2012-01-26 county times

Thursday, January 26, 2012 www.somd.com

FOP Backs Stanalonis

Hammett Joins Council Race

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Real World ExperienceOpens Pathways for Students

Photo by Carrie Munn

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 2The County TimesW

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Great Mills High School student Robert Vandegrift, 14, of Lexington Park, left, and Leonardtown High School student Trevor Butcher, 17, of Hollywood, face off in the first-ever Scholastic Chess Tournament on Saturday at Great Mills High School sponsored by the Maryland Educational Chess Association.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta talks to the test team of the Joint Strike Fighter, background, about the plane’s critical role in the nation’s effort to maintain military superiority.

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ews

By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

A voter poll conducted by OpinionWorks, a research firm based in Annapolis, reported late last week that a majority of Marylanders supported increasing the Bay Restoration Fund and for reducing pollution into the critical watershed by tighten-ing restrictions on septic systems.

The Bay Restoration Fund gets its money from the so-called flush tax, which Gov. Martin O’Malley has already pro-posed to increase this legislative session. He is also considering recommendations from a task force he appointed last year that could further restrict the construction of new septic systems in the state’s rural areas in an effort to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

Both are key pieces of his administration’s legislative agenda; but the latest poll has Southern Maryland lawmakers questioning its findings, especially because many of their con-stituents say they oppose further flush tax increases and more septic restrictions.

The OpinionWorks poll of 801 voters “statewide,” accord-

ing to a Jan. 19 press release, showed that 63 percent of respon-dents “would spend more tax dollars to make the waters safe and healthy” if state lawmakers and the scientific community deemed that more public funds were needed for the task.

About 64 percent of those polled by OpinionWorks also supported increasing the Bay Restoration Fund with the inten-tion of finishing upgrades to wastewater treatment plants and to provide jurisdictions with money to combat pollution from storm runoff.

The poll also showed 72 percent of respondents favored tighter restrictions on septic systems, including limiting the number of septic systems in rural areas where homeowners are often not able to connect to public water and sewer.

The poll focused on Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore, the OpinionWorks release stated, by saying that 62 per-cent polled in those areas favored tightening septic restrictions.

House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-29C) said he was familiar with the report but highly doubts its conclusions.

“I view it with a great deal of skepticism, it all depends on how you ask the question,” O’Donnell said. “It’s not a reflection

of the rural areas of the state.”Steven Raabe, spokesman for OpinionWorks said the firm

has a strong record of accuracy in its polling and reporting, but he said it would be difficult to refine the accuracy of the num-bers in a place like Calvert because the sample there would have been comparatively small.

“When it gets to such a small sample … you have to be careful on how fine a point you put on the numbers,” Raabe said.

Sen. Roy Dyson, who represents the entire 29th District covering Calvert and St. Mary’s counties, said that any voters polled outside of the state’s rural areas would likely support in-creasing the flush tax and septic restrictions.

“You should take all polls with a grain of salt,” Dyson said. “People living in the suburbs would no doubt be in favor of that.”

Dyson said he has not had one constituent tell him they favored increasing the flush tax, rather he had a lengthy petition of voters who opposed it.

“I’m overwhelmed with those who oppose it,” Dyson said, “It’s almost seems like an assault on rural Maryland.”

[email protected]

Lawmakers Doubt Poll on Septic Taxes

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Approximately 500 people, including fire companies from across the state, turned out for the funeral for Charles Jenkins “Jenks” Mattingly, III, at St. John’s Catholic Church on Friday. As many as 2,000 were estimated to have visited Hollywood Volunteer Fire House the day before, where Mat-tingly was lying in state.

Photos By Sean Rice

Thursday, January 26, 2012 4The County Times

ews


At his visit to Naval Air Station Patuxent River on Friday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told military and civilian personnel working on the Joint Strike Fighter program he is lifting the probation from the variant that incorporates STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) technology, which had recently shown problems in testing.

The STOVL technology found in the “B” variant for the U.S. Marine Corps has been viewed as critical for allowing pilots to take off quickly from short runways and operate out of restricted or damaged airfields.

The Marine Corps variant is part of a trinity of warplanes, with the “A” variant going to the U.S. Air Force and the “C” variant headed for service with the fleet as a carrier based jet.

Panetta said the F-35 Lighting II is absolutely vital to maintaining the country’s military air superiority in any future conflicts.

“My department is committed to the development of the F-35,” Pa-netta told a town hall-style gathering at the project’s flight hangar. “It’s absolutely critical, absolutely critical that we get it right.

“Over the course of last year, you here at Pax River helped make an incredible difference by completing tremendous amounts of STOVL test-ing … you demonstrated that we’ve make real progress towards fixing some of the known problems we’ve had with STOVL.”

Panetta said the Marine Corps variant is showing “the kind of perfor-mance and maturity that is in line with the other two variants of the JSF.”

Panetta said the kind of work done at Patuxent River is pivotal to tak-ing the U.S. military into the future to deal with multiple threats around the globe, even in a period when the military will have to look hard at where it spends money.

Panetta said the military will be reduced in size but will still be able to maintain its strength, agility and lethality.

“The whole purpose of this force has to be to have the capability to take on any aggressor, and more than one at a time,” Panetta said. “If we’re in a land war in Korea, we’ve got to have the capability to confront Iran if they go after the Straits of Hormuz.”

The Joint Strike Fighter has been called a fifth generation air superi-

ority fighter that is made all the more lethal because of its advanced avion-ics, maneuverability, supersonic speeds and stealthy construction.

But one of the lead test pilots in the evaluation programs here at Patuxent Naval Air Station said the variants for the Navy and Marine Corps might be somewhat less stealthy than the Air Force variant.

The issue has to do with one of the weapon systems for the aircraft — a 25-millimeter caliber gun that would be fitted to the “B” and “C” variants via an external gun pod, as opposed to the internal gun for the Air Force variant.

Exposed weaponry and fuel tanks, such as are seen on virtually all modern warplanes, increase the aircrafts radar signature making it more vulnerable to detection.

The Joint Strike Fighter achieves its stealthy nature in part by inter-nalizing fuel and weapons into compartments that can be opened to launch or release them on target.

“This was designed from the ground up to be a stealth aircraft,” said Lt. Col. Matt Kelly.

But with the gun pod attached “I would expect there would be some small impact” on the plane’s stealth capabilities.

“But if you really want to be stealthy you probably don’t need a gun.”

[email protected]

Panetta Gives Key F-35 Variant Green Light

Photo By Frank MarquartSecretary of Defense Leon Panetta talks to the test team of the Joint Strike Fighter about the plane’s critical role in the nation’s effort to maintain military superiority.

FOP Endorses

Stanalonis By Sean RiceEditor

On Wednesday evening, the St. Mary’s County Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) voted to endorse Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Stanalonis in his bid for a seat on the Circuit Court for St. Mary’s County.

“A clear majority of members decided during a two-day voting period that he re-flects the values of the community that we serve,” Bill Raddatz, Maryland State Trustee for FOP 7, told The County Times.

“We feel that Joe’s commitment reflects in the way he has prosecuted cases,” Raddatz said. “He is also the founder of the St. Mary’s County Shop With a Cop program and has been in charge of the Project Graduation program since he started with the State’s At-torney’s Office.”

With the retirement of Circuit Court Judge C. Clark Raley, Stanalonis is running to fill the seat against local attorney David Densford, who was appoint by the governor this month to fill Raley’s vacant seat.


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ews County Warns of Vulture-Luring Trash Bins

Audit Chides State Medical Services Agency


Hayden Hammett, a commercial lender with PNC Bank and a Leonard-town resident, has filed for one of two town council seats that are up for elec-tion this spring.

One of those seats is currently held by incumbent Walter Wise, who has al-ready filed for reelection, according to town staff.

Councilman Dan Burris has va-cated his seat, however, in his bid for the mayor’s seat after Mayor J. Harry Norris announced he would not seek another term in office after 17 years of service.

Hammet said he wants to be a part of the town council to continue the work it has done to revitalize the downtown and attract growth.

“I want to see that keep moving,” Hammett said. “I want to be a part of that.”

Hammett said he grew up in Leon-ardtown and that it has outgrown many of the problems that beset it in the 1990s with a dearth of business growth and many vacant buildings, but traffic re-mains a problem.

He currently serves on the town’s planning and zoning board.

“The Route 5 corridor is one of

those problems we’ll have to solve,” Hammett said. “There are speed prob-lems, traffic problems and access problems.

“That’s going to be one of the big-gest challenges.”

Wise, who has served on the coun-cil for the past 17 years and is a retired 23-year veteran of the county’s public works department, agreed that Route 5 needs much work, but he also said that Route 245 needs attention as well.

“Route 245 is in dire need of work, I think it should be widened to at least Leonard’s Grant,” Wise said.

Wise said he wants to continue the work he and other sitting members of the council have before them, including overseeing the capacity upgrades to the Van Wert Lane wastewater treatment plant as well as the growth of residential development.

“We have control [of development] through water and sewer and I think we can control that,” Wise said. “I’d like to continue with what the town is doing. It’s my home and I love it.”

Wise named the reopening of the town wharf and the winery as key suc-cesses of the town council in recent years.

[email protected]


The Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maryland has shut down its North Beach and Lusby operations as of Tuesday, a club official confirmed.

“The town has received notification of the Bayside Boys and Girls temporarily suspending their after school pro-gram,” a notice from North Beach Mayor Mark Frazer read. “Town officials will be meeting with representatives from the Boys and Girls Club to discuss the short and long term implications of this decision.”

Shefa Benoit, chief professional officer of Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maryland, told Then County Times the

shutdown was the result of the club’s struggles with money.“The club is seeking reorganization in the face of finan-

cial difficulties,” Benoit said Tuesday.Benoit went on to say the shutdown is set to last just two

weeks as officials with the club believe that is the amount of time they will need to seek more financial backing as well as negotiate with its creditors.

Benoit declined to share financial figures on the state of club, but she said in the past three years the club has managed to cut its debt in half but it still needs a positive cash flow to cover both its operational costs as well as several outstand-ing loans.

Among the options open to the Boys and Girls Club include cutting staff, cutting hours of operations or cutting

programs, Benoit said.“All of those options are on the table,” she said.There are currently three program specialists working at

the North Beach clubhouse with two additional administra-tive positions. At the Lusby clubhouse, there is one adminis-trator and one program specialist, she said.

The Boys and Girls Club is a nationwide organization that gives young people positive activities to do after school; the Southern Maryland club operates 10 months out of the year and offers summer camps as funding allows.

[email protected]


Reports from pilots who use the St. Mary’s County Airport about masses of turkey vultures hovering in the skies nearby have prompted coun-ty officials to ask businesses locally to do a better job of policing their trash, especially food refuse.

“The biggest concern right now is the Wil-dewood Shopping Center, which is right at the end of runway 29,” said Gary Whipple, who of-ten handles airport operations for the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT). “Just having dumpsters open is a prob-lem, they don’t have to be overflowing.”

Surrounding areas on Route 235, St. An-drews Church Road and Airport View Drive are also close enough to the airport to attract the vul-tures if they don’t cover their trash bins, Whipple told The County Times.

The county government issued a public no-tice Wednesday afternoon saying that the Airport Advisory Committee and DPWT were working with businesses to solve the problem.

“The last thing we need is a plane on ap-proach hitting a turkey vulture,” Whipple said.

Not only do nearby trash bins attract tur-key vultures because of the promise of an easy meal — vultures are nominally birds of prey but are really scaven-gers — but the thermal drafts of rising warm air in the vicin-ity of the airport al-low the large birds to climb high in search of more food, Whipple said.

The issue of dealing with the birds is complicat-ed by their federally protected status, which makes getting a permit to eliminate the birds difficult.

Instead, Whipple said, the county is looking to the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for guidance in finding a way to get rid of the vul-tures; the county already has plans to use decoys to discourage their presence.

[email protected]


The state’s Office of Legislative Audits issued a report this week showing the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) was lax in its efforts to properly regulate the licensing of commercial ambulance services across the state and did not properly report its fund balances to officials at the end of each year.

The state agency also did not have adequate controls over corporate purchasing accounts, the audit reported.

MIEMSS is responsible for coordinating emergency medical services in Maryland and training and certifying

emergency responders.The main issue in the audit centered on the collection of

fees for licensing of commercial ambulance services as well as a lack of record keeping over the license decal inventory.

This is not the first time that MIEMSS has been cited for this problem.

“The fiscal 2010 log lacked evidence that a licensing fee had been received and deposited for any of the approximately 420 licenses issued,” the audit stated. “Consequently there was a lack of assurance that the proper fee was received and deposited for each license issued.

“This condition has been commented upon in our five preceding audit reports dating back to 1996.”

Bruce Myers, legislative auditor for the office, also said that MIEMSS staff claimed that 377 license decals that had expired had been destroyed but could not provide proof that they were destroyed nor could they point to anyone who had witnessed their destruction.

In its response to the audit, MIEMSS officials stated that they are continuing to make the agency more accountable and efficient and would use the audits recommendations to ensure that it solved the noted problems.

[email protected]

Hammett Joins Town Council Race

Wise files for reelection

Boys and Girls Club Shuts Down Headquarters


To The Editor

P.O. Box 250 • Hollywood, Maryland 20636News, Advertising, Circulation, Classifieds: 301-373-4125

James Manning McKay - FounderEric McKay - Associate Publisher..................................ericmckay@countytimes.netTobie Pulliam - Office Manager..............................tobiepulliam@countytimes.netSean Rice - Editor....................................................................seanrice@countytimes.netAngie Stalcup - Graphic Artist.......................................angiestalcup@countytimes.netSarah Miller- Reporter - Community..............................sarahmiller @countytimes.netGuy Leonard - Reporter - Government, [email protected] Munn - Reporter - Education, [email protected] Representatives......................................................................sales@countytimes.net

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ommissioners

orner

By Cindy Jones, Commissioner, District 1

What Changed in Local Education Funding?

No Substitute For Hands-On Training

Barn Dance A Success Once Again

You may have heard recently that coun-ties are poised to make massive cuts to school funding. County governments can now fund to a new, lower “floor” and leave school systems gravely underfunded. $2.6 billion statewide has been suggested as being in danger.

Are counties really cutting billions from school budgets?

Nope.The Department of Legislative Services,

the staff agency to the General Assembly, prepared a summary of school funding issues in a July 2011 document entitled “Local Educa-tion Funding and Maintenance of Effort Update.” You can obtain a copy by going to http://mlis.state.md.us/2011RS/misc/20110726-Local-EducationFunding.pdf.

On the first page, the two local funding requirements are defined.1. State law requires counties to “levy an annual tax sufficient to

provide an amount of revenue” equal to the local share of the founda-tion program.

2. Maintenance of Effort requires a county to appropriate to the lo-cal school system an amount not less than the highest amount provided in the prior year on a per pupil basis.

So, there are two relevant numbers for each county, the Local Share and the Additional Maintenance of Effort Amount.

The Local Share is the amount that the county is required to fund through local taxes to support its schools.

The Additional Maintenance of Effort Amount is the additional amount of local funding from the prior year’s county budgets, that is, the Maintenance of Effort target each county must fund in order to be eligible to receive any increase in state education funding.

Although amendments were made to last year’s Budget Reconcili-ation and Financing Act, these amendments did not bring about a policy change in school funding. The current law maintains the requirement for counties to levy taxes for their “local share” and the stipulation that counties must meet their Maintenance of Effort target as a condition for receiving additional state education funding. This has been the frame-work since the inception of the Maintenance of Effort system and it remains unchanged.

On January 17, 2012, the Board of County Commissioners agenda included “Department of Finance: Discuss Maryland State Maintenance of Effort Requirements”. This presentation, given by Chief Financial Officer, Elaine Kramer, is well documented and very informative.

To view the presentation, go to the county web site – http://www.co.saint-marys.md.us/. Under the blue banner at the far right you will see the word “Video”. Click on it. On the page that comes up, go to the “Board of County Commissioners” row. Under the heading “Videos,” select the drop down item “1/17/12.” This will take you to the video of the Board of County Commissioners meeting that day. The presenta-tion begins at approximately 1:09, one hour and nine minutes into the meeting.

School funding policies and issues are vitally important. People from many different perspectives agree that improvements should be made to Maintenance of Effort and some other state funding policies. For this to happen state and county governments must work together to improve upon the framework that is already in place. To do so will require a great deal of effective communication and listening for un-derstanding. Policy makers and citizens should engage in a productive public policy discussion, one that relies upon objective analysis and factual information. I encourage all interested citizens to become in-formed participants in this discussion.

As a member of the Patuxent River Sail and Power Squadron, I read Jim Drake's column on Maryland's on-line basic boating course with interest. There is no question that boater education is needed. According to U. S. Coast Guard statistics for 2010, the most recent year available at this time, 84% of the boat operators who were involved in accidents with fatalities for whom boating education information was avail-able had NO boating education.

Just a month ago, St. Mary's County lost a local boater who was not wearing a life jacket and drowned when his boat was capsized and sank. Based on what I have seen while out on the water, he was not the only person who has been in a boat without wearing a life jacket.

There is a real need for boating instruction however you can get it. On line courses have appeared as an alternative to locally taught classes, but real time classes provide substan-tially more value. The Patuxent River Sail and Power Squad-ron has a new section of the same course starting Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lexington Park. Our course is taught by a teacher who has received national honors for his teaching tools and techniques. You can ask that teacher questions and get answers based on both theory and experi-ence. Our course covers more knots than the basic course, and the extra knots we teach are also useful. If you can't fol-low the steps on how to tie the knot, a real teacher will show

you the steps and even move your hands through the process if needed.

Our course also includes two optional sessions on basic marine piloting, including the use of a chart plotter, a GPS, and a marine chart. You get to keep the course book, and you can review and review it. You get knowledge of local waters, often described through the use of SEA STORIES. Finally, you get a 6-month free membership in the Power Squadron with your course fee of $35. Last year our members took a cruise to the upper end of the Intercoastal Waterway after a special course taught by an instructor who had traveled the Waterway.

The fact is that if you operate a boat, you should have enough education to be able keep out of trouble. Jim Drake is right when he says it is, "… irresponsible to be dancing with the fate fairy operating any kind of motorboat on pubic waters if you don't know what you are doing.” The Patuxent Sail and Power Squadron offers courses from this basic course to the use of a sextant to find a position on a chart. You can know as much as you want to know about boating. We can be con-tacted at 301-475-3883 for more information.

Additionally the Coast Guard Auxiliary and other orga-nizations also offer public boating courses.

Clare WhitbeckLeonardtown, MD

On Oct. 9, Helpful Hooves Equine Therapy, Inc., a non-profit corporation, held its 5th annual fundraising barn dance. Our mission is to improve the lives of persons with disabilities through social gatherings, picnics, and parties that involve horses and horse related activities.

We serve a population of special needs adults which as grown in number from 15 to over 100. We offer our parties at no cost to our participants and rely solely on the donations of our generous business community along with friends and family to support our activities. Our primary annual expenses are liability insurance, as well as the up-keep of two horses and party supplies, food, pizzas, soda, and prizes for many events. The Barn Dance is our primary source for raising these funds.

We would like to thank the following businesses and families for their generous support. Rocco Aiello, The Battaglia family, Bernard and Shirley Bailey, S.M. Bai-ley, Beverly Bailey, Marcia and Ray Bald, James Banagan, Charles and Mary Beaver, Lauren Blair, Rose and Chuck Beitzell, Shirley and Robert Bowles, Blazer Enterprises, Julie Buckler, David and Shirley Butler, Minor Buckler, Barry Burris, Sharon and Andy Brown, Sam and Ben Brown, Judith Carrigan, Dave and Donna Chewning, Col-ony Builders, Joyce and Billy Cusic, Mary B Cheseldine, Anthony and Marcia Coe, Lorraine and George Cohen, Marilyn Crosby, Carolyn Davis, Shawn Davidson, Linda and Ford Dean, Kevin Detwiler, Dan and Debbie Dixon, Phil Dorsey, Downs Plumbing and Heating, Kay Duvall, Tom and Anne Emery, Susan Erichsen, Marilyn Fergu-son, William Fitzgerald, Carl and Kathy Franzen, Dick and Juanita Gass, Chris and Susan Gass, Al and Sue Gough, Jane and Jack Green, The Greenery, Guy Auto Parts, Irva-nette Hall, Pamela Hammet, Carol Ann Hall, Tom Hodges, Jim and Mary Lee Hodges, Wendy Headrick, Hollywood Lions Club, Mike Hutson, Mary and Larry Hyatt, Dan Ich-niowski, Janet and Michael Johnson, Robert and Inky Ko-pel, Steve and Karen King, James A. Kenny, Donald Knott, Susan Kreckman, Ladies Auxiliary #2632, LaPlata Farm

and Home Supply, Little Silences Rest, John and Annette Madel, Ron and Barbara Merkle, Garner Morgan, Todd Morgan, George Morgan, Morris Point Enterprises, John Nelson, Tony and Linda May Pilkerton, Diane Pogue, Pa-tricia Ramey, Peter Ramdial, Sal Raspa, Dan and Robyn Rebarchick, Maryann Rymer, Bill Schmalgemeyer, Nick Simonetta, Ronald Smith, Janet Standish, Art and Linda Shepherd, R.M. Thornton, Inc., Tidewater Dental Asso-ciates, Frank and Jean Toth, Pam Vietch, Vincent Enter-prises, Ltd. Servpro of St. Marys County, Kathleen Werner, Curtis and Jackie Wilson, Joan and Dave Wilson, Steve and Bev Wilson, Dalton Wood, John and Barbara Wood, Robert and Kathleen Wright and Jason Wright.

A very special thanks is in order for the businesses and crafters who donated to our silent auction: Clarks Landing Restaurant, The Greenery, Sharon Brown, Karen King, Linda Shepherd, Silpada Designs Jewelry, Towne Flo-rist, Diane Pogue, The Wood Family, Joe St. Clair, Chris Chewning and Maryann St. Clair.

I would like to thank the businesses and persons who worked with us to make this event so special: Thompson’s Seafood who caters the event, the 7th District Optimists who operates the bar and donate their proceeds to Helpful Hooves, Tracy Burch, and Bailey’s Party rentals, who allow us to transform our barn into a banquet hall.

Finally, I would like to thank Andrea and Ron Stump, Susan and Gary Adriani, Pam Veitch, Maryann St. Clair, Joe St. Clair, Chris Chewning Mary B Cheseldine, Don and Tina Cropp all who have spent many hours donating their time and energy all year long to our monthly parties, making them a great success. We couldn’t do it without you.

A special thank you to our generous sponsors Blazer Enterprises, Tidewater Dental Associates, Stillwater Vine-yards, and the St. Marys County States’ Attorney’s Office.

Sheral A. St. Clair, PresidentHelpful Hooves Equine Therapy, Inc.


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Gun Threat Leads to Felony ArrestOn Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 1:16 a.m., Trooper Ditoto responded to the 43000 block of

Megan Lane in Leonardtown for a reported assault. Upon arrival, contact was made with a female complainant, 43, of Leonardtown, who advised she was involved in a verbal altercation that started in the previous evening and became a physical assault. She said during the course of the argument John Edwin Smith, 43, of Leonardtown, had allegedly turned a handgun on her and advised it was “ready to use”. Additionally, she alleged Smith grabbed her by the arm. Contact was then made with Smith, who provided an account of the incident. All handguns in the house were seized by law enforcement personnel, in accordance with policy and proce-dures, police stated, and Smith was placed under arrest for felony first-degree assault.

Knife Throwing Suspect Gets Spitting MadOn Jan. 22, deputies responded to Three Notch Road in Dameron, for a report of an as-

sault in progress. Investigation revealed Joseph Gerard Denaro, Sr., 53, of Dameron was en-gaged in a verbal dispute with the victim, which escalated into a physical assault when Denaro allegedly threw objects at the victim including a pot of hot water and several knives, police reported. The objects did not strike the victim but placed the victim in fear for her life, police said. A second individual attempted to intervene and Denaro grabbed that individual by the shirt and threw him to the floor, police alleged. Denaro was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree assault. A search of Denaro’s person incident to the arrest revealed him to be in possession of suspected marijuana and as the deputies were attempting to place Denaro into the patrol vehicle he kicked at and spit on the deputies, police allege. Denaro also attempted to kick out the door window of the patrol vehicle, according to police. Denaro was also charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, assault on a police officer and destruction of property.

Man arrested on cocaine chargesVice Narcotics Detectives identified Lekuarius Clifford Plater, 29, as a distributor of both

cocaine and marijuana, police reported, and a search warrant was obtained and executed on his vehicle. Detectives alleged they discovered powder cocaine, 10 bags of crack cocaine, marijuana and $137 in cash. Plater was arrested and charged with additional charges pending a State’s Attorney’s Office review, police reported.

Briefs


A former Prince George’s County man was jailed in the county jail after a Friday hearing on charges that he assaulted his es-tranged girlfriend several times over a period of three months last year and threat-ened to burn down another man’s abode.

Jonathan Christopher Taylor, 36, of no fixed ad-dress according to court re-cords, is currently being held without bond.

The assault charge stems from a domes-tic dispute between he and Crystal Holmes in which he is alleged to have threatened her with a knife at her Lexington Park resi-dence Sept. 23 after having punctured two of her vehicle’s tires, according to charging documents.

Holmes told police that Taylor threat-ened to kill her with the knife when she con-fronted him about slashing her tires. Holmes was seated in the car while Taylor allegedly made the threats from outside the car.

Taylor was again charged with assault-ing Holmes on Nov. 21 by attempting to push

her out of a moving vehicle while he was driving her to a relative’s house in Calla-way, court papers revealed.

Holmes was able to shut the door but Taylor then allegedly struck her in the face inflicting a bloody nose.

Taylor continued to turn down roads to confuse Holmes so she could not tell police where they were, charging documents stated, and he eventually collided with another vehicle on

Point Lookout Road and fled the scene.The latest incident took place on Camp

Merrylande Road in Piney Point on Dec. 30 where the alleged victim, Roland Rea McK-ay, accused Taylor of throwing him to the ground because he was “not happy over the cost of renting a cabin.”

“He left and then called to say he would get me by burning my camper down with me in it,” McKay alleged in an application for statement of charges against Taylor that he filed in District Court.

[email protected]


St. Mary’s law officers arrested the man-ager of a discount store in Lexington Park for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the business and trying to cover up the theft by re-porting she was robbed.

Rachel Elizabeth Bowles, 26, of Leonar-dtown, was released on her own recognizance by a District Court Commissioner, police re-ported, but was charged with theft of more than $1,000 but less than $10,000 and making a false statement to a police officer in connec-tion with a staged robbery at the Family Dollar store Dec. 24.

According to a statement of probable cause filed in county District Court by Cpl. Robert Merritt of the Bureau of Criminal In-vestigations, Bowles had called police and told them she had just been robbed.

The assailant had entered the store, she initially told police, assaulted her and fled with over $7,000 in cash.

On Jan. 12, however, Merritt contacted Bowles about the reported robbery. He read Bowles her Miranda rights, charging docu-ments reported, but she waived them and ad-mitted that she had made a false robbery report.

She also admitted that she assisted in the planning of the robbery and received some of the proceeds from the crime, charging docu-

ments stated, but court papers did not reveal the name of any other conspirators.

Capt. Terry L. Black, commander of the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigations, said other arrests in this case are pending.

[email protected]

Man Jailed on Arson Threat Charge

Store Manager Charged in Theft Scheme

Jonathan Taylor

Rachel Bowles


Lena Adkins, 93Lena Orpha Adkins,

age 93, of Lexington Park, MD formerly of Great Mills, MD and Coeburn, VA went to her eternal rest on Janu-ary 15, 2012. Matriarch of a large and loving family, she was the “glue” that kept her family together. Lena was born on April 9, 1918, in Wise County, VA, the only child of Warren and Virginia Kiser. Lena was predeceased in death by her 1st husband, Raymond Adkins of Coeburn, VA., and her 2nd husband, Clifford Adkins, of Great Mills, MD, as well as her 2 eldest sons, Doffis R. Adkins and Jerry W. Adkins, both of Great Mills, MD. . Lena is survived by her children; Donnie D. Adkins, of Leonardtown, MD., Janet J. Shoemaker (Boyd) of Bushwood, MD, Freddy M. Adkins (Gail) of Great Mills, MD, Gaye N. Norris (Ted) of Henderson-ville, NC., Sheila J. Quade (Lennie) of Callaway, MD, Michael C. Adkins of Lexington Park, MD., and Dawn M. Fjeldheim (Russell) of Leonardtown, MD.

Lena was predeceased by half-sister Wilma, June, and Claudia, and half brothers Herschel Clif-ford, and Herman. She is survived by half-sisters Joyce Hughes of VA, Margie Hockensmith of Fl, and half-brother Robert Lawson of TN. She is also survived by her brother-in-law Jimmy Adkins (Mary Ann) of Great Mills, MD., as well as many nieces and nephews.

Affectionately known as “Granny” to her 24 grandchildren, 32 great grandchildren, and numer-ous great great grandchildren, she will be remem-bered for her kindness, her stories of “old times” and her quick wit. Her 24 grandchildren are; Dan-ny Adkins, Larry Adkins, Ricky Adkins, Ronnie Adkins, Joyce Dunn, Janie Stauffer, Randy Ad-kins, Diane Kessler, Ray Adkins, Kenny Adkins, Lynda Cruchiotti, Craig Adkins, Todd Adkins, Kim Adkins, Kevin Adkins, Donna Morris, John Shoemaker, Dennis Adkins, Jeff Davis, Janet Lynn Whalen, Joey Ridgell, David Quade, Kelly Castle, and Michael Adkins. She is also survived by her dear friend of many many years, Ms. Leona Hill of Calvert County, MD.

Lena was educated in small rural school hous-es in Wise County, VA., she excelled in school and throughout her 93 years would recite poetry, she had learned in those classrooms many years ago. Raised by her grandparents on a small mountaintop homestead, Lena recalled with great fondness tend-ing the crops with her “Poppy”, and learning the names of every plant, shrub, root, and tree from her grandmother. Lena was an avid reader, and always had a book near her favorite chair. She enjoyed gar-dening and had an exceptional talent for growing African violets, varieties of every color, and size imaginable. It was the little things in life that Lena enjoyed most such as morning coffee each and every day with her son, going to lunch, and shop-ping with her daughters, and occasional trip to her beloved mountains of Virginia. She embodied the true meaning of a simple and well-lived life.

There will be no services, by request. Memo-rial contributions may be made in her name to the Lexington Park Vol. Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 339, Lexington Park, MD 20653. For whose services she was truly grateful. To leave a condolence for the family please visit www.mgfh.com. Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A, Leonardtown, MD.

Emilio Balmaceda, 63Emilio Baluyot “Mel,

Mely” Balmaceda of Califor-nia, MD., 63, died on January 22, 2012 in Leonardtown, MD. Born on August 17, 1948 in Orion Bataan, Philip-pines, he was the son of Cata-lina Balmaceda and the late Teodoro Balmaceda. He was the husband of Estella V. Bal-

maceda whom he married in Bataan, Philippines. He is survived by his children; CDR. Allain Bal-maceda (Anne-Marie) of Boston, MA., Lt. Armell Balmaceda (Kelly) of Savannah, GA., granddaugh-ter Isabel Frances and grandson Lucas. He is sur-vived by his siblings; Antonio, Mario, Romeo, and Dennis Balmaceda all from Boyonee, NJ., Evelyn Quetto of Bataan, Philippins, Victor Balmaceda of Virginia Beach, VA, and Virgie Argana of Monroe Township, NJ.

Emilio attended Jose Rizal Institute graduat-ing in 1965, and went on to attend Pensacola Ju-nior College. He moved to St. Mary’s County in 1987 and worked as a Correctional Officer First Class for the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s office retiring af-ter 15 years, in 2005. Mr. Balmaceda entered the United States Navy on March 31, 1968 and served 22 years, retiring on November 30, 1990. He at-tained the rank of Chief Master at Arms and was a recipient of Vietnam Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Republic of Vietnam Cam-paign Medal, National Defense Medal, (2) Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross), Meritorious Unit Commendation and Cont BLK 18. Emilio loved fishing, crabbing, basketball and Mahjong.

The family will receive friends in the Matting-ley-Gardiner Funeral Home, Leonardtown, MD on Thursday, January 26, 2012 from 5 – 8 p.m. with prayers being recited at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, January 27, 2012 at 10 a.m. in St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Leonardtown, MD with Fr. John Dakes officiating. Interment will follow at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

Pallbearers will be: Benjie Cruz, Caesar Cruz, Gerry McGioin, Lito Blienaflor, Jun Velasco and Romeo Alcantara. Honorary Pallbearers will be; Alain Balmaceda, Armell Balmaceda, Eddie Cruz, Victor Balmaceda, Mario Balmaceda, and Oscar Evangelista.

To send a condolence to the family please visit our website at www.mgfh.com.

Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A.

Mary Burroughs, 90Mary M. Burroughs,

90, of Mechanicsville, MD, died on January 23, 2012 in Solomon’s, MD. Born May 30, 1921, she was the daugh-ter of the late Helen Mae Wood Pilkerton, and Wil-liam Archie Pilkerton, Sr.

The family will receive friends in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, Leonardtown, MD on Fri-day, January 27, 2012 from 5 – 8 p.m. with prayers recited at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 10 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Mechanicsville, MD with Fr. Ansgar Laczko offici-ating. Interment will follow in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery, Morganza, MD.

A full obituary will appear at a later date. To send a condolence to the family please visit

our website at www.mgfh.com. Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-

Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A.

Margie Combs, 72Margie Marie Combs,

age 72 of Lexington Park, MD, died January 21, 2012 at the Hospice House of St. Mary’s. She was the daughter of the late Leonard Walker Freeman and Venus (Moore) Freeman.

Margie was very lov-ing and compassionate. Her family was always her prior-ity. A mother of 8 children, she served as a class-room mom with each of her children and then cared

for every grandchild before they started school. She enjoyed helping her friends and those in the commu-nity in need. She was happy doing arts and crafts and crabbing and especially loved going to church.

She is survived by her children, Rose Mass-ie of Lexington Park, MD., Patty Gary (Chris) of Leonardtown, MD., Richard Combs (Ruth) of Hol-lywood, MD., Michael Combs (Missy) of Ridge, MD., Brenda Nolan (Corky) of Leonardtown, MD., Teeny Combs (Charlie) of Lexington Park, MD., and John Boy Combs (Crystal) of Lexington Park, MD., 22 Grandchildren and 8 Great Grandchildren. In addition to her parents, Margie was pre-deceased by her loving husband, the late Gilbert Anthony Combs, her daughter, the late Betty Lou Combs and all of her siblings, the late Troy Freeman Sr., John Freeman Sr., James Freeman, Rosetta Carter, Delphia Brookes, Vaselee Freeman and Myrtle Freeman.

Family received friends on Wednesday, Janu-ary 25, 2012 at the Brinsfield Funeral Home, 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Prayers were recited. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10 a.m. at Holy Face Catholic Church, Great Mills, MD. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.

For those desiring, contributions in Margie’s memory may be directed to the Hospice of St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.

Condolences to the family may be made at: www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.

Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.

Charlotte Coppage, 70Charlotte Ann Coppage, 70, of Great Mills,

MD, died on January 17, 2012 at Chesapeake Shores Nursing Facility in Lexington Park, MD. Born on July 23, 1941 in Jefferson County, WVA, she was the daughter of the late Leedy and Emma Coppage.

Charlotte was with the ARC of Southern Maryland, St. Mary’s County for twenty-nine years. She was always proud of what she accom-plished in her life. She attended the The Center for Life Enrichment and she enjoyed her job, and she was always ready to go to work. She is survived by her two sisters, Mary Cox, Ruby Breitenbach, and her husband Bill both of Waldorf, MD, brother Douglas Hamilton of Leonardtown, MD, nieces and nephews.

The family received friends on Friday, Janu-ary 20, 2012 in the Mattingley-Gardner Funeral Home, Leonardtown, MD. A Funeral Service was held in Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home with Pastor Wendell Stokes officiating. Interment was on Saturday, January 21, 2012 in Hillcrest Memory Gardens, Jeffersonton, VA.

Contributions may be made in memory of Charlotte Ann Coppage to Arc of Southern Mary-land, St. Mary’s Chapter, P.O. Box 338, Leonard-town, MD 20650.

To leave a condolence for the family please visit www.mgfh.com.

Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A, Leonardtown, MD.

Frank Dean, 85Frank William Dean

of Ridge, MD, died January 17, 2012 at Calvert Memorial Hospital.

Born March 9, 1926 in Scotland, Maryland, he was the son of the late John Nel-son Dean and Edith Rebecca (Ridgell) Dean. He was a life-long farmer and waterman.

Frank is survived by his wife Frances Regina Wise. They were married on December 27, 1945 in St. Michael’s Church in

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Ridge. Together they had 15 children, Frank Dean Jr. of Paradise, FL., Thomas Dean of Vero Beach, FL., Earl Dean (Sandy) of Lexington Park, MD., Ann Insley (Michael) of Millington, TN, Susan Carter of Clements, MD., Leon Dean (Diana) of St. Inigoes, MD., Martha Kaszowski of Jacksonville, FL., Bertille Phillips (Dean) of Anchorage, AK., Timothy Dean of Ridge, MD., Alan Dean of Lex-ington Park, MD., Laura Cook (Robert) of Ridge, MD., Lucy Bradburn (Robert Jr.) of Ridge, MD., and Henry Dean (Jenny) of St. Inigoes, MD Frank is also survived by his sister, Cecilia, of Scotland, MD., 32 Grandchildren, 36 Great Grandchildren and 2 Great-Great Grandchildren. Frank was pre-ceded in death by his 2 children, the late Ruth Dean Witt and Millie Dean.

Family received friends on Friday, January 20, 2012 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Ridge, MD., followed by a Memorial Mass. Interment was held on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at St. Michael’s Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Frank may be made to St. Michael’s School, Ridge, MD., or the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foun-dation, P.O. Box 650309, Dallas, Texas, 75265-0309

Condolences to the family may be made at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.


Severino Manalo, 77Severino Lalic Manalo,

77 of Great Mills, MD died January 21, 2012 at Washing-ton Hospital Center.

Born February 2, 1934 in Pampanga, Philippines, he was the son of the late Arsen-io Morales Manalo and Rosa Icban Lalic.

Severino is survived by his wife, Pearla Mana-lo, his children, Teresa S. Curry (James) of Lexing-ton Park, MD, Ronaldo Manalo of Virginia, Ber-nardo Manalo of Great Mills, MD, Gerardo Manalo of California, Leilani Manalo of Great Mills, MD and Normita Manalo of Lexington Park, MD, brother, Jesus Manalo of the Philippines and sister, Anacleta Manalo of the Philippines, 7 grandchil-dren and 2 great grandchildren. In addition to his parents, Severino was preceded in death by a child, Noelito Manalo and brother, Amador Manalo.

Severino Manalo is dearly loved by his fam-ily. He was very athletic in his younger years and was a good boxer. He was also very strong and ag-ile. Armed with prayers and encouragement from his family and a very little knowledge in English, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1987 and was instru-mental in bringing all of his family to the United States. While waiting for his family’s immigra-tion, he worked odd jobs while working full time at the Minitec Corporation for many years until the company was transferred overseas. He was punc-tual and considerate to his co-workers. He had an excellent work ethic in which he received many awards at Minitec. He was a good handyman and a good builder. Severino had a childlike outlook on life and found humor in everything. He was cou-rageous, quiet, did not complain and seldom wor-ried. He loved listening to Philippine Kundiman (traditional Filipino love songs) music and watching Fernando Poe, Jr.’s (Filipino actor) action movies.

Family will receive friends on Saturday, Janu-ary 28, 2012 from 10 until 11 a.m. at the Brinsfield Funeral Home, 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonard-town, MD 20650. A Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow in Charles Memorial Gar-dens, Leonardtown, MD.

A reception will be held after the interment at Our Father’s House Assembly of God Church, 45020 Patuxent Beach Road, California, MD at 1 p.m. The sunroom of the church will be open at 10:30 a.m. for friends wishing to bring food.

Memorial contributions may be made to Our Father’s House Assembly of God Church, 45020 Patuxent Beach Road, California, MD 20619.



Robina McGregor, 89Robina Bryden Mc-

Gregor, 89, of Hollywood, MD, died January 19, 2012 at St. Mary’s Nursing Center.

Born February 11, 1922, in Wishaw, Scotland, she was the daughter of the late Mar-garet and James Neilson.

She moved to the United States with her husband and son in 1950, residing in Glen-dale, MD. For many years Robina was self-employed as the owner of “Ina Marie Dress Shop” located in Glendale. In 1987, she and her son moved to Hollywood, MD.

Robina became an avid bridge player. She also enjoyed playing Bingo and flower gardening. She had a great love for animals and never met a dog she didn’t like. She is well known for her great cooking and preparation of family meals. Her grandchildren will greatly miss her telling stories of her life growing up in Scotland and surviving the World War II.

She is survived by her son, William McGregor (Susan) of Hollywood, MD. In addition to her son, she is also survived by four grandchildren, Geor-gina Marie Candelaria of California, MD., William David McGregor of Minnesota, Michael Duncan McGregor (Stephanie) of Baltimore, MD., and Wesley William McGregor of Hollywood, MD., as well as four great grandchildren.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her siblings, which included four sisters and two brothers.

All services will be private. Condolences to the family may be made at

www.brinsfieldfuneral.comThe family requests in lieu of flowers, memo-

rial contributions may be made to the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department, 24801 Three Notch Road, Hollywood, MD 20636 or the Hollywood Volunteer Rescue Squad, 43256 Rescue Lane, Hollywood, MD 20636.

Arrangements are being handled by Brins-field Funeral Home, 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650.

Vincent Thrasher, 88Vincent Lee Thrasher,

88 of St. Leonard, MD died the morning of January 19th at the Charlotte Hall Vet-erans’ home where he had lived for the past year.

Vincent was born Janu-ary 27, 1923 in rural Lewis County, MO to the late Anna Thrasher. Vincent was raised on a farm in Missouri where he became the head of the household at the age of fourteen. He was drafted into the US Army and served in Germany where he was captured on December 24, 1944 and held POW until April 4th of 1945. While stationed at Fort Meade, MD be-fore shipping out to Germany, Vincent met Alice Elizabeth Parks of Broomes Island, MD and upon his return, married Alice and moved to Broomes Island. He later moved the family to St. Leon-ard in 1952 where he lived for the next fifty-two years. He secured employment with the US Navy at Solomon’s Island after the war and then worked for 35+ years at Patuxent River Naval Air Station as an aircraft lighting technician. Vincent almost single handedly rebuilt his St. Leonard home from the ground up, raised four sons and became the neighborhood repair shop always helping family and friends with automotive, lawnmower repair and other projects. Vincent was a loving son, spending his summer vacations providing much needed assistance to his mother in Missouri. Vin-cent was a charter member of the Calvert Amateur Radio Club, HAM radio operator, member of The Southern Maryland DAV, and of the Calvary Bible Church in Lusby, Maryland.

Vincent was predeceased in death by his lov-ing wife Alice of 62 years, his mother Anna, sisters;

Elsie Marie and Virginia. Vincent is survived by two sisters, Erma Dee Jones of Lewistown, MO, Betty Barron of Hoopeston, IL, four sons, Orval and wife Sandy of North Beach, MD, Larry and wife Kaye of Annapolis, MD, Terry and wife Sara of Sinking Springs, PA and Lloyd and wife Cathy of St. Leonard, MD. Grand children, Todd, Brian, Quillan, Corbin, Michelle, Colin and Harrison, and three great grand children, Taylor, Connor and Trystan.

Friends are invited to the celebration of life for Vincent during visitations at the Rausch Funeral Home, 4405 Broomes Island Road, Port Republic, MD on Thursday January 26th from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m.. A funeral services will be held Friday Janu-ary 27th, 10:30 a.m. at the Broomes Island Wes-leyan Church on Church Road. The same church where Vincent and Alice were married. Interment will follow the service at Southern Memorial Gar-dens in Dunkirk, MD.

Joseph Wilkinson, 79Joseph Aloysius Wilkin-

son, 79, of Leonardtown, MD was called home on January 15, 2012.

Born March 21, 1932, in Hollywood, MD, he was the son of the late Joseph and Helen Wilkinson.

Mr. Wilkinson went to St. John’s school for his early education and then to St. Mary’s Academy in Leonardtown, MD and gradu-ated in 1950. For many years, Mr. Wilkinson was a member of St. Frances Xavier Church in Comp-ton, MD and was an active participant in many organizations of the parish including a Eucharis-tic Minister. He also was a Charter member of St. Francis Xavier the Missionary Council, 10957 of the Knights of Columbus, and served as past Grand Knight, Deputy Grand Knight and Lecturer.

He enlisted in the Air Force from 1950 to 1954. Mr. Wilkinson started as Civil Servant in 1954, working for NATC, Patuxent River, MD and ending his career at White Sands Missile Range at White Sands, NM retiring as a Missile Range Scheduler in 1987. After retiring, he worked sev-eral years for St. Mary’s Circuit Court as a Bailiff.

Also, post retirement, he pursued many inter-ests, including; Real Estate, Real Estate Appraisal, Duck Carving, Wood Burning, Wood Working, Bus Driving, and most of all playing with his 16 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Mr. Wilkinson is survived by his wife Annie (Jiggy) Wilkinson of 53 years, his five children; Joseph A. Jr. (Lisa), Patrick I. (Tracey) of Leon-ardtown, MD, Paul A. (Mary)of California, MD, Thomas A. (Christine) of Libby, MT and Margaret (Maggie) Seifert (Joerg) of Darien, IL. Mr. Wilkin-son is also survived by six sisters; Catherine (Kitty) Doering, Frances Duke, Ellen Hall, Dorothy Fen-wick, Patricia Dameron, all of Leonardtown, MD, and Karen Behrens of LaPlata, MD, 16 grandchil-dren and 2 great grandchildren. In addition to his parents, Mr. Wilkinson is preceeded in death by his son George R. Wilkinson and grandson William W. Wilkinson.

Family received friends for Joseph’s Life Celebration on Thursday, January 19, 2012. at the Brinsfield Funeral Home, 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Prayers were recited. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Fri-day, January 20, 2012 at St. Francis Xavier Church, 21370 Newtowne Neck Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Reverend George A. Wilkinson, Pastor of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, College Park, MD was the celebrant. Interment followed in the church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hos-pice House of St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonard-town, MD 20650, the Leonardtown Volunteer Res-cue Squad, P.O. Box 299, Leonardtown, MD 20650 or St. Francis Xavier Church, 21370 Newtowne Neck Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650.

Serving as pallbearers was Joseph A. Wilkin-son, Jr., Thomas A. Wilkinson, Patrick I. Wilkinson, Paul A. Wilkinson, Christopher D. Vanarsdall, and Ryan J. Wilkinson. Serving as honorary pallbearers were his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.




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A Career That Makes a Difference

Are you are looking for an exciting, fast-paced career that enriches the lives of people in your community? Are you looking for employment that offers benefits and opportunity for growth? Then come to the Leonardtown Library on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012. UCP on the Potomac is conducting a Job and Hiring Expo to find motivated and experienced candidates to join our team.

The following positions are available:

Direct Care Staff

Employees are offered:

• Health Insurance • Dental Insurance • Paid Training • Paid Vacation • Holidays • Personal Days • Flexible Hours

Please come apply at the following location and time: 23250 Hollywood Road Leonardtown, MD 20650 Thursday February 2, 2012 10:00am – 2:00pm For more information call: 301-641-8802 E-mail resumes to: [email protected]

EOE, Drug Free Workplace

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Direct Care Staff






By Carrie MunnStaff Writer

Amid the bustling growth in Charlotte Hall sits a locally owned coffee shop that hopes to serve up more than just coffee. Sisters Sommer Clark and Ashlee Sasscer opened up Sixty-six Beans Coffee Lounge this summer – just around the corner from the post office and the Pizza Ho-tline – and said customers have been delighted since.

With Sasscer’s background in graphic de-sign and Clark’s in interior architecture and de-sign, they gutted the space and carefully created a warm and inviting atmosphere and modern logo with a message. The name of the shop is significant, Clark explained, representing the 66 books of the Bible.

With their Christian coffee lounge, the sis-ters are looking to provide a unique coffee shop, dining experience and space for the community to come together.

Along with the regular coffee and espresso concoctions found at other spots, Sixty-six Beans offers fair trade organic coffees and loose leaf tea beverages, adaptable to cater to customers seek-ing sugar-free or fat-free options. The Chai Tea Latte has quickly become a popular drink, with natural ingredients from a Boston-based supplier that won national acclaim last year. Ghirardelli chocolate and gourmet sauces and syrups make the shop’s beverages a real treat.

All natural fruit smoothies, using honey as a natural sweetener, are available along with a wide variety of homemade baked goods. Break-

fast sandwiches and healthy lunch and dinner op-tions have created a lot of loyal customers. Many of them, Clark said, have expressed gratitude for offering a quick healthy bite instead of the stan-dard fast food drive-thru fare. The store often of-fers gluten-free choices and the sisters say they are open to suggestions and requests from cus-tomers with special dietary needs.

“Countless numbers of our customers have told us a place like this has been needed for a long time,” Clark said, explaining she and her sister are happy to bring something new and different to the area.

Sixty-six Beans utilizes the popularity of Facebook, often posting their daily specials and offering an interactive advertising experience, letting ‘likes’ determine special desserts and also sharing information about upcoming events and entertainment.

As inviting as the space is for drinkers and diners, the shop also plays host to several com-munity-based events. Mommy and Me Mondays, open mic nights, bible study and scrapbooking groups, book clubs and even civic association meetings all help the owners achieve one of their goals, being involved in the community.

“[It’s] knowing that we are reaching out in creative ways, not just to grow our business, but to help grow and touch people’s lives individu-ally by showing great care and love to each cus-tomer on a daily basis,” Clark said.

Sixty-six Beans has already hosted several school and church spirit nights and fundraisers for the local firehouses, and hopes to give the community a space to share their talents, with lo-

cal music events and local artists’ work adorning the walls.

The shop’s latest addition, a flat screen TV, will allow them to host Wii and Xbox gaming nights, with dance competitions, bowling tour-naments and other fun get-togethers for young people.

“We love to see the community coming to-gether in our space, that’s an important aspect of our business and our mission,” Clark said.

To find out more about ongoing and upcom-ing events, visit www.66beans.com or find the shop on Facebook to see what others are saying about their visits.

Sixty-six Beans Coffee Lounge is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and later for special events.

[email protected]

Photo By Carrie MunnSummer Clark serves up something new and different at Sixty-six Beans Coffee Lounge.

Thursday, January 26, 2012 12The County TimesKnowIn T

he Education


Tammy Belisario, a fifth grade teacher at Lexington Park Elementary, was recognized for earning National Board Certi-fication at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday.

The process is an extensive, year-long series of perfor-mance-based assessments and upon earning it, Belisario be-comes one of only 241 teachers in the state of Maryland to boast the certification. Currently, 38 of the state’s teachers to obtain the prestigious accomplishment teach in St. Mary’s County.

The teacher of eight years thanked her supportive hus-band, parents and principal, Susie Fowler, for helping her along the way.

Fowler called attention to Belisario’s commitment to her students, adding that she volunteers her own time two to three days per week after school to tutor the students in her class who need the extra help.

Superintendent Michael Martirano said the distinction is not one for the faint of heart and stated, “In the end, it’s our children who truly benefit from her accomplishment.”

[email protected]


With the alignment to the Com-mon Core and Race To The Top (RTTT) implementation drawing near, Martirano said he is remaining mindful of the stress it places on teachers and administrators but stated, “We’ve really got this under control.”

Supervisor of Instruction and Pro-fessional Development Deb Faller of-fered the board a presentation on the

new teacher induction component of the RTTT initiative, informing them of how teachers coming to St. Mary’s County, whether they are fresh out of college or joining the SMCPS as a veteran teacher from another area, are welcomed into their roles. The multi-faceted approach helps ensure highly qualified teachers are in the classrooms, she said, by making sure they are surrounded with support from day one.

Going beyond the state-mandated ratio of one mentor per 15 novice teach-

ers, St. Mary’s County sets the ratio at one mentor for every three novice teachers.

Board members and the superin-tendent commented on the comprehen-sive induction process and it’s long-term benefits in creating positive relationships and effective teachers. Faller said with Maryland being the sixth state she taught in, she wished something like this had existed in each new place she had gone.

[email protected]

BECA Scholarship

Season Underway

The St. Mary’s County Business, Education and Com-munity Alliance, Inc. (BECA) will host its sixth annual scholarship fair on Tuesday, Jan. 31 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center in Leon-ardtown. The event provides students and parents an oppor-tunity to meet many of the local scholarship providers and offers workshops on financial aid and completing the 2012 Common Scholarship Application, giving them access to a pool of roughly half a million dollars in scholarships.

Representatives from local higher learning institu-tions such as St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the College of Southern Maryland and the Southern Maryland Higher Edu-cation Center will be on hand as will representatives from NAS Patuxent River’s NAWCAD co-op programs.

Food prepared by the Forrest Center’s Culinary Arts students will be available and door prizes will be awarded throughout the night.

The 2012 application is available online by visiting www.smcbeca.org. The deadline for submission is March 15.

BECA will host its annual fundraiser at Bowles Farm on March 9, from 6 to 10 p.m., featuring dinner, a silent auc-tion, a live auction called by former St. Mary’s County Com-missioner Dan Raley and entertainment by GeeZer. Proceeds will fund twenty $1,000 BECA scholarships to be awarded in the spring.

For additional information, visit the website or contact Bob Schaller at 240-577-1697 or Mark Smith at 301-475-0242.

Public Forum on Schools’

BudgetInterested to learn more about the proposed SMCPS

budget for fiscal year 2013? Want to ask a question or offer your two cents on the particulars of it? Mark your calendar and plan to attend the Budget Forum on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. at the central offices building on Moakley Street in Leonardtown.

Race To The Top Implementations

SMCPS Teacher Earns National Board Certification

Inaugural Chess Tournament Great Mills

High School student Robert Vandegrift, 14 of Lexington Park, left, and Leonardtown High School student Trevor Butcher, 17, of Hollywood, face off in the first-ever Scholastic Chess Tournament on Saturday at Great Mills High School sponsored by the Maryland Educational Chess Association.

Photo By Guy Leonard


(301) 997-1700Rt 5 Leonardtown • In The

Breton Bay Shopping Center

Menu featuring classic southern dishes, seafood, steaks, brick oven pizzas & calzones and more

by Chef Rick

41658 Fenwick St. Leonardtown, MD 20650

301-475-8040

Fax: 301-475-8658

On the square in historic LeonardtownClassy entertainment, Prix-Fixe Menu & more

Reservations Recommended301-997-0500

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Country French Dining in a Casual Atmosphere

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301-904-2532MD Antiques Center ~ Bldg. 2 ~ 26005 Point Lookout Rd

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Saturday: 10 a.m. ~ 2 p.m. SAT. 9:30 TO 5 SUN. 12 TO 5MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9:30 TO 7

Located on the Square in Leonardtown

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HOURS OF OPERATIONS:Monday – Friday: 7am – 3pm

Saturday – Sunday: 8am – 3pm

***Buffett served on Saturdays and Sundays***

First Fridays are Happening in LeonardtownFriday, February 3, 2012 5 to 8 PM

Fall in Love with the Merchants of LeonardtownFirst Friday is made possible by these businesses and other LBA members:

COMIC BOOKS, GAMES

AND STUFF

22745 Washington StLeonardtown, MD 20650

Open 7 Days A Week

Ice CreamSundaes

Hot Dogs and SausagesOverstuffed Subs

SmoothiesGamer GrubHot/Cold Drinks

ParticiPating businesses & staying oPen late: bella Music school, big larry’s coMic book café, brewing grounds, café des artistes, craft guild shoP, colleen’s dreaM, college of southern Maryland, crazy for ewe, fenwick street used books and Music, fuzzy farMer’s Market , good earth natural foods, the shoPs of Maryland antiques center,

creekside gallery, kevin’s corner kafé, leonardtown arts center, leonardtown galleria, leonardtown grill, lynn’s café and catering, MontParnasse gallery and gifts, north end gallery, oga’s asian cuisine, olde town Pub, olde towne stitchery, on a roll, Port of leonardtown winery, rustic river bar and grill, quality street kitchens,

shelby’s creative fraMing, st. Mary’s Macaroni kid, the farMer’s daughter cuPcakes, the front Porch, treadles studio, ye olde towne café

BURRIS’ OLDE TOWNE INSURANCEDANIEL W. BURRIS, CIC, PROPRIETORAuto • Home • Business • Life

22720 WASHINGTON STREET • P.O. BOX 707LEONARDTOWN, MD 20650(301) 475-3151 • Toll Free: (800) 872-8010 • Fax: (301) [email protected] • danburris.com

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WATCH ARTISTS CREATEPURCHASE ART - TAKE A CLASS

North End Galleryin Historic Leonardtown, MD

301.475.3130 www.northendgallery.org

Monday-Saturday 10-5First Fridays 10-8, Sunday 12-4

Now Open on the Leonardtown Square:

BIG LARRY’S COMIC BOOK CAFE- 22745 Washington Street. Big Larry’s

Comic Book Café would like to thank all our great customers, old and new. Come out and enjoy our delicious Nathan’s hot dogs and smoked sausages. We also have a new chili selection, and hot chocolate to help stave off the cold! We hope to see you!

BREWING GROUNDS- 41658 Fenwick Street. Live music with Harmony Grit from 6PM to 8PM, and 10% discounts on food

and beverage purchases.

CAFE DES ARTISTES- 41655 Fenwick Street. Live Music and Dinner Specials.

Leonardtown’s original neighborhood bistro with French Country Charm, a casual and

friendly atmosphere, fine food and excellent service. Creative, comforting dishes are Classic French with an American flair

and pair perfectly with the great variety of wines from Leonardtown to France, and al fresco dining available on our quaint patio

sidewalk!

CRAFT GUILD SHOP- 26005 Point Lookout Road (next to Maryland Antiques Center) Featured artisans for February are Toni and Dave Hockenbrought of La Plata, MD. They bring to the Shop’s assortment of many handmade item, crocheted winter hats

and scarves, warm afghans, lap and baby blankets, floral and greenery arrangements,

nautical items and painted signs. The Craft Guild Shop offers traditional and

contemporary crafts by local artisans and handcrafters. Many of these items are

one-of-a-kind. Various classes offered. Call 301-997-1644 or visit our website, www.craftguildshop.com. Hope you join us for

First Friday.

FENWICK STREET USED BOOKS and MUSIC- 41655A Fenwick Street.

Special guests and fun reading treasures.

FUZZY FARMERS MARKET – 22696 Washington Street. If you’re looking

for unique, high quality items to give or to keep, you’ve come to the right place. Indulge yourself with handmade goat’s milk soap and unique jewelry. Then fill

your home with locally made blankets and baskets, kitchen towels and textiles. There’s

fun and funky fiber art along with felted figurines of farm animals and fairies. We

have handspun yarn and dyed fiber ready to knit, crochet, spin, and felt.

GOOD EARTH NATURAL FOODS- 41675 Park Ave. Come to The Good Earth

for some healthy lifestyle tips. Robert of Hydros will be on hand to show off

the new water bottle design that benefits Operation Hydros. Plus, Dr. Dent returns in our demo kitchen offering her popular

Complimentary Posture Screenings. Learn more about our February guests, visit www.HydrosBottle.com and www.

HarborBayChiropractic.com.

CREEKSIDE GALLERY- (in Maryland Antiques Center) “Local Treasures” will continue this month featuring the

watercolor paintings of Sue Stevenson, who is well known for her capture of Southern

Maryland’s local seascapes and landscapes. There is always a story with each painting

that connects the piece with the history

of the area. The gallery will also begin its “Historic Southern Maryland Show,” displaying the works of many other local artists in variety of mediums. Beautiful

wood works will be displayed along with decorative gourds and hand crafted jewelry.

LEONARDTOWN ARTS CENTER- Court Square BLDG, 2nd floor, 22660

Washington St. The art center is the newest addition to the lively Leonardtown arts scene. Come visit local artists in their

studios working on their craft. Painters, sculptors, jewelers and more.

LEONARDTOWN GALLERIA- (in Maryland Antiques Center) More than

80 fine arts creations, including paintings in oil, acrylic and watercolor, sculpture, woodwork, porcelain tile creations and

jewelry. The Galleria is open 10:00 am – 5:00 pm seven days a week. The Leonardtown Galleria is managed by

members of the Color & Light Society of southern Maryland. The gallery features

art works by 15 members of the Color and Light group and one guest artist. In the

coming months, the Galleria plans to have special guest shows, classes and workshops. For more information, call Carole Thieme

at 410-394-0326.

MONTPARNASSE GALLERY AND GIFTS - 22760 Washington Street

Montparnasse Gallery and Gifts is a venue that showcases contemporary works of

art by regional, national, and international artists. The mission of Montparnasse

is to display and promote artists, poets and musicians, meanwhile providing a comfortable environment where artists

and visitors are free to dialogue. We are committed to building community bonds by celebrating cultural diversity, and encouraging creative expression. Montparnasse promises to provide

affordable items, demonstrations and events.Regular business hours, Thurs-Sunday 1-6 pm, open later on Fridays

301-247-1119

NORTH END GALLERY- 41652 Fenwick Street. Fall in love with Maryland

art during our special invitational show titled, “Made in Maryland”. Invited

guest artists as well as North End Gallery members will present work connected

to our state of Maryland. Art pieces will depict Maryland or will have been created in Maryland. We will also emphasize local foods with a reception featuring local treats

made by Chef Loic from the Cafe des Artist and local buffalo from Dick Wildes. Enjoy Kale Chips from Paulk Family Farm

and Christina Allen will contribute eggs and sweet potatoes. Wine from the Port of Leonardtown Winery will be served. The “Made in Maryland” show will run from Jan 31st through Feb. 26th. We are one of the designated drop off locations for Operation Valentine. Drop off your care

package donation items any time between Jan 30 and Feb 3. Items collected will be packed into care packages to be shipped to Pax River military currently deployed

overseas. North End Gallery offers unique gifts from 32 of Southern Maryland’s

best artists and artisans. Treat yourself or someone you love to a hand made treasure

from your community.

OLDE TOWN PUB- Washington Street. Relax after work, meet with friends, or come watch the big game on our giant

60-inch plasma TV. We offer 14 beers on tap, your favorite mixed drinks using only

premium spirits, and popular wines. In addition, we have tasty appetizers and great meals for the entire family. Our traditional

décor offers a welcoming atmosphere whether you’re celebrating a big event or

winding down after a day at work. We look forward to serving you at the most popular

nightspot in Southern Maryland.

PORT OF LEONARDTOWN WINERY- 23190 Newtowne Neck Road.

We are one of the designated drop off locations for Operation Valentine. Drop off your care package donation items any time between Jan 30 and Feb 3. Items collected

will be packed into care packages to be shipped to Pax River military currently deployed overseas. Local wine, art and

local music make for a great evening! For more information and instant updates, see

our website or like us on Facebook.

RUSTIC RIVER BAR AND GRILL- 40874 Merchant’s Lane (Route 5) Dinner

specials and live entertainment.

ST. MARY’S MACARONI KID - Drop by and show First Friday and our military

troops some love. Make a special Valentine card to be inserted into care packages

prepared for military members from Pax River deployed overseas! We’re proud to

be coordinating efforts as part of Operation Valentine. Our craft table is always FREE for kids! St. Mary’s Macaroni Kid is a free weekly e-newsletter and website offering

all the kid and family friendly events in the county. Look for us inside Ye Olde Towne

Café. www.stmarys.macaronikid.com

THE FRONT PORCH- 22770 Washington Street. An intimate restaurant featuring creative American Cuisine. Set

within the Sterling House, we offer casual dining in a cozy atmosphere. The menu

includes a broad selection of starters, soups, sandwiches, salads, and entrees. We offer daily specials, feature seasonal ingredients, local produce, and boast an ever changing dessert menu. The “back

room” at The Front Porch showcases over 40 varieties of wine, while our bar presents Specialty Drinks, Boutique Beer, along with

traditional cocktails.

YE OLDE TOWNE CAFE- 22865 Washington Street. We are one of the

designated drop off locations for Operation Valentine. Drop off your care package

donation items any time between Jan 30 and Feb 3. Items collected will be packed into care packages to be shipped to Pax

River military currently deployed overseas. Enjoy Home Cooking with a freshly made dessert at a reasonable price. Free crafts for

kids with Macaroni Kid!

CHEZ NOUS -- Fenwick Street 240-538-4571 Mon - Sat 10AM - 6PM, Sun

12PM - 4PM. Unique hand made one of a kind fine jewelry by Balbina Meyer (Art in Wire) Jewelry Designer. Artisan chocolates,

handcrafted in Baltimore for German chocolatier Albert Kirchmayr.

Thursday, January 26, 2012 Thursday, January 26, 201214 15The County Times The County Times


Many in the community might have heard about the Dr, James A. Forrest Career and Tech-nology Center. Many have driven by the build-ing nestled next to Leonardtown High School on Route 5. Many have visited the building, which hosts a plethora of community events and meetings.

But it’s not until one gets deep into building, the spacious classrooms, labs and workspaces that one understands the depth of programs of-fered within.

The County Times took that tour, talked with some of the knowledgeable instructors and motivated students that utilize the facility week in and week out, discovering it’s more than meets the average eye.

Much attention is given to the “pipeline” that prepares students for the high-tech STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math-ematics) fields supporting the local defense in-dustry. Although, there are many other career avenues available in the school system and the Forrest Center is home to many of them.

Currently, 24 different programs are of-fered, with another to be added next year.

Ann Johnson is a vocational support teach-er and knows many of the students that attend the tech center during three periods through-out the day well. Select students from the three public high schools spend a portion of their day learning the targeted skills and ins-and-outs of the industry, working on projects and applying that newly acquired knowledge in a very hands-on way.

Johnson explained that some of the center’s programs have grown in popularity, meaning with the limited number of seats available, a stu-dent’s academic, disciplinary and attendance re-cords are assessed in the selection process. Other courses have empty seats.

Interest varies year to year, she said, and it’s a big commitment to undertake a program, many of which require two or three years to complete. She said she often tells kids when they first come in, “As important as school is, what we’re most concerned about is what lies beyond school for you, what are you going to do once you walk across that stage?”

Johnson said, as a testament to the quality of instruction and satisfaction level of students, many teachers’ kids attend the tech center, in-cluding her own. Her eldest daughter completed

the Allied Health pro-gram and is now away at college, studying to become a physician’s assistant. Another daughter currently enjoys the Culinary Arts program and a son is in Criminal Justice.

Word of mouth about the tech center often results in younger students following in their older siblings’ footsteps, as they discover the op-tions that may cater to their individual talents or interests, Johnson said.

Many discover, once they begin attending, that their instructors are not just teachers but people who have been there and done that. The Allied Health program, for instance, is taught by two registered nurses, Tina Mattingly and Bon-nie Skinner.

Skinner, an emergency room nurse for 22 years and tech center instructor for seven, said the Academy of Health Care has become quite comprehensive. With a heavy emphasis on sci-ence, program participants can select various paths within the field, helping them become nurses, doctors, physical therapists, pharmacy techs or veterinarians. Almost all of the students completing this program have a well-defined path into college, Skinner said, and many are able to earn better wages with jobs in healthcare fields during school and start with some college credits already under their belts.

Many of these students, as well as the den-tal hygiene program students, learn in the class-rooms with the use of technologically advanced dummies and also go into the community’s den-tist offices, nursing homes and hospitals to get real-world experience, with real-world patients.

That real-world feel runs across the spec-trum of programs at the tech center. In Natural Resources Management, students have a fully functioning lab, with live specimens, and often conduct actual field research as part of their proj-ects. The horticulture students do everything from landscape design on computers to main-

taining living plants in a greenhouse that any with a green thumb would envy.

Students in the Masonry, Residential Wir-ing, and Carpentry programs not only build tan-gible projects within their workshops but they have joined with local contractors, applied their skills and are well underway in building a new home in Leonardtown.

Shane Spalding sat across the hall in the En-gineering program last year, but said he discov-ered the hands-on Carpentry course appealed to him more. “I want to be able to build my own house,” he said, adding that due to his tech center experience he figured out he’d rather be actively building than sitting at a desk all day and has been happy with the switch.

The senior said he’s enjoyed the house-building project, from the ground up, and that he’s already been offered summer work . Spald-ing said he already looked into carrying on with carpentry courses through the College of South-ern Maryland and said he’s found a lot of oppor-tunity attending the tech center.

Students in the Graphic Communications, Television and Video Production, Computer-Aided Drafting, Computer Networking and Pro-duction Engineering programs work with state-of-the-art equipment and programs, producing projects much like those created by profession-als in those fields. Learning to design, prototype and fabricate a finished product produces a great deal of satisfaction for the students and allows them to decide whether they have what it takes or truly wish to spend their lives, earning a living in that profession.

A video tour made by James Rhine, Jr., in his second year of the TV and Video Production program, was recently selected as one that would be shared with potential students. He was learn-ing first-hand what it takes to make edits and meet deadlines, but said, “It’s hard work, but I enjoy it.”

Johnson and many instructors said while a lot of students come into a tech center program and stay the course, completing and further pur-suing the field at the collegiate or professional level, some find out it’s really not for them. It speaks to the pocketbook, Johnson said, that prior to a kid finding this out during college, at a hefty cost, they can pursue it earlier and, for many, it’s an eye-opening experience that helps them really hone in on what it is they want to do.

Students can come out of the tech center with tangible and employable skills from the Sheet Metal, Welding and Automotive trades. The Plumbing program is slated to return next year.

Culinary Arts students learn from chefs with years of experience and put their skills to the test in a spacious and well-equipped kitchen, often catering school and community events as projects. For those with a passion for the profes-sion, an articulation agreement allows some to continue on to Johnson and Wales University or other prestigious schools.

Criminal Justice instructor Mickey Bailey was a deputy sheriff for the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office when he helped establish the program in 1999. Now retired, the officer is par-ticularly proud to have a “wall of fame” in his classroom with pictures of students that have completed his program and gone to work in the

field. Several have gone on to become sworn of-ficers in St. Mary’s or with the Maryland State Police. Some have become correction officers and one student joined the Secret Service and at least one went to law school, he said.

The Aviation program puts students in, un-der and atop of planes, after they learn the essen-tials of aerodynamics and the science of flight. In his third year of the program, Brian Kocka said he has enjoyed trouble-shooting the electri-cal systems and learning more about the riveting process, adding he’s looking forward to attend-ing Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and finding work in the industry.

Johnson said she thinks the Aviation pro-gram will have a good future, due to the prox-imity to Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Pro-grams are adapted to meet the needs of the work-force through community partnerships and the Professional Advisory Committee’s suggestions.

Theo Cramer, St. Mary’s County Public Schools Director of College and Career Readi-ness, now serves as site administrator of the For-rest Center as well, as a result of budget and posi-tion streamlining decisions last year.

“Before taking on this role, I, myself, didn’t understand the magnitude of what’s going on here,” he said.

He frequently visits the classrooms to learn more about what students are learning and said he is often impressed. “Instructors love what

they’re teaching and students love what they’re learning,” Cramer said, adding that the passion and knowledge being shared in the tech center classrooms is “palpable.”

Johnson agreed, adding that the nature of the programs allow for positive teacher-student relationships, and many students who have grad-uated and are off pursuing their chosen paths come back for visits or to consult their former

teachers, who become professional mentors.Both Johnson and Cramer said enrollment

numbers are higher than ever and they expect continued growth, through efforts to bring more exposure to students early in their academic ca-reers, their parents and the public.

Public schools Superintendent Michael Martirano frequently uses the word “options” when talking about ensuring college and career

readiness for every student.“Sometimes kids learn best by doing, and

[the Forrest Center] is the quintessential pro-gram that demonstrates hands-on learning at its very best,” Martirano said.

“In order to be a world-class school sys-tem, we have to offer choice,” he said, adding that well over 10 percent of students are now in choice-based programs and that, now more than ever, it’s important to offer various avenues that ensure students stay in school and are pro-vided with links to further education or good employment.

“A lot of kids need some sort of hook to keep them engaged and motivated,” Johnson said. “The tech center provides that hook for many students.”

[email protected]

STORY STORY

Today’s Tech Center: Providing Choices, Producing the College, Career Ready

LITTLE FLOWER SCHOOL

For More Info, Please Call 301-994-0404 or email [email protected]

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Upcoming Events

Visit the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center, talk to instructors and students about the completer programs and see the projects they’ve completed for yourself…

Forrest Center Hosts Annual ExpoThursday, Feb. 9 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Students and community members will submit their best soups for your palate-pleasing experience…

Annual Soup Cook-OffMonday, Feb. 6 beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Forrest Tech Center students will join others in the area to demonstrate their know-how and compete for a chance to take their projects to the state and national level at…

The SkillsUSA Southern Maryland Regional CompetitionSaturday, Feb. 4 from 8 to Noon

At The Calvert Career and Technology Academy with an Awards Assembly in the Calvert High School Auditorium at 2 p.m.

Photo by Carrie MunnDakota Finneyfrock and Nick Fernald work on a plane donated by the U.S. Navy in the Aviation program classroom at the tech center.

Students and staff exemplify the range of programs offered at the tech center. In the back row, Jerry West; Residential Wiring student, Theo Cramer; Director of College and Career Readiness and tech center site administrator, Dr. Michael Martirano; Superintendent of St. Mary’s County Public School, Dennis Allen; Horticulture student, Ann Johnson; Vocational Support Teacher, and Bonnie Skinner; Academy of Health Care teacher and registered nurse. In the front, Haley Thompson; Television and Video Production student; Liza Grider; Dental Assisting student, Christine Daugherty; Culinary Arts student, Brian Kocka; Aviation student and Allied Health student Tyler McDonald.

Photo by Frank Marquart

“If you like hands-on learning, you will love any class at the Tech Center. I look forward to coming to class every day

because I know that I will learn something new.”- Tiffany Withrow, dental assisting course student

“For many students who might have a good idea as to what they want to do in college… the tech center is a

solid link to your future.”- Christine Daugherty, a third-year

culinary arts program student

“The programs are very real-world oriented… students

learn about professional protocol with professional instruments while

being subjected to a team-work encouraging atmosphere.”- Tyler Spalding, a natural resources

management student


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NewsmakersCredit Union Connects Kids to Financial Literacy


Students throughout the Southern Maryland region are learning about fi-nancial responsibility and the impor-tance of saving money thanks to the in-school branches and other outreach efforts of Educational Systems Federal Credit Union (ESFCU).

Victoria Samuels said she spent 26 years working on marketing for the cred-it union before becoming vice president of community relations, where her mis-sion is to create and promote more ways to connect with students, their families, school teachers and staff.

“Our mission is to help the members of the educational community achieve their financial goals and dreams,” she said, adding that it’s that interaction with the education community, at the grass-roots level, that helps make that happen.

Regularly scheduled visits to schools throughout the region, including Chopticon High School, bring the bank to the students, offering them a chance to do their banking on site, complete with a laptop so they can track their transac-tions, deposit slips and a date stamp.

Recently, kids at Sunderland El-

ementary School in Calvert County brought in their monetary Christmas gifts, loose bills and rolled change to deposit into their savings accounts, dem-onstrating how financial literacy can be learned at an early age.

Students, along with their families, and school employees are eligible for membership with the credit union, which Samuels said has a real passion for edu-cation. In-school branches are offered at 40 schools within Calvert, St. Mary’s, Charles and Prince George’s counties and the company also shows their sup-port through other education-based programs.

ESFCU is active with the St. Mary’s academies of finance and have sponsored the Pinch on to Reading with the South-ern Maryland Blue Crabs and the Read and Hit a Home Run with the Bowie Baysox programs, encouraging and re-warding students for reading.

The company also sponsors the St. Mary’s County Business, Education and Community Alliance, Inc. (BECA) an-nual scholarship program and offers five $3,000 Dorothy Marvil Memorial schol-arships each year.

[email protected] Photo By Corrie M. MunnGage Kowalczyk, a second grade student at Sunderland Elementary School, opened his first savings account at school last week.


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Apple BasketThe

27056 Mt. Zion Church Rd, Mechanicsville, MD 20659301-884-8118 - Open 7 Days a Week

www.applebasketantiques.comDIRECTIONS: FROM CALVERT (PAX RIVER) AREA,

TAKE ROUTE 235 NORTH FROM WALDORF, TAKE ROUTE 235 SOUTH

For every From Soldier to SoldierTM

Bracelet sold, $20 will go to Homes For Our Troops

P.O. Box 17941600 Fenwick Street

Leonardtown, MD 20650

301-475-2551

www.towneflorist.net

Throughout the month, Febreze and Macaroni Kid will support

Military Care Package Events at locations nationwide to send essentials to troops abroad, helping

servicemen and their loved ones breathe happy. St. Mary's Macaroni Kid has joined the initiative here!

Designated First Friday businesses are collection sites for items to be packed into care packages benefiting

those deployed from NAS Patuxent River. Drop off your items at one of these First Friday sites: The Port of

Leonardtown Winery, North End Gallery, or Ye Olde Town Cafe anytime between Jan 30 and Feb 3 (First Friday).

Just one more reason to love First Friday! Help us support our local military deployed

and serving overseas.

First Friday in Leonardtownis proud to be a part of

Operation Valentine in February!

Visit www.leonardtownfirstfridays.com to learn more. or contact [email protected]

Suggested care package items include:

Dental Care Items/Flossers/Toothpaste Dried fruit

Foot care products Hand and foot warmers

Hand lotion Individually wrapped cookies

Individually wrapped snack items Individually wrapped tea bags

Novelty candy Puzzle Books/Mad Libs/Sudoku

Small note books and pens Small Q-Tip packages

Socks Sunscreen

Trail mix Travel size baby wipes

Travel size hand sanitizer Travel size toiletries

Creature comforts for ladies Tums

Crystal Light single serving drink envelopes (for water bottles)

Travel size kleenex

On the square in historic LeonardtownClassy entertainment, Prix-Fixe Menu & more

Reservations Recommended301-997-0500

www.cafedesartistes.ws

Country French Dining in a Casual Atmosphere

North End Galleryin Historic Leonardtown, MD

301.475.3130 www.northendgallery.org

Monday-Saturday 10-5First Fridays 10-8, Sunday 12-4



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DireCToryBusiness

Prime Rib • Seafood • Sunday BrunchBanquet & Meeting Facilities

23418 Three Notch Road • California, MD 20619www.lennys.net

301-737-0777

Cross & WoodAssoCiAtes, inC.

Serving The Great Southern Maryland Counties since 1994Employer/Employee Primary Resource Consultants

Group & IndividualHealth, Dental, Vision, AFLAC, Life, Long Term Care,

Short & Long Term Disability,Employer & Employee Benefits Planning

Phone 301-884-59001-800 524-2381

12685 Amberleigh LaneLa Plata, MD 20646

Phone 301-934-4680Fax 301-884-0398

28231 Three Notch Rd, #101Mechanicsville, MD 20659

301-866-0777 Pub & Grill23415 Three Notch Road

California Maryland

72 Days Till St. Patrick’s Daywww.dbmcmillans.com

Entertainment All Day

Franzen Realtors, Inc.

Helping Good PeopleFind Good Homes.

Addie McBrideCell: 301-481-6767 Home: 301-737-1669www.addiemcbride.com [email protected]

www.franzenrealtors.com22316 Three Notch Rd. Lexington Park, MD 20653Office: 1-800-848-6092 • Office: 301-862-2222 • Fax Office: 301-862-1060

For All Your Real Estate Needs.

“A beautiful lawn doesn’t happen by itself”

MowingTrimmingEdgingBlowing

Flower bedsGeneral yard cleanupTree Planting

Pressure Washing House, Sidewalk, Siding, DecksOutside Home Maintenance Gutter Celaning

Waverly Crafton • Owner (240) 561-1471

Cutting Close Lawn Care ServiceServices Provided:

24-Hour Towing Light/Medium/Heavy Duty • Major and Minor RepairsDiesel Is Our Specialty • Chrome Refinishing37720 Manor Road • Chaptico, Maryland 20621

46924 Shangri-La Drive Lexington Park, MD 20653

301-863-9497

Let me plan your next vacation!

Sarah [email protected]

Est. 1982 Lic #12999

Heating & Air Conditioning

“THE HEAT PUMP PEOPLE”30457 Potomac WayCharlotte Hall, MD 20622Phone: 301-884-5011

snheatingac.com

Want Personal Local Service?

CALL 301-884-4575 for ConsultationMary CliftonFinancial Advisor

28103 Three Notch Road • Mechanicsville

Retirement Planning • Stocks • BondsMutual Funds • IRAs • CDs

Member SIPC

Classifieds

The County Times will not be held responsible for any ads omitted for any reason. The County Times reserves the right to edit or reject any clas-sified ad not meeting the standards of The County Times. It is your responsiblity to check the ad on its first publication and call us if a mistake is found. We will correct your ad only if noti-fied after the first day the first publication ran.

Important

To place a Classified Ad, please email your ad to: [email protected] or Call: 301-373-4125 or Fax: 301-373-4128 for a price quote. Office hours are: Monday thru Friday 8am - 4pm. The County Times is

published each Thursday.

Deadlines for Classifieds are Tuesday at 12 pm.

Real Estate

This home is a three story townhouse located in a great family neighborhood. The top floor has two large bedrooms which could optionally be partitioned into three bedrooms. There is a full master bathroom and a full main hall bathroom on this floor. The main floor has a large kitchen which looks out at a wooded lot. The adjacent dining room has sliding glass doors that lead out to a raised rear deck. The basement has a

large utility room and a large finished recreation room and a half bath. The recreation room leads out through sliding glass doors to a patio in the

backyard. Price: $191,900. For more information, visit http://www.forsalebyowner.com/listing/

GG8OY or contact Scott at 716-698-8805.

Real Estate Rentals

RENOVATED four bedroom, two 1/2 bath split level. Brand new carpet and paint. dishwasher, washer and dryer. Full use of 2 car garage. Two

decks. Good credit required. Desirable location, convenient to DC, Patuxent River Naval Air, CCNPP. Plum Point and Huntingtown school districts. Pets upon approval. Great place for family! Rent: $2200. Call 240-508-2403 for

more info.

Employment

Seeking Employment

Seeking Band Members

Newly formed band that plays hard rock and punk, among other styles, is seeking a hard-hitting

drummer and a second guitarist. Nice practice space in the basement of my home- jam every Friday night. Looking for people open-minded and easy going… ready to rock and have a good time. Give Jeff a call after 6 on weekdays or any

time on the weekends at 240-237-8981.

SEEKING HOME CARE NURSING POSITION

St. Mary’s County Only • 25 Years ExperienceImmediate Availability upon Assessment.

Serious inquiries only: 240-561-2059.

OPEN HOUSE TUES 1/31Weekend Grocery Demonstrators NEEDED

in California, MD$55-60 per 5 hrs

Come learn more:Tues. 10am - 7pm

Hampton Inn22211 Three Notch Rd. Lexington Park, MD

RSVP to:[email protected]


The Lexington Park Rotary Club initiated its annual Dictionary Project this week, with a kick off event at the Elks Club in California joined by St. Mary’s County School Superintendent Michael Martirano. During the course of the week, Ro-tary members will donate 600 dic-tionaries to third graders as part of a regional effort organized by the Ro-tary Clubs of District 7620.

The goal of the dictionary proj-ect is to assist all third grade students to complete the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing the students with their own personal dictionaries.

“Our club has been helping the community with various goodwill, charity and volunteer initiatives for over 40 years. We hope to continue this [dictionary] project for many years to come,” Robin Finnacom, president of the Lexington Park Rotary Club, said in a press release. “Perhaps in another 40 years, some of the students who received our dictionaries will become our club members and give out dictionaries to other third graders.”

Library items

Cat of the Week

Chess Workshops being offeredSteve Ortiz, President of Maryland Educational Chess

Association, will conduct the final two chess workshops on Jan. 31 and on Feb. 7 at Lexington Park library covering Checkmate to Win and Forming a Strategy. Both work-shops begin at 6:30 p.m.

Workshop provides eReader demonstrations

Space is still available at the eBook Workshop to be held Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. at the Leonardtown branch. Demon-strations of various eReaders and how to browse, checkout and download from the library’s collection will be given. Lexington Park library will offer the same workshop on Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m. Registration is required for both workshops.

Kids’ Karaoke, LEGO fun and evening storytimes planned

Lexington Park Library will host Kids’ Karaoke for ages 8-14 on Feb. 2 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Families can enjoy evening storytimes at Lexington Park branch on Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. and at both Charlotte Hall and Leonardtown on Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. with LEGO fun following at 6:30 p.m.

Libraries offer free training for childcare providersChildcare providers can earn two CEUs by attending

Every Child Ready to Read training to be held at the Leon-ardtown branch on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m., at Charlotte Hall branch on Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. and at Lexington Park branch on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. The providers will learn simple activi-ties they can do every day to help children in their care get ready to read. Registration is required.

Calling all poetsThe next Poetry Open Mic will be Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m.

at the Leonardtown library. Poets of all ages can share their original poems or a favorite one or just come to listen.

Black History Celebration plannedThe public will discover how a motherless slave child

taught himself to read and write then as a daring young man risked his life and limbs to escape to freedom when professional storyteller Walter Jones, Jr. takes the stage as Frederick Douglass at the Black History Month celebration. The free program will be held on Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m. at the Lexington Park library. Light refreshments will be served. St. Mary’s County Branch NAACP, Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions and the Minority Outreach Coalition is co-sponsoring this event.

Russ Here!I was born around April 15th of

2011. I am calm and well adjusted. I love to be petted. I love people. If I am in a room and you come in the room, I am so happy to see you and I will look up at you with adoring eyes even if I don't know you. I am very friendly. If you want a friendly, loyal guy, I am your man.

If you would like to adopt me, please fill out an application at www.fe-ralcatrescuemd.org and email it to [email protected]. If you have questions, please call 301-481-0171.

Waiting just for you,Russ

Miss St. Mary's Farm Bureau Contest

The purpose of this contest is to have a young woman from St. Mary's with an agricultural background serve as a leader and

representative of our agricultural industry and the Farm Bureau Organization throughout the year.The contest is open to single women ages 16-19 who are actively engaged in agriculture. The contestant's family must be a Farm

Bureau member. The next contest will be held on March 10.Anyone interested should contact Judy Hayden at 301-994-0350, or [email protected]. Information can also be found

on the Farm Bureau web site at http://www.mdfarmbureau.com/StMary.asp.

Farm Bureau Offers Scholarship The St. Mary's County Farm Bureau is offering a $1,000 college scholarship in remembrance of local farmer, Floyd Raley, to a

student of a Farm Bureau family entering college in the fall of 2012.The student must be full-time and pursuing a degree in agriculture, horticulture, environmental science (water, soil, air) or a

related field of study. For more information go to http://www.mdfarmbureau.com/StMary.asp or contact Judy Hayden at 301-994-0350 - hayden.judy@

yahoo.com. The deadline for submitting an application is Feb. 29.

Ryken Robotics Team Wins Design Award

Rotary Members Deliver 600 Dictionaries

The St. Mary’s Ryken First Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics team brought home the presti-gious PTC Design Award from the FTC qualifying round of competition on Jan 21, in Aberdeen. The design award recognizes the team with the most compelling functional, aesthetic and industrial design elements incorporated into their robot. To win the award, the design must not compromise the practical operation of the robot and must compli-ment its purpose. Pictured is: front row, Gina Liu, left, Shannon McPartland, Michael Holmes and Brian Mai; back row, left, Chris Sydnor, James Kachman, Kenny Zenthoefer and the team's coach, Mr. Randy Gross. Tyler Dameron is not pictured.

Lexington Park Rotarian Tom Burke delivering Dictionaries to third graders at the St. Mary's Charter School.

Students at Park Hall Elementary are excited to receive their dictionaries.

Thursday, January 26, 201221 The County TimesW

hat’s

Going OnIn Entertainment

Thursday, Jan. 26Live Music: “The Sam Grow Band”The Tides Restaurant (46580 Expedition Drive; Lexington Park) – 7 p.m.

Live Music: “The Pirnahas”Toot’s Bar (23971 Mervell Dean Road, Hollywood) – 8:30 p.m.

Live Music: “The Justin Crenshaw Band- Acoustic”The Blue Dog Saloon (7940 Port Tobacco Road, Port Tobacco) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Buster Brown Duo”Casey Jones Pub (417 E. Charles St., La Plata) – 9:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Dave Norris”DB McMillan’s (23415 Three Notch Road, California) – 6 p.m.

Live Music: “Dylan Galvin”Ruddy Duck Brewery (13200 Dowell Road, Dowell) – 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 27Live Music: “Full Steam”Loveville Tavern (28275 Point Lookout Road, Leonardtown) – 9:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Justin Crenshaw Band”Apehangers Bar and Grill (9100 Crain Highway, Bel Alton) – 9:30 p.m.

Live Music: “R & R Train”The Blue Dog Saloon (7940 Port Tobacco Road, Port Tobacco) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Alana & Friends”Hole In the Wall Tavern (24702 Sotterley Road, Hollywood) – 8:30 p.m.

Live Music: “The Piranhas”Ruddy Duck Brewery (13200 Dowell Road, Dowell) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Diane Daly”The Westlawn Inn (9200 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach) – 7:30 p.m.

Live Music: “John Luskey Band”Martini’s Lounge (10553 Theodore Green Boulevard, White Plains) – 8:30 p.m.

Live Music: “WildGooD” VFW Post 2632 (23282 Three Notch Rd., California) – 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 28Live Music: “Hate the Toy”Toot’s Bar (23971 Mervell Dean Road, Hollywood) – 8:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Last Remains”Memories Nightclub and Bar (2360 Old Washington Road, Waldorf) – 9:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Sum Bich”Big Dogs Paradise (28765 Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville) – 9:30 p.m.

Live Music: “The Sam Grow Band”Vera’s White Sands Beach Club (1200 White Sands Drive, Lusby) – 9 p.m.

Live Music: “Split Decision”Hotel Charles (15110 Burnt Store Road, Hughesville) – 9 p.m.

Live Music: “Full Steam”Apehangers Bar and Grill (9100 Crain Highway, Bel Alton) – 9:30 p.m.

Live Music: “California Ramblers”Anderson’s Bar (23945 Colton Point Road, Clements) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Pet the Monster”Heavy Hitters Bar and Grill (30125 Three Notch Road, Charlotte Hall) - 9:30 p.m.

Live Music: “A Day Off Earth”Fat Boy’s Country Store (41566 Medleys Neck Road, Leonardtown) - 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Slow Rush”Martini’s Lounge (10553 Theodore Green Boulevard, White Plains) – 8:30 p.m.

Live Music: “The Craze”Cryer’s Back Road Inn (22094 Newtowne Neck Road, Leonardtown) – 9 p.m.

Live Music: “Gretchen Richie- Jazz After Hours w/ Dancing”Cafe Des Artistes (41655 Fenwick Street, Leonardtown) - 7 p.m.

Live Music: “The Piranhas”Creekside Pub (20256 Point Lookout Road, Great Mills) – 9 p.m. Live Music: “Dominic and Benjie Organ Jazz & Funk”Ruddy Duck Brewery (13200 Dowell Road, Dowell) – 7:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Pounding Sand Band”St. James Pub (19343 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park) – 9 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 29Live Music: “The Boxcars w/ The Recycled Bluegrass Band”American Legion Post 238 (6265 Brandywine Road, Hughesville) – 2 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 30Open Mic NightRustic River Bar and Grill (40874 Merchants Lane, Leonardtown) – 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 31Trivia NightRustic River Bar and Grill (40874 Merchants Lane, Leonardtown) – 6:30 p.m.

Open Mic NightRuddy Duck Brewery (13200 Dowell Road, Dowell) – 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 1Live Music: “Mason Sebastian”DB McMillan’s (23415 Three Notch Road, California) – 5 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 26• YPI Game NightLa Tabella Ristorante Italiano (23154 Wetstone Lane, California) – 6 p.m.

The Young Professionals Initiative of St. Mary’s County will host a Game Night. Young professionals living or working in St. Mary’s County are invited to come enjoy games, fun and food with other young professionals. If you are not a member of YPI, this is a great and in-formal way to learn more about the organization and meet new people. The cost is free for YPI Members and $5 for non-members. Appetizers will be provided by Sabre Systems. For more information or to RSVP contact [email protected].

• VOICES Poetry Reading Daufhtery-Palmer Commons, St. Mary’s Col-lege of Maryland (18952 East Fishers Road, St. Mary’s City) – 8:15 p.m.

To kick off the spring semester of St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s VOICES Reading Series, Josè Ballesteros, associate professor of Spanish at St. Mary’s, will read from his works at 8:15 p.m. Refreshments will be served after the read-ing. His poetry has been featured in the Span-ish language poetry anthology “At the Foot of the White House: Hispanic Poets of Washington D.C.” He is one of the translators for the English edition of the anthology that will be published in 2012. Also, his co-translation of Marcial Mo-lina Richter’s book-length poem “The Word of the Dead” will be published in Lima, Peru, this spring. Ballesteros’ poetry also has been pub-lished in journals such as “Rio Grande Review,” “Hispanic Culture Review,” “Visages d’ Ame-rique Latine: Revista de studios iberoamerica-nos,” and “Kiosk.”

• Obama for America (OfA)-St. Mary’s County for Obama Lexington Park Library (21677 FDR Boulevard, Lexington Park) – 6:30 p.m.

There will be a community meeting and volunteer orientation for citizens interested in working in the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama. Lewis Powell, regional lead, for Southern Maryland for Obama will present campaign information and local leadership team coordinators will meet with volunteers who have signed up to work. All supporters and volunteers are invited to attend. For more information, call Janice Walthour at 301-862-2296.

Friday, Jan. 27• Home Spun Coffee HouseChrist Church Parish (37497 Zach Fowler Road, Chaptico) – 7 p.m.

The Home Spun Coffee House will sponsor an Open Mic. This is a great event with many varieties of music and lots of friendship, so if you haven’t been to an SMTMD event before, this is a great time to start! The doors Open at 7 p.m., and the music starts at 7:30 p.m. The admission fee for this event is only $5, and performers are ad-mitted free. Light refreshments will be provided (donations are suggested). For additional infor-mation, or to sign up to perform, please contact John Garner at [email protected] or call John at 301-904-4987.

Saturday, Jan. 28• Indoor Cornhole TounamentHoly Angels Hall (21340 Colton Point Road, Avenue) – 11 a.m.

The Seventh District Optimist Club will be sponsoring an indoor cornhole tournament at Holy Angels Church. Proceeds to help with kids activities sponsored by the 7th District Optimist Club. So hope to see you there. Registration be-gins at 11 a.m. and bags fly at noon. Registration is $50 per team of two. Food and beverages will be served. No coolers allowed. For more infor-mation, call Charlie at 301-769-2608.

• Hand Dance American Legion 206 (Route 260, Chesapeake Beach) – 6:30 p.m.

It’s back and better than ever! One hour lessons commence at 6:30 p.m. followed by dancing until 11 p.m. Open to the public. $7 per person. Cash bar and hot sandwiches available. American Legion Stallings-Williams Post 206 in Chesapeake Beach on Route 260. Call Fred Baumgarner for further information at 301-855-6466 or visit www.ALPost206.org

Sunday, Jan. 29• The Refinery at First Saints Community ChurchSt. Paul’s Campus (25550 Point Lookout Road, Leonardtown) – 6 p.m.

The Refinery is a campus, a community, and a worship service. The Refinery had its be-ginnings as a fourth worship service at St. Paul’s. In 2006, the service was moved to Sunday eve-nings. In 2010, the Refinery became an individ-ual campus of First Saints Community Church. Refinery worship is experiential. For us, this means all aspects of the service are uniquely de-signed to create a worship experience that fits the occasion and the message. There may be art, dra-ma, discussion and places or times for individual engagement with God through senses other than sight and sound. There aren’t any cookie-cutter Sundays with the Refinery. A team meets weekly to plan each service and incorporate elements that will engage attendees in different aspects, styles and forms of worship. The Refinery is a community in the ways we connect with one an-other. The group places value on connecting with one another in social media and group activity outside of the Refinery worship service. Since we meet Sunday evenings, the Refinery is an ideal worship service for people who work Sun-day morning shifts or families who participate in Sunday sports. For more information, check out the First Saints Community Church website at www.firstsaints.org/.

Monday, Jan. 30• Annual Talent Hunt 2012 CompetitionWest Lake High School (West Lake High School, 3300 Middletown Road) – 1 p.m.

All High school students currently enrolled in grades 9-12 in the Southern Maryland area are welcome to a talent competition hosted by Tau Lambda Lambda Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity, Inc. The competition will help assist talented young people participating in the arts, with exposure, encouragement and possible fi-nancial rewards. To apply, visit www.southern-mdques.org. For more information contact: Mr. Jake Prater at 301-706-7039. The community is welcome and admission is free.

Tuesday, Jan. 31• Kids Day OutLexington Park United Methodist Church (21760 Great Mills Road, Lexington Park) – 9 a.m.

The Lexington Park United Methodist Church had a lot of water damage during the hurricane. We have just finished renovating the facilities. The church basement has all new floor-ing, freshly painted walls and a lot of new stor-age space. The entire facility looks brand new, very attractive and inviting. The church offers a Kid’s Day Out program. The program meets ev-ery Tuesday from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The program offers parents time for doctors appointment, cleaning, visits to friends, shopping or just time to sit back, relax and enjoy some time to regroup knowing that their children are in a safe, loving environment. The program is open to children four months through age four. The teachers are trained, FBI checked and First Aid and CPR trained. The cost of the program is $40 per week for ages four months to one year and $30 for ages one year to four years. Let the staff provide you with a day to yourself where your children are safe, in a loving , spiritual and educational envi-ronment. For more information contact Patricia Pinnell, Director at 301-994-9327 or 301-863-3900 or [email protected]

Wednesday, Feb. 1• Leadership Southern Maryland Breakfast MeetingCalvert County Department of Economic Develop-ment (205 Main Street, Prince Frederick) – 8 a.m.

The Leadership Southern Maryland (LSM) Board of Directors announced today that they will host three informal breakfast meetings in Charles, St. Mary’s, and Calvert County to in-vite potential candidates to learn more about the benefits of LSM. Board members, Alumni and Class 2012 members will be available to share information about the LSM Program and Appli-cation Process with interested LSM candidates. An RSVP is required to attend. To RSVP, con-tact Karen Holcomb via email [email protected] or call 240-725-5469; messages are welcome. To learn more about LSM, please visit www.leadsomd.org.

Thursday, Feb. 2• Open House Father Andrew White School (22850 Washing-ton Street, Leonardtown) – 9:30 a.m.

Father Andrew White School in Leonard-town will be holding an Open House. Prospec-tive families will be able to tour the school, see students in action, meet teachers and staff and learn more about the enrollment process. Please contact the school at 301-475-9795 for more information.

Friday, Feb. 3• Open HouseSt John’s School (43900 Saint Johns Road, Hol-lywood) – 10 a.m.

St. John’s, a Pre-K - 8th grade Catholic school located in Hollywood, will be hosting an Open House from 10a.m.-2p.m. for all interested families as part of our Catholic Schools Week celebration. This year’s Catholic School theme expresses our school’s focus on learning about faith, striving for high academic standards, and serving our community. We’ve planned a vari-ety of events that demonstrate how we’re doing it. Come see what makes St. John’s School ex-ceptional! Meet the staff and see our students in action! Please consider joining us for a tour of our new facility, which includes a full size gym, classrooms equipped with Star Boards, multiple Media Labs, and more! Learn about our new full day or half-day Pre-K program as well as our extracurricular activities, extended day care and international partnerships. Information packets with further details will be distributed. For more information, please contact St. John’s School at 301-373-2142 or [email protected] or visit our website at www.sjshollywood.org.

• North End Gallery “Made in Maryland” ShowNorth End Gallery (41625 Fenwick Street, Leon-ardtown) – 5 p.m.

In February the North End Gallery pres-ents a special invitational show titled “Made In Maryland.” Invited guest artists as well as North End Gallery members will be presenting work connected to our state of Maryland. Art pieces will be depicting Maryland or will have been cre-ated in Maryland. To go along with this theme we are emphasizing local foods at our First Friday event. The reception will have wonderful treats made by Chef Loic from the Cafe des Artistes. There will be local buffalo from Dick Wildes and crab dip to name a few selections. Wine from the Port of Leonardtown Winery will be served. The show will run from January 31 through February 26. For more information, call 301-475-3130 or visit www,northendgallery.org.

• First FridayLeonardtown – 5 p.m.

First Fridays are a great time to experience downtown Leonardtown! On the first Friday of every month from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m., downtown historic Leonardtown Square and the new Leon-ardtown Arts Center, as well as uptown Leonard-town, including Breton Marketplace, Shoppes at Breton Bay, the Maryland Antiques Center com-plex, Port of Leonardtown Winery and others host an evening of entertainment where people gather to enjoy art, music, food, and the company of others. Hear live bands as you stroll through town, enjoy excellent restaurants, meet local art-ists, and browse through unique shops. Check www.leonardtownfirstfridays.com often for up-dated information, specials, and giveaways! For more information, call 301-475-9791.

• US Naval Academy Alumni DinnerHilton Garden, Solomons Island (13100 Dowell Road, Solomons) – 6:30 p.m.

The Greater Southern Maryland Chapter of the US Naval Academy Alumni Association in-vite all members, alums, and friends of USNA to the annual “Dark Ages Dinner”. The Dark Ages Dinner is one of GSMC’s premiere events that allows us to breakout during the winter for some sea stories, fairy tales, great food, good drink, casual socializing with the best of friends and no speechifying. The annual GSMC Dinner will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Solomons on Friday evening 3 February with grog at 6:30, chow at 7:30 and will be done by 9. Reservations are required. Entry is $49 per person with a cash bar on the website at www.navyalumni.org or email [email protected] or call him at 240-298-2279.


Last Week’s Puzzle Solutions

CLUES ACROSS 1. Point one point E of due S 4. Slithered 8. The brain and spinal cord (abbr.)11. Direct the steering of a ship13. Chops with irregular blows15. Plural of hilum16. Incline from vertical (geo.)17. Simple word forms18. Paddles 19. Roman garment21. Meat skewers23. Ethiopia (abbr.)25. The cry made by sheep26. Beatty-Bening movie30. Concealed33. Political action committee34. High rock piles (Old English)35. Scottish County (abbr.)36. Goat and camel hair fabric37. A very large body of water38. Fabric stain39. Israeli city ___ Aviv40. Shoe’s underside42. Military legal corps43. Patti Hearst’s captors44. Undecided48. ‘__ death do us part

49. Supervises flying50. Many headed monsters54. Literary language of Pakistan57. Halo58. Hawaiian hello63. Lubricants65. Mild exclamation66. Greek fresh-water nymph67. Nickname for grandmother68. A restaurant bill69. Automaker Ransom E.70. A young man

CLUES DOWN 1. Schenectady County Airport 2. Small water craft 3. Opposite of ecto 4. The woman 5. Skeletal muscle 6. Devoid of warmth and cordiality 7. Decameter 8. Italian goodbye 9. Mediation council10. Impudence12. A desert in S Israel14. Japanese seaport15. Nob or goblin20. Ingested

22. Swiss river24. Protects head from weather25. Lava rock26. Designer identifier27. 34470 FL28. Petrified ancient animal29. Gas used in refrigeration30. Journeys to Mecca31. Eighth month, Jewish calendar32. Small indefinite quantity33. Taps41. Extremely high frequency44. Iguanidae genus45. From the Leaning Tower’s city46. Cologne47. Moses’ elder brother (Bible)50. A minute amount (Scott)51. Hindu name for 4 epochs52. Faded and dull53. Radioactivity unit55. The face of a clock56. The inner forearm bone59. Tai language of the Me-kong region60. Embrocate61. Possessed62. Public promotions64. Sorrowful

erKiddieKor n


By Linda RenoContributing Writer

Mary “Lu-cinda” Cheseldine was born Septem-ber 15, 1832 and the eldest child of Kenelm Cheseldine and his wife, Lucinda Fergu-son. In 1852 she mar-

ried George Thompson, a widower, who was 28 years older than she (he had at least two children older than Lucinda). This was prob-ably a marriage of economic necessity, but who knows for sure?

As I told you last week, George Thompson died in Washington, D.C. in 1863, leaving behind Lucinda and three young daughters. On January 25, 1865 Lucinda, ob-viously tired of older men, married Edward Davison Tay-lor, a Union officer from Warren County, NJ (11 years her junior). You go Lucinda!

The family was living in Warren County, NJ at the time of the 1870 census and Lucinda had borne two more children. In 1878 they moved to Edwards County, KS.

The old ties with St. Mary’s County hadn’t been bro-ken. In 1873 Charlotte L. Thompson, the eldest daughter, married William Henry “Billy” Cullison. They lived here until about 1885 when they moved to Washington, D.C. where trouble awaited them.

“W. H. Cullison Wants A Divorce. William H. Culli-son, in a petition for divorce filed yesterday, charges his wife, Charlotte Cullison, with desertion and adultery. They were wedded in St. Mary’s County, Md., June 9, 1873, ac-cording to the rites of the Catholic Church. Desertion is charged from August 12, 1888.” (Washington Post, March 2, 1894).

The divorce was granted as Charlotte mar-ried John Stein in 1895 (he was 18 years her junior). They lived at Rock Point in Charles County but returned to Washington by 1920. As it so happens, the census taker visited the house on January 8 or 9 of that year and Charlotte died on January 10. She was buried at Congressional Cemetery as we discussed last week.

The second daughter, Mary Lucinda “Lucy” Thompson, also returned to St. Mary’s County to find a groom. In 1878 she married James Robert

Wise. They also moved to Washington, D.C. about 1885 and by 1890 Lucy had divorced James, moved to Edwards County, Kansas near her mother and married Ridgely Pe-ters. The second marriage also ended in divorce. Lucy was living in Oklahoma as late as 1925 and was named in her mother’s obituary as Lucy Fowler.

The last daughter was Eliza Catherine Thompson, born about 1860 who went to Kansas with her mother and married there Alpheus Barlow in 1880.

The picture accompanying this article comes to us courtesy of Eric Taylor, a descendant of Mary Lucinda Cheseldine by her second marriage. Eric believes the pic-ture was taken about 1910 in Kinsley, KS. Not all of the people in the photograph are identified, but

Lucinda is the woman dressed all in black. To Lu-cinda’s right is her daughter, Eliza Catherine (Thompson) Barlow and to Lucinda’s left is her second husband, Ed-ward Davison Taylor (he died in 1911).

Lucinda lived to the ripe old age of 92. She died Janu-ary 29, 1925 at her home in Kinsley, KS and was buried next to Edward Davison Taylor.

A Journey Through TimeA Journey Through TimeThe Chronicleof an Aimless

MindWanderings

Slowing down?

By Shelby OppermannContributing Writer

There are times when I wish a week would go by really fast in an-ticipation of an event ahead, and then there are weeks that I wish could slow down in anticipation of events ahead. This week is one of the lat-ter weeks. On Saturday, our parish hall will be hosting a post memorial service for one of our beloved parishioners, Jack Edwards. And Saturday evening our family and friends will be helping at a spaghetti fundraiser at the Hughesville Legion to help defray some huge prescription deficits for my husband’s sister Pam. I feel that this week is racing by faster than ever without any hope of accomplishing everything (I feel) I need to do. Oh, this sounds like you too? Everyone wishes to slow a day down, a week down, or add an extra day occasionally.

My Monday off just whizzed by with a visit to a cousin up at Anne Arundel Medical Center. Probably at the time, I was enjoying every moment of the day with our visit and walking around the “new and im-proved” parole shopping area., but now it seems like it was all spent in the car. To be fair, I must balance this past Monday against a few of the previ-ous Mondays where we took time to enjoy some of our local parks. One particularly cold and blustery Monday (the kind that Tidbit loves) we spent watching our friend, Coleman kite flying at nearby Chaptico Park – one of our little known treasures. Originally, Coleman was attempting to fly his beautiful eagle kite in his front yard when we stopped to talk to him on our way out. We mentioned that we were taking Tidbit to the park to play and that the kite would fly really well there. He was convinced and followed us over. You could almost believe the kite was a real eagle as it soared high into the bright blue sky. I did snap some great shots of the eagle losing it’s lift and crashing down to attack Coleman. If you friend me on Facebook, you can see some of the attack and soaring photos. Speaking of which, the County Times can now be found on facebook, so all of us have an alterna-tive method of reader interaction.

The following Monday, a much warmer day, we again set off to Chaptico Park for a nice long walk and some exploring. There is so much more there then first meets the eye. When you first walk or drive in all you see are endless soccer fields, but towards the back there is a really neat BMX track, and past that a few old trails. One was most likely an old fire road, but the one we took looked like an old hunting trail. We followed the hunting trail for quite awhile until it became narrower and narrower. We decided to stop for that reason and because darkness was nearly upon us. On first glance the trail does look as if it has tire or buggy ruts, which may have been the case. I would have liked to started earlier that day, so we could have kept going until the end. There might have been an old house back there which is always exciting to me.

A few weeks before, we walked all around one of our many favorite parks: Gilbert Run off Route 6. The trail around the lake is a great cardio workout with the path meandering up and down some fairly steep slopes. We were amazed to see some of the hurricane damage around us. One of our special spots, a secluded picnic table under a shelter had been crushed into a “V” shape by a huge old tree. We also love walking over the long bridge that connects the paddle boat area to the playground area. Tidbit however did not like going over the bridge. She didn’t like being able to see the water through the boards on the bridge. Tidbit whimpered and kept turning back. I was just going back to pick her up when she finally found the courage to cross the bridge; albeit in a slouching, slinking manner. One sight off to the side of the bridge that I loved, and took photos of was the “bobber tree” which overhangs the lake. It must be a prized fishing spot. At first I wondered what was hanging all over the tree. When you look closely, you see that there are lots of fishing bobbers attached to the branches. I suppose that is from the fishermen casting their lines, but since we were there the week before Christmas it looked like the most clever Christmas tree to me.

I love my busy life, but I also treasure those days when I get to slow down and walk through a local park. I’m sure that’s where I will be next Monday and I hope you also get some time to just slow down and enjoy.

To each new day’s adventure, Shelby

Please send your comments or ideas to: [email protected]

Over 250,000 Southern Marylanders can’t be wrong!


2012 Ice Bowl: Disc Golfers Donate Big to Local Food Bank

The County Times is always looking for more local talent to feature! To submit art or band information for our entertainment section,

e-mail [email protected].

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Taking the sport to new extremes in the name of a great cause, disc golfers braved the chilly temperatures Sunday to play in the inaugural, and aptly named, Ice Bowl tournament.

Many players traveled to the area to join the Southern Maryland Disc Golf Club at the 18-hole Hot Shots course in John. G. Lancaster Park in an effort to play a round and fight the battle against hunger. Flyers for the event stated “No wimps. No whiners.” [None were present] With tem-peratures hovering at 33 degrees.

In all, the event went even better than anticipated, ac-cording to Jerry Honis, a systems engineer at Wyle and Ice Bowl tournament director. He said 34 players completed the course and all together the group will make a donation of 411 pounds of food and $1,625 to the Southern Maryland Food Bank.

Mike Seay, of Port Republic, raised $450 through pledges and sponsorships.

“We destroyed our original goal … and the food bank is really struggling to keep up with the need, so it’s great to be able to help,” said Seay, an avid disc golfer who uses Hot Shots as his home course.

The goal for the first-ever Ice Bowl was to raise $500

and 100 pounds of food, Honis explained, adding, “We will have to set a higher goal next year.” The group hopes to host the event annually and pitched in to provide chili after the frigid match, a raffle and prizes for participants. “A lot of people contributed and made this a real success,” he said.

Kevin Morrow traveled to the tournament from Fred-ericksburg, Va. and single-handedly raised 100 pounds of foods to donate. He said Sunday was his first visit to the course, but said he would definitely be back.

Mulligans went for $2 each, raising a few hundred dol-lars to add to the large donation.

One participant, Bill Safford of Clinton, told the Coun-ty Times, “It was an amazing event,” adding that locals as

well as players traveling from as far away as Annapolis, D.C. and Virginia were able to raise a lot of money and de-liver a lot of food to Southern Maryland’s needy.

Many disc golfers have played at courses across the U.S. and rank Hot Shots highly in reviews. Honis said any-one interested in the sport or in joining the Southern Mary-land Disc Golf Club should contact him at 301-534-3089 or meet up at the course Sundays at 10 a.m.

Yes, even in the winter weather… remember, “no wimps, no whiners.”

Top division winners of the Ice Bowl are listed below:

Advanced Division1st Andrew Jose of Lexington Park

2nd Jeffrey McIntyre of Lexington Park3rd Garrett Long of Annapolis

Intermediate Division1st Kelen Sisk of Leonardtown

2nd Bill Safford of Clinton3rd Shawn Headley of St. Leonard

Recreation Division1st Ian Bennett of Montclair, Va.

2nd Charlie Madison of Alexandria, Va. 3rd Mike Coffey of Alexandria, Va.

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Photos By Carrie Munn


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By Ronald N. Guy Jr.Contributing Writer

With the Su-per Bowl yet to be served, the NFL playoffs have al-ready been a fan-tastic dish. The fashionable, pin-ball machine-like offenses in Green Bay and New Or-leans fell victim to throwback, defense-first foes. Tebow-mania un-

expectedly took out Black and Gold nation before falling to a man named Brady (Tom...not Mike, Greg, Peter or Bobby). The upstart 49ers provided NFL history books with an-other memorable victory catch at Candlestick Park. And the conference championship games, both decided by 3 points, were epic. Whew…is it any wonder this game has be-come so deeply woven into our culture and

created such an emotional addiction that glut-tonous indulgence in its buffet is inevitable?

The answers are an emphatic “no” and “no”, of course. One of the reasons for NFL’s popularity is its unpredictability, a trait that creates hope for fans of the league’s down-trodden and indigestion in fans waving the flags of the favorites. In other words, sus-pense is ever-present. The NFL is a league where the 5-11 ‘Skins can beat the Giants twice, the 2-14 Rams can beat the Saints, the Giants can travel to Lambeau Field and ruin the Packers’ 15-1 season and 49ers can go from 6-10 in 2010 to the NFC Championship Game a year later (yes, all of that really hap-pened). Proof of the NFL’s capriciousness – ironically similar to the disjointed bouncing of a loose football – can be found in its post-season’s cast: an annually derived twelve-team roster that’s never the same and always contains members that will raise your brow.

The source of this yearly postseason upheaval is the dynamic forces residing within every roster. Teams must manage 53 (its rosters size) different personalities, overcome contract/payment squabbles, deal

with high attrition (performance and injuries wreak havoc on personnel) and align dozens of specialized roles around a common mis-sion. Sound familiar? It should. The chal-lenges are virtually identical to those facing the average business or professional organi-zation. And so, with football established as sports’ best metaphor for the workplace, the playoffs present a perfect opportunity to not just watch the riveting ascent to the top of Mount NFL, but to contemplate the reasons for each team’s success. While their stories are unique, when considered in aggregate, this year’s playoff cast – the best of the best and survivors of a perilous journey - presents a formula that challenges many long-held te-nets of success.

Organizations of any notable size must have an established structure and processes and be disciplined in its daily operations. Absent such a framework, chaos – competing priorities, duplicative effort and general inef-ficiency - will prevail and failure will soon follow. So, yes, a clear structure is essential. However, there is an irritating tendency for larger organizations to become so structure-focused that creative thinking and its by-product, organization growth, are retarded. Once success is achieved, and those within every NFL front office and managing large organizations have experienced plenty, it’s human nature to repeat the formula and ex-

pect similar results. Such behavior, though, ignores the changing marketplace and evolv-ing skill-set within an organization.

The NFL squads that made the playoffs were those that embraced the talent within the organization and adapted their approach to the existing skill-sets. The Bengals fig-ured out how to win behind a rookie quarter-back. The Broncos reinvented their offense, several weeks into the season, around the unique talents of Tim Tebow. The Texans came up with a strategy to win with rookie, third-string quarterback who was pressed into duty through a rash of injuries. Jim Har-baugh, who had never coached a single down in the NFL and with virtually no offseason, took over a demoralized 49ers organization and a broken-spirited quarterback and won 13 games. Even the Patriots, post-season regulars, evolved into something I’ve never seen before: an offensive juggernaut based around two uber-talented tight ends.

This year’s playoff teams are not so much a testament to following a tried and true success formula, but to the importance of being open-minded and highly adaptive within a general framework. Structure and discipline are important components of suc-cess, but no more so than creativity, flexibil-ity and the courage to pursue the unknown.

Send comments to [email protected]

BleaChersA View From The Revisiting The Success-Model

By Keith McGuireContributing Writer

January weather does little to help cure cab-in fever or winter doldrums. Thankfully, I have the job of finding new things to talk about that re-late to outdoor activities that we can enjoy when the weather is better.

You may recall that the Maryland Depart-ment of Natural Resources sponsored a Snake-head Fishing Contest last year. Anglers who caught northern snakeheads were invited to post a picture and a brief description of their catch on the “DNR Anglers’ Log” in order to be eligible for prizes at the end of the year. Last week they announced the winners. Top prize was a $200 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card, and the winner was Rodney Hose of Lexington Park! Rodney caught the fish on September 21, 2011. He said the snake-head smashed a white chatterbait with a zoom 4” trailer. The fish was caught on the Virginia shore-line of Occoquan Bay, south of the Wildlife Ref-uge. Congratulations Rodney!

While I was poking around at Maryland DNR, I came upon something that I’ll bet you

didn’t know! There is now a statewide moratorium on the harvest of River Herring including blueback and ale-wife herring.

“This fishery closure was implemented on De-cember 26, 2011, in response to a coast-wide concern regarding the depressed stock levels of blueback and alewife herring,” said DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell. “This is evident by a 93 percent drop in commercial river herring landings along the Atlantic Coast since 1985.”

“With few exceptions, it is now illegal to possess river herring in Maryland,” said Mike Luisi, DNR Fish-eries Service Assistant Di-rector for Estuarine and Marine Fisheries.

Anyone in possession of river herring as bait will need to have a receipt indicating where the herring was purchased. This will allow bait shops to sell, and fishermen to possess, river herring for bait that was harvested from a State whose fishery remains open, as an ASMFC ap-proved sustainable fishery. States with open river herring fisheries include New York, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Concerned about the “alewife” defined by this moratorium, I talked to a DNR biologist to make sure that the bunker and menhaden that we typically use for cut-bait and chum was NOT included in this definition. As explained to me, there is a species of river herring similar to the blueback herring that some anglers in the north-ern reaches of the bay call alewife. It does not refer to our bunker. If you find yourself confused by these different species, you might check out their “Fish Facts” page on the MD DNR website at http://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/fishfacts/ to

see the differences between these fish.Under the “hardy people” category, there

are a few folks who are actually fishing now. Some are catching yellow perch in deep holes in the rivers and tributaries, and others are booking charters or guided trips out of Virginia Beach.

One such hardy individual – Cary Wolfe of Manassas, Virginia – caught a 74 pound, 57 ¾ inch striped bass last Friday off Cape Henry. The girth on this fish was 32 inches! It is not a world record – that’s held by Connecticut na-tive Greg Myerson who set the world record back in August with an 81.88-pound rockfish – but when validated, it will stand as a new Virginia State record. According to the report I saw from the Richmond Fishing Expo last weekend, Mr. Wolfe plans to eat the fish!

[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 support-ing local conservation organizations.

Angler’s News

Angler AnglerThe Ordinary

Rodney Hose with his prize-winning Snakehead.

Cary Wolfe with a Virginia record rockfish.


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SENIOR LIVING

St. Mary’s Dept of AgingPrograms and Activities

Lunch Bunch to meet on January 31On the last Tuesday of every month, a group

of friends meets at a different restaurant to enjoy lunch together. New friends are always welcome! This month we are trying out Thai Inter located in San Souci Plaza. We will meet there at 11:15 a.m. on January 31. If you would like to go to this month’s “lunch-out” call 301.737.5670, ext. 1655 be-fore January 30, so that you will be included in the reservation.

Steps to Avoiding Scams: Developed by the Na-tional Council on Aging

Presented by the Garvey Senior Activity staff on Monday, January 30 at 10:30 a.m., this practical toolkit will give an overview of popular scams tar-geting seniors, tips for avoiding them, and next steps for victims of financial fraud. To sign up for this pre-sentation call, 301.475.4200, ext. 1050.

Zumbathon for Heart HealthZumba your way to a healthy heart and raise

funds for the American Heart Association! On Fri-day, February 3 from 10:30 a.m. – Noon, the Gar-vey Senior Activity Center will host a Zumbathon. Participants are encouraged to wear red while danc-ing to Latin-inspired hip hop group fitness moves. Sign up for half hour time slots between 10:30 a.m. – Noon. For each half hour you sign up to Zumba, donate $10.00. If you Zumba for one half hour, you will receive a FREE Red Dress Pin. Sign up for two half hour slots and receive a water bottle, or sign up for all three half hour time slots and receive a t-shirt! Proceeds will go to the American Heart As-sociation. Your donation reserves your time slot. For more information call, 301.475.4200, ext. 1050.

“All Things New” PerformanceOn Friday, February 3, from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30

p.m., a duo from the “All Things New” band will perform Christian music at the Northern Senior Activity Center. Enjoy lunch at noon with gospel and hymn favorites, some contemporary songs and references to scripture and faith in between. This ‘Easy Listening Lounge’ performance series show-cases local artists in a social and casual atmosphere. Make your lunch reservation for stuffed chicken breast before noon on Thursday, February 2, by calling, 301.475.4002 ext. 1001 (The cost for lunch is by donation for seniors 60 and older; $5 for indi-viduals under 60 years of age).

Life Before NAS PAXThe Patuxent River Naval Air Station is the

leading economic engine of Southern Maryland, with more than 20,000 military and civilian em-ployees. There was a time, however, before the air station even existed, when Southern Maryland was a rural community. It was a time when numerous farm buildings, an auto dealership, two churches, the town of Pearson and a summer colony existed on what is now NAS Patuxent River. Those days will come alive again at the Garvey Senior Activity Center on Tuesday, February 7 at 10:30 a.m. during a casual and relaxed chat with Webster Dyson, for-merly a resident of what is now the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Mr. Dyson will tell about life as an African-American in 1940s Southern Maryland. Light refreshments will be served. To sign up for this program call, 301.475.4200 ext. 1050.

Learn How to Download E-Books from the Li-brary- (Including Kindles!)

On Monday, February 6 at 12:30 p.m. Sarah Stevenson will be at Loffler Senior Activity Center

to demonstrate this latest form of borrowing books from the library. Also, she will give an overview of library programs that are available to you for free. To sign up for this presentation call, 301.737.5670, ext. 1658. Though walk-ins will be welcome, we will need at least 5 sign-ups are needed for this pro-gram to take place.

Breakfast & NewsbreakOn Wednesday, February 1, at 9 a.m., a

scrambled eggs and home fries breakfast will be served at the Northern Senior Activity Center. Complimentary beverages available. There is a $1 fee at sign-up, which is required 24 hours in ad-vance. Sit back and relax while watching the news on a large screen TV. Make your reservation at the Northern Senior Activity Center’s front desk.

Loffler Book Club Meets on Thursday, February 9 at 12:30 p.m.

This month the discussion will be on the book Fathermucker, by Greg Olear. Walk-ins are wel-come, but if you wish to sign up call, 301.737.5670 ext. 1658.

Hearing Loss and Technology Presentation at the Loffler Senior Activity Center

Tracy Nalefi from Hearing Professionals, Inc. will come to Loffler Senior Activity Center on Fri-day, February 10 at 12:15 p.m. to discuss the latest developments in audiology. This is an opportunity to learn about different types of hearing loss, treat-ments and assistive devices. To sign up for this pre-sentation call 301.737.5670 ext. 1658 or stop by the reception desk. Though walk-ins will be welcome, at least 5 sign-ups are needed for this program to take place.

Loffler Senior Activity Center 301-737-5670, ext. 1652; Garvey Senior Activity Center, 301-475-4200, ext. 1050; Northern Senior Activity Center, 301-475-4002, ext. 1001; Ridge Nutrition Site, 301-475-4200, ext. 1050.


MHBR No. 103

QBH Fall County Times Full Ad_BASE 10/27/11 3:29 PM Page 1

2012-01-26 county times

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