the county times 2008.01.08 a section

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THURSDAY 1.08.2008

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Raiders vs. Hornets

See Catholic Schools page A-10

See Trial page A-�

Ryken vs. Seton

Andrea ShiellStaff Writer

Lexington Park resident Jerry Goodwin stared out at the water of North Beach on New Year’s Day, a scant hour from St. Mary’s County, shaking his head

and laughing as he sipped a cup of hot cocoa. “I came here thinking maybe I would, maybe I

won’t,” he said. “Now I know I won’t. Definitely not. I’m not that crazy.”

He was referring to the annual New Year’s Day

Taking The Plunge

By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

St. Mary’s faced its ups and downs in 200� like most of the state and nation, but leaders here are hoping that 2009 will be a bit more kind.

The county saw a slowdown in the local economy from car sales to home buying even as county leaders started budget talks again near the end of last year with an eye towards maintaining services without any great funding increases for departments.

County Commissioner Lawrence D. Jarboe (R-Golden Beach) said county residents were still suffering an increase in taxes that should not be so under such difficult economic conditions.

He said the commissioner board failed to implement measures that would have ameliorated property tax hikes.

“From a tax point of view I was disappointed,” Jarboe said of the board’s work this year.

Jarboe said the board did the right thing in approving the installation of wind turbines for residents who want to generate their own power; he also praised the board’s commitment to funding the start up of Evergreen Elementary School in Wildewood, which will implement several environmentally friendly concepts such as rain collection to offset water costs and open sunlight to reduce electric lighting costs.

“It’s a positive thing,” Jarboe said of the school’s beginning.

Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly (D-Leonardtown) said county government was able to develop sound relationships with both the school board and the sheriff’s office.

“That line of communication continues to improve,” Mattingly said, adding however that the county still had tough challenges ahead of it regarding public safety.

One weighty concern was the continuing decline of volunteerism in the ranks of rescue squads and fire departments.

“We have fewer and fewer people willing to get involved in that,” Mattingly told The County Times.

Since the county will be stretching to make dollars count this budget year, Mattingly said, the prospects of ever creating a paid firefighter and basic life support system to augment volunteers was not especially welcome.

“That becomes a very expensive operation,” Mattingly said.

The county must still face expenses like planning and helping to fund the construction of the new addition to the county jail in Leonardtown, Mattingly said, as well as working out site details for a second elementary school to meet growing student demand.

St. Mary’s Looks Back At 2008


Local sheriff’s deputies and state troopers had to call for back up from Charles and Calvert counties to assist with other emergency calls in the early morning hours of Jan. 4 when a social function at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department turned into an all out brawl.

According to Dfc. Cindy Allen, sheriff’s office spokeswoman, this has not been the first time that law officers have had to break up fights at the facil-ity when it was rented out for various events.

The fights began near the end of the evening’s festivities, Allen told The County Times.

“It started inside then it spilled out into the parking lot and then it spilled out on the road way,” Allen said.

As many as five people were ar-rested in the melee, according to police reports, three on the premises and two others who had left the party.

The three people arrested on the firehouse property were Wendell Lavon Blackiston, 21, of Leonardtown, Ashley Nicole Young, 21, and Walter Jerome Ford, Jr, 23, both of Lexington Park.

Additionally, law officers arrested Anthony Tyrone Adams, 24, of Great Mills and Trenton Deonn Barnett, 19, of Lusby for allegedly beating a victim they accosted in the vicinity of Mervell

Police Break Up Melee At Hollywood Firehouse

By Guy Leonard and Andrea ShiellStaff Writers

Even in the wake of fears that two local Catholic primary schools, Holy Angels in Avenue and St. Michael’s school in Ridge may close their doors due to lingering budget deficits, three other primary schools in the diocese are still in good shape, say diocesan representatives.

“The others do not have those same issues,” said Susan Gibbs, archdiocese spokeswoman of Mother Catherine Spalding, Little Flower and St. John’s schools.

The problems with the other two schools first came to light late last year, Gibbs said, when diocesan audits showed that they were running a deficit totaling about $�00,000 a year.

The diocese has been able to help with those shortcomings in past years, Gibbs said, but no longer to the same extent, especially since enrollment at

Archdiocese: Remaining Catholic Primary Schools Still Sustainable

See HVFD page A-�

See Plunge page A-�

See 2008 page A-�


The trial of Nicholas T. Potts III, the man accused of beating and stab-bing another man to death at the Bay District Fire Volunteer Fire Department to death a little more than two years ago began Tuesday, with the prosecution ar-guing that Potts, then a senior firefighter at the station, had intended to kill James Augustus Choporis, his mother’s boy-friend after an argument that started in the upstairs living quarters.

Assistant States Attorney James Tanavage told jurors that Potts had beaten Choporis repeatedly with a golf club so hard that the head broke off and then Potts switched to a pocket knife to stab Choporis multiple times.

“These kinds of wounds could only have been inflicted with intent,” Tanav-age argued. “He had ample opportunity for premeditation.”

One of Potts’ defense attorneys,

Trial For Man

Accused Of Firehouse

Murder Begins

Photo by Andrea Sheill

An estimated 175 people took the annual North Beach Polar Bear Plunge this year, diving into the chilly water to celebrate 2009.

January

Maryland General As-sembly Convenes Regular Session

After passing the largest tax in-crease in Maryland history in a Novem-ber special session, lawmakers returned to Annapolis with taxes still haunting the legislature.

“We are fast becoming known as one of the most heavily taxed states”

Delegate Johnny Wood, (D-29A)

2008 Headline

Stories

See Review page A-4

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SaturdaySunny 47°

FridaySunny 40°


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Thursday, January 8, 2009 The County Times Section A - �


Letters to county leaders from Gov. Marin O’Malley’s (D) adminis-tration reveal confidence that the new Obama administration and an obliging congress will pass an economic recov-ery package that, once the money trick-les down to the states, will allow some much-needed infrastructure projects to be built.

In his correspondence to the county commissioners, O’Malley said projects that would be eligible for fed-eral funding would have to be virtually ready to go.

Three of the criteria included that a project can have funds attached to it within two years, be ready to bid for a contract within 180 days or be “shovel ready” for construction within about three months time.

Neither O’Malley nor Secretary of Transportation John Porcari could say in their letters how much money the state might get, but stated only that $1 billion in infrastructure investment translated into roughly 28,700 new jobs.

Porcari stated that recent poor economic conditions have meant defer-ring about $1.1 billion in infrastructure projects with another $1 billion deferral planned statewide.

County Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly (D-Leonardtown) said three projects slated for construction here, including a county transfer station, a new public safety building and a refit of the Marlay-Taylor wastewater treat-ment plant, could be candidates for the funding.

However, he cautioned, many oth-er projects may not be able to benefit from the federal money if the design and planning stages aren’t pushed to completion first.

“It’s going to be difficult for some jurisdictions to meet the deadlines,” Mattingly told The County Times of the opportunities that could be avail-

able. “You just have to move it along and press some design people.”

Projects that could move ahead un-der a two-year commitment schedule include a new library building or a new elementary school that would mirror the Evergreen Elementary School proj-ect in Wildewood.

County Commissioner Lawrence D. Jarboe (R-Golden Beach) said he would support a park and ride facility in Hughesville “that would be acces-sible to both rail and buses” as well as digging up earth and laying cables for bringing broadband Internet access to some of the more remote areas of the county.

“Some areas of the county you’re just in a dead spot,” Jarboe told The County Times.

Some of the more pressing trans-portation needs that would likely not get any of the federal funds, if they were approved, were the Thomas John-

son Bridge connecting Solomons Is-land and St. Mary’s and the completion of FDR Boulevard.

“They’re not shovel ready,” Jarboe said.

While Jarboe said communities would move quickly to spend the feder-al dollars they received from any recov-ery package, he believed the attempt to create what amounted to more public works construction jobs would fall flat.

“It’s a financial fiasco and Depres-sion Era solutions won’t work,” Jarboe said.

Mattingly was enthusiastic about the possibility of more infrastructure dollars coming to Maryland, but said he would like to see a push for an aid package to the private sector also.

“That housing industry is the one who’s suffering,” Mattingly said of the local economy. “The smaller guys are the one’s really hurting. There’s no market out there.”

Local Leaders Hold Out Hope For Federal Money


The Board of County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to authorize the re-align-ment of debt proceeds that had been approved by the Metropolitan Commission in Novem-ber, in connection with Infrastructure Bonds obtained in 2007, when MetCom borrowed $10,889,100 from the Department of Hous-ing and Community Development (DHCD) to keep up with 5th and 8th Sanitary Districts

Facilities plans. The new re-alignment looks to add proj-

ects such as a sewer expansion project for Buck Hewitt Rd and Rue Purchase Rd, a new well at Laurel Ridge, water storage tanks for Charlotte Hall and Wildewood, arsenic well remediation for Fenwick Manor and Holland Forest Landing, a Navy Siphon, and a sewer rehabilitation project for Piney Point.

MetCom’s presentation stated the arsenic well remediation project as a priority, as wells for both Fenwick Manor and Holland Forest

Landing will be required to meet new arse-nic levels as required by the EPA in January. Arsenic mitigation plans originally tied the Fenwick Manor area to the Hollywood wa-ter system, a connection that was no longer deemed feasible because a private Sotterly Center project that would have connected the mains did not go forward as expected.

Charlotte Hall’s water storage tank clocked in as the most expensive at $975,000, and was described as a priority because re-cent development has and will continue to

Metcom To Re-align Debt ProceedsPresentation Outlines New Projects

eat up the current system’s capacity.Not all were pleased at the addition of new proj-

ects. Commissioner Lawrence D Jarboe offered the only dissenting vote, and explained later his objec-tions. “They’re asking for additional projects based on the same amount of money,” he said, adding that this would force the county to create a priority list that he would have preferred the public have a chance to review.

“I wanted to hold one last public meting,” he said, adding that bypassing public review on the newest projects would set a questionable precedent.

As for the projects themselves, Jarboe said, “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

SectionA-� The County Times Thursday,January8,2009

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AsthecountrypreparestousherinanewPresidentthismonth,muchanticipation awaits. The nation’sforeign and domestic policies arebothexpectedtoberedirectedoverthenext6months. President-electObamapromised“change”through-outthecampaignandbrilliantlylim-itedhisexplanationofchangesothatthevoterscouldeachenvisionhisorherownexplanationofchange.Anoverwhelming majority of Ameri-canswenttothepollslastNovemberbelieving Obama represented the“change”whichtheyhopefor.

Because the “change” bar wasraisedsohighandhasbeenlargelyundefined, American’s expectations areveryhighforournewPresident.Thenext6monthswillsetthetonefor discrepancy between what wasanticipatedandwhatwillbethereal-ity.Therearealwaysdiscrepanciesbetweencampaign rhetoric andac-tuallygoverning,thequestionishowmuch, and how much discrepancy

the American public will tolerate.OursenseisthatObamawillenjoyalonger“honeymoon”periodwiththeAmericanpublicthanistypicalforanewpresident.Obamawillhavethebenefit of an overzealous Congress thatisalltooanxiousto“overgov-ern”. Obamawill have the uniqueability to throw more blame uponCongress for not fulfilling Ameri-can’s expectationswhile taking themajority of the credit for govern-mentsaccomplishments.TheDem-ocrats in Congress are so grateful tohaveObamaintheWhiteHousetheywillgladlyaccepttheroleasthebullypuppet. Fortunately,thisalsoallowsObama togovernmoreasacentrist,whichwebelievewillservethe country well. Unfortunately,longerornot,the“honeymoon”pe-riodwillcometoanend, italwaysdoes,atthatpointonlygoodpublicpolicywill endear the public senti-ment. With most in Congress up for re-election in 2010,Obamawill be

thrownunderthebusifnecessarytowintheirownre-election.

Obama’s first effort as our new President will be to stimulate aneconomy that has taken the downrailoftheeconomicrollercoasteraf-terenjoyinganunusually long rideupwards over the past 7 years. Itshouldbenotedthatours is trulyaglobaleconomyandthisdownrideishappeningglobally,not justhereinAmerica. Arecoverywillprob-ably take longer than expected forthatreason,itwillneedtoultimatelybeaglobalrecovery.

Still Obama and Congress will quicklyaddtothegovernmentspend-ingstimulusthatPresidentBushhasstarted.Onefacetofthemulti-facetapproachwillbetospendheavilyingovernment infrastructure projects.New construction projects can fuelaneconomy,withprivatesectorcon-struction practically at a standstill,Obama will borrow money fromChina and other foreign countries

tostartanarrayofnewgovernmentconstruction projects throughoutour country. Projects such as newschools,newroads,newbridges,andmass transit projectswill be jump-started in the first year of the Obama administration.

For the past 14 years, SenatorRoyDysonhasbeenpromisingthecitizens of our county a new bridge from St. Mary’s to Calvert, a light rail mass transit system into theNavybase,newschools,andvariousroad improvements throughout ourcounty, including Route 5 throughLeonardtown and Great Mills, twoofthemostcongestedanddangerousroadsinthecounty.

WiththenewlyelectedPresidentreadytohandoutbillionsofdollarsforjustthethingsthe14yearSenatorhasbeenpromising,onewould ex-pect St. Mary’s County and the new President to be the perfect match.Wrong!

Other than making campaign

promises every four years whilerunning for re-election and talkingabouttheseprojectsatbirthdaypar-ties, Dyson has done nothing dur-ingthepast14yearstopositionourcountytotakeadvantageofthebil-lionsObamawillbepassingout.

Therearenoplansunderwayforanewbridge,noplansforanewhighschoolormiddleschool,noplanstoexpandRoute5,andnoplansforalight rail system, these are all onlycampaignconcepts.Obamaislook-ing for projects that have alreadybeen planned, he wants projectsin communities that have done theplanningandarereadytoproceed.

Dyson’s lack of leadership onany of these projects will leaveSt. Mary’s out of the running foreconomic stimulus dollars, moreimportantly it leaves our commu-nity with unresolved infrastructureneeds, traffic jams, and overcrowded schoolswithlittlehopeofanyfund-ingsourceintheforeseeablefuture.

Obama’s Economic Recovery Plan; St. Mary’s County Will Miss The Mark

February

States’ Attorney, Sheriff: Gam-ingDevicesLegal

Despite objections from Senator RoyDyson, electronic gambling machinesresembling slot machines being usedto raise money for non-profit organiza-tionsweredeclaredlegal.

“You can’t shut something downthat’snotillegal”

Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron (R)

March

Convicted Murderer Sen-tencedtoLifeInPrison

JohntonnaYoung,20wassentencedtolifewithoutparolebyJudgeRaleyforthekillingofKennethJamesWalter.

“The citizens of Lexington Park and St. Mary’s County need to be pro-tectedfromYoung”.

Victim’sfather

April

Pax River NAS Celebratesits65thBirthday

The Naval Air Stations command-ing officer hosts 65th Anniversarycelebration.

“Wedohavethebestpeopleintheworld... they know their jobs and theydothembutwearealsoblessedtobeinthegreatestcommunityinthecountry.”

Captain Glen Ives, Commanding Officer,PatuxentRiverNAS

May

Judge: Electronic Gam-bling Machines Legal in St.Mary’s

Circuit Court Judge Karen Abrams overturnsarulingissuedbytheStateAt-torneyGeneral’sofficethatsaidtheop-erationofthemachineswereunlawful.

June

County Approves Budget,PropertyTaxRevenuestoIn-crease20Percent

St. Mary’s County Board of Coun-ty Commissioners passed a $337 mil-lion operating budget for Fiscal 2009.Which included a $14.5 million increase inpropertytaxescollected.

“This is the best way to keep theCounty fiscally sound and stave off raisingtaxesanothertime.”

Jack Russell, President, St. Mary’sCounty Commissioners

July

Local Gambling DevicesDowntoTheirLastDays

MarylandLegislaturepassedabilloutlawing gaming devices, which re-semble slot machines, in St. Mary’sCounty.

“It wasn’t right that St. Mary’scouldn’t keep them (like other jurisdic-tions); what’s good for the goose is good forthegander.”


August

County CommissionersTakeupNewResidence

St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners had their first meeting in the new Chesapeake Building Tues-day,leavingtheoldcountyadministra-tionbuildingbehind.

“Wethought,heythecommission-ers don’t have a clock, so we boughtthem one,” Erichsen said, pointing tothe digital wall clock that was newlyinstalled.

George Erichsen, Director, St.Mary’s County Dept. of Public Works

September

Warrant Sweep Nets 28Suspects

Threedaywarrant sweepoperationnabbed nearly 30 suspects wanted on narcoticsandvariousothercharges.

“Thisweekendmadealargeimpacton the drug trade in the County.”

Lt. Daniel Alioto, St. Mary’s Sher-iff’sOffice

October

Four Arrested for PNCBankRobbery

Detectivesarrestedfoursuspectsforkidnapping a local PNC Brach Manager andhertwochildrentoexecuteadaringbankrobbery.

“Alltheco-conspiratorswentonashoppingspree.”

Lt. Rick Burris, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’sOffice

November

Citizens Concerned OverJailExpansion

The Sheriff and Board of County Commissioners receive opposition from Leonardtownresidentsoverplanstoex-pand local jail to housemore than500inmates.

“Inretrospectwedidn’tdoenoughcommunicationworkwiththeTown.”

Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron

DecemberCommissioners Approve

Land Purchase, But Get anEarful

County Commissioners moved ahead to purchase 172 acres of land just out-sideofLeonardtown for approximately$5.3 million despite criticism from the community.

“This stinks more than a wholebushelbasketofrottencrabs.”

Lawrence D. Jarboe- (R-Golden Beach)

Veteran,Grocer,Politician,PublisherLeavesCommunityLegacy

James Manning McKay, founder of

the well known local food store chainbearinghisname,formerstatedelegateand president of the St. Mary’s County Commissioners died at age 89.

“Hewasprobablyoneof themosthard-workingmenI’veeverknown.”

Ford Dean, Former County Commissioner

ReviewContinued from page A-�


Board Of County Commissioners Meeting County Administrator Items

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

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County Administrator Items

2) Metropolitan Commission (Steven L. King, Director; Dan Ichniowski, Assistant Director; Jackie Meiser, Legal Counsel; and MetCom Board Members)

Resolution authorizing the re-alignment of debt proceeds, amending BOCC Resolu-tion No. R-2007-35 regarding Infrastructure Bonds, 2007 Series B.

Motion: To authorize the re-alignment of debt proceeds, as requested by MetCom, and approved by the St. Marys Metropolitan Commission on November 6, 2008, and evi-denced in their Resolution 2008-07, in con-nection with St. Marys County Metropolitan Commission Infrastructure Bonds, 2007 Series B in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $11,100,000 (eleven million, one hundred thousand dollars), and to autho-rize the Commissioner President to execute BOCC Resolution 2009-01.

Motion By: Raley Second: MattinglyAction: Motion CarriedVoting Record:Russell Yes Mattingly Yes Dement Yes Jarboe No Raley Yes

3) Office of the Sheriff (Sheriff Timo-thy Cameron; Erin Shoemaker, Fiscal Mgr.)

Board acceptance of the FY09 Collab-orative Supervision and Focused Enforce-ment (CSAFE) Grant (four combined grants, totaling $31k)

Motion: To accept the FY09 Collabor-ative Supervision and Focused Enforcement Grant award, in the total amount of $31,000, from the Governors Office of Crime Control and Prevention.

Motion By: Dement Second: JarboeAction: UnanimousVoting Record:Russell Yes Mattingly Yes Dement Yes Jarboe Yes Raley Yes

4) Dept. of Public Works and Transpor-tation / St. Marys Co. Health Dept. (George Erichsen, P.E., Director, DPW&T; Daryl Calvano, Director, Environmental Health, SMC Health Dept.)

MOAs (with the MD Dept. of the En-vironment and with the SMC Health Dept.) regarding monitoring of land application and sewage sludge, and related BA decreas-ing FY2009 Sludge Grant project budget by $3,579.

Motion: To approve and authorize the Commissioner President to execute the Memorandum of Agreement with the Maryland Department of the Environment, and the Memorandum of Agreement with the Health Department, for the supplemen-tal inspections and monitoring of sewage sludge utilization sites, and to sign the re-lated budget amendment, in the amount of $3,579, decreasing the project budget in ac-cordance with the actual award amount and agreements.

Motion By: Raley Second: DementAction: UnanimousVoting Record:Russell Yes Mattingly Yes Dement Yes Jarboe Yes Raley Yes

5) Land Use & Growth Manage-ment (Phil Shire, Acting Director; Jeff Jackman, Sr. Planner)

A. Zoning Ordinance Correction of the Official Zoning Maps for Harbor View Marina and vicinity (approved by the BOCC on 12/9/08)

Motion: To sign the Ordinance, with an Effective Date of January 20, 2009, amend-ing the Official Zoning Map No. 39, as ap-proved by the Board of County Commis-sioners on December 9, 2008, to correct the zoning of certain properties in the vicinity of the Harbor View Marina, located in the 3rd Election District, Case Number 08-245-001.

Motion By: Dement Second: JarboeAction: UnanimousVoting Record:Russell Yes Mattingly Yes Dement Yes Jarboe Yes Raley Yes

B. Zoning Ordinance Amendments to permit personal storage and warehousing and storage uses in OBP zones (approved by the BOCC on 12/9/08)

Motion: To sign the Ordinance, with an Effective Date of January 20, 2009, amend-ing Schedule 50.4 of the Official Zoning Or-dinance, as approved by the Board of Coun-ty Commissioners on December 9, 2008, to permit personal storage and warehousing and storage uses in Office Business Park (OBP) zoning districts.

Motion By: Jarboe Second: RaleyAction: UnanimousVoting Record:Russell Yes Mattingly Yes Dement Yes Jarboe Yes Raley Yes

Other Items

Department of Economic and Com-munity Development:

Motion: To approve Request to Sub-mit an Easement Application (ALPD #08-150-002- Valladingham Farms, LLC) to the Maryland Agriculture Land Preservation Foundation.

Motion By: Dement Second: RaleyAction: UnanimousVoting Record:Russell Yes Mattingly Yes Dement Yes Jarboe Yes Raley Yes

Dean Road and Route 235 at about 2:20 a.m. following the initial brawl at the firehouse.

Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department President Bill Mattingly said that another in-cident in November, where a softball banquet occurred, also required law enforcement to come in and break up a fight.

This most recent incident was the result of a birthday celebration, he said.

“You wouldn’t think you’d need law en-forcement at a birthday party,” Mattingly said, adding that the renters had signed a contract with the department and had paid their fee legally.

“We did everything under the law, but unfortunately it happened and it’s put a black mark on us.”

Charging documents related to the case state that the crowd at the firehouse was great-er than 200 people.

When officers arrived on scene, police re-ports stated, they found that inside the build-ing several people were throwing bottles at each other. Officers also found that many peo-ple were running from the building, some of whom were bleeding from injuries.

Officers also had to break up several active

fights in the parking lot, police reports stated.Blackiston was charged with second-de-

gree assault, two counts of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Charging documents allege that Blackis-ton punched another person during the melee as Blackiston ran from the building.

Blackiston was bleeding profusely, charg-ing documents stated, and allegedly resisted officers as they attempted to arrest him.

Blackiston was able to break free forcing officers to chase him in the parking lot but they eventually apprehended him.

Young, charging documents allege, was trying to incite others during the melee and tried to interfere with a police officer taking a statement from one of her female friends, who police said been assaulted by a black male dur-ing the confusion.

Young was charged with disorderly con-duct, failing to obey a lawful order from a po-lice officer and resisting arrest.

Ford was charged with second-degree as-sault for allegedly shoving a female victim, stealing her car keys and throwing them back at her.

Mattingly said that when both recent inci-dents occurred their contract had required se-curity contingents per a new kind of contract.

Prior to those two incidents, when the new contract type was in place, there had been no incidents for more than a year, Mattingly said.

HVFDContinued from page A-�


“I want to be a fossil-free fisherman,” said County Commissioner Lawrence D Jarboe (R-3rd District) when speaking of his goals of expanding alternative energy in St. Mary’s County. He explained that since he wanted to pull people away from their reliance on fos-sil fuels, and he loved fishing, he thought the name fit him pretty well. “That’s what I want to be when I grow up,” he said, laughing.

Discussing energy is high on Jarboe’s list of passions, too, as he helped organize the first what he hopes will be many successful alter-native energy conferences this past summer, and is scheduling the next conference for this spring. “We have lots of folks coming,” he exclaimed.

In the meantime though, Jarboe plans to take his ideas to an upcoming forum be-ing hosted by the St. Mary’s County League of Women Voters, where a meeting of minds

will feature himself and representatives from SMECO, NAS Patuxent River, St. Mary’s Col-lege of Maryland, and St. Mary’s County Pub-lic Schools.

Jarboe said that he hopes to see others join him on January 10 for what he says will be an engaging forum, discussing one of his favorite subjects. As for the Commissioner’s own talk-ing points, he appeared hazy, though excited. “I’ll talk about whatever they need me to talk about,” he said.

The forum will take place on Saturday, January 10 at 1:30 p.m. at the Lexington Park Library Meeting Rooms A and B. Panel members will offer their own comments, af-ter which the forum will be open to questions from the audience.

“We have right here in this country the ways and means to really change things,” Jar-boe said. “It’s all here for us now…so come on down. Bring some bio-diesel. Bring some vegetable oil. It’ll be fun.”

Upcoming Forum to Discuss Alternative Energy

The 49th Annual St. Mary’s County Science and Engineering Fair will be held on January 30-31, 2009, at Great Mills High School, Great Mills, Maryland. The Science and Engineering Fair is spon-sored by the St. Mary’s County Science and Engineering Fair Board, a volunteer non-profit organization with the support of St. Mary’s County Public Schools and corporate and indi-vidual donations. The Science and Engineering Fair is open to participation by all 6th – 12th grade public, private, parochial and home-school students in St. Mary’s County. Applica-tions are available on the St. Mary’s County Public Schools web site (www.smcps.org) or at the St. Mary’s County Science and Engineering Fair Board web site (www.sm-sef.org). In the event of cancellation due to inclement weather, the Science and Engineering Fair will be held on February 6-7, 2009.

Students interested in com-peting should see their school Science Fair Coordinator to receive an application. Home-schooled students should con-tact Pam Hinton at (301) 737-0497 to obtain an application or download an application

from the SMCPS web-site. All applications must be submit-ted through your school’s Science Fair coordinator and be received by the Science and Engineering Fair Board no later than 4 PM, Monday, January 12, 2009.

Exhibits are open to the public on January 31, 2009, from 1:00 to 3:30 pm. The awards ceremony begins at 3:30 pm and is also open to the public. The guest speaker at this year’s award ceremony will be Dr. Michael J. Martirano, Superintendent of St. Mary’s County Public Schools.

Selected projects will have the opportunity to compete at the Annual Prince George’s Area Science Fair. The Prince George’s Area Science Fair brings together over 400 stu-dent competitors from Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, and Cal-vert Counties. Grand Award Winners from the Prince George’s Area Fair compete at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Intel ISEF is the world’s larg-est pre-college celebration of science. Held annually in May, Intel ISEF brings together over 1,500 students from 50 coun-tries and territories to compete

for over $3 million in awards and scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips, and the grand prize of a $50,000 college scholarship. In the last four years, several St. Mary’s County high school students have competed at Intel ISEF. Last year, Leonardtown HS student, Julie Walker, was awarded Grand Award Second Place in the Electrical and Me-chanical Engineering category, which included a cash award of $1500, at Intel ISEF.

Scientists and engineers interested in becoming judges should contact Dr. Larry Mer-taugh at (301) 863-6254 or Joe Carbonaro at (301) 862-4474.

For Information about the St. Mary’s County Science and Engineering Fair contact Dr. Allan Hovland, (301) 862-2549. St. Mary’s County Science and Engineering Fair Board, Inc., is a non-profit all volunteer orga-nization sponsoring the annual science and engineering fair for all St. Mary’s County public, private, parochial, and home-schooled students grades 6-12. For further information about the Science and Engineering Fair, see our web site at www.sm-sef.org.

49th Annual Science and Engineering Fair to be Held in January(St. Mary’s County Science Fair Board Press Release)

SectionA-� The County Times Thursday,January8,2009Thursday, August 21, 2008 The County Times Section A - �

Alice Mildred Brown, 99

Alice Mildred Brown, 99 of Leonardtown died Aug. 16 in her home.

Born Nov. 9, 1908 in Baltimore, Md., she was the daughter of the late James and Lilly Mae Jackson Rebham.

She was a member of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Valley Lee, and Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter 107, Ju-lia Halla, Hollywood.

Mrs. Brown is survived by two sons, Lloyd E. (Jerry) Brown, Jr. of Leonardtown and Willard Bruce Brown of Terra Alta, W. Va. She is also survived by six grand-children, Julie Brown-Rund, Jeff Brown, Nancy Deal, Wendy Jarda, Judy Graybill and Pheobe Brown, and eight great-grandchildren Clay and Will Rund, Kristen and Josh Brown, Shawn and Bruce Deal, Audrey and Samantha Jarda.

She was predeceased by a daughter Betty Ruth Brown and a brother John B. Fenwick.

Relatives and friends at-tended Mrs. Brown’s Life Celebration in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 5 – 8 p.m. with prayers recited at 7 p.m. A funeral service will be held Thursday, Aug. 21 at 11 a.m. in St. George’s Epis-copal Church, Valley Lee. Reverend Greg Syler, pastor of the church, will officiate. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.

Memorial Contributions may be made to The Mis-sions Endowment Fund or Cemetery and Grounds Fund, c/o St. George’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 30, Valley Lee, MD 20692.

Condolences to the fam-ily may be made at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.

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

Francis Joseph Brown, Sr., 66

Francis Joseph Brown, Sr., 66, passed away in his home in Indian Trail, N.C. Aug. 12.

Mr. Brown was born July 1, 1942 in Leonardtown, son of the late Mary Edna Brown Norris.

Mr. Brown is survived by his wife Jacqueline Mer-cer Brown; a son Francis J. Brown, Jr. and his wife Shelia of Stanfield, N.C.; a daughter Jennifer Lynn Brown of Indi-an Trail, N.C. and two grand-daughters Christianna Page and Allyson Grace Brown.

The family received friends Sunday, Aug. 17 from 2 – 5 p.m. in the Matting-ley-Gardiner Funeral Home, where Prayers were said at 3 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Mon-day, Aug. 18 at 9:30 a.m. in St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church with Fr. John Mat-tingly officiating. Interment followed in Charles Memo-rial Gardens.

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

Luis Antonia Castillo, 70

Luis Antonia Castillo, 70, of Leonardtown died Aug. 16 in St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Leonardtown.

Born Sept. 20, 1937 in Puerto Rico, he was the son of the late Luis Antonia and Elsa Monserrate Morales Castillo.

Luis is survived by three sisters, M. Elaine Ohler of Millsboro, Del., Evelyn Cas-tillo of Chestertown, Md. and Elsie Collins of Las Vegas, Nev. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

Family received friends Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 11 a.m. – noon in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown, with prayers recited at noon. Deacon George L’Heureux officiated. Graveside service followed at 2 p.m. at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suitland, Md.

Memorial Contributions may be made to the St. Mary’s Nursing Center Foundation, Inc.,

21585 Peabody Street, Leonardtown, MD 20650.



Lloyd Raymond Harris, 97

Lloyd Raymond Har-ris, 97, died peacefully Aug. 12 in the St. Mary’s Nursing Center.

Mr. Harris was a longtime resident of St. Mary’s County. He was born in Gallatin, Mo. June 13, 1911 to the late How-ard May Harris and Frankie Lee Jackson. He married his beloved wife of 59 years, Mary Catherine “Sis” Nelson at the Washington Cathedral in Washington D.C. Sept. 2, 1939. She preceded him in death in 1998. He was also preceded in death in 1998 by his beloved sister Margaret Harris.

Mr. Harris served in the United States Army as an As-sistant Chaplain. Following his army service he was em-ployed in Washington, D.C. by the Federal Government for many years before retir-ing. He then worked in the tax department for the State of Maryland and retired in 1971. During his retirement, he and his wife enjoyed trav-eling throughout the United States.

He enjoyed playing cards, dancing and buying new cars. Ray loved life and most of all he enjoyed helping others while expecting nothing in return. He was devoted in the care of his wife and sister un-til their death.

The family received friends in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown, Friday, Aug. 15 from 9 – 10 a.m. with a funer-al service that followed at 10 a.m. officiated by Rev. Keith Schukraft. Interment followed at Charles Memorial Gardens in Leonardtown. Pallbearers were Frank Nelson, Donnie Bowles, Fred Nelson, Harry Nelson, Jr., Michael Russell and Roy Copsey.

Contributions may be made to American Heart Association, 415 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-4101.


Valorie Anne Henry, 48

Valorie Anne Henry, 48, of Mechanicsville, formerly of Grandview, Mo., died Aug. 17, in Lexington Park.

Born Oct. 31, 1959 in Lincoln, Neb. she was the daughter of James Ray Dick-inson of Mouldrow, Okla. and Hortense Anne Campbell Crawford of Grandview, Mo. She was the loving wife of Earl Allan Henry, whom she married July 16, 1986 in War-rensburg, Mo.

She is survived by her son Earl Ian Henry.

Mrs. Henry gradu-ated from Grandview High School’s Class of 1977. She moved to St. Mary’s County in October 1988 from Wal-dorf, Md.

The family will receive friends Saturday, Aug. 23 from 10 – 11 a.m. in Patux-ent River Assembly of God Church, California, where a Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m. with Pastor Lanny Clark officiating. Interment will be held Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. in Maryland Veteran’s Cemetery, Chelten-ham, Md.

Contributions may be made to Hospice if St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.


Karen A. McEntyre, 51

Karen A. McEntyre, 51 of Lexington Park, formerly of Plano, Texas, died Aug. 13 in Washington Hospital Center.

Born Feb. 24, 1957 in Sweetwater, Texas she was the daughter of Carold and Mary Aleese Benson of Pla-no, Texas.

She is also survived by her children Jeremy Porter of Snyder, Texas, Jonathan Porter of Plano, Texas, Angie Porter, Sheila Horton and Ma-rissa Horton, all of Lexington Park as well as her brother Victor Benson of Plano, Texas and three grandchildren.

Karen was employed as a registered nurse.

All services are private. Arrangements provided

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

Timothy Brian McGrath, 50

Timothy Brian McGrath, 50, of Lexington Park died Aug. 11 in St. Mary’s Hospi-tal, Leonardtown.

Born June 14, 1958 in Freeport, Ill., he was the son of Patricia (Chambers) Mc-Grath of Mesa, Ariz. and the late Charles McGrath.

Timothy attended La-salle-Peru High School in La-salle, Ill. where he graduated in 1976. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1976 until 1999. After his service in the Navy, Timothy was employed by a Government Contractor and worked at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. He was an Elks Lodge member and a past member of the Lexing-ton Park Volunteer Rescue

Squad. In addition to his mother,

Timothy is survived by his wife Debra Kay (Houtz) Mc-Grath, his son, Sean Patrick McGrath of Lexington Park, his sister, Karen McGrath of Mesa, Ariz. and his brother, Michael McGrath of Ill.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. at the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department, Lexington Park.



Patrick Connor Miller 2

Patrick Connor Mill-er 2, of Avenue died Aug. 12 in St. Mary’s Hospital, Leonardtown.

Connor was born Oct. 11, 2005 in Anne Arundel Medi-cal Center, Annapolis, Md., the son of James L. Miller and Krystal Kaldenbach of Avenue.

He is survived by two sis-ters, Lillian and Kayla Miller, a brother Kyle Miller, his pa-ternal grandparents James L. and Darlene Oliver Miller of Chaptico, maternal grandpar-ents, Eugene Kaldenbach of Harrimon, Tenn., and Debra Adams Kaldenbach of Win-chester, Ky.; great-grandpar-ents Francis and Audrey Oli-ver of Chaptico and

G reat-g rand mother s Mary Lou Adams of Waldorf, Md. and Shirley Miller of Newburg, Md.

The family received friends for Connor’s Life Celebration Sunday, Aug. 17 from 3 – 4 p.m. in the Brins-field Funeral Home, Leonard-town, with a funeral service at 4 p.m. Interment was private.



Mary Aleathea Redmond, 84

Mary Aleathea Redmond, 84, of Leonardtown died Aug. 16 in St. Mary’s Hospital.

Born April 18, 1924 in Mechanicsville she was the daughter of Clarence Leo Ev-ans and Gertrude M. (Pilker-ton) Evans.

Aleathea graduated from Margaret Brent High School in 1941. She worked from 1961 to 1971 as a secretary/re-ceptionist for St. Mary’s Col-lege. She enjoyed cooking, croqueting, playing cards, gardening, and sewing; often making clothing for her and her daughter.

She is preceded in death by husband James Franklin

Redmond, whom she mar-ried March 4, 1945 at the Im-maculate Conception Catholic Church in Mechanicville. She is survived by her beloved chil-dren Gayle A. Hancock and her husband William of Fair-fax, Va., and James “Frank” Redmond and his wife Wanda of Fredericksburg, Va. She is also survived by three grand-children, Jeffery A. Hancock and his wife Jennifer of Fair-fax, Va., Mark D. Redmond and his wife Tanya of Fred-ericksburg, Va., Jason P. Red-mond of Fredericksburg; and four great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her sister Agnes Rice.

Family received friends Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonar-dtown. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated 11 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 20 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Leonardtown, with Rev. John Dakes officiating. Interment followed in Charles Memorial Gardens, Leonardtown.

Serving, as pallbearers were Mark Redmond, Jason Redmond, Jeffery Hancock, Bill Hancock, Lawrence Pilk-erton, and Arthur Pilkerton. Honorary pallbearer was Earl Dean.

Memorial contribution can be made to the Ridge Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 456, Ridge, MD 20680.



Louis Marshall “Junior” Thompson, Jr., 84

Louis Marshall “Junior” Thompson, Jr., 84, of Avenue died Aug. 4 in his residence.

He was born July 20, 1924 in Dynard to the late Louis Marshall and Catherine Elea-nor Harris Thompson Sr.

He was the loving hus-band of Rose Lee Thompson whom he married July 26, 1942 in Sacred Heart Church, Bushwood. He is also sur-vived by his children, Mar-garet Taylor and her husband George of Hollywood, Buddy Thompson and his wife Deb-bie of Avenue, Benny Thomp-son and his wife Mary of

Morganza, Donnie Thompson and his wife Debbie of Me-chanicsville and Rose Mary George and her husband John of Avenue; 16 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and his sisters Mary Ozella Lacey of Abell, Gertrude Osborne of King George, Va. and Susan Vallandingham of Bushwood.

He was preceded in death by one great-grandchild and his sisters Catherine Hall and Louise Bryant.

A lifelong resident of St. Mary’s County, Junior was a self-employed waterman. While enlisted in the U.S. Army from Oct. 19, 1944 to Nov. 19, 1945, he served as a rifleman, a light machine gunner and a cook.

He belonged to the Knights of Columbus and en-joyed playing cards and being with his family and his two special buddies Maynard and Ringo.

The family received friends in the Mattingley-Gar-diner Funeral Home Thursday, Aug. 7 from 5 – 8 p.m. with prayers being said at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Friday, Aug. 8 at 9:30 a.m. in Holy Angels Cath-olic Church, Avenue, with Fr. William Gurnee officiating. Interment followed in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Bushwood. Pallbearers were Johnny George, Jereme George, Tina Fay Ferguson, Dave Hodg-es, Matthew Thompson and Donnie Thompson. Honorary pallbearers were his grand-children, nieces and nephews.

Contributions may be made to Holy Angels Sacred Heart School, 21335 Colton’s Point Road, Avenue, MD 20609, Seventh District Vol-unteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 7, Avenue, MD 20609 and/or Hospice of St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.


Evelyn Tillotson Woods, 86

Evelyn Tillotson Woods, 86, of California died Aug. 14 in St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Leonardtown.

Born Dec. 18, 1921 in LeMoyne, Pa., she was the daughter of the late George C. Tillotson and Eva (Dowhow-er) Tillotson. Evelyn was an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Evelyn is survived by her daughters, Christine W. Moore of Chesapeake Beach, Md. and Deborah J. Standish of California, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

All services are private. Condolences to the fam-

ily may be made at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.


Obituaries

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E.RussellAllen,Cmdr.USNR,54

E. Russell Allen, Cmdr. USNR, 54, of Lexington Park died Dec. 25 in St. Mary’s Hospital after a short bout with cancer. He was a joyful, energetic person with a zest for life. He loved his family and friends, and enjoyed coaching his daughters and their many friends in sporting activities.

Russell leaves to cherish his memories, his wife of 30 years, Constance J. (Smith) Allen; two daughters, Anica Allen and Danielle Allen; his mother, Ellen Allen; two brothers, Mark Allen and Phillip Allen; two sisters, El-len Richardson and Lydia Al-len-Berry; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and many other relatives and friends.

E. Russell Allen Jr. was born Feb. 8, 1954 in Bryn Mawr, Pa., to E. Russell Al-len, Sr. and the former Ellen Hammond.

He was predeceased by his father, E. Russell Allen, Sr. and his sister, Adrienne Allen.

He grew up in Ardmore, Pa., and attended The Haver-ford School near Philadelphia, Pa. After graduating from Col-gate University with a degree in history, he entered the Navy to fly as a Naval Flight Officer in the P-3 Orion aircraft. Lt. Allen was stationed with VP-50 at NAS Moffett Field, Ca-lif. and deployed to the west-ern pacific hunting Russian submarines. In the mid-80’s he resigned from active duty and continued to serve as a Naval Reservist stationed with the P-3 MAU at Moffett. In the late-1980’s, Russ became a defense contractor testing new software for the P-3 at Na-val Air Development Center (NADC) in Warminster, Pa. and spent weekends as a Re-servist in VP-64 at NAS Wil-low Grove, Pa. Due to base closure in 1996, he relocated with his family to NAS Patux-ent River.

Russ was a member, par-ticipant, and coach in many or-ganizations, including: Mem-ber of the Board of Associates Hood College 2007-Present; Board of Trustees The Haver-ford School 1993 – 1998; Commissioner of the Upper Gwynedd Township Penn-sylvania Summer League; Girl’s Basketball Coach Upper Gwynedd Township Pennsyl-vania Summer League; Girl’s Basketball Coach - Towa-mencin Youth Association (TYA); Girl’s Soccer Coach - Montgomery Soccer Assoc (MSA); Girl’s Soccer Coach - Towamencin Youth Associa-tion (TYA)

Russ’ love for the Navy and the P-3 never waned. His experiences with the people he knew in the Navy were so rich he always had the mate-rial to relate a poignant story that brought a chuckle to the listeners and a warm smile to his own face. Our memories of Cmdr. Russ Allen will be those moments of joy when we shared smiles and the com-radeship of Navy life. Russ was totally devoted to his fam-ily, his friends, the Navy and his country.

A memorial service was held Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. in St. Nicholas Chapel onboard NAS Patuxent River.

A second memorial ser-vice will be held Jan. 9 at 11 a.m. in the chapel at NAS Wil-low Grove, Pa.

Condolences to the family may be made at www.brins-fieldfuneral.com.

Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A.

KathleenClarkeBonifas80

Kathleen Clarke Boni-fas 80, of Lexington Park died Dec. 31 in St. Mary’s Hospital.

Mrs. Bonifas was born Aug. 29, 1928 in Lansing, Mich. She was the daughter of the late Robert Edward Clarke and Hilda Victoria Benham Clarke.

She was a printer and had worked for Michigan Truck-ing Association and Michigan State University before mov-ing to Florida in 1976 where she worked for the Sarasota Health Department until retir-ing in 1996 after 15 years of service. She moved to Mary-land in 2002 and enjoyed crafts of all kinds especially crocheting.

Mrs. Bonifas is survived by a daughter, Sandra K. Butler of Lexington Park; two sons, Rodney A. Rose of Union-town, Ohio and Rick Rose of Estero, Fla. She is also sur-vived by seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Mrs. Bonifas was prede-ceased by her husband Donald Bonifas, who died in Septem-ber, 1999 and a brother, Ed-ward Clarke.

Family received friends Jan. 6 from 6 – 8 p.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown. A Funeral ser-vice was conducted Jan. 7 at 11 a.m. in the funeral home chapel with Reverend Robert Stephenson officiating. Inter-ment followed in Trinity Epis-copal Cemetery, St. Mary’s City with Rod Rose, Steve Butler, Matthew Butler, James Butler, Joshua Keller-Ward and George Eble serving as pallbearers.


Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A.

FerneMaeClark,89

Ferne Mae Clark, 89, of Compton, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grand-mother, passed away Dec. 20 due to complications from a recent illness. She was sur-rounded by family members and loved ones at her time of passing.

She was born in Rimers-burg, Pa., Jan. 13, 1919 to the late Arthur E. and Ruth Ellen (Henry) Brown. The family moved to Midway, Pa. when she was eight. Ferne graduat-ed from Duffs Iron City Busi-ness College, and then entered the U.S. Marine Corp. in 1944 where she served two years, one of which was spent sta-tioned at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She always said they were the best years of her young adult life.

Ferne met her husband, the late Beech B. Clark, at

Le Herman’s Hospital in San Francisco, Calif., where he was recovering from wounds received in action at the is-land of Lea, Australia during WWII. They married July 7, 1946. Her husband of 36 years, he died June 24, 1983. Togeth-er, with a brood of children, they turned his dream into the beautiful homeland the family calls “The Farm,” also known as “Beech’s Roost.”

Survived by her much loved family, she was blessed with seven children, Ruth E. Taylor of Damascus, Md., Richard B. Clark of King George, Va., Kathryn B. Al-len of Leonardtown, Helen S. Clark of Bellevue, Wash., Arthur E. Clark of Compton, Mildred C. Bazarah of Comp-ton, Robin M. Webb of King George, Va., and her step son James D. Clark of Freemont, Calif.

She is also survived by her brother Elmer H. Brown of McDonald, Pa., brother-in-law Clifford Dowler of Guilford, Conn., four sons-in- law, one daughter-in-law, 14 cherished grandchildren and 14 rambunc-tious great-grandchildren.

Ferne was a special kind of person. The way she lived her life exemplified kindness, gentle words, and love. Her motto was “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” She was truly an angel here on earth!

Condolences to the family may be made at www.brins-fieldfuneral.com

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

NoraElizabethMcGov-ernCusick,8�

Nora Elizabeth McGov-ern Cusick, 86, a long time resident of Hollywood, Md., died of a cerebral hemorrhage Jan. 2, in the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va.

Ms. Cusick was a gradu-ate of Strayer Business School, Washington, D.C., and contin-ued her education at Charles County Community College, La Plata and University of Maryland, College Park.

After working for several government agencies, includ-ing the U.S. Treasury, she moved to St. Mary’s county teaching Head Start for 10 years and then worked more than twenty years at Patuxent River for the U.S. Navy, where she received many awards for exceptional performance.

After living for more than 50 years in her home in Hol-lywood, she moved to Cedar Lane Apartments, where she served as the community’s Secretary. For nearly a de-cade, she volunteered at St. Mary’s Hospital and held the positions of the Treasurer and then the Vice President of the St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary. She was married to the late Laurence Michael Cusick at St. Thomas Apostle Church in Washington, D.C., and was the loving mother of 12 chil-dren. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Mass and burial services for family members will be held at St. John’s Catholic Church in Hollywood, Md.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. John’s Catholic Church.

Arrangements provided by Mattingley-Gardiner Fu-neral Home, P.A.

Richard“Ricky”Charles

Diehl,5�

Richard “Ricky” Charles Diehl, 56, of Mechanics-ville died Dec. 29 in Civista Hospital.

He was born Feb. 1, 1952 in Leonardtown to Mary Ev-elyn Diehl of Mechanicsville and the late Edward LaFayette Diehl.

He was the loving hus-band of Joan L. Anderson Diehl whom he married Nov. 18, 1977 in Immaculate Con-ception Church. He is also sur-vived by his children Richard Brian Diehl and Julie Lynn Diehl, both of Mechanicsville, as well as his siblings, Ray-mond Diehl of Florida, Don-na Hill of Deale, Md., David Diehl and Patrick Diehl, both of Mechanicsville.

A lifelong resident of St. Mary’s County, Ricky gradu-ated from Chopticon High School’s Class of 1971. He was an electrical engineer for NAS Patuxent River for 19 years and was a truck driver for Burch Oil Company for 17 years.

He enjoyed working in the yard, playing cards and watch-ing sports and the news on television.

The family received friends Jan. 2 from 5 – 8 p.m. in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, Leonardtown, where prayers were said at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Jan. 3 at 10 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Mechanicsville, with Fr. Peter Alliata officiating. Interment followed in Queen of Peace Cemetery, Helen. Pallbearers were Mike Anderson, Travis Anderson, Justin Anderson, Josh Diehl, Bobby Johnson and Phil Quade.

Contributions may be made to Mechanicsville Vol-unteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 37, Mechanicsville, MD and/or Mechanicsville Vol-unteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 15, Mechanicsville, MD 20659.


CynthiaRae“Cindy”Emerson,�0

Cynthia Rae “Cindy” Em-erson, 60, of Abell died Jan. 1 in her residence.

Born July 10, 1948 in Washington, D.C. she was the daughter of the late J. Archie and Rae M. Oliver Hill.

She is survived by her fi-ancé Ray Gaines, her children Vicki Ryce and her husband Micky and Ritchie Tippett and his wife Sharon all of Leonardtown; Joe Mike Tip-pett of Helen; Veronica Higgs and her husband Blaise of Me-chanicsville; and Ron Emer-son, Jr. and his wife Shannon of Abell; sister Janet Thomp-son and her husband Johnny of Avenue; grandchildren Mi-chael Tippett, Matthew Tip-pett, Lindsey Ryce, Hailey Ryce, Owen Tippett, Andrew Tippett, Olivia Higgs and Jar-rett Higgs.

Cindy moved to St. Mary’s County in 1964 from Clinton, Md. She graduated from Chopticon High School’s Class of 1966. She worked as a beautician. She was a member of the American Legion Aux-iliary Post #221 and the Sev-enth District Volunteer Rescue Squad Auxiliary. She enjoyed playing bingo and cards and going shopping.

The family received friends Jan. 4 from 2 – 5 p.m. in the Mattingley-Gardiner

Funeral Home, where Prayers were said at 3 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was cel-ebrated Jan. 5 at 10 a.m. in Holy Angels Catholic Church, Avenue, with Fr. William Gur-nee officiating. Interment fol-lowed in Sacred Heart Cem-etery, Bushwood. Pallbearers were Jay Thompson, Aaron Fenwick, Bo Vallandingham, Bobby Thompson, Tommy Howe, Mark Wood and John Weber.

Contributions may be made to American Cancer So-ciety, St. Mary’s County Unit, P.O. Box 1032, Lexington Park, MD 20653.


CliftonHerbert“Tom”Giddings,80

Clifton Herbert “Tom” Giddings, 80, of Bushwood died Dec. 27 in Bushwood.

Born Aug. 5, 1928 in Bal-timore. he was the son of the late Herbert Tom and Louie Elizabeth Giddings. He was preceded in death by his wife Margaret Ann Smith Giddings Nov. 21, 2008. They were married Oct. 16, 1954 in Co-lumbus Presbyterian Church, Columbus, N.J.

He is survived by his chil-dren Victor Tom Giddings of Bethesda, Jeffrey Herbert Giddings of Rockville, Karin Ann Weining of Newark, Del. and Gary Dunham Giddings of Lakeland, Fla. and four grandchildren.

In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his sister Joan Louie Moreland.

Tom graduated from Southern High School’s Class of 1945 and the University of Maryland’s Class of 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture. He moved to St. Mary’s County in 1954 from Anne Arundel County where he worked as a carpenter.

A Memorial Service was held Jan. 2 at 10:30 a.m. in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Harry Harper officiating. Interment followed in St. George’s Epis-copal Cemetery, Valley Lee.

Contributions may be made to St. Mary’s County Hospice House, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.


William(Bill)EugeneHawes,Jr.97

William (Bill) Eugene Hawes, Jr. 97, of Leonard-town died Jan. 3 in St. Mary’s Hospital.

Born Sept. 11, 1911 in Tiptonville, Tenn. he was the son of the late William Eu-gene and Nellie Beth (Pea-cock) Hawes of Lanham, Md. Mr. Hawes was the eldest of six children and attended pub-lic schools in Union County, Tenn. He resided in Union County until July 1927 when at the age of 16, Mr. Hawes’ uncle, Walter Hawes, brought him and later the entire family to Washington, D.C.

That year, Mr. Hawes began his career with Peo-ples Drug Stores at 8th and H Streets NE at the soda foun-tain as a “Soda Jerk.” After a short time, Mr. Hawes began working at the Peoples Drug Stores Warehouse in Wash-ington, D.C. in the Candy Department. He was soon promoted to assistant buyer and executive buyer in 1950. Mr. Hawes regularly traveled

to Mexico in his position as candy buyer, purchasing Eas-ter baskets and other products, and became familiar with the country, its language, customs and citizens.

On Aug. 18, 1935 he mar-ried Grace Lola MacEwen in Bethesda, Md. After their marriage, they moved to Ch-everly, Md. and later to Lando-ver, Md. In 1975, they moved to their retirement home in Leonardtown.

Mr. Hawes retired from CVS (formerly Peoples) in 1976 after a distinguished and honored career of 49 years. Af-ter his retirement from CVS, he became active in his son’s construction business until the age of 93. Mr. Hawes enjoyed reading, boating, fishing and crabbing during his retirement as well as the company of fam-ily and friends. A man with a great sense of humor and wit, he always had a twinkle in his eye and a cigar in his mouth.

He is survived by a daughter, Celia Hawes Tay-lor and her fiancé Darryl E. Matthews of Leonardtown; son, Marc Hawes and his wife Ann of Helen; a sister, Doro-thy F. (Dot) Newkirk and her husband Roland E. (Rollie) of Lakeland, Fla. He is also survived by eleven grand-children, sixteen great-grand-children and two great- great grandchildren.

Mr. Hawes was prede-ceased by his wife of 65 years Grace MacEwen Hawes; a daughter, Patrice Hawes Wal-ton; a son-in-law, Gerald R. Taylor; three sisters, Helen May Hudgins, Lillian Meeks and Martha V. Blythe and one brother James Edwin Hawes.

Family will receive friends Jan. 9 from 10 – 11 a.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown. A Me-morial Service will be held at 11 a.m. with Pastor Carl Sny-der of Grace Chapel Minis-tries officiating. Interment will follow at Christ Church Cem-etery, Chaptico.

Memorial contributions may be made to Grace Cha-pel Ministries Building Fund, 29190 Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville, MD 20659 or Christ Church, P.O. Box 8, Chaptico, MD 20621.

Condolences to the fami-ly may be made at www.brins-fieldfuneral.com.


ArthurHenryKlotz,95

Arthur Henry Klotz, 95, of Solomons, died Dec. 30 in his residence.

Born Dec. 21, 1913 in St. Louis, Mo., he was the son of the late Herman H. Klotz and Ruth (Harkins) Klotz. Arthur was a certified public accoun-tant for the Internal Revenue Service.

Arthur is survived by his wife, Geraldine Mae (Cullen) Klotz; his sons Thomas C. Klotz of Leonardtown and Ar-thur H. Klotz, Jr. of Bumpass, Va.; four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, one step great-grandchild and two sis-ters, Rita Dash of Springfield, Ill. and Elva Carlin of Dayton, Ohio.

Family will receive friends for Arthur’s Life Cel-ebration Jan. 8 from 1 – 2 p.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown. A Me-morial Service will be con-ducted at 2 p.m. by Reverend Ray Schmidt, pastor of St. John Francis Regis Catholic Church, Hollywood. A recep-tion will follow the service in


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Polar Bear Swim. Started in 1996 by a small group of people from the local YMCA, and sporting 20 scantily clad participants, the event has grown steadily to become a town-sponsored gala of marshmallow roasting, co-coa drinking, karaoke singing, and, of course, braving the icy waters of the Chesapeake with a head-dunking plunge to ring in the new-year.

“Last year and this year we’ve probably had 150 participants,” said Mayor Michael Bo-jokles, who admitted he would not be able to

join the crowds of swimmers this year because he was getting over a bad cold. “People come from all over the region, it’s wonderful.”

Bojokles said he saw ice covering the wa-ter early that morning, but it melted in time for the event, leaving the crowd with chilly 35-de-gree water. Despite supposed concerns over the negative health affects of swimming in such cold water, Bojokles said there had never been any kind of medical emergency in the history

of the event, but there had been years when people showed a little too much skin.

“Last year there was this really big… guy in a speedo,” he said, shaking his head, “it was a really disturbing sight.”

As two o’clock neared, Bojokles steadily reminded visitors to sign waver forms before getting in the water, and a crew of more than a dozen volunteers read-ied thermoses of piping hot cocoa for the crowds. Some disrobed early to acclimate themselves to the cold, whilst others waited until the last second to strip down to their swim trunks.

The whistle sounded at two o’clock

and more than 175 people lurched forward, running full-speed, some squealing as they dunked their heads under the cold waters, welcoming the new-year with a chilly, re-freshing dunk.

Sitting comfortably on the sidelines, Goodwin lit a cigarette and giggled.

“My goodness, they’re nuts,” he said, “but it does look like a lot of fun…I might do it next year.”

PlungeContinued from page A-�

the Wildewood Village Club House, California. Interment will be in Roselawn Cemetery, Terre Haute, Ind. at a later date.



Mary Lorraine (Guy) Long, 86

Mary Lorraine (Guy) Long, 86, of Oraville, Md. passed away in St. Mary’s Nursing Center Dec. 21.

She was born in Leonard-town Sept. 12, 1922. She was the daughter of the late James F. Guy and Florence Latham Guy of Clements.

She was preceded in death by her brothers and sisters; Grace Martel, Warren Guy, Helen Latham, Alberta Long, Ralph and Adrian Guy.

Mrs. Long retired from the St. Mary’s Co. Board of Education as a cafeteria work-er and loved being at home, her family, cooking, reading and animals.

She was the wife of the late Joseph Albert (Pete) Long.

She is survived by her three children Joseph Ron-ald Long of Newburg, Md., Mary Gwendolyn Springer of Newburg and James David Long of Forest Hill, Md., six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Relatives and friends were received for Mrs. Long’s Life Celebration in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown, Dec. 23 from 5 – 8 p.m. with prayers recited at 7 p.m. A

Mass of Christian Burial was offered Dec. 24 at 10 a.m. in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Reverend Keith Woods, pas-tor of the church, was the celebrant. Interment followed in the church cemetery with Joseph R. Long, Jr., Paul M. Springer, III, Daniel Frank, Ignatius V. Bricker, Tony Long and Winstin E. Wood serving as pallbearers..

In lieu of flowers, me-morial contributions may be made to the Humane Society, 71 Industrial Park Drive, Wal-dorf, MD. 20602



Kenneth Ray McGinn, 4�

Kenneth Ray McGinn, 47, of Hollywood died Dec. 29 in St. Mary’s Hospital.

Born Dec. 16, 1961 in Phoenix, Ariz., he was the son of Hugh Joseph McGinn of Scottsdale, Ariz. and the late Margaret Ann (Bowers) McGinn.

Kenneth is survived by his wife, Della Jo (Heyne) McGinn; his children Alyssa McGinn and Zach McGinn of Hollywood, and a brother, John W. McGinn of Charlotte, N.C.

Family received friends for Kenny’s Life Celebration Jan. 5 from noon – 1 p.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown. A Memorial Service was held at 1 p.m. Fa-ther Ray Schmidt, pastor of St. John Francis Regis Catholic Church, Hollywood, offici-ated. Interment followed in

Charles Memorial Gar-dens, Leonardtown.

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


William Joseph Sickle, 84

William Joseph Sick-le, 84, of Solomons, and formerly of California, Md., died Jan. 6 in Solo-mons Nursing Center.

He was born Aug. 17, 1924 in Great Mills to the late William Clarence and Madeline Elizabeth Ow-ens Sickle.

He was the loving husband of Dorothy Rosa Sickle of Solomons.

For arrangement de-tails on William Joseph Sickle please visit www.mgfh.com.

Arrangements provid-ed by the Mattingley-Gar-diner Funeral Home, P.A.

Thursday, August 21, 2008 The County Times Section A - �

Alice Mildred Brown, 99

Alice Mildred Brown, 99 of Leonardtown died Aug. 16 in her home.

Born Nov. 9, 1908 in Baltimore, Md., she was the daughter of the late James and Lilly Mae Jackson Rebham.

She was a member of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Valley Lee, and Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter 107, Ju-lia Halla, Hollywood.

Mrs. Brown is survived by two sons, Lloyd E. (Jerry) Brown, Jr. of Leonardtown and Willard Bruce Brown of Terra Alta, W. Va. She is also survived by six grand-children, Julie Brown-Rund, Jeff Brown, Nancy Deal, Wendy Jarda, Judy Graybill and Pheobe Brown, and eight great-grandchildren Clay and Will Rund, Kristen and Josh Brown, Shawn and Bruce Deal, Audrey and Samantha Jarda.

She was predeceased by a daughter Betty Ruth Brown and a brother John B. Fenwick.

Relatives and friends at-tended Mrs. Brown’s Life Celebration in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 5 – 8 p.m. with prayers recited at 7 p.m. A funeral service will be held Thursday, Aug. 21 at 11 a.m. in St. George’s Epis-copal Church, Valley Lee. Reverend Greg Syler, pastor of the church, will officiate. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.

Memorial Contributions may be made to The Mis-sions Endowment Fund or Cemetery and Grounds Fund, c/o St. George’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 30, Valley Lee, MD 20692.



Francis Joseph Brown, Sr., 66

Francis Joseph Brown, Sr., 66, passed away in his home in Indian Trail, N.C. Aug. 12.

Mr. Brown was born July 1, 1942 in Leonardtown, son of the late Mary Edna Brown Norris.

Mr. Brown is survived by his wife Jacqueline Mer-cer Brown; a son Francis J. Brown, Jr. and his wife Shelia of Stanfield, N.C.; a daughter Jennifer Lynn Brown of Indi-an Trail, N.C. and two grand-daughters Christianna Page and Allyson Grace Brown.

The family received friends Sunday, Aug. 17 from 2 – 5 p.m. in the Matting-ley-Gardiner Funeral Home, where Prayers were said at 3 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Mon-day, Aug. 18 at 9:30 a.m. in St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church with Fr. John Mat-tingly officiating. Interment followed in Charles Memo-rial Gardens.


Luis Antonia Castillo, 70

Luis Antonia Castillo, 70, of Leonardtown died Aug. 16 in St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Leonardtown.

Born Sept. 20, 1937 in Puerto Rico, he was the son of the late Luis Antonia and Elsa Monserrate Morales Castillo.

Luis is survived by three sisters, M. Elaine Ohler of Millsboro, Del., Evelyn Cas-tillo of Chestertown, Md. and Elsie Collins of Las Vegas, Nev. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

Family received friends Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 11 a.m. – noon in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, Leonardtown, with prayers recited at noon. Deacon George L’Heureux officiated. Graveside service followed at 2 p.m. at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suitland, Md.

Memorial Contributions may be made to the St. Mary’s Nursing Center Foundation, Inc.,

21585 Peabody Street, Leonardtown, MD 20650.



Lloyd Raymond Harris, 97

Lloyd Raymond Har-ris, 97, died peacefully Aug. 12 in the St. Mary’s Nursing Center.

Mr. Harris was a longtime resident of St. Mary’s County. He was born in Gallatin, Mo. June 13, 1911 to the late How-ard May Harris and Frankie Lee Jackson. He married his beloved wife of 59 years, Mary Catherine “Sis” Nelson at the Washington Cathedral in Washington D.C. Sept. 2, 1939. She preceded him in death in 1998. He was also preceded in death in 1998 by his beloved sister Margaret Harris.

Mr. Harris served in the United States Army as an As-sistant Chaplain. Following his army service he was em-ployed in Washington, D.C. by the Federal Government for many years before retir-ing. He then worked in the tax department for the State of Maryland and retired in 1971. During his retirement, he and his wife enjoyed trav-eling throughout the United States.

He enjoyed playing cards, dancing and buying new cars. Ray loved life and most of all he enjoyed helping others while expecting nothing in return. He was devoted in the care of his wife and sister un-til their death.

The family received friends in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown, Friday, Aug. 15 from 9 – 10 a.m. with a funer-al service that followed at 10 a.m. officiated by Rev. Keith Schukraft. Interment followed at Charles Memorial Gardens in Leonardtown. Pallbearers were Frank Nelson, Donnie Bowles, Fred Nelson, Harry Nelson, Jr., Michael Russell and Roy Copsey.

Contributions may be made to American Heart Association, 415 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-4101.


Valorie Anne Henry, 48

Valorie Anne Henry, 48, of Mechanicsville, formerly of Grandview, Mo., died Aug. 17, in Lexington Park.

Born Oct. 31, 1959 in Lincoln, Neb. she was the daughter of James Ray Dick-inson of Mouldrow, Okla. and Hortense Anne Campbell Crawford of Grandview, Mo. She was the loving wife of Earl Allan Henry, whom she married July 16, 1986 in War-rensburg, Mo.

She is survived by her son Earl Ian Henry.

Mrs. Henry gradu-ated from Grandview High School’s Class of 1977. She moved to St. Mary’s County in October 1988 from Wal-dorf, Md.

The family will receive friends Saturday, Aug. 23 from 10 – 11 a.m. in Patux-ent River Assembly of God Church, California, where a Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m. with Pastor Lanny Clark officiating. Interment will be held Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. in Maryland Veteran’s Cemetery, Chelten-ham, Md.

Contributions may be made to Hospice if St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.


Karen A. McEntyre, 51

Karen A. McEntyre, 51 of Lexington Park, formerly of Plano, Texas, died Aug. 13 in Washington Hospital Center.

Born Feb. 24, 1957 in Sweetwater, Texas she was the daughter of Carold and Mary Aleese Benson of Pla-no, Texas.

She is also survived by her children Jeremy Porter of Snyder, Texas, Jonathan Porter of Plano, Texas, Angie Porter, Sheila Horton and Ma-rissa Horton, all of Lexington Park as well as her brother Victor Benson of Plano, Texas and three grandchildren.

Karen was employed as a registered nurse.

All services are private. Arrangements provided

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

Timothy Brian McGrath, 50

Timothy Brian McGrath, 50, of Lexington Park died Aug. 11 in St. Mary’s Hospi-tal, Leonardtown.

Born June 14, 1958 in Freeport, Ill., he was the son of Patricia (Chambers) Mc-Grath of Mesa, Ariz. and the late Charles McGrath.

Timothy attended La-salle-Peru High School in La-salle, Ill. where he graduated in 1976. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1976 until 1999. After his service in the Navy, Timothy was employed by a Government Contractor and worked at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. He was an Elks Lodge member and a past member of the Lexing-ton Park Volunteer Rescue

Squad. In addition to his mother,

Timothy is survived by his wife Debra Kay (Houtz) Mc-Grath, his son, Sean Patrick McGrath of Lexington Park, his sister, Karen McGrath of Mesa, Ariz. and his brother, Michael McGrath of Ill.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. at the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department, Lexington Park.



Patrick Connor Miller 2

Patrick Connor Mill-er 2, of Avenue died Aug. 12 in St. Mary’s Hospital, Leonardtown.

Connor was born Oct. 11, 2005 in Anne Arundel Medi-cal Center, Annapolis, Md., the son of James L. Miller and Krystal Kaldenbach of Avenue.

He is survived by two sis-ters, Lillian and Kayla Miller, a brother Kyle Miller, his pa-ternal grandparents James L. and Darlene Oliver Miller of Chaptico, maternal grandpar-ents, Eugene Kaldenbach of Harrimon, Tenn., and Debra Adams Kaldenbach of Win-chester, Ky.; great-grandpar-ents Francis and Audrey Oli-ver of Chaptico and

G reat-g rand mother s Mary Lou Adams of Waldorf, Md. and Shirley Miller of Newburg, Md.

The family received friends for Connor’s Life Celebration Sunday, Aug. 17 from 3 – 4 p.m. in the Brins-field Funeral Home, Leonard-town, with a funeral service at 4 p.m. Interment was private.



Mary Aleathea Redmond, 84

Mary Aleathea Redmond, 84, of Leonardtown died Aug. 16 in St. Mary’s Hospital.

Born April 18, 1924 in Mechanicsville she was the daughter of Clarence Leo Ev-ans and Gertrude M. (Pilker-ton) Evans.

Aleathea graduated from Margaret Brent High School in 1941. She worked from 1961 to 1971 as a secretary/re-ceptionist for St. Mary’s Col-lege. She enjoyed cooking, croqueting, playing cards, gardening, and sewing; often making clothing for her and her daughter.

She is preceded in death by husband James Franklin

Redmond, whom she mar-ried March 4, 1945 at the Im-maculate Conception Catholic Church in Mechanicville. She is survived by her beloved chil-dren Gayle A. Hancock and her husband William of Fair-fax, Va., and James “Frank” Redmond and his wife Wanda of Fredericksburg, Va. She is also survived by three grand-children, Jeffery A. Hancock and his wife Jennifer of Fair-fax, Va., Mark D. Redmond and his wife Tanya of Fred-ericksburg, Va., Jason P. Red-mond of Fredericksburg; and four great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her sister Agnes Rice.

Family received friends Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonar-dtown. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated 11 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 20 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Leonardtown, with Rev. John Dakes officiating. Interment followed in Charles Memorial Gardens, Leonardtown.

Serving, as pallbearers were Mark Redmond, Jason Redmond, Jeffery Hancock, Bill Hancock, Lawrence Pilk-erton, and Arthur Pilkerton. Honorary pallbearer was Earl Dean.

Memorial contribution can be made to the Ridge Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 456, Ridge, MD 20680.



Louis Marshall “Junior” Thompson, Jr., 84

Louis Marshall “Junior” Thompson, Jr., 84, of Avenue died Aug. 4 in his residence.

He was born July 20, 1924 in Dynard to the late Louis Marshall and Catherine Elea-nor Harris Thompson Sr.

He was the loving hus-band of Rose Lee Thompson whom he married July 26, 1942 in Sacred Heart Church, Bushwood. He is also sur-vived by his children, Mar-garet Taylor and her husband George of Hollywood, Buddy Thompson and his wife Deb-bie of Avenue, Benny Thomp-son and his wife Mary of

Morganza, Donnie Thompson and his wife Debbie of Me-chanicsville and Rose Mary George and her husband John of Avenue; 16 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and his sisters Mary Ozella Lacey of Abell, Gertrude Osborne of King George, Va. and Susan Vallandingham of Bushwood.

He was preceded in death by one great-grandchild and his sisters Catherine Hall and Louise Bryant.

A lifelong resident of St. Mary’s County, Junior was a self-employed waterman. While enlisted in the U.S. Army from Oct. 19, 1944 to Nov. 19, 1945, he served as a rifleman, a light machine gunner and a cook.

He belonged to the Knights of Columbus and en-joyed playing cards and being with his family and his two special buddies Maynard and Ringo.

The family received friends in the Mattingley-Gar-diner Funeral Home Thursday, Aug. 7 from 5 – 8 p.m. with prayers being said at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Friday, Aug. 8 at 9:30 a.m. in Holy Angels Cath-olic Church, Avenue, with Fr. William Gurnee officiating. Interment followed in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Bushwood. Pallbearers were Johnny George, Jereme George, Tina Fay Ferguson, Dave Hodg-es, Matthew Thompson and Donnie Thompson. Honorary pallbearers were his grand-children, nieces and nephews.

Contributions may be made to Holy Angels Sacred Heart School, 21335 Colton’s Point Road, Avenue, MD 20609, Seventh District Vol-unteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 7, Avenue, MD 20609 and/or Hospice of St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.


Evelyn Tillotson Woods, 86

Evelyn Tillotson Woods, 86, of California died Aug. 14 in St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Leonardtown.

Born Dec. 18, 1921 in LeMoyne, Pa., she was the daughter of the late George C. Tillotson and Eva (Dowhow-er) Tillotson. Evelyn was an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Evelyn is survived by her daughters, Christine W. Moore of Chesapeake Beach, Md. and Deborah J. Standish of California, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

All services are private. Condolences to the fam-

ily may be made at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.


Obituaries

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Obits Continued

Photo by Andrea Sheill

SectionA-� The County Times Thursday,January�,2009

Looking ahead to what2009 holds in store for thecounty, Mattingly said theoutlookwasatoughone.

Since the state wasmaking heavy budget cutscounty government wasfeelingthepinchaswell,andwhile initial indicators onincome tax revenue comingbacktoSt.Mary’shavebeengood, it looks as if countyserviceswill be in a holdingpatternthisyear.

“Thiswillprobablybethetoughest budget I’ve workedon since I’ve been in office,” Mattinglysaid.

The county’s head ofeconomic development, BobSchaller, said much willdepend on people’s attitudein the coming year to helpturn around some of themore gloomy aspects of theeconomy.

Home prices here andelsewhere were overvalued,Schaller said, and now thatthe bubble had burst, people

are being more careful withtheirmoney.

Unemployment in St.Mary’shasbeatenthestateandnational averages, accordingto the latest data from thestate,butithasgrown.

In November of 2008,4.2 percent of countyresidents were unemployed,state Department of Labor,LicensingandRegulationdatashowed. That was a significant increasefromjust2.8percentthesametimein2007.

Schallerwaspleasedtoseehowever, that thenetnumberofcompaniesthatareinvolvedin technology, most closelyassociated with activities atPatuxent River Naval AirStation, has increased by 10netbusinesses.

“That’s good news,” Schaller said. “The key toeverything is employment; itdriveshousing,itdrivesretailand everything else in theeconomy.”

January and February,usually slow times forbusinesses, will be criticalmonthstoseehowmanycanhangonbykeepingtheirdoorsopen,Schallersaid.

“The God Spot”

Shelby Oppermann

Wanderings of an Aimless Mind

200�Continued from page A-�

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LegalNoticeNoticeofRequestforBidProposalForaStandbyPowerGeneratorSystem

TheCommissionersofLeonardtownwillbeacceptingbidsforastandbypowergeneratorsystemandautomatic transferswitches. This systemshall includeone (1)Kohler150KW277/480volts,3phaseandaKohlermodelKCT-AMTA-0260S(ATS)orequivalent.

InterestedbiddersmayobtainacopyoftheRFPbycon-tacting Tony Wheatley, Capital Project Coordinator, Com-missionersofLeonardtown,POB1,41660CourthouseDrive,Leonardtown,MD20650orbycalling301-475-9791betweenthehoursof8:30a.m.and4:30p.m,MondaythruFriday.

Sealedbidswillbereceiveduntil11:00a.m.,Wednesday,January28,2008,atwhichtimetheywillbepubliclyopenedandread.

TheCommissionersofLeonardtown reserve the right torejectanyandallbidsandproposals,andtoacceptanypropos-alsdeemedtobeinthebestinterestoftheTown.

ByShelbyOppermann

Ihopeeveryone’sholidayswerehappy:thatChrist-maswasjoyous,filledwithlovedonesorcallsandlet-tersfromthem,thattheNewYearbroughtaboutyourcontinueddesirenotonlytodokindnesstoothers,buttodoakindnesstoyourselfinmindorbody.Iwishforusalla2009thatbringsoutthebestinusandthenshowsusthewayinwhichtouseit.

Thereareplacesyoutravelthatmakeyoufeelspe-cial, or bring back wonderful, or bad, memories. Ihave a place I call “The God Spot”. The feeling that it is aGod spotonlyhappened sometime last year ithasalwaysbeenabreathtakinglybeautifulsectionoflandtome.Whoknew,thatforme,GodhadchosenhisacreonlowerMechanicsvilleRoad?Ienjoylearn-ing about all religions, including my own, and haverespect for the inherent beauty in each. There is somuchtolearninthisworld,thankgoodnesswearealldifferent and have such knowledge to share. We allhavearighttoourownbeliefsystem.

Iusually travel adifferentdirection towork,butlast Summer I started taking my old favorite routedownMechanicsvilleRoad,pastapicturesqueAmishfarmthatsitsdowninahollow. YouknowhowI’vewrittenaboutmyloveforcominguptothecrestofahillandseeingthetopsofthetreesontheotherside.That’s the way this section is. You drive on a f latstretchthroughtrees,cometoacornfieldwhichopensupintoblueskyandthenyouseejustthetipsofthefarawaytreetops.It’slikeacartoondaytome.I’llhavetoexplain thatoneatsomepoint, Iguess.Then,youstarttoseethebarnsandoldhomeontheAmishfarm.Orlikenow,inWinter,youseethebluish-grayspiral-ing trail of smoke rising upwards. I feel so happy Iwanttoburstinside.Asyouenterthef latpasturelandthere are normally several cows and horses grazing.Onceinawhiletherearewhitehorsesthatlooksore-gal.Youcanalmostpictureahornontheirforeheadsonmisty,foggydays.

After awhile, as Ipassed this spotdayafterday,sometimespullingofftotakepictures,Istartedsaying“ThankYouGodforthisbeautifuldaythatyouhavecreated.” It didn’t matter whether it was raining or sunny,because therewasalwaysbeauty. SometimesIwould add an extra little prayer of something.Youknow, the “and can you please giveme a little extrastrengthtodaytoworkonthis,orthinkaboutthatorhelp my friend…”. It has to be fairly quick; you are driving40–45milesanhourtherewithpeoplebehindyoumanytimes.Itseemedlikecreationwasso“pres-ent” in this place.

Everyone has their different viewpoint on God,minegoes throughvarious stagesof thinkinghehassomanypeopletolistentohowcouldhepossiblyhearme(moreoftheGodasobserverview)totheSundayschool version of him being all powerful and some-timesalittlescary(thestern,butlovingFatherview).I always feltmore comfortable praying toMary, sheseemedmild,andbeingawomancouldprobablygetwordthroughtoGodinadiplomaticway,likethewayIdowhenIwanttogosomeplacemyhusbanddoesn’treallywanttogo.But,bytheendoftheconversation,he thinks it was his idea. All you woman out thereknow how that is done. Anyway, one day, as I waspassingtheGodspot,IsuddenlyfeltlikeIunderstood,I’mnotsurewhat,butIreallyfeltlikeGodwasinme.Itwasauniquefeeling,andwishIhadwrittendownthefeelingsthatmoment.Andthen…

ThispastFallwehadaspartofouron-goingbookstudy at church, a book on Theology. It remindedmeofwhatmyFathertoldmeasIsetoffforcollege.“Don’ttakeanyPsychologycourses,Idon’twantyoucoming home and analyzing me!” I graduated as a So-cialPsychmajor.So,Ihadjustgottenmyunderstand-ingofGodalittlecleareroraccessibleinmyhead,andthenwe start readingaboutTheology. What agreatwaytoconfuseanylogicsystemyouthoughtyouhad.Nowthequestionsthisauthorexploredwere,whocre-atedGod.Noonedidapparently,hecamefromnoth-ingness, he is everything. Questions on the Trinity,whichstillconfusesme.Ican’treallygraspitall,andit’s only one viewpoint. But, it was enough for me,asIdrovebymyGodSpotonemorningtosay,“Justas thinkI’vefoundoutaboutyouandhadsimplifiedthingsinmyhead,nowIhaveallthesenewquestionsthat seem unanswerable.” I could almost hear God sayingback“Don’treadanymorebooksonTheology,I don’t want you analyzing me too!, Just Feel!” I’m waiting foroneofournextbooks, it’scalled“Ethicsafter Easter”. Sounds interesting.

Toeachnewday’sadventure,Shelby

Pleasesendcommentsorideasto:[email protected].

Mitchell Nelson, said thatTanavage’s arguments mis-characterized what becamea violent altercation betweenthetwomen.

Both sides agreed thatChoporishadapparentlyagi-tatedPottstothepointwherePotts’temperexploded.

“Myclientneverintendedto kill Mr. Choporis,” Nelson toldthejury.“Oncehebecameenragedhelostcontrol.

“Hedidn’tplantokillMr.Choporis.”

Nelsonarguedthat,whilePotts’violentactionswerenotexcusable, they did not war-ranthisbeingfoundguiltyofeither first-or-second-degree murder.

Rather, Nelson said,Potts’ actions constitutedmanslaughter through imper-fectselfdefense.

Two firefighters testified to events leadingup toCho-poris’deaththatday.

RyanDusch said that hesawbothPotts’andChoporisin the upstairs section whilehe was watching televisionand struck a conversationwithboth.

He testified he saw no al-tercationbetweenthetwomenandthatPottshadareputationas “a very good firefighter.”

Itwas revealed, howeverthatPottshadsustainedseri-ous injury in a motorcycleaccident thatkepthimoutoffirehouse duty for about a year

beforethekilling.The defense alluded to

the idea that Potts’ personal-ityandbehaviorhadchangedsubsequenttotheaccident.

Thedefense lostout toaprosecutionmotionbeforethetrialbeganthatsoughttopro-hibit witnesses testifying towhat they believedPotts’ in-tentionsorabilitytopremedi-tate theallegedkilling in thedaysleadingupit.

The court has set asideeight days for the trial to beconducted in two stages: thefirst stage of the trial will de-termine Potts’ guilt or inno-cence.Iffoundguilty,thesec-ondphasewoulddetermineifhe was in full knowledge ofthecriminalityoftheact.

Charging documents filed atthetimeoftheincidentbythen-Detective Clayton Saf-fordoftheSt.Mary’sCountyBureau of Criminal Inves-tigations alleged that Pottshad told the chief of the fire department that he had justkilled someone inside the fire-housethatevening.

Saffordwroteinhisstate-ment of probable cause thatwhen he made contact withPottsheobservedbloodonhisshirt,shorts,shoesandsocks.

Detectiveswhocollectedevidenceonthescenefoundalargeamountofblood in theupstairs sleeping quarters ofthebuildingaswellasbloodspatteronthewall.

Atrailofbloodleddetec-tives to storage area wherethey found Choporis’ bodywrapped in blankets, towelsand plastic that were soaked

TrialContinued from page A-�

inhisownblood.Choporis had sustained

severalwoundsfromanedgedweapon,chargingdocumentsstated, to his neck and hishead.

Detectivesfoundaknife,also covered in blood, in apair of shorts near the bodythat was later identified as belonging to Potts, chargingdocumentsallege.

CourtpapersgoontosaythatPottsadmitted tohittingChoporis in the head with agolfclubafterbecomingagi-tatedwithhim.

A struggle between thetwo men ensued, chargingpapersalleged,inwhichPottsproduced his folding knifefromhispantspocketandcutChoporis several times afterhitting him first with the club.

Nicholas T. Potts III

Thursday, January 8, 2009 The County Times Section A - 9

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Walking into the Piney Point Light-house Museum right now is much like tak-ing a trip in a time machine, as museum-go-ers can view an actual 1864 ballot for Presi-dent Abraham Lincoln and Vice President Andrew Johnson, memorial ribbons from the Andrew Jackson administration as well as a host of other items dating as far back as the mid 1800’s.

All are part of the museum’s Political Memorabilia Exhibit, featuring items that blend together to create a mural of American Politics and Maryland Politics over the last century and a half.

“The reason we put this up in the first place is that we’re known as the light-house of Presidents,” said museum manager April Havens, adding that most presidents dating back to the 1800’s visited the lighthouse at some point during their tenure in office. “But we have things from the state of Maryland elec-tions…we have some St. Mary’s County specific items, and then we have na-tional items.”

Among the national items are a richly whimsical collection of cam-paign buttons from everyone from Honest Abe to George W. Bush; an interesting col-lection of ballots; a mechanical lever voting machine and an old-fashioned ballot box

that even has remnants of its last wax seal.“My favorite has to be the ballot box,”

Havens said. “It’s just so unique, just seeing the way people have voted over the years.”

The exhibit was compiled by five or six private collectors, some of whom displayed such a passion for the items that Havens said she was dizzied by some of their accounts.

“This one guy, he must have spent an hour telling me all about these cardboard signs, how he got them, where he got them,” Havens said, fanning herself while flanked by large cardboard posters for Dukakis and Reagan, among others.

“We were originally going to close after the new-year, but we decided to stay

open till the inauguration,” Havens said. “I’m hoping that as people

are coming into town for the inaugural, they might

come down to Piney Point and see what’s going on here,” she said, waving at

the historical items around her.

Some of the items sur-rounding her include a host of presidential Christmas cards from the Clintons and Bushes,

guest badges from the 1980 Democratic National Conven-tion and Presidential Christmas

ornaments and photographs high-lighting the Presidential adminis-trations dating back to 1845.

“We’ll be open on weekends, but if someone has a burning de-

sire to come on a weekday…I’ll open up for them, too,” Havens said, adding that the ex-hibit will stay open through Jan. 19.

The Ghost of Presidents PastPiney Point exhibit displays local and

national historical political items.

Thursday, Jan. 8

Wing Night at VFW 2632VFW (California) - 5 p.m.Ordered to your liking, available breaded or un-

breaded in scorching hot, hot, medium, milk, honey BBD, teriyaki, or with butter and garlic. Wings sold and served from 5 - 8 p.m., available to go.

Texas Hold’emDonovan’s Irish Pub (California) - 7 p.m.Cash games, reservations recommended but not

required. Tables are limited. Proceeds go to Family

First of Southern Maryland. Call 443-975-1591 for more information.

Friday, Jan. 9

Special Olympics No Limit TournamentCenter for Life Enrichment (25089 Three Notch

Road) - 7 p.m.No limit, $60 buy-in. Start with $2,000 in chips.

Sign up from 6:15 – 6:50 p.m. Proceeds will benefit St. Mary’s Special Olympics. Call 301-373-8100 to pre-register. For more information contact Jim Bucci at [email protected].

Catfish Friday at VFW 2632VFW (California) - 5:30 p.m.$9, eat-in or to-go. Proceeds support Ladies

Auxiliary programs to benefit veterans and local organizations.

Texas Hold’em Deepstack TournamentBryans Road VFD - 7 p.m.

“2009 Player of the Year” begins. $150 buy-in, $110 prize pool, $35 en-try fee, no re-buys. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., seating at 7:30 p.m. Must be 18 to play, 21 to drink. Free food and drink offered. Call 301-371-7055 for more information.

Out of the Blue in concert

Mary Harrison Center (Owings) - 7:30 p.m.

Visit www.yale.edu.ootb to hear songs from this a cappella group’s pop/rock repertoire. $10 for adults, $5 for students. Call 410-257-1519 for more information.

Saturday, Jan. 10

Tamburitzans of Duquesne University

Great Mills High School Auditorium - 8 p.m.

Admission $25, children under 15 are $15. For more information, call 301-475-3225.

G e n t i c o r u m Workshops and Concert

St. Mary’s Ryken - 9 a.m.

Witty Quebec trio to perform. Af-ternoon workshops will include fiddle, feet, flute, whistles, and guitars. For more information visit www.cssm.org or call 301-904-7303.

Starcrush, DJ Rob & Sam Grow

Hotel Charles (Hughesville) - 9 p.m.

Starcrush with DJ Rob playing during in-termissions in the Party Room, San Grow in the front bar. Cover charge. Call 301-274-4612 for more information.

Political Memorabil-ia Exhibit

Piney Point Light-house Museum - 12 noon

The exhibit offers memorabilia from private collectors in St. Mary’s County with items rang-ing from Abraham Lin-coln to Barrack Obama. $3 per adult, $1.50 per child 6 to 18, and chil-dren 5 and under free. Discounts available for senior citizens and mili-tary. Call 301-994-1471 for more information.

Public Forum on En-ergy and Environment

Lexington Park Li-brary (rooms A and B) - 2 p.m.

The League of Wom-en Voters invites citizens to a free panel discussion on energy policy. Panel made up of experts rep-resenting the Board of County Commissioners, SMECO, NAS Patuxent River, St. Mary’s Col-lege of Maryland, and St. Mary’s County Pub-lic Schools. Forum will be open to questions from audience.

Sunday, Jan. 11

Winter Sunday in the Park

Rosedale Manor (Greenwell State Park) - 1 p.m.

Winter views of Patuxent, manor house tours, previews of 2009 programs, refresh-ments offered. Call 301-373-9775 for more information.

SectionA-10 The County Times Thursday,January8,2009

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bothhadbeenlagging.“Wecan’tprovidethatlevelofassistance

anymore,”Gibbssaid.“Especiallywithtimesthewaytheyarenow.”

St.Michael’sinRidgeisfacinga$300,000deficit. Though enrollment at the school has risen from 129 students last year to 150 this year,thetotaloperatingcostis$981,000,withtuition payments covering only $359,000 to-wards the cost, with funding sources includ-ing archdiocesan tuition assistance, bingo and game fundraising, and bequests and donations equaling $640,000. Over the past five years, the archdiocese has given $895,000 in aid to the school, but with losses from investments and tough economic times on the horizon, comparable levels of support in the next few years seem unlikely.

“I think we’ve got our work cut out for us in the next several months to see what we can do to keep these schools open…but if the arch-diocese can’t help more, then it’s a big question mark,” said Delegate John Wood (D-29A).

When asked if the legislature may be able to offer assistance, Wood said that textbook funds for parochial schools had been reduced consistently,andhedidnotanticipatethestateto be able to contribute more. “Some parts of the state don’t look at parochial schools like we do down here…we’ve been struggling with that, but I don’t know that we’ll be able to get more to help…that’s not to say we won’t try though…the legislature has bigger problems thantheschoolhas,”hesaid.

Holy Angels Sacred Heart School in Av-enue may also face closing after 83 years in the community. “Holy Angels Sacred Heart has struggled with enrollment for a number of years,andhasbeenimpactedheavilybyalossof bingo revenue,” wrote Gibbs. Even with $25,000 in archdiocesan tuition assistance and $229,000 in other tuition revenue, the school has an operating budget of $884,000, and is facing a $450,811 deficit in the wake of steadi-ly declining enrollment. Only 83 students areenrolledforthisschoolyear,athirdoftheschool’s capacity and a 36 percent loss over the pastnineyears.

When asked about the possibility of as many as 300 students going into public schools, Board of Education Vice-Chair Cathy Allen said, “that’s a prospect we face anytime…but I don’t know that the number of students we would get would be such that they wouldn’t be able to handle them. Not everyone would come into a particular grade at a particular school. You’re talking about the students be-ingspreadacrossareasandgradelevels,andreally we’ll just find a way to make it work.”

“The only thing I can tell you is what I hap-

pen to know personally,” said newly elected Board of Education mem-ber Marilyn Crosby. “There’s no guarantee that theseparentsare

necessarily going tobe putting their kids in public schools…so my general feelingabout the whole thing is until be have de-finitive knowledge on them closing, I don’tthink we should pan-ic…but we have to en-sure that we maintain class size goals as much aspossible.”

Though possible school closings may beworrying some, at St.John’s school in Holly-wood, principal PatriciaSuit said that her school was fortunate to have an endowment to work from as well as strong sup-portfromitsparishatSt.John’s Catholic Church. Suit said St. John’s would b ekeeping its doors open and that the arch dio-cese would help place students from the two other sites should they close their doors. “St. Mary’s County Catholic schools would make sure they’d have a place to go,” she said.

Even with tough economic times, Suit said, parents may grumble about tuition in-creases but keep sending their students back toclasseachyear.

The average cost for a pupil at St. John’s is about $4,000 a year, Suit said, and those fig-ures have been increasing steadily every year by about 5 to 10 percent each year for the past decade.

At Little Flower school in Callaway, Principal Marsha Leigh Stewart said that the schools enrollment stands steady at about 200 students and enrollment has risen for the past threeyears.

The school has also added several new programs to their curriculum, including the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program in use in public schools.

“We feel good about where we are and wherewe’regoing,”Stewartsaid,addingthatthe school was still looking to make every dol-lar they have count.

Little Flower has not had to make any teacher or staff cuts, she said.

“I’ve never known a Catholic school even in the best of times that wasn’t frugal,” Stewart said.

CatholicSchoolsContinued from page A-�

Students at St. John’s School in Hollywood help load up food for the needy at their school

during the Celebration of Epiphany Tuesday. Despite fears other Catholic primary schools

may close, St. John’s, along with Little Flower and Mother Catherine Spalding schools have no

plans to close.

Photos by Guy Leonard

the county times 2008.01.08 a section

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