIs not only meet the license requirement, it also helps them to know the lay of the land. In her case, Norris had to take the PI into a dangerous neighborhood.

Most of Norris’ business has come by word of mouth and referrals from attorneys. She recently put up her own webpage www.Twinshieldspi.com and has joined local business organizations.

She’s not receiving “so much business that I’m turning busi-ness away, but I turn away bad cases.”

She makes her clients sign a three page contract stating they won’t use the information she provides them to harm the target. She also makes it a practice of not telling her clients anything until she’s written the final report.

At the end of the interview with The Calvert Gazette, she asked: “So do you still think what I do sounds fun?”

[email protected]

Private Eye on the Prowl in Calvert County

Roquel Norris Photo by Frank Marquart

Photo by Frank Marquart


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NEW EVENT DATENOVEMBER 5, 2011

PagesPast By Joyce BakiThe Calvert County Fair celebrates their

125th Anniversary this year! The first Calvert County Fair was held in 1886 on the farm of Dr.

Talbott in Smithville, now known as Dunkirk. Originally the fair was a display of cattle and tobacco, allowing the men of the county a way to get together. Horse racing was also a popular part of the event. Basically social events, these gatherings continued during the early years of the 20th century.

In the early 1900s an organization was developed by John Drury to assist farmers in Calvert County. This organization became the county extension service. The fair grew in popularity as people came to see the results of new methods to raise livestock and crops. With World War I, the area came upon leaner times and farming was crucial to the war ef-fort. Little was done to promote the fairs dur-ing those years.

In the early 1920s, a new agricultural agent, John Morsell, came to Calvert County. He saw the need to bring farm families to-gether for educational purposes as well as fun and the Calvert County Farm Bureau was or-ganized. County Agent Morsell showed them that the displays and competition would help bring new and effective methods of farming,

which would help build a better cash crop.

It was deter-mined the county fair should be held in the center of the county at the end of summer. This would allow farmers to participate because crop harvest-ing, for the most part, would be completed. The first mid-county fair was held at the Prince Frederick Town Hall with the livestock show on Dr. Everett Briscoe’s farm just south of the Town Hall. In subsequent years it was held in front of the Evans Hotel (now Courthouse Square on Main Street), the Town Hall on Main Street, the “Roberts” property and later on school grounds, now the site of Calvert Middle School.

In 1940, several Farm Bureau members including Mr. Morsell, Ellis Bowen and Claude Turner, determined the county fair needed a permanent home. Contacting the local bank for a loan, they personally obligated themselves to the purchase of a permanent site for the fair. Mr. Ellis Bowen, who was then president of the Calvert County Farm Bureau, resigned this position to become the first fair board president. A nine-acre site was pur-chased from Duke Brightwell on what later became known as Armory Road. As the fair grew, two more parcels were added, bringing the total acreage to 12. Cattle and animal buildings were built as well as a larger hall. Before one fair the cattle buildings mysteri-ously burned but the large exhibition hall survived. These grounds were used until the present location was established in Barstow.

The Calvert County Fair Board, Inc., an all-volunteer organization, strives each year to build upon the work begun by those early fair organizers. It is the goal of the Calvert County Fair Board to hold an event that both educates and entertains, reminding the cur-rent generation of its agricultural roots and promoting the importance of the agricultural community in the lives of all.

Calvert County’s long rich agricultural history can be viewed each year at the Calvert County Fair. This year, the fair runs from Wednesday, September 28, to Sunday, October 2. Visit the 4-H Building and watch the children who have entered exhibits receive their first ribbons. Tour the Homemakers Building to view some of the finest needlework, home crafts, art and cooking in the country. Enter the pie-eating contest, watch the antique trac-tor pull, place your bid on a cow or pig at the 4-H Livestock Auction. View entertainment throughout the weekend, including our own “Elvis” Jim Godbold, the Granpa Cratchet Show and the Calvert Fair Idol Contest. Enjoy the carnival rides and savor great Southern Maryland cooking at one of the many food vendors. See you there!

In honor of the 125th anniversary, the Calvert County Fair sponsored a contest to create a special logo. Scott Owens, graphic arts teacher at the Career and Technology Academy, used the contest as a class project. Mr. Owens said it was “great for the students to participate in a ‘live’ work project that will be used in the community.”The winner, Jessica Requilman, is a senior at Calvert High School. In her third year of the graphic arts program, she took great pride in producing a logo that related to the Calvert County Fair and not just any random fair. The colorful logo will appear on T-shirts that are for sale during the fair. Ms. Requilman is the daughter of Amy and Eddy Requilman of St. Leonard.In the photo Robin Brady, Calvert County Fair board member presents Jessica Requilman with a T-shirt bearing the logo she created for the 125th anniversary of the fair.

The Calvert County Fair


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 CorrespondentCorrin Howe Community Correspondent

Contributing WritersJoyce BakiKeith McGuire

The Calvert Gazette is a weekly newspaper providing news and information for the residents of Calvert County. The Calvert Gazette will be available on newsstands every Thursday. The paper is published by Southern Maryland Publishing Company, which is responsible for the form, content, and policies of the newspaper. The 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. The Calvert Gazette is not responsible for any claims made by its advertisers.

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

Nearly 18 months ago, The Chesapeake Current launched its first edition as a hyper-local publication to serve the northern area of Calvert County.

The Chesapeake Current, a product of Southern Maryland Publishing, Inc., followed the same design standards and marketing plans as those already in place with its sister publication, The Southern Calvert Gazette, which served the south-ern area of Calvert County. The marketing plan envisioned that a third hyper-local publication, The Prince Fredrick Gazette would be launched at about this time, 18 months later, to serve the center area of Calvert County.

Originally designed as The Northern Calvert Gazette, the product was re-named The Chesapeake Current to avoid marketplace confusion with The An-napolis Gazette because The Current would be serving parts of southern Anne Arundel County as well.

The Chesapeake Current was originally operated under a franchise concept with Bayside Partners, LLC, adhering to the unique design and marketing stan-dards developed by Southern Maryland Publishing, Inc.

As of this publication, The Chesapeake Current is no longer authorized to be published under the agreements between Southern Maryland Publishing, Inc. and Bayside Partners, Inc., or any other third party.

Beginning with this publication, September 29th, Southern Maryland Pub-lishing is pleased to announce exciting new plans to greatly enhance both its Cal-vert County publications, The Chesapeake Current and The Southern Calvert Ga-zette by merging the two papers into one countywide hometown newspaper – The Calvert Gazette.

This will include more news, more coverage of state and local government, more coverage of education in Calvert County, more coverage of what is going on in your neighborhood and the surrounding communities as well. Best of all, The Calvert Gazette will be published and on newsstands every Thursday morning rather than every other Thursday as they currently are. This will allow us to bring you the latest news, keeping our readers better informed about events and happen-ings in their community.

Additionally, for our many advertisers and small business partners, begin-ning with this September 29th publication, your business advertising through our products will now reach nearly three times the number of readers and customers at a cost equal to or less than you are paying now.

Making advertising more effective and more affordable for our local business-es in these difficult economic times is one of the primary goals of this transition.

No matter where your business is located in Calvert County, you can achieve name recognition and reach customers throughout all of Calvert County rather than reaching only a small portion of our county. Additionally, your advertising message will be fresh and relevant with weekly updates if you choose.

Southern Maryland Publishing is excited about this new direction and we encourage our readers to provide input and information about what they would like to see in their community newspaper. And if you think you have some good information to share with your community, we encourage you to contact us. We are always looking for contributing writers as well. So if you think you have writing skills and want to share your thoughts with your community, let us know.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our thousands of readers and hundreds of businesses who have helped make us so successful for more than 5 years now. Our commitment to better serve you is stronger than ever. Soon we will announce other new services designed to bring you the latest in services and information throughout the many communities we serve. Thank you.

Welcome to The New Calvert Gazette Thank you so much for supporting

Project Hugs From Heroes. We have just wrapped up our third collection, and we will be sending our third shipment next week! I am happy to report that due to troop draw-down in Iraq, the deployed unit who was in receipt of the first two shipments no longer needs our support.

However, just as we received the news from our first unit, we received a request that same day from not one, but two units, currently deployed in Afghanistan. Once again, Project Hugs From Heroes is proud to be able to support our men and women in uniform, especially the compassion projects they engage in while living and working in the combat field. Just as some of the stuffed animals were distributed to local Iraqi children and Wounded War-riors and service members who needed them, these stuffed animal will also serve a greater purpose. Specifically, some of the stuffed animals we ship will be placed in the hands of local orphans.

In addition to being shipped overseas, the stuffed animals collected have also been distributed to Wounded Warriors families. Project Hugs From Heroes was honored to partner with Operation Hope on The Chesapeake. We are so grateful to them for having a stuffed animal drive at the event. Even more importantly, we were thrilled to be able to play a role, volunteering for the day and for also be-ing able to distribute the stuffed animals to the honored guests and their children. This weekend, Project Hugs From Heroes will be once again volunteering, present, and distributing stuffed animals to lo-cal military children, at a sponsored De-ployed Spouses Dinner.

The response to the Call for Stuff

Animals has been overwhelming! Dona-tions have been received from business-es, church, community groups, students, non-profits and individuals. They have poured in from Delaware, New York, Vir-ginia, D.C., South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maryland. When this project began, I never imagined that so many wonderful people would come together to make such a positive impact.

And let me share this with you, it may seem like such a small act of kind-ness. But, from those who are receiving the stuffed animals, the act is very grand and heartwarming indeed! If you had seen the look of joy and excitement on the faces of the children when they were distributed during Operation Hope on The Chesa-peake! Their smiles and their instant at-tachment to their new stuffed animals said all that needed to be said. Our deployed liaison said this about the second ship-ment: “This an act of America kindness and generosity that the Iraqi people, par-ticularly the children, will leave a positive and lasting impression, long after we have left.” Thank you for making this a reality!

If you would like to learn more about Project Hugs From Heroes, you can follow us on: Facebook at Military Wives Matter: Support for Today’s Military Spouse and at www.silentranksisterhood.com.

Kristen O’Neill, Co-founderProject Hugs From Heroes, sponsored

by Circle of Angels

Hugs From Heroes Completes Third Successful Collection



The county’s chief detective says that law officers are waiting for more results from the state Medical Exam-iners office regarding a human skull found in Prince Frederick in some woods off of Tate Road, but they are already considering options for how the case might progress.

Lt. Steve Jones, commander of the Calvert Investigative Team said that at least three possibilities exist to explain the discovery of the skull.

“We have the possibility that it’s a crime (homicide) scene, that it was a homeless person who died in the woods or that it was an unearthed grave,” Jones said.

But it may take at least another week, Jones said, for the medical examiner to be able to tell exactly what circumstances brought the skull to its resting place.

The skull was found Sept. 16 by a citizen who contacted the sheriff’s office. Jones said that while its gender is undetermined, he believed it was likely the skull of an adult.

Only the top portion of the skull was found, Jones said, and the jaw bone was missing. Jones said that animals likely carried off other pieces of the skeleton; police found the same thing happened to the body of

a homeless person that was found dead near the Fox Run Shopping Center about a year ago.

“We’re still conducting searches,” Jones said.Homeless persons often use wooded areas

around Tate Road as a resting place, Jones said, and deputies are sent back there regularly to identify the homeless people living there, but there have been no reports of anyone missing.

Anyone with information regarding the remains is asked call Det. Sarah Jennigan of the Calvert Inves-tigative Team at 410-535-1600 at extension 2595.

[email protected]

Detectives Still Investigating Found Skull

Police release this image of where the skull was found in the woods off Tate Road in Prince Frederick.

CRIME BRIEFSOn Sept. 24, at approximately 10:37 p.m. the Calvert Con-

trol Center was contacted in reference to a home invasion that occurred in a basement apartment located on Mattapany Road in St. Leonard.

Units from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and Mary-land State Police Prince Frederick Barrack were dispatched to the scene, where victims advised that two black males contacted occupants of the house in a basement entry way. One suspect displayed a handgun while the other displayed a long gun. A male victim was grabbed from the entry way and thrown against an outside wall. As the suspects contacted the victim outside, the other occupants in the basement ran upstairs as the two suspects fled in an unknown direction. No items were taken from the vic-tim or residence and no one was injured during the incident.

A K-9 track and area search was conducted at which time the track led to the shoulder of a roadway approximately fifty yards south of the residence where it is believed that the suspects entered a vehicle and fled the area.

Det. N. DeFelice responded to the scene and was assisted by Dfc. C. McDonough as interviews and statements were obtained from all occupants within the residence.

This case remains under investigation by Det. N. DeFelice of the C.I.T. Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to contact him at 410-535-1600 ext. 2669.

Home Invasion Reported


&Out AboutAutumn is here, the leaves are starting to change. Get out and enjoy an event in Calvert County this month!

Annmarie Garden hosts Maker’s Mar-ket on Saturday, October 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. The Maker’s Market is a farmer’s market and more. It is THE place to find handmade, homemade or homegrown prod-ucts including arts and crafts, hanging bas-kets, organic skincare products, cut flowers, batik and fleece clothing, handmade soaps and candles, herbal teas, ornaments, folk art, handmade gifts and more. Find special treasures – or begin your Christmas shop-ping early! More than 30 vendors partici-pate. Admission is free. (www.annmarie-garden.org)

Saturday, October 1, the Calvert Ma-rine Museum will host the J.C. Lore Oyster House Experience from 1 to 4 p.m. Learn all about oyster processing from the time the oysters are brought onto the dock until they are shipped. Learn how heavy a bas-ket full of oysters really is. In the shucking room learn how to shuck an oyster and learn a song to help move the work along faster. See the giant fabric oyster, “Rock E. Feller” and all the amazing parts of this bivalve. Free to everyone. (www.calvertmarinemu-seum.com)

Digiovanni’s Restaurant will present a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater on Tues-day, October 4 at 6 p.m. “A Murder in DC and More” includes a night of live theater, a five-course dinner and a glass of wine for $56.04 inclusive. There is limited space and reservations are required so call 410-394-6400. The dinner menu can be found online at www.digiovannisrestaurant.com.

Visit Jefferson Patterson Park & Muse-

um on the first Wednesday of every month for back-to-back tours of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) and Point Farm’s house and gardens. Discover Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum with state-of-the-art science, lo-cal history and lore. The next tour date is Wednesday, October 5, at 12:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.jefpat.org.

Patuxent River Appreciation Days (PRAD) marks its 33rd anniversary on Saturday and Sunday, October 8-9. PRAD was created to raise the awareness of the economic, cultural and historical impact

the Patuxent River has on our community. The festival offers a wide variety of events - children’s activities, an arts and crafts show, musical performances, an open house at the Calvert Marine Museum and a parade on Sunday, October 9, at 2 p.m. Free harbor cruises are offered on board two historic vessels: the bugeye Wm. B. Tennison and the sailing skipjack, Nathan of Dorchester. Back by popular demand is Bounty of the Patuxent on Saturday from noon – 4 p.m. in the Corbin Nature Pavilion at the Calvert Marine Museum. Local wineries will offer wine tasting, locally grown produce from the farmers’ market and other tasty treats to sample and buy. Come hungry – there is a great variety of food vendors! Admission is free. For more information about PRAD, including a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.pradinc.org, or call 410-326-2042 ext. 41.

The College of Southern Maryland Ward Virts Concert Series will host clas-sical pianist Brian Ganz on October 9 at the Prince Frederick campus. A graduate of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Ganz has performed with nu-merous orchestras such as the St. Louis Symphony, as well as annually with the Ward Virts series. The Ward Virts Concert Series celebrates the life and talent of Wart Virts, a talented Southern Maryland pianist who passed away suddenly in 1993. Ward’s friends and classmates conceived the Ward Virts Piano Project in order to bring the love of life, beauty and music that Ward embodied to a new generation of Southern Maryland students, performers and ap-preciative audiences. The concert will be-gin at 3 p.m. There is open seating and it is free to the public. (www.csmd.edu/Arts)

Get to know Calvert County’s rural community by spending the day on three working farms. The 14th annual Farm Tour takes place Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16, rain or shine. It prom-ises to be a great family outing with spe-cial activities and educational opportuni-ties at these three local farms:

Fridays Creek Winery, 3485 Chaneyville Road, Owings, 410-286-WINE or www.fridayscreek.com .

Lucky Cricket Farm LLC, 1935 Em-manuel Church Rd., Huntingtown, 410-610-4849 or www.luckycricketfarm.com

Spider Hall Farm, 3915 Hallowing Point Road, Prince Frederick, 410-610-0094 or www.spiderhallfarm.com

Learn about new agriculture meth-ods and the county’s agricultural com-munity. At the various stops you will find demonstrations, hayrides, animals, music, food, children’s ac-tivities, produce and pony rides. For more information on the 2011 Cal-vert County Farm Tour, visit www.calvertag.com or email [email protected].

American Indians have made and continue to make lasting contributions to the social, political, technological and cultural fabric of this nation. Join Jeffer-son Patterson Park on Saturday, October 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in their Indian Village as they celebrate the American Indian’s history and culture. Demonstra-tions include firemaking, basketry, hunt-ing, music, archery, trapping, storytell-ing and more. Cost is $3 a person or $10 per car. (www.jefpat.org)

Friday, October 21, Gordon Bok, American folksinger and songwriter will appear live at the Calvert Marine Mu-seum. Bok’s repertoire consists of a rich trove of ballads of Maine and the Mari-times, songs and dances of the Ameri-cas and abroad and stories of boats and sailors. He will also sing his own com-position of sea folk tales, contemporary songs and instrumentals. He’s recorded over 20 albums, and plays at concert halls, festivals, and folk clubs throughout the United States, Canada, Great Brit-ain and Scandanavia. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. in the museum auditorium. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. For more information visit www.calvertmarinemuseum.ticketforce.com.

For additional events visit www.ecalvert.com.

1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, Medley’s Neck area, $1,100.00 per month.

Please call 301-475-8318. Alternate contact, 301-475-9304.

Cottage for Rent


William Alfonte, Jr., 87William “Bill” A. Alfonte,

Jr., of Solomons, MD, formerly of Alexandria, VA, died on Septem-ber 11, 2011, at the age of 87.

He was born on March 25, 1924 in Ft. Benning, GA to Wil-liam and Josephine Alfonte.

Bill is the beloved husband of Mary A. Alfonte and a loving fa-ther of Carol A. Singleton, Jeanne M. Duncan and Helen R. Thomp-son. He is the devoted grandfa-ther of six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Also survived by a sister, Helen Lind and dear friends, Len and Karen Zusa.

All services will be private.

Allen Bowen, Sr., 82A l l e n

Hutchins Bow-en, Sr. “Cuter”, 82, of Prince F r e d e r i c k , MD passed September 19, 2011 at the Cal-vert County Nursing Center

in Prince Frederick, Maryland.Allen was born on May 11,

1929 in Calvert County to the late Irving C. and Fannie M. Bowen. He was preceded in death by his brother John Irving Bowen, two sisters, Daisy Sherbert and Betty Jane Bowen, a grandson, Roy Wesley Bowen, and a grand-daughter, Anita Christine Bowen.

He is survived by his wife, Josephine Dresser Bowen, a son, Allen H. Bowen, Jr., a daughter, Jo Ann Bowen with her husband Thomas Leroy Bowen, three grandsons, Daniel Shelton Bow-en, Joseph Allen Bowen and Mark Andrew Bowen with his wife Lisa Marie (Abell) Bowen, two great grandchildren, Cameron Wesley Bowen and Carly Denise Bowen, and adopted great granddaughter Virginia “Jenny” Wieman.

He attended Calvert County Schools until the death of his fa-ther in 1946 and worked as a ser-viceman for the Reliable Oil Com-pany in Prince Frederick, Mary-land. He was a master plumber and operated his own heating, plumbing and septic business from his residence in Dares Beach for 35 years.

He was a very active mem-ber of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and served as assistant treasurer

for many years. He was a mem-ber of the Masonic Order, Prince Frederick Lodge No. 142, A.F. & A.M.; former member of the Calvert County Fire Department; and past President of the Southern Maryland Firemen’s Association. Pallbearers are Mark A. Bowen, Joseph A. Bowen, Daniel S. Bow-en, Raymond L. Bowen, Larry I. Bowen, and David F. Bowen. Richard Van Y and Joseph H. Boss were honorary pallbearers.

The family received friends for a viewing and visitation on Wednesday, September 21, 2-4 and 6-8 PM at the Rausch Fu-neral Home, 4405 Broomes Island Road, Port Republic, MD 20676. A funeral service was held on September 22, 2011 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Prince Fred-erick, MD at 11:00 AM. Interment followed in the church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made in his name to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 99, Prince Frederick, MD 20678; or to the Calvert County Nursing Center, 85 Hospital Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678.

Vance Wayne Burgess, 73

Vance Wayne Burgess, 73, passed away on Wednesday, Sep-tember 7, 2011 at his home with his family by his side. He was born August 26, 1938 to the late Kermit and Ruth Burgess in Mur-freesboro, Arkansas.

In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his brother, Mac and his son, Donald.

Vance is survived by his wife, of 49 years, Betty Lucas Burgess, one daughter, Sheryl and husband Cliff Hartsfield of Port Republic, MD, one brother Curtis and wife Martha of Guy, AR. Vance is also survived by his three grand-children, Alex Wayne, Benjamin Owen and Olivia Brooke.

Vance graduated from Jack-sonville High School, Jackson-ville, AR in 1956, joined the Army in 1958 served 4 years and 27 days. He received an honor-able discharge in March 1962; he served in Korea, Ft Belvoir, VA and Ft Lewis WA.

Vance enjoyed fishing, hunt-ing and trapshooting. He won many awards and trophies for his trapshooting skills. He enjoyed trips to Montana, Wyoming and Canada where he hunted and fished.

Vance was a dock man for various freight companies. He was employed by the Teamsters 639 Union for 27 years in the Met-ropolitan area. He received many recognitions and awards for being a diligent worker and moving the most freight. He retired in 1995. He and his wife, Betty, moved to St Mary’s County in 2006.

At his request Vance was cremated. Upon moving to St. Mary’s County five years ago, Vance attended church regu-larly at Southern Calvert Baptist Church.

There will be a Celebration of Vance’s life on October 1st at Southern Calvert Baptist Church in Lusby, MD at 11:00 am.

In lieu of flowers the fam-ily requests donations be made to Hospice of St Mary’s County. Their address is PO Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.

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

Christopher Carney, 32Christopher Patrick Carney,

32, of Lusby, passed away on Sep-tember 22, 2011 at his residence. He was born on September 23, 1978 in Washington, DC to M. Murray Carney, Jr. and Charlotte B. Rogers.

Christopher attended pub-lic and private schools in Charles Co., Calvert Co., as well as Apop-ka, FL in his childhood. He later found an interest in college and took classes in electronics and computers where he sought certi-fication and credits in the field of choice as an IT Technician. Chris-topher worked for Fox Fiber Op-tics in FL, Comcast Corporation in NC, and Geeks on Call for over ten years. In 2009 he took time off to pursue his own business. Un-fortunately, his plans never took off and his health declined along with his dreams and ambitions. Anxiety and depression are just two elements that have taken his short promising life.

Christopher is survived by his father M. Murray Carney, Jr. of Lusby, MD; mother, Charlotte Rogers of Dallas, GA; sister, Shawn M. Carney of Sayville, NY, and brother, Scott D. Carney of Savannah, GA.

The family will receive friends for a Celebration of Life Visitation on Friday, September

30, 2011 from 6 ~ 8 PM in the Rausch Funeral Home Chapel, 20 American Lane, Lusby, MD. In-terment will be private.

Lawrence Oberg, 66L a w -

rence A. Oberg, 66, of Dunkirk, M a r y l a n d died unex-p e c t e d l y , S e p t e m b e r 19, 2011, at his recre-

ational camp in Slate Run, PA. He was born May 10, 1945, in Wash-ington, D.C., to the late Joseph O. & Ruth E. Oberg of Mill Hall, PA.

He retired in July, 2003, from the Federal Government. At the apex of his more than 30 year career, he served as the In-spector General for the National Archives & Records Administra-tion in Washington, D.C. He also served in the United States Na-val Reserves from 1966 to 1972, and then the United States Coast Guard Reserves from 1972 until 1990, when he retired at the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

In June of 1970, Lawrence earned a Bachelor of Arts in Busi-ness Administration with a minor in Government & Politics degree from University of Maryland Uni-versity College. He completed his education with a Master’s Degree in Investigative Techniques from George Washington University in February 1975.

He was a lifetime member of the Silver Hill Volunteer Fire De-partment in Silver Hill, Maryland and actively involved in all levels of Scouting with his sons. He en-joyed coaching his sons in sports, as well as fishing and hunting with family and friends.

He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Dorothy H. Oberg of Dunkirk, Maryland; two sons, Dr. Jeffrey A. Oberg, of Avon, Ohio and Stephen A. Oberg, Esq., of Huntingtown, Maryland; 4 grand-children and 2 brothers, Joseph O. Oberg, Jr., of Laurel, Montana, and James O. Oberg of Mill Hall, PA. He was preceded in death by his son Brian Douglas.

Family received friends from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sep-tember 24 at Lee Funeral Home, 8200 Jennifer Lane, Owings, Maryland, where services fol-lowed at 2 p.m.

A private celebration of life will be held on Grandpa’s Moun-tain, Slate Run, PA.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Brown Township Volunteer Fire Company, Attn: Denise, 18118 Rt. 414 Highway, Cedar Run, PA 17727.

Thomas Hance, 57Thomas

Lloyd “Tom-my” Hance, 57, of Hun-tingtown, MD passed away S e p t e m b e r 14, 2011 in Huntingtown. Tommy was

born October 26, 1953 in Prince Frederick, MD to William Ever-ett “Dickie” and Gladys Alberta (Catterton) Hance.

He was raised in Hunting-town, attended Huntingtown Ele-mentary and graduated from Cal-vert High School, class of 1971. Tommy attended the Diesel Insti-tute of America in Prince George’s County and was employed by the Prince George’s County Board of Education for 32 years as a school bus mechanic, rising to head me-chanic. He had lived in Prince Frederick, and for the past 25 years resided in Huntingtown. In his leisure Tommy enjoyed NAS-CAR, hunting, camping, tubing, and fishing, and was fond of work-ing on and repairing cars.

Tommy is survived by his wife Lois A. Hance, a son Thomas L. Hance, Jr. “TJ” and his wife Jennifer of Baltimore; a daughter Christen Lee Morgan of Prince Frederick; parents William E. “Dickie” Hance of Huntingtown and Gladys A. Jenkins of Port Republic. He is also survived by a brother William E. “Billy” Hance, Jr. and wife Sandra of Huntingtown and a sister E. Carol Masciantonio of Huntingtown; grandchildren Quaid Irving, Ian Stewart, and Sydney Hance; a step daughter Robin L. Davis and husband William of Huntingtown; and step-grandchildren Alyssa, William and Lacy Davis.

Friends were received on Fri-day September 16, 2011 at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, where services and a celebration of Tom-my’s life were held Saturday Sep-tember 17. Interment is at Miranda Cemetery.


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

Ola Reeves, 95O l a

Reeves, 95, a Labor De-p a r t m e n t official who served as the Depart-ment’s first N a t i o n a l Trade Act Coordinator,

died August 16 at Asbury Retire-ment Community in Solomons, MD, where she had lived the past four years. She had suffered a stroke in 2009.

She began her career in gov-ernment in 1947 with the Massa-chusetts State Employment Secu-rity Service.

From 1951-1962 she worked for the Alaska Territorial and State Employment Security Agen-cy and was the Deputy Director until moving to Washington, D.C. in 1962.

From 1962 until her retire-ment in 1980, she worked for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Divi-sion of Manpower Training.

A series of first accomplish-ments for women include the first class of stewardesses for Eastern Airlines (1943), the first to serve as an employment office manager (1953) the first Deputy Director of an Employment Security Agency (1956), and the first U.S. Depart-ment of Labor Social Adminis-tration Specialist (1962). She was also the first person appointed as the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Trade Act Coordinator (1975).

She served as the Internation-al Secretary of the International Association of Personnel in Em-ployment Security in 1959.

Following a modeling ca-reer in Alabama, she worked for United and Eastern Airlines as a stewardess and Executive Repre-sentative from 1941-1946.

She became involved with the Women’s National Democrat-ic Club after her retirement where she served on many committees and on the governing board. She also served as a volunteer with Emily’s List. She was also active

in the Hughes Methodist Hope Circle, the Inter-faith Chapel at Leisure World, and the Asbury Gaithersburg Gift Shop.

Survivors include three chil-dren JoAnn Patterson of Dowell, MD., Joseph Reeves of Juneau, AK. and Nancy Reeves of Las Vegas, NV.; two grandsons and four great-grandchildren, and two sisters, Nora McGuirk and Betty Sargent of Fultondale, Alabama.

The family received friends on Tuesday, September 27, from 5 – 7 PM at the Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., 20 American Lane, Lusby, MD, where a service cel-ebrating her life was held on Wednesday, September 28, at 11AM with Pastor Randall Casto officiating. Interment will follow at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

Memorial contributions may be made in Ola’s memory to As-bury - Solomons Benevolent Care Fund, 11100 Asbury Circle, Solo-mons, MD 20688.

Maurice Skillman, 89M a u -

rice E. Skill-man, 89, of D u n k i r k , MD passed away Sep-tember 20, 2011 at the Gladys Spell-man Spe-cialty Care

Unit at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, MD.

Maurice was born February 2, 1922 in Fayetteville, NC to Ray-mond and Ruby (Byrd) Skillman.

He moved with his fam-ily to the Capitol Heights area in Prince George’s County, MD and attended public schools. He mar-ried Nancy V. Turner on February 14, 1956, and they lived in Upper Marlboro, MD until moving to Dunkirk in South Anne Arundel County in 1971. Maurice was an automobile mechanic and oper-ated a gas station in Upper Marl-boro for many years. He also worked as a mechanic for the A.C. Young tractor supply company in Upper Marlboro, and was a long-time farmer. During the 1990’s Maurice enjoyed being a news-paper deliveryman for The Capi-tal newspaper. In his leisure time Maurice enjoyed NASCAR, read-ing, watching football, garden-

ing, housecleaning, and spending time with family, especially his grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Nancy T. Skillman; four children, Marsha L. Parks and husband Mike of Lothian, MD, Elaine M. Patterson and husband Lester of Manassas, VA, Raymond D. Skillman of North Beach, MD, and Melissa A. Long-fellow and husband Robert of Ow-ings, MD; grandchildren Chris and Jason Parks, Sandra Lopes, Chad Patterson, and Ryan, Mat-thew, and Ashlyn Newton; great-grandchildren Luke and Brooke Parks and Genna Patterson; and a sister Virginia Wilson of Fred-erick, MD. He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Yettie Jordan and Mildred Hunt, and a brother James Skillman.

A memorial visiting for fam-ily and friends was held Sept. 22 Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, where a memorial service and cel-ebration of Maurice’s life was held Friday September 23. Interment will be private.

Expressions of sympathy may be made to St. Jude Chil-dren’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105

Richard Williams, 72Richard Franklin Williams

“Frank”, 72, of Upper Marlboro, MD passed away on September1, 2011 in Prince Frederick, MD. Frank was born in Washing-ton, D.C. to Richard and Ethelyn Williams.

As a professional, his ca-reer was in the field of electron-ics and also the Federal govern-ment, working in the Food and

Drug Administration.He is survived by his wife,

Betsy Cox, of Upper Marlboro; and his daughter Vanessa DeVries and her husband, Kevin of Port Republic, MD. He is also sur-vived by his grandchildren Alan Ridgely and Ashtyn DeVries; and by his sister, Betty Riley and brother, John Williams and his wife Rita.

A memorial service was held at the Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department, 4030 Old Town Rd, Huntingtown, MD 20639, on Friday, September 23, 2011, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Memorial contributions may be made to Chesapeake Bay Foun-dation, 6 Herndon Ave, Annapo-lis, MD 21403.

Arrangements provided by Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., Port Republic, MD. For additional information go to www.rauschfu-neralhomes.com.

William Zentgraft, Sr., 75

William A. Zentgraft, Sr., 75, of Prince Fred-erick MD passed away on Septem-ber 20, 2011 at his home. He was born on Febru-

ary 15, 1936 on the family farm in Prince Frederick, MD to the late Albert and Thelma Hutchins Zentgraft.

Besides his parents, he is pre-deceased by his wife of 26 years

who passed away at the age of 44, Elsie Mae Zentgraft, and his sis-ter, Anne Z. Cox.

Mr. Zentgraft or Mr. Z, as he was called by many of the stu-dents on his bus route, owned and operated school buses for over 40 years. He also worked at farming, raising tobacco and then beef cat-tle in later years. He was a mem-ber of Trinity United Methodist Church in Prince Frederick.

He is survived by his chil-dren; Genevieve A. Zentgraft of Prince Frederick, William A. Zentgraft, Jr. and his wife Lynette of Owings, Christina L. Rickett of Prince Frederick, and Charles Al-len Zentgraft and his wife Tammy of Prince Frederick. Grandfather of; Charles A. (AJ) Zentgraft, Jr., Julia M. Zentgraft, Lindsay M. Rickett, Zackary D. Rickett, Wil-liam A. (Will) Zentgraft, III and Matthew A. Zentgraft. He is also survived by his sisters, M. Ellen Williams and Mary Frances Har-rison both of Prince Frederick and companion Faye Bowen and her family of Prince Frederick.

The family received friends on Friday September 23, 2011 at Trinity United Methodist Church, Prince Frederick, where services were held on Saturday September 24. Interment followed in Central Cemetery, Barstow, MD.

Memorial contributions may be made to Calvert Hospice, P.O. Box 838 Prince Frederick, MD 20678.


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Amidst the sound reducing pan-els, professional microphones and the man behind the mixing board, Devante Jones is taking his lifelong dream of singing professionally to the next level.

Jones entered KMH Recording Studio in Lusby for the first time yes-terday to lay down his latest album – “Broken Boundaries of Existence.” Though he has recorded two previ-ous CDs on his own, “Liberation” and “Imperfections of a Rebel,” Jones said his newest CD is his first at a profes-sional recording studio and he hoped to make it his “breakout” album.

He said while he liked his first CDs, he has learned enough from them to make his third something special.

“They’re good, but I don’t think they’re as good as the new one,” he said.

The Southern Maryland native said the professional recording, as op-posed to the recordings he made him-self where background sound was still audible, will sound more like the type of things music agents and larger re-cording studios listen for.

“You want people to take you se-riously when they listen to your stuff,” Jones said.

Inf luences on Jones’ sound in-

clude Michael Jackson, Be-yonce and Usher, among other musical styles and artists.

Jones said he has been singing since he was 8 years old, but gave it up once he hit puberty and his voice changed. His brother, Tereaz Teylor, talked him into sing-ing again and pursuing his dream.

“I created a monster,” Teylor said.

Jones said he “used to sing other people’s songs,” and began trying his hand at songwriting during the last couple of years. So far, he said he has penned 80 songs, creating a different feel for each CD he put together. His newest CD has a hip-hop and rhythm and blues sound. Pre-vious songs have had pop and rock themes to them.

Jones’ songs are what he calls “anthems” and “empowerment songs” with uplifting messages based on his life experiences.

He considered adding his best song from the previous CDs, but decided against it. The older songs would not have meshed well with the sound he’s creating with “Broken Boundaries of Existence” and if he’s going to use his newest CD as his starting point, Jones said he wants it to all be fresh.

He stays away from techno and club type music, preferring cleaner in-struments and less synthetic sounds. Jones himself has played clarinet, saxophone and f lute, but said he hasn’t picked up any of them in a while. He said he does admire people who can play instruments well and enjoy doing so.

“It’s incredible what you can do with an instrument when you know how to use it,” Jones said.

Keith Harancher, owner of KMH Recording Studio, said he enjoys get-ting first time recorders into his studio, though he also has recording studio veterans in to record.

“Everyone has to start some-where,” he said.

The recording studio started as a personal project of Harancher’s in Maine, and moved to Lusby in 1999.

[email protected]

Local Singer, Songwriter Working On First CD


By Keith McGuireFirst of all, let me apologize to all of my friends and

associates who have seen the picture and heard the story. I know, I know, I can really go on when I’m excited about something; but please, bear with me. This is significant!

You may recall that in my article two weeks ago, I announced that I was headed to Cape Charles to fish the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and other prime locations in the vicinity. I did that, and have since returned. What a trip! My fishing buddy, Richard, and I left the County and headed that way on Monday, September 12, and arrived in time to fish the afternoon and evening. We also fished September 13 through 15, before heading back on Septem-ber 16. Richard and I have made this trip a few times, so we always expect too much wind on at least one day, and sometimes more. This time, we got to fish every day.

Our primary target on this trip was flounder. We managed to find keeper flounder on one day of the four day venture. Five keepers were caught and the biggest was 23 inches, none of which were caught by me. We caught sand sharks, bluefish, croakers, and toadfish – re-ally big, mega oyster toads – in addition to the flounder. Five big flounder and a few decent bluefish were all we needed to call this trip a success. After all, at least one good flounder meal when we got back home validated the

time and expense.We normally fish for flounder

with a 2-ounce bucktail and a small spinning rod. We dress the bucktail with a small strip of cut bait or one of the new fancy Berkley Gulp™ arti-ficial baits. I use a medium weight, fast action 7’ St Croix Triumph rod with a Shimano Stradic Ci4 3000 reel, spooled with 15 pound test Power Pro™ line. So, you can imagine my surprise on Thursday when I hooked something that took off for the other side of the Bay. Thankfully, my drag was set correctly as I fought the fish. Not knowing what it was, I was surprised to see a really big, copper colored fish flash by the boat at the end of my line. I told my buddy that we were going to need the big net for this one. Twenty minutes later he netted my 48” Red Drum. Chaos ensued!

He couldn’t lift the fish into the boat. It took both of us. In the boat, the fish was very well behaved, which is a good thing because we were panicked! How would we get it out of the net? How would we get the hook out of its mouth? Where was the tape measure that could measure

something this big? Where were the fish-handling gloves (Fish-Off Gloves™)? How would I pick up something this heavy for a picture? (Richard had to help.)

Thankfully, we managed to solve all these problems and relaxed as we released the fish to swim again. Red Drum cannot be kept unless they are more than 18” and less than 26” in Virginia waters. Similar restrictions ap-ply in Maryland. I didn’t care if it didn’t provide a meal. I had the picture and the experience, and I was happy! I can now scratch “Catch a Big Red Drum” off my bucket list…or can I? Maybe I’ll just change the entry to “Catch a Bigger Red Drum!”

Meanwhile local fishing hasn’t been bad in spite of the bad weather and awesome influx of freshwater in the Bay. Stripers are biting big time! This week’s cold snap should cause the Spanish mackerel to move on. Flounder have been caught at the south end of the County. Bluefish, croakers, white perch, spot and speck-led trout are also out there to be caught.

Don’t forget to take a picture of your catch and send it to me with a re-port at the email address below.

[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 dur-ing the season, and spends his free time supporting local conservation organizations.

Bucket List Fish Angler Angler

The Ordinary


TUESDAYS in Prince Frederick3-7 p.m. through Nov. 22Calvert Memorial Hospital Parking Lot adjacent to the Calvert Medical Arts Center and Route 4

THURSDAYS in Solomons4-8 p.m. through Nov. 17Solomons Riverwalk parking lot

FRIDAYS in North Beach6-9 p.m. through Oct. 75th and 7th streets between Chesapeake Avenue and Bay Avenue

SATURDAYS in Barstow7:30 a.m.-12 p.m. through Nov. 26Calvert County Fairgrounds140 Calvert Fair Drive

Fresh. Fun.Farm fresh food meets Southern Maryland hospitality.Visit a Calvert County farmers market for a taste of the good life. The fall produce is in!

410.535.4583 • 301.855.1880 • www.calvertag.com


The latest dinner and a show Murder Mystery to come to DiGiovanni’s in Solomons is getting ready to begin October 4.

The mystery, “A Murder in D.C. and More,” is the latest in a line of mystery theater plays written by Calvert County local Millie Coryer-Dhu and pro-duced by the Whodunnit Players.

The play opens during a party hosted by Sena-tor Joseph H. Dolan, portrayed by James LePore, to celebrate his recent exoneration from the murder of Christina Moore, an escort from Washington, D.C.

Dianna Burke, played by Joanna Kenlon, was the lawyer with Holmes & Holmes representing Sena-tor Dolan during his trial. Right from the start, she expresses her doubts about the senator’s innocence, not sure the not guilty verdict was gotten legitimately. She suspects jury tampering, among other things, but can’t find the evidence to prove her theory.

Flashback scenes to the beginning of the trial al-low the audience to make up their own mind on the legitimacy of the trial and the senator’s guilt. And, just to keep things interesting, it is up to the audience to ferret out the guilty party in a second murder.

For diners wanting to take a more active role in the play, there are several small roles Coryer-Dhu has allocated to be played by volunteers from the audi-ence. These actors are given their scripts at the begin-ning of the evening, and have to pay attention to know when it is time to read their lines, though Coryer-Dhu said the actors don’t get angry if an audience member misses their entrance.

“It makes it fun-ny when they don’t come in on cue,” Co-ryer-Dhu said.

Doug Graupman, playing investigative reporter Josh Har-rison, said seeing how the script works around and with the audience members is part of the fun.

“It’s amazing what they come out with,” he said.

Sometimes audi-ence members will do exactly as required and everything goes smoothly, but other times the audience either adds to their lines or skips lines. If the lines skipped are important to the story line, the actors have to go back and coax the lines out of the audi-ence member while making it feel natural.

Coryer-Dhu said she began writing the myster-ies after dining with her husband at DiGiovanni’s and deciding the restaurant was the perfect location for a dinner show.

The more Coryer-Dhu thought about it, the more she realized that it would be very difficult to afford the use of dinner theater scripts and the other assorted costs of getting a full production up and running.

“It was very disappointing,” Coryer-Dhu said.It was then that her husband, Robert Dhu, sug-

gested she write the play on her own. While at first Coryer-Dhu said she was unsure about that idea, she thought about her history, which involved her father being a cop in rural New York and her friend’s father being involved in the court system, and decided she might be able to write a script after all.

For Graupman, this is his first play with the Whodunnit Players. He said he met Coryer-Dhu at the Newtowne Player’s Footlight Festival, and joined up with “A Murder in D.C. and More” out of curiosity.

A couple of the actors are veterans of Coryer-Dhu’s plays. Gloria Ranta, playing senator’s aid Clau-dia Hampton has been acting with Coryer-Dhu since she first started productions at the local senior cen-ters. Kenlon also acted with Coryer-Dhu in the now defunct Patuxent Playhouse.

Tickets for “A Murder in D.C. and More” are $56.40 and must be purchased in advance. Tickets include entry into the play, dinner, tax and tip and the first drink of the night. To make reservations, call 410-394-6400.

[email protected]

Dinner and a Show With the Whodunnit Players

Josh Harrison (Doug Graupman) and Senator Joseph Dolan (James LePore) butt heads during the celebration at DiGiovanni’s.

Robert Dhu and Millie Croyer-Dhu run rehearsals in the Dhu household.

Photos by Sarah Miller


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2011-09-29 Calvert Gazette

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Transcript of 2011-09-29 Calvert Gazette