2012-06-14 the county times

Rising From the Ashes

Thursday, June 14, 2012 www.somd.com

Photo By Frank Marquart 7

Thursday, June 14, 2012 2The County Times

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Building Trades Foundation members, school officials, many contractors and students who helped craft the new home join the Bateman family in a celebratory photo during an open house last Thursday.

John Fulton and Tabitha Blanset, formerly of Texas, try their hand at enjoying hard crabs at the St. Mary’s County Crab Festival on Saturday.

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Shannon Shreve, son of Bear Creek Bar-B-Q owner Curtis Shreve, cooks up some bar-b-que Wednesday

out of front of their damaged building in Callaway.

“That’s the fear, we’re trying to play it safe … We always budget conservatively.”

- Leonardtown Administrator Laschelle McKayAlso Inside

4 County News

11 Money

12 Crime

14 Obituaries

16 Education

17 Feature Story

18 Letters

20 Newsmaker

22 Community

23 Community Calendar

24 Senior News

25 Business Directory

26 Games

27 Columns

28 Entertainment

29 Entertainment Calendar

30 Health

31 Sports

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The Community Alcohol Coalition and St. Mary’s County Sheriff's Officewill host a Community Forum to discuss the legal consequences of underage

alcohol use. The CAC, through a multi-year grant provided by the Alcohol and DrugAbuse Administration, has a priority to reduce underage and binge drinking.

Deputy James Stone, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Alcohol EnforcementOfficer and Joe Stanalonis, Senior Assistant States Attorney for St. Mary’s County will present information on laws, regulations and legal consequences for underage

alcohol use and provisions of alcohol to minors.

The Forum will conclude with a question and answer session.

6:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 26 Chesapeake Building – Board of County Commissioners Meeting Room

41770 Baldridge St. Leonardtown, MD 20650

For information, contact Jaclyn Shaw, 301-475-6184or email: [email protected]

By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

The Board of County Commission-ers voted Tuesday to remove plans to in-

stall a public water and sewer system in the Charlotte Hall and New Market areas amid concerns that a master plan for over-all growth there has yet to be formulated.

The project was just $5.3 million out

of an entire $187 million capital improve-ment plan presented by the Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) that passed with-out any other changes.

The MetCom capital building plan is set to run from 2013 to 2018.

The county is still deep in develop-ing a master plan for the Lexington Park Development District and planners have yet to sit down and begin development of a similar plan for Charlotte Hall.

Charlotte Hall is designated as a town center by the county’s comprehen-sive plan, but it lacks large-scale water and sewer, save for a few private systems.

County planners have said more public water and sewer systems will be required to provide for the anticipated continued growth due to the increasing restrictions being placed on individual septic systems by the state.

Commissioner Dan Morris (R-Mechanicsville) said without a compre-hensive plan for Charlotte Hall to guide growth, allowing more water and sewer could result in growth that infrastructure could not handle.

“You’d see developments approved and then you’ve got a monster project that roads can’t handle and that schools can’t handle,” Morris said. “It’s not wise, it’s just not wise.”

The commissioners voted unani-mously to remove the project.

Commissioner Todd Morgan said the project could not have moved forward without budgeted funding, and it was im-portant to keep it in the plan to ensure it is not forgotten.

“That area’s going to grow, its inevi-table,” Morgan said, adding that his ap-proval of removing the project hinged on the fact that it could be put back into the overall building plan.

“I’m not real happy with it being removed altogether.” Morgan said. “It’s about the future of the county and its growth.

“We can’t continue to say no … the infrastructure has to be there to support that growth.”

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June 22A Little Bit of GypsyFranz Liszt — Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2Pablo Sarasate — Navarra (“Spanish Dance”) for 2 violins Jessica and Katelyn Lyons, violinsAntonin Dvořák — Gypsy Songs, Op. 55Edita Randova, mezzo-sopranoAntonin Dvořák — Symphony No. 9, “New World Symphony”

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By Corrin M. HoweStaff Writer

Patuxent River Rugby club held a fundraiser this past Saturday; however, they weren’t raising money for their or-ganization. Instead the benefit was for the regional chapter of Pets for Vets.

The club, established in 1990, to promote the sport as well as safe competition, held a “Putts for Pups” event at Chesapeake Hills Golf Course in Lusby. The money was for the Washington, D.C. area chapter of Pets for Vets which serves Maryland, Virginia and D.C.

On Saturday, families parked and followed “Putts for Pups” signs around back to the Grille and putting greens. The DJ had “Walking on Sunshine” playing as the smell of grilled hamburgers filled the air. Under a tent, families sat, ate and visited with one another. The event encouraged families to bring “Fido, but he must be on a leash.” At the beginning of the fundraiser, scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m., a dozen dogs participated with their owners in putting tournaments, eating, raffles, sales and donations.

Brittany Sovine, director for the regional chapter of Pets for Vets, said the organization rescues shelter dogs and trains them specifically for a returning war veteran who suf-fers from physical and emotional injuries related to military service.

“If a veteran is anxious about people coming up from behind, the dog is trained to let him know someone is ap-proaching,” Sovine said.

The money helps the organization train the dogs and provide the new owner with everything they need to start tak-ing care of their new pet.

Sovine said her chapter is new and it took some time to find a trainer meeting the requirements of the national Pets for

Vets organization. So far, the chapter has rescued two dogs but one of the veterans was not able to take care of it.

“That’s the unique thing about our organization, if it can’t go to a vet, it stays until we find it a home,” Sovine said.

The other dog is currently being trained for a veteran in Hagerstown.

“We don’t bring the rescue dogs to fundraising events because our goal is to rescue them and as soon as possible place them. In order to do that, it must stay with the trainer all the time.” Sovine said.

Justin Thomson, president of Patuxent River Rugby, said his club searches for other non-profits that they can help.

The rugby club’s members come from both Calvert and St. Mary’s counties. He estimates 25-35 serve or have served in the military. In the past, 10 members have gone to Afghani-

stan and all are dog owners.In the past five years, Patuxent Rugby has raised over

$8,000 for other organizations such as the American Red Cross and Wounded Warriors. Raising money for Pets for Vets was a natural fit, according to Thomson, who added, the club did not need to spend money to put on the fundraiser, practically everything was donated.

“When we do this we make sure our members pay for everything because every hot dog or soda they didn’t pay for translates into a leash or dog collar,” Thomson said.

For more information about Patuxent Rugby check out www.paxrugby.com. For more information about Pets for Vets go to www.Pets-for-Vets.com.

[email protected]

Both the Patuxent River Rugby Club and Pets for Vets pose for pictures at the “Putts for Pups” fundraising event at Chesapeake Hills Golf Course in Lusby.



Underage drinking and binge drinking by young people has always been difficult to track, but local law enforcement officials say the prob-lem is on the rise.

Deputy First Class James Stone, the alco-hol enforcement officer for the county, said the proliferation of fake identification cards coming in from foreign countries has had a major im-pact on the rise of alcohol available to minors.

Stone said young people can buy IDs at on-line sites that take their picture and match it up with the drivers license for their state and deliver the finished product in the mail.

“They’re nearly exactly the same as what states have,” Stone said. “It’s hard to tell what’s fraudulent and what’s real.”

There are about 300,000 fake IDs circulat-ing around Maryland, Stone said, which means there were enough for nearly every man, wom-an and child in the tri-county area.

Social networking and on-line forums help to foment parties where underage drinking oc-curs. The acquiescence of parents that allow their children to drink at parties involving alco-hol is another danger.

Stone said parents sometimes facilitate the parties, but there aren’t enough police officers to take action even if they could find them.

“It’s really hard to locate these things,”

Stone said. “Everyone runs and there’s not enough police to contain it.”

A forum set for June 26 at the county gov-ernment’s Chesapeake Building will address these problems and also share with parents the penalties they face for allowing minors to drink.

Stone said adults could face fines of $2,500 for the first underage drinker and then $5,000 for each young person caught after that.

“When the kids get ahold of it, they drink it as fast as they can to get as drunk as they can,” Stone said. “That’s all they think about is how drunk they can get.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Stanalo-nis said drinking hurts young people on a physi-cal and developmental level, but also puts them at risk of being crime victims.

“The problem … is that they drink to the point of alcohol poisoning,” Stanalonis said. “We’ve seen an increase in allegations of sex offenses due to excessive drinking.”

Stanalonis said adults who allow underage drinking might be in denial about the ramifica-tions of their actions.

“It does damage to their [young people’s] bodies, it does damage to their brains,” Stana-lonis said. “They’re out there drinking hard liquor.

“If parents had more education on that, they would rethink what they do,” he said.

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Town of Leonardtown officials say that because county officials are concerned they may have received more than the fair share of income tax receipts, the town may have taken in more than it should have as well.

In turn, town officials are talk-ing about budgeting conservatively this fiscal year, at least until the state does its revenue reconcilia-tions in November.

The town council passed its annual budget Monday of about $1.3 million in operating funds, and also reduced its property tax rate to a constant yield of 12.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. Coun-cil members were quick to reiterate that their fund balance was about 50 percent of their operating budget to offset any readjustments by the state.

The county received a dis-bursement this year of $76 million, or 16 percent higher than last fiscal year. This amount has lead both

financial officials and elected lead-ers to express concern that the state might fund at a reduced rate next time or even take some of the fund-ing back.

Mayor Dan Burris said the town is budgeting out about five percent of the income tax revenues from the state just in case.

“We do have some contingen-cy in our budget,” Burris said.

Rebecca Sothoron, finance director for the town, said her con-versations with the county’s finance officials prompted her warning to town commissioners Monday.

“If the county was overpaid, then the town may have been over-paid,” Sothoron said. “We won’t know until November.”

Town Administrator Laschelle McKay said the town will continue to budget conservatively, especially in the face of these possible read-justments from the state.

“That’s the fear, we’re trying to play it safe,” McKay said. “We always budget conservatively.”

[email protected]

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Annual Crab Festival Draws Record Crowd

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By Alex PanosStaff Writer

Approximately 5,400 people attended the 27th Annual Crab Festival last Saturday, hosted by the Leonardtown Lions Club at St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds – the largest crowd in the event’s history.

Leonardtown Lions Club President Bob Schaller said officials were expecting a spike in attendance this year because of the decision to hold the festival on a Saturday, rather than Sun-day, for the first time.

In previous years, the event stopped at 5 p.m. because the following day meant back to work for many. By having the festival on Saturday, the gates remained open until 9 p.m. and people from further away could make the trip into St. Mary’s.

“We’re very pleased with the turnout and the number of vendors that stayed,” Schaller said. “We proved we could do this on a Saturday.”

In addition to rescheduling the festival, Schaller said the success of the turnout was also a direct result of perfect weather, a concentration on promotion and the effective utilization of so-cial media.

Along with consuming mass amounts of crabs to kick off the crabbing season, patrons en-joyed a variety of additional entertainment.

Kids enjoyed different activities like craft-ing crabs out of pipe cleaners, making necklaces, face painting and tattoos offered by the local vol-unteer rescue squads and a celebrity appearance from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs mascot “Pinch,” which according to Schaller was like having a Disney character on the Fairgrounds.

Along with Pinch, Miss American Coed 2012 Miss Maryland Teen Samantha Marshall, a St. Mary’s County native, also made a guest appearance.

The featured music provided an array of sounds throughout the day. Country music was performed by “Southbound” in the afternoon for the day-crowd, followed by folksy music from lo-

cal songwriter David Norris and concluded with vibrant, upbeat classic rock performed by “The 25th Hour Band” in the evening.

Schaller said he was especially pleased with the performance from The 25th Hour Band be-cause of the lively, dance party atmosphere the band was able to create.

“Even the guys from Bear Creek [BBQ] were out dancing because they ran out of food to sell,” Schaller said.

Schaller believes despite all the new events, people for the most part came out and had a great time at the local tradition because of the main event - feasting on crabs.

“No matter what we add, this festival is still done the old fashioned way,” Schaller said, “Peo-ple just love eating crabs.”

[email protected]

Above, St. Mary’s County Commissioner President Jack Russell gives a “Fins and Claws” presentation, which included information on how to tell the difference between male and female crabs.Below, Great Mills High graduate Samantha Marshall, who is the Miss American Coed 2012 Miss Maryland Teen, poses with Lions members.

Photos By Joe Dunn

John Fulton, formerly of Texas, tries his hand at enjoying hard crabs at the St. Mary’s County Crab Festival on Saturday.


Pax River Drone Crashes in Eastern Shore

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A sophisticated unmanned air ve-hicle out of Naval air Station Patuxent River flew across the Chesapeake Bay and crashed into a marsh on the Eastern Shore Monday afternoon.

The exact crash zone of the Broad Area Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) was on Bloodsworth Island in Dorchester County, about 22 miles to the east of the Navy base in St. Mary’s County.

The Navy reported that no one was injured as a result of the crash and no property was damaged on the deserted island.

Navy officials are still investigating the cause of the crash, a statement from the navy.mil website states.

A Navy official offered background information and said the drone was un-dergoing a training flight and this was likely the first crash of its kind for this particular model.

The same official said the aircraft,

which was transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Navy at no cost in fiscal 2011, had a price tag of $45.9 million.

A Government Accountability Of-fice report shows the actual cost of the BAMS-D at about $169 million per unit. With 77 units totaling more than $13 bil-lion actual in program costs, according to the 2012 analysis.

According to the Navy’s release, the BAMS-D supports maritime surveil-lance, intelligence and reconnaissance activities and has been operational for more than 5,500 hours in combat situa-tions since 2008.

The aircraft that crashed Monday was one of five the Navy acquired from the Air Force to bolster its reconnais-sance capabilities. The maritime branch of the service has been using the drone to develop tactics and doctrine for use as a high-altitude patrol aircraft since 2006, the Navy stated.

There are currently five BAMS-D aircraft in use by the Navy, officials said.

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Officer Who Fired on Suspect Placed

on LeaveBy Guy LeonardStaff Writer

The county sheriff’s office says that a nine-year veteran of the agency, Cpl. Keith Moritz, was the deputy who fired at a sus-pect last week during tense stand off that developed over the service of child support warrants.

Kevin Vincent Bonds, the defendant in the case, is alleged to have exited a room in his St. Inigoes home June 6 and leveled a long gun at Sgt. Harold D. Young who warned other deputies who had entered the house with him that Bond had a weapon.

Moritz fired on Bonds in defense of Young’s life, police reports and court charg-ing papers state, but Bonds was not struck.

Officers then retreated from the house on Grayson Road, formed up outside and called for backup, court papers state.

From there Bonds refused to come out of the house, police say, and a barricade in-cident ensued.

Crisis negotiators responded and the next day Bonds came out of his home and was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree assault as well as failing to pay on five open warrants for child sup-port and failing to appear in court.

A later search and seizure warrant ex-ecuted on the home found that the long gun

was in fact a BB gun that had the appear-ance of a real firearm, police said.

Moritz remains on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into his actions that day.

Bonds remains incarcerated at the county detention center.

Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron said calls for service once were categorized as ei-ther low-risk or high-risk, but things have changed so officers face an unknown risk in any given situation.

This latest encounter which was sparked by child support warrants only re-iterates what officers faced from escalating violence, he said.

“The tenor, the feeling is there’s a greater sense of violence out there,” Cam-eron said. “It’s what we’ve always dealt with but proportionately there’s more of it because there are more people.”

Despite the long gun turning out to be a BB gun, Cameron said that it was likely that Moritz did not know that at the time.

“We judge him on what he perceived at the time, not what we might find out minutes, hours or even days after the fact,” Cameron said.

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The St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce held their annual meeting Tuesday night, which featured awards for outstanding members and recogni-tions for new and depart-ing members.

Chamber president Bill Scarafia said the chamber gave a recap of the recommenda-tions the group made to St. Mary’s County this past year; including de-sign standards, property standards and workforce housing.

Members of the chamber’s board also updated the crowd of more than 200 on the number of events they plan to participate in the next year, and gave their financial status, which Scarafia was pleased to report is “fi-nancially solvent.”

Three distinct awards and one financial gift were given out this year to notewor-thy individuals. Shirley Pechatsko, of State Farm Insurance, was named the Ambassa-dor of the Year.

J. Harry Norris’ 25 years of service, 17 as mayor of Leonardtown, propelled him to become this year’s recipient of the Public Servant Award.

Mary Ann Murray’s commitment to business, community involvement and sup-port of the chamber earned her the Business Person of the Year Award. The Chamber

also awarded high school senior Brian Koc-ka with a $1,000 college scholarship.

Along with the award winners, Wayne Davis of W.M. Davis, Inc. was recognized for 10 years of service and Tom Jarboe of Technology Security Associates, Inc. for his seven years, as both their terms on the chamber’s board expired.

The chamber’s newest members Chris King of Raley, Watts and O’Neill Insurance and Ernie Williams of Community Bank of Tri-County were introduced and wel-comed. The event wrapped up shortly after Chairman of the Board Kenneth Shelley announced the chamber’s new Executive Committee, consisting of Chair-elect Kim Oliver, of Amelex; First Vice Chair Mar-geret Sawyer, of Old Line Bank; Second

Vice Chair Glen Ives, of Sabre Systems Inc.; Trea-surer Charles Roach, of Cedar Point Federal Credit Union; and Immediate Past Chair Joseph Dens-ford, attorney at law.

Overall, Scarafia said the event at the Leonard-town Volunteer Fire Com-pany Social Hall was fan-tastic because of the great attendance, renewals of friendships and recogni-tion of continued success in St. Mary’s County.

“It was the best [event] in several years,” Scarafia said. “It was an event to communicate business but was equally socially successful.”

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The Chamber of Commerce’s Outgoing Board Chair Joseph Densford awards Mary Ann Murray the Business Person of the Year Award.

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Navy Employee Charged in Handgun Assault

12-Year-Old Arrested for Assaulting

ToddlerBy Guy LeonardStaff Writer

Calvert County police charged a se-curity guard at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in St. Mary’s County with point-ing a handgun at a victim outside a Solo-mons Island restaurant last weekend.

According to charging documents filed in county District Court, Damien Feliciano was in one of two groups argu-ing outside the Calypso Bay bar and crab house June 9 when he allegedly pulled a gun on Shelby Maurice Kerrick.

Two witnesses seemed to corrobo-rate Kerrick’s story, charging documents stated, with one saying they saw an unde-termined object in Feliciano’s hand while another said they saw him holding the gun in his hand.

Feliciano, who is employed by the U.S. Navy, said he retrieved the gun from his vehicle because Kerrick threatened him, charging documents stated.

Kerrick told police that Feliciano pointed the gun at him and cocked the hammer.

Officers responded to the Solomons establishment after a citizen reported seeing a man point a handgun at another

person.When police arrived they found two

groups in the parking lot of the restaurant separated but arguing, and as they ap-proached one officer reported seeing Fe-liciano drop a loaded handgun magazine on the ground and kick it under a vehicle.

One of the officers drew his hand-gun, charging papers stated, and ordered Feliciano to the ground and handcuffed him.

When officers questioned the defen-dant he told them that the handgun was in the car; officers looked inside and found a silver-colored handgun in the passenger side of the car and unloaded it, police said.

Feliciano said he had kicked the mag-azine under the car after he became afraid of the police coming towards him, court papers stated.

Feliciano faces charges of first- and second-degree assault, reckless endan-germent, possessing a dangerous weapon with the intent to injure, having a handgun in his vehicle as well as on his person and using a handgun in a violent crime.

He has since been released on bond, court records show.

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On June 7, TFC G. A. Thompson responded to the 22000 block of Valley Estates Drive in Lexington Park for a re-ported assault at 3:07 p.m. Upon arrival, contact was made with a female complain-ant, 27, of Lexington Park who advised a 3-year-old male victim, also of Lexington Park, was playing in the community park when an unknown subject began throwing rocks, subsequently striking the victim in the head causing injury.

Following contact with the complain-ant, Thompson made contact with several witnesses that provided statements regard-ing the incident. Information provided by the witnesses led to the identification of a suspect. Thompson located and made con-tact with a male juvenile, 12, of Lexington Park who was determined to be the suspect in the incident. A statement was obtained and the juvenile was arrested for second-degree assault, prior to being released on the scene pending further action by juve-nile services.


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Elsie Dean, 66

Elsie Mary Dean, age 66, passed away at Georgetown Uni-versity Hospital on May 31, 2012.

Born on March 22, 1946, in Leonardtown, Maryland, to Alice Ann Long Buckler and Chester David Dean, Sr., Elsie re-mained in St. Mary’s her entire life. When her father passed away in 1955, she helped her mother raise her five siblings. Later she married and had three children of her own. Elsie enjoyed taking care of others and her home was always open to anyone in need. She worked at St. Mary’s Hospital for about 3-4 years and then at St. Mary’s Nursing Center. Eventually she went into home healthcare and loved taking care of her patients. She also enjoyed gardening, cooking and canning.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her late brothers, James Luther Dean, Chester David Dean Jr., and William Henry Alvey. She is survived by her daughters, Mary Ann Hickey (Tom) of Hollywood, MD; Donna Clarice Lambert (Kenny) of California, MD; and son Clar-ence Morgan Jr. (Kimberly) of Hollywood, MD; sisters Agnes Nevitt of Hollywood, MD; and Violet McKenney of S. Carolina; grandchildren Thomas E. Hickey IV; Ken-neth W. Lambert II; Rachel A. Morgan, Bethany N. Morgan; Kaitlyn J. Lambert and Erin C. Hickey; great grandson Ian Mi-chael Wilson; and step grandchildren Ni-cole J. Byers, Lynn M. Byers and Michael L. Byers Jr.

Family received friends for Elsie’s Life Celebration on Sunday, June 10, in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650. A Me-morial Service was held. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory may be directed to the Bassett Hound Rescue League, Inc. P.O. Box 44201, Ft. Washington, MD 20749.

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

Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funer-al Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.

Michael Heller, 36

Michael Al-lan “Pork Chop” Heller, 36, of Lus-by, MD passed away suddenly on June 4, 2012 in California, MD. He was born on November 8, 1975 in Silver Spring, MD to Stanley Paul Heller and Sandra Lee Heller Cowan.

Pork Chop graduated from Calvert High School and went on to join the Ma-rines where he served for three years. He was currently employed with Subway in Food Service Management. He was an avid fisherman, enjoyed cooking, hunting, and gardening.

He was preceded in death by his grand-father Cecil Odom. Pork Chop is survived by his grandmother, Susie Farmer Davey of Indian Head, MD; mother, Sandra L. Cowan of Lusby, MD; step-father, Nathan E. Cowan of Lusby, MD; son, Holden Kirby Heller of Leonardtown, MD; brothers, John Deitzel of Waldorf, MD and James Deitzel of Germany; uncles, John Odom of Indian Head, MD and Gary Odom of LaPlata, MD and a multitude of other family and friends.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Ser-vice will be held on Saturday, June 16, 2012 at the American Legion Post 274, 11820 H.G. Trueman Rd., Lusby, MD. Arrange-ments provided by Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., Lusby, MD.

Sarah Kronenwetter, 76

Sarah Mar-tin Kronenwetter, 76, of California, MD., passed away surrounded by her loving family on June 5, 2012 in Washington, DC. Born on August 23, 1935 in Ridg-way, Pennsylva-nia she was the daughter of the late Frederick and Dorothy Martin. Sarah was the loving wife of Ted Kronenwetter

whom she married on August 20, 1960 in Saint Mary’s, PA. Sarah is survived by her sons; Mike Kronenwetter (Anne) of Pitts-burgh, PA, and Dave Kronenwetter (Lynn) of Leonardtown, MD., 4 grandchildren, and siblings; Jim Martin of Ridgeway, PA, and Pat Lorenzo of Sharon, PA. . She is pre-ceded in death by her siblings; Frederick Martin, Maxine Minich, William Martin, Herb Martin, and Martha Fox.

Sarah graduated from St. Mary’s high school in 1953 and moved from St. Mary’s, PA to St. Mary’s County in November 2008. Sarah worked as a teacher’s aide for 20 years retiring in 1997. She loved her family especially her grandchildren.

The family received friends on Friday, June 8, 2012 in the Mattingley-Gardiner Fu-neral Home, Leonardtown, MD. A Grave-side Service was held on Saturday, June 9, in Charles Memorial Gardens, Leonard-town, MD., with Pastor Michael Jones of-ficiating. The family request that any con-tributions be made to the Patuxent Presby-terian Church, 23421 Kingston Creek Road California, MD 20619 in memory of her life and love of the church.

Margaret Meringolo, 59

Margaret C. Meringolo, 59, of Hollywood, MD died June 6, 2012 at Georgetown University Hos-pital following a heroic eight-month battle with pancre-atic cancer. She inspired her family and friends dur-ing this period as she maintained an optimistic view of life throughout.

Margaret is survived by her lov-ing husband of forty one years, Salvatore (Torre) Meringolo; two daughters, Mariel Meringolo of Ludlow, VT, and Catherine Meringolo of New York City, NY; a son, Robert Meringolo of Denver, CO; parents, Eugene and Evelyn Stadnyk of Hollywood, MD; and brother, Eugene Stadnyk of Boca Raton, FL.

A New York native, Margaret gradu-ated from Iona College and began a long pioneering career in computer science that spanned from large main frames to today’s desk top computing. Her career included stints at Great Northern Paper Company, National Gypsum, the University of Mas-sachusetts at Amherst, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Wyle Labs, Inc in Southern Maryland. Along with her active career she was a devoted mother of three wonderful children. Undoubtedly, the greatest joy in her life was the time that she spent nurturing her children through their developmental years and broadening their interests in the arts, natural sciences, and a wide assortment of service activi-ties. Margaret's passion for environmental preservation lead to her involvement with the Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust, for which she served as president for a num-ber of years until stepping down this past year. Throughout her life, she also had a deep love for gardening and animals of all kinds. Margaret's final days were spent sur-rounded by family.

A memorial Mass, lead by Fr. Joseph Schad SJ, will be held at Holy Trinity Church on 36th St. NW (between N and O

streets), Washington, DC on June 22, 2012 at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a celebra-tion of life and reception.

In deep appreciation for the inspiring care provided to Margaret during her ill-ness, the family requests that donations in memory of Margaret be made to help sup-port the cancer research and clinical care/work of Dr. Jimmy Hwang at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Such memorial gifts should be made to: MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. In the memo line, please note Dr. Jimmy Hwang/Lombardi Cancer Center. Checks should be mailed to: The Office of Philanthropy, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW, 1 Main, Hospi-tal Administration, Washington, DC 20007.

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

Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funer-al Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.

Jacqueline Thorne, 72

J a c q u e l i n e Lee Thorne, age 72, of Sunder-land, MD passed away June 6, 2012 at Hospice of St. Mary’s in Val-ley Lee, MD. She was born Febru-ary 26, 1940 in Greensburg, PA to Charles How-ard and Mary Jane (Keefner) Plate. Jacqueline was raised in Armburst Hill, PA. She attended county schools and was a 1958 graduate of Hemp-field High School. Jacqueline was married to Bing David Thorne October 15, 1960 in New Stanton, PA. They resided in Waldorf, MD since 1985. Jacqueline moved to Sun-derland in2009.

She was preceded in death by her par-ents, her husband Bing on August 19, 2009, a son Dale Allen Thorne and a daughter Darcy Diane O’Donnell.

Surviving are three children Dana Lee Thorne of Las Vegas, NV, Dirk Da-vid Thorne and his wife Sherri of Sunder-land, MD, and Dray Adam Thorne and his wife Teresa of Mechanicsville, MD, seven grandchildren Brittany M, Nick D, Felicia, Hunter, and Mackenzie Thorne, Gabrielle Ames and Page O’Donnell, a sister Kathy Lynn Pilgrim of Cola, SC, a brother Eric Vaughn Plate of Greensburg, PA and a half sister Amy Louise Huibregtse of Chicago, IL.

Friends were received on Sunday, June 10, 2012 at C. Richard McCauley Funeral Home, Inc., 101 S. 4th Street Youngwood, PA 15697 where services were held Mon-day, June 10, 2012. Interment followed at Westmoreland Cemetery.

Charles Ward, Jr., 45

Charles Ar-thur “Buck” Ward, Jr., 45, of Annapo-lis, MD passed away June 2, 2012 in Annapolis, MD. He was born April 10, 1967 to Charles A., Sr. and Marion (Knott) Ward. He was raised in 38576 Brett Way • Mechanicsville, Maryland 20659


Southern Maryland and graduated from Chopticon High School in 1985. He was employed as a carpenter and most re-cently resided in Annapolis, MD. Buck enjoyed music, fishing and spending time with his friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by a brother John Raymond Ward. He is survived by numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Family and friends will be received Thursday, June 14, 2012 from 7- 8 p.m. at Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., 8325 Mt. Harmony Lane, Owings, where a memo-rial service and celebration of Buck’s life will follow at 8 p.m.

For additional information visit www.RauschFuneralHomes.com

Agnes Wheeler, 76

Agnes Cece-lia “Cele” Wheel-er, 76, of Chap-tico, MD passed away surrounded by her loving fam-ily on June 5, 2012 in Chaptico, MD. Born on Decem-ber 3, 1935 in Hur-ry, MD., she was the daughter of the late James Harry Knott, Sr., and Alice Elizabeth “Pet” Thompson Knott. Cele was the loving wife of the late James Leonard “Boots” Wheeler whom she was married to for 57 years, and whom preceded her in death on November 11, 2009. Cele is survived by her children: Debbie Hall (Mike), Betty Riffle (Pat), and James Wheeler, Jr., all of Chaptico, MD. Theresa McK-inney (Ricky) of Clements, MD., Joseph Wheeler (Ann) of St. Inigoes, MD., and Mary Wheeler (Significant other, George Kennett) of Avenue, MD, and son in law Roland McKay of St. George’s Island, MD. As well as 19 grandchildren: Bev-erly McKay, Jason McKay, Candance McKay, Bobby Hall, Deana Click, Tony Hewitt, James “Tater: Hewitt, Fr. Patrick Riffle, John Riffle, Steven Riffle, Han-nah Riffle, Becky Riffle, Tiffany Lawer-ance, Laura McKinney, Robert “Bobby” McKinney, Ryan Wheeler, Katie Ra-mos, Daniel Hazell, and Joseph Hazell. 17 Great grandchildren: Tyler, Trevor, Joshua, Holly, Erin, Shelby, Amanda, Jason, Paul, Josie, Joshua, Ashlyn, John-ny, Bella, Hunter, Adian, and Blake and 1 great great grandchild Jayden. Cele is also survived by her in laws; Shirley Knott of Clements, MD., Ann Patton of Valley Lee, MD., Agnes Cecelia Lang of Great Mills, MD., Margaret Wheeler of Clements, MD., Delores Wheeler of Hollywood, MD., Elaine Wheeler of Great Mills, MD, and James Patton of Valley Lee, MD. Mrs. Wheeler is pre-ceded in death by her daughter Barbara Gale McKay, son in law Paul A. Hewitt. siblings; James Harry Knott, Jr., Joseph Elmer Knott, Leonard Edward “Ned” Knott, Helen Elizabeth Nelson, Ruth Ann Schuhart, and Mary Louise Wheeler.

Cele attended Margaret Brent School and was a homemaker. She was a lifelong resident of St. Mar’s County, MD. Cele could be found planting and tending to

her numerous Flower Gardens, which her entries in the St. Mary’s County Fair won her many ribbons. One of her enjoy-ments was a game of Bingo with friends and showing off her winning cards. She loved the little things in life, like the baby goslings that followed her around the yard picking at her white tennis shoes till she gained the name of “Mother Goose”. She loved picking fresh vegetables, ber-ries, and fruit on the farm to serve fresh or made into some of her homemade des-serts. She was a very competitive crochet player and managed to win no matter how hard others tried to beat her, and she could make the most delicious stuffed hams. She was the life of any family get together, and always made you laugh, even at yourself.

The family received friends on Fri-day, June 8, 2012 with prayers recited in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home Leonardtown, MD. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, June 9, 2012 in Our Lady of the Wayside Cath-olic Church with Father Patrick Riffle of-ficiating. Interment followed in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery Bushwood, MD. Pallbearers were her grandchildren; Katie Ramos Bobby Hall, Tony Hewitt, James ‘Tater” Hewitt, Jason McKay, Robert “Bobby” McKinney, and Ryan Wheeler. Contributions may be made to an act of kindness or Charity of your choice.

Helen Yencho, 88

Helen Ann Yencho, age 88, of Lothian, MD passed away June 7, 2012 at Calvert County Nursing Center, Prince Frederick, MD. She was born July 4, 1923 in Pittsburg, PA to Frank and Anna (Marszalek) Dom-ino. She was raised in McKeesport, PA. Surviving are her husband Michael K. Yencho, a daughter MaryAnn Wadgin-ski and her husband James of Mechan-icsville, MD, three grandsons Michael Joseph Pena and his wife Stephanie of Glenelg, MD, Kenneth John Pena and his wife Carlene of Columbia, MD and Patrick James Pena of Middle River, MD; four great grandchildren and a sister Ber-nice Lako of McKeesport, PA.

Relatives and friends called at Rausch Funeral Home, P.A.., 8325 Mt. Harmony Lane, Owings, MD on Wednesday, June 13, 2012. Interment fol-lowed at Maryland Veterans Cemetery, Cheltenham.

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We love you Mom and Dad (PopPop).

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By Carrie MunnStaff Writer

Last Thursday, the Building Trades Foundation and St. Mary’s County Public Schools held an open-house of the first stu-dent-built house to be completed by James A. Forrest Career and Technology students in about a decade.

The many contractors, contributors, students and their proud parents joined Tech Center staff and school officials, slipped booties on and toured the immaculate two-story, Cape Cod-style home in Madel Man-or in Leonardtown.

Carpentry students Kyle Burns, Andy Sprouse and Kyle Hayden were in an up-stairs bedroom nitpicking their handiwork, remembering the school day they spent in-stalling the molding in what will soon be a little boy’s room. Two said they planned to seek out careers in the industry while the other said he had plans to enter the military.

All three agreed the hands-on project allowed them to not only learn the lessons of the trade, but working directly with profes-sional contractors with years of experience in the field also gave them valuable experi-ence. Burns said he wants to build his own house one day and thought it added to the

experience when the home’s buyers began requesting customizations during the build.

The house will become the new home to the Bateman family come the July 4th weekend. Scott and Melanie Bateman told The County Times, “it’s beautiful and we’re so happy with it.”

Scott said the neighborhood was once his grandfather’s farm and his mother and aunt live right down the road from their new home, adding they had found out about the build in a round about way, but it worked out perfectly for them. “It’s sort of like com-ing home,” he said.

Melanie said the design was great and they were happy to be able to modify a few things, like adding a bathroom for their pre-teen daughter, but were also thrilled with many design features they didn’t control. She said the open house was part of their contract and they are proud to be the recipi-ents of all the hard work that went into their 2,600-square-foot home.

The Building Trades Foundation President, Jim Bacot, along with contrac-tors Adam Stiffler and Gerald Buckler, and many, many others were there every step of the way to guide the construction and give students the first-hand know-how it takes to build a home. And this was accomplished in

less than one year.Superintendent of Schools Michael

Martirano said this example of high qual-ity teaching, as provided by tech center in-structors Troy Kroll, Anthony Cherry, Ran-dy Birch, Daniel Thomas and Ed Carney, and partnerships with the county’s business sector provides “practical connections for real world success.”

“We would never be able to duplicate this in a book or in the classroom,” he said, commenting the end result is “a top notch home.”

Martirano and Bacot said they are looking to the future and hoping to continue the student build projects.

[email protected]


A variety of hands-on, interactive summer camps designed to capture the attention of St. Mary’s County’s brightest young minds will be held for kids, ages 8 to 14, at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center.

Students attending the camps will be taught by the instructors from the Tech Center and have access to the equipment usually reserved for high school students.

Tech Kids Coordinator Mary Selph said the purpose of the kids program is to offer a fun summer school opportunity for upper-elementary to middle school stu-dents, as well as to provide an opportunity for young people to gain an idea of what the Tech Center has to offer.

“We want the public to get to know the [Forest Technology Center] and the kids in the county to learn what the Tech Center is all about,” Selph said. The goal is to “pro-vide a fun and enriching camp for third to eighth graders.”

Signing up for Tech Kids Summer Camps also gives students a chance to par-take in an advancement-type program dur-ing the sometimes slow and mundane sum-mer months.

“[The camps] are extremely hands-on, students can get up and move around and will be making things,” Selph said. “The classes are very different than traditional school.”

Selph believes the kids will enjoy the camp because they will be taught cultivat-ing content, unlike the sorts of curriculum taught in school, enabling them to discover new interests and use advanced technology and equipment.

Using these tools, the students will ac-complish a project over the course of the four-day program, which Selph believes will motivate the students as well as hold their interest.

“It’s project based and driven, the kids will be very involved in that way,” Selph said.

Camp dates run from June 25-28, July 9-12 and July 16-19.

Among the programs offered are class-es featuring cooking, video-technology, dental, fire safety and building with steel.

A full list of the 2012 Tech Kids Sum-mer Camp classes being offered can be found at smcps.org.

Contact Selph at 301-475-0242 ext. 127 for more information.

[email protected]

Trades Foundation Turns Over Keys to Homeowners

Theo Cramer, Forrest center director, presents a key designed and crafted by tech center students to the home’s owners. Pictured from left is Cramer, Adam Stiffler of Meadow Valley Carpentry, Superintendent Michael Martirano, homeowners Melanie and Scott Bateman, and Gerald Buckler of Efficient Home Designs.


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March 29 was a bad day for the owners and crew at Bear Creek Bar-B-Q in Callaway, as a fire that started at the grill and wafted up into their attic threatened to burn down the entire establishment and put an end to a fam-ily owned business that had been operating for 15 years.

But nearly three months later, members of the Bear Creek staff are preparing for a grand re-opening in the first week of July and have kept the grill fires roaring serving take out barbeque in the parking lot of their restau-rant as it undergoes repairs and renovations.

Curtis Shreve, owner of the establish-ment along with his wife Angela Robertson, is the man behind the barbeque recipes and was initially depressed by his beloved busi-ness nearly going up in smoke.

It’s been a struggle to keep the business open but he’s looking forward to getting it back to normal speed.

“It’s a hard road, you known because the bills keep coming in,” Shreve told The Coun-ty Times. “It gets to where I don’t know what I’m doing I’m so used to being here.”

“I almost threw in the towel but they [his staff] said we’ve got to find a way to keep it going. The kids were really supportive and so were the people in the community.”

Shannon Shreve, Curtis’s son, said that in his mind there was never any doubt that they would continue with the family business.

“Never, not once, not even for a second” did he think of giving up, Shannon Shreve said. “It’s too good of a thriving community business to give up.”

The day of the fire and just after he and head server Carolyn Thompson said that volunteers from the community, including construction contractors and even off duty deputy sheriffs came by to move salvageable equipment from the main kitchen pit area to a dining room where it would be safe.

They also continued to stop by while the business was operating outside with its por-table grill to keep the money flowing in.

“It was just absolutely amazing,” Thompson said. “People have been constant-ly calling and stopping by.

“And there’s the honking of the horns, after the fire nine out of 10 cars and trucks passing by honked. It was very touching, the community has really supported us.”

STORY

BBQ Business Rising From The AshesShannon Shreve, who manages the day

to day operations and does much of the grill-ing, said that despite business being tough — they do about half as much business as before the fire — the community has been respon-sible for their survival.

“It’s been good but it hasn’t been the same,” he said of the customer flow. “The community came to our rescue, they didn’t have to, but they did.”

Right now the business centers around what they can cook on the giant portable bar-beque grill. Their popular pulled pork and pulled chicken sandwiches are still available, for instance, but their sliced beef and sliced pork isn’t, Shannon Shreve said.

It’s been a bit of a let down for their cus-tomers, especially those who want French fries to go with their meals but can’t get them for want of a fryer.

“I never realized how much sliced beef and sliced pork we sold, or how much people wanted fries,” he said.

As they prepare for their reopening, they remember the fire that put them in this situa-tion clearly. It’s a day they’ll never forget.

“We’ve had some fires we’ve managed to just carry on with and put out ourselves, but this was a major disaster,” Shannon Shreve said. “This was a big one.”

He explained that the fire started in the

attic from an errant ember that floated up from the grill to the filter just above it.

That single spark was all it took, he said.The attic fire destroyed the roof of the

establishment and there was the concurrent smoke damage but not before both he and Thompson and others tried to get in the main floor and stop it.

“It was stuck up there so we couldn’t get to it,” he said.

Thompson said she left before the fire but as she was coming back she saw a plume of smoke.

“I knew it was only one thing,” Thomp-son said. “ I laid on the gas and we went in to put the fire out.”

Volunteer firefighters put out the blaze but the damage was done, which meant ev-erything had to be torn out and replaced.

“The whole place was gutted, the floor, the electrical, everything,” Shannon Shreve said.

With just a few weeks left before re-opening the store, Curtis Shreve said it will mark an important point in the business’ con-tinued success.

“It’s pretty close to the day we opened up 15 years ago,” he said. “It’s almost like an anniversary.”

[email protected]

Photo By Frank MarquartSalina Guerpler serves a sandwich to Jeff Hare at lunchtime Wednesday.


wasn’t driving a dump truck! I also would like to know what sports car has a “loud horn”.

Judging speed of an oncoming vehicle from another moving vehicle is virtually impossible so the “nor-mal speed” remark by the second witness Mr. Fritz relied upon has zero merit. That being said, normal speed could be well over the speed limit. I believe even the State Police report says the speed limit was ex-ceeded as is common on that stretch of roadway. The travel distance after impact defies any notion that the speed limit was being obeyed. “Normal speed” is as scientifically deficient as Mr. Fritz’s report.

Fritz says, “ the roadway was dark and not very well lit at night”. Mr. Fritz should visit the scene and explain how four sodium vapor lights that are on the five poles cov-ering the roadway in the area of the accident from the Day Care Cen-ter to the Recreation Center failed to illuminate the roadway. I have stated before and will unequivo-cally restate that this particular sec-tion of roadway is one on the best lighted in the County. I encourage anyone who doesn’t believe me to

visit Mervell Dean Road at night between Prep & Play (#24422) and Hollywood Recreation Center (#24400) and judge for themselves. I will meet Mr. Fritz on any night of his choosing so he can show me how lighting was a factor in Yogi’s death. I’m sure he has my number.

As far as Mr. Fritz’s words of condolence for the man he claims to have known since he was 16 years old, I wonder why I didn’t see Mr. Fritz at Yogi’s Memorial Service or why I didn’t see his name among the over two hundred postings on the funeral home’s website? If it was such a “tragic” event and such a “loss to our community” where was Fritz when hundreds of people came to honor Yogi? To his credit, even Lieutenant Thompson, com-mander of the Leonardtown State Police barrack, not only attended the service in uniform but spoke on Yogi’s behalf. Perhaps it was just good public relations but at least he took the time to show Yogi some re-spect and he probably didn’t know Yogi as well as Fritz claims he did. I bet Yogi twitched in his grave over Fritz’s claims of remorse.

Fritz says he couldn’t con-

clude “…proof beyond reasonable doubt.” or “… grossly negligent as a matter of law.” and quite frankly who cares. The driver involved didn’t intentionally run down Yogi and he has to live with what he did and what he claimed happened. I wish him well but I wish those who try and make Yogi look like some old fool walking down the middle of a road in the dark to justify a conclusion that suits their purpose would stop the charade. Mr. Fritz’s attempt to justify his report affirms what I have said before, to wit, the States Attorney’s Office, not indi-viduals employees of that office, and the Maryland State Police, not the patrol officers on the street, are agencies that should be feared, not trusted or respected.

To review the Fritz report, as he has suggested, 17 months after the incident would be a waste of time. The paint on the roadway is gone, the debris is gone and the marks in the pavement are now nonspecific. What a coincidence ! The report isn’t worth the paper it is written on.

David A. RyanHollywood, MD

To The Editor

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

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

Please Stop The Charade Over Yogi’s Death

Takes a County to Make a Great Library

Farewell County Times

At the time of Buhrman “Yogi” Baird’s death your publica-tion gave excellent coverage to the accident and even gave a tribute to Yogi in one of your issues.

State’s Attorney Richard Fritz recently attempted to justify the re-port his agency prepared on the ac-cident, which once again portrays Yogi as being completely at fault for the accident.

The report, as portrayed by Mr. Fritz, is a farce and I would like you to inform your readers that there is more than one side to the circumstances surrounding Yogi’s demise, some with far more merit than others. They can decide for themselves.

To rehash the death of Buhrman “Yogi” Baird is an ef-fort in futility but State’s Attorney Richard Fritz’s version is absurd and probably not worthy of a re-sponse but in keeping with Yogi’s feisty spirit I will respond (to a re-cent letter in the Enterprise news-paper). The signs that the fix was in started to show right from the beginning and anytime an agency investigates one of its own, a cer-tain aroma seems to emanate from all that follows.

According Mr. Fritz his inves-tigation of the accident was primar-ily based on eyewitness accounts of the incident. Ironically the two witnesses cited by Mr. Fritz must have been silent at the time of the accident, Yogi was killed on Jan. 19, 2011, and this is the first account of these witnesses recollection. Other eyewitnesses were quoted at the time of the accident and their

recollection was quite different than those cited by Mr. Fritz. With due deference to all eyewitnesses, it is common knowledge that eye-witness accounts of emergencies are not a reliable source of accu-rate information. The scars in the asphalt, the red paint on the road-way and the debris left behind are far more reliable earmarks of what actually happened. Evidentially, according to Mr. Fritz, one of his witnesses can’t tell the difference between a lawn mower, a shopping cart, or a bicycle. So much for that eyewitness. Some of the red paint from the lawnmower was well to the side of the road and north of other marks on the pavement in the center of the travel lane. Unless the driver backed up after impact the initial contact was made on the side of the road, not the center. As one who visited the scene within hours after the accident I saw first-hand the irrefutable evidence and there are many others who saw the same things I saw and remember it as clearly as I do. Where was Mr. Fritz for the past 17 months when knowledge of this evidence was be-ing widely circulated?

Mr. Fritz also claims another driver narrowly missed Yogi only because they were driving a ma-neuverable sports car. Yogi no longer could run like a deer so he had to be a near stationary target. If this recollection is accurate and this driver managed to avoided hit-ting Yogi, why couldn’t an attentive driver who is trained in defensive driving and high speed handling of a vehicle avoid the same target? He

Legal NoticeCommissioners of LeonardtownNotice of Request for Bid ProposalFor Video Surveillance System

The Commissioners of Leonardtown will be accepting bids for a video surveillance system upgrade to be installed at a public park facility. The request includes design, delivery and installation of all necessary equipment to accomplish surveillance goals.

Interested bidders should attend a pre bid sight visit to be con-ducted on June 21, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at Leonardtown Wharf. For questions please contact Laschelle McKay, Town Administrator, Commissioners of Leonardtown, POB 1, 41660 Courthouse Dr., Leonardtown, Maryland 20650 or by calling 301-475-9791.

Bids are due no later than 2:00 p.m., Monday, July 2, 2012. The Commissioners of Leonardtown reserve the right to reject any and all bids and proposals, and to accept any proposals deemed to be in the best interest of the Town.

6-14-2012

It truly does take an entire county to make a great library system:

• We have elected individuals who recognize the importance of funding the library at an appropriate level so that the library can accomplish its educational mission for all residents, throughout their entire lives.

• We have county departments who partner with library staff to help us maintain our facilities and sup-port our management staff: Building Services, Info Technology, Finance, Human Resources, Parks & Recreation, Public Information Office, and the Sheriff deputies.

• We have volunteers who want to be part of the library’s success: the amazing Friends of the Library, the 48 individuals who volunteer every week, the more than 150 teens who have helped with the thousands of families participating in the summer reading festivi-ties, and the indomitable Candy Cummings who has been the inspiration and curator for the Lexington Park Library’s Art Gallery for five plus years.

• We have local organizations who “adopt their library.” Most recently Don and Laurie Hynes, John and Carol Brown, and Len Lent of First Saints Com-munity Church organized 44 volunteers who swooped onto the grounds of our three libraries trimming back overgrown bushes and weeds, cleaning up litter, and mulching. Our libraries have never looked so well-groomed.

And, of course, we have the most committed and knowledgeable Library Board and staff – bar none – which explains why 78% of our county residents have a library card and why we continue to have the 4th highest number of materials checked out, per resident, in the entire state.

I look forward to seeing all the children of St. Mary’s County in their library this summer so they can avoid the “summer reading lag” while also having lots of fun!

Kathleen Reif, DirectorSt. Mary’s County Library

I have enjoyed bringing you weekly news stories during my employment with The County Times over the past 8 months and have had the privilege of meet-ing many wonderful people and learning so much about our community. While I love journalism, I am moving on to pursue a different career path. For the many contacts that frequently send me information, story ideas and comments, thank you and please con-

tinue to send them to our bright new staff writer Alex Panos at [email protected] or to the editor at [email protected] to ensure communication channels remain open.

Again, it’s been a pleasure.

Carrie MunnDameron, MD


To The Editor

Our Future is Bright

PUBLIC NOTICE

MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION - STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION,

ST. MARY’S COUNTY, FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, AND THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS WILL CONDUCT A JOINT

LOCATION/DESIGN PUBLIC HEARING

For the MD 5 Leonardtown Project Planning Study from MD 243 (Newtowne Neck Road) to MD 245 (Hollywood Road) in St. Mary’s County

Thursday, June 28, 2012 This study also satisfies the alternatives analysis requirements of the MDE for a Maryland Nontidal Wetlands and Waterways Permit for proposed impacts to nontidal wetlands. In addition, a water quality certification, pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, will be required from MDE. Any written comments concerning the work described above which would relate to water-quality certification should be sent to Mr. Paul Wettlaufer, Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21230. Section 4(f) of the US Department of Transportation Act of 1966 (49 USC 303(c)) permits the use of land from a significant publicly-owned public park or recreation area, or significant historic site only if there is no prudent and feasible alternative to the use of such land and if the action includes all possible planning to minimize harm to the protected property resulting from such use. Through consideration of minimization and mitigation measures for the Port of Leonardtown property, the Town of Leonardtown has concurred that the project would not adversely affect the activities, features, and attributes of this property that qualify it for protection under Section 4(f). SHA will seek FHWA’s determination that this impact constitutes a Section 4(f) de minimis (minimal) impact. This public hearing provides the opportunity for public comment regarding this de minimis impact finding. SHA, in consultation with the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) and other consulting parties, has identified five historic structures in the project’s area of potential effects that are listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). These resources and impact determinations for each resource are identified in the Environmental Assessment/Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation prepared for this project. SHA determined that the build alternatives would require right-of-way from some or all of the five historic properties in order to widen MD 5 and that the project would have an adverse impact only on one historic property. MHT has concurred with this determination. As the official with jurisdiction, MHT has concurred that this project will not adversely affect the activities, features, and attributes that qualify the other four properties for protection under Section 4(f). SHA will also seek FHWA’s determination that these impacts constitute a de minimis impact. Consistent with the Section 106 procedures of the National Historic Preservation Act, public comments are requested regarding effects on historic properties. For additional information on SHA’s effect determination, contact the Project Manager. Individuals and representatives of organizations who wish to testify may submit a request to Mr. Jeremy Beck, Project Manager, Project Management Division, Maryland State Highway Administration, 707 N. Calvert Street, MS C-301, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 or may call 410-545-8518 or toll-free 1-800-548-5026, or via email at [email protected] on or before June 21, 2012. You may also sign the Speakers List at the registration desk on the date of the hearing. To include written statements and other exhibits in the public hearing transcript, submit them to the Project Manager at the above address until July 30, 2012. The public hearing transcript will be available for review approximately eight weeks after the public hearing at the locations listed below and on SHA’s website. Please contact the Project Manager to confirm the transcript’s availability. Elected officials will be given the opportunity to speak first. Persons on the Speakers List will then be called to testify in the order in which their requests were received. Those who did not pre-register will be invited to speak before oral testimony concludes. SHA may set a time limit of three minutes for each speaker if a large number register to testify. Private and written testimony will also be accepted. Persons on the project mailing list will receive information about project developments and opportunities for public involvement as the study progresses. Persons not on the mailing list may add their contact information by phoning, writing, or emailing the Project Manager. Brochures and comment forms will be available at the hearing and will be mailed to persons on the mailing list. Beginning on May 29, 2012 the Environmental Assessment/Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation for the project will be available for inspection and copying during normal business hours at the following locations: St. Mary's County Library Leonardtown Branch 23250 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650 (301) 475-2846 Town of Leonardtown 41660 Park Avenue, Leonardtown, MD 20650 (301) 475-9791 State Highway Administration District 5 Office 138 Defense Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 841-1000 or (800) 331-5603 State Highway Administration District 5 Leonardtown Shop 26720 Point Lookout Road, Leonardtown, MD 20650 (301) 475-8035 State Highway Administration 3rd Floor, 707 N. Calvert Street, Mailstop C-301, Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 545-8500 or (800) 548-5026 REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE The Maryland Relay Service can assist teletype users at 711. Persons requiring assistance to participate should contact the Project Manager. SHA will provide an interpreter for persons with hearing/speech disabilities or those who need assistance with the English language. To request assistance, please contact the Project Manager no later than June 21, 2012. For more information on this and other SHA projects, visit www.roads.maryland.gov and click on Projects and Studies, and Public Meetings.

May 31, 2012 Melinda B. Peters A-0623 State Highway Administrator

Leonardtown High School 23995 Point Lookout Road

Leonardtown, MD 20650 5:00 PM – Displays

7:00 PM – Presentation/Testimony

The purpose of the project is to improve safety and operations for existing and future traffic along MD 5, while supporting existing and planned development in the area. The study will evaluate safety improvements for pedestrian and bicycle traffic and accommodations for horse-and-buggy traffic associated with the Amish and Mennonite communities within the surrounding area. Alternatives under consideration include: Alternative 1 – No-Build, Alternative 2 - Transportation Systems Management (TSM), Alternative 3 – Five Lane Typical Section, and Alternative 4 – Four Lane Divided Typical Section. Options under study for Alternatives 3 and 4 include: Option 2 – Stream Avoidance, Option 3 – Additional Intersection Improvements, and Option 4 – Shopping Center Modified Access. This project is currently funded for Project Planning only. It is not funded for Final Design, Right-of-Way Acquisition, or Construction. More information about the MD 5 Leonardtown Project Planning Study is available on SHA’s website at www.roads.maryland.gov under Projects and Studies, SHA Projects Page, and St. Mary’s County. The purpose of this hearing is to provide all interested persons the opportunity to comment on the proposed location, general design, and associated social, economic, cultural and natural environmental impacts of the project alternatives. Beginning at 5:00 pm, the project alternatives and other information will be on display. Public hearing displays will also be available on the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) website (referenced below). Representatives from the SHA and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be available to discuss the project and record your comments. A formal presentation beginning at 7:00 pm and lasting approximately 30 minutes will include a description of the project alternatives, a summary of environmental impacts, information on right-of-way acquisition and relocation-assistance procedures, and an explanation of Title VI of the SHA Equal Opportunity Program. The presentation will be followed by the receipt of public testimony. SHA, through consultation with the USACE, has identified Waters of the United States, including jurisdictional wetlands, which are regulated by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. This public hearing provides the opportunity to present views, opinions and information which will be considered by the USACE in evaluating a Department of the Army permit. All comments will become part of the formal project record. Written statements expressing concern for aquatic resources may be submitted to Mr. Jack Dinne, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CENAB-OP-RMN, P.O. Box 1715, Baltimore, MD 21203-1715; or emailed to [email protected] until July 30, 2012. The Environmental Assessment may serve as the application for a USACE permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC 1344). Coordination with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) also ensures that the document includes alternatives analysis for the state’s wetland permit review. Application of the state permit will be made after the alternative selection process is completed. FEMA-designated 100-year floodplains occurring within the study area are associated with the McIntosh Run drainage basin. Impacts to the designated 100-year floodplain range from 3.68 to 5.55 acres for Alternatives 2 and 4 – Option 3, respectively. Impacts to Waters of the US, including wetlands, from each of the build alternatives are anticipated. A total of 19 jurisdictional wetland habitats and 10 watercourse channels were identified within the study corridor. Currently, wetland impacts range from 0.45 acre for Alternative 2 to 0.86 acre for Alternative 4 - Option 3. Maryland Compensatory Mitigation Guidance and MDE guidelines will be utilized for any wetland not considered a Nontidal Wetland of Special State Concern (NWSSC). Several NWSSC were also identified during the field investigations. Impacts to NWSSC are anticipated to range from 0.07 acre for Alternative 2 up to 0.42 acre for Alternative 4 or Alternative 4 - Option 3. The decision to issue the Section 404 permit will be based on the probable impacts of the proposed project on the public interest, including direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts. This decision will reflect the national concern for the protection and use of important resources. The benefits that may reasonably be expected to accrue from the proposed project must be balanced against the reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors that may be relevant to the proposed project will be considered, including cumulative effects. Among these factors are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplains values, land use, navigational concerns, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, considerations of property ownership, and , in general, the needs and welfare of the people. The evaluation of the impact that the work described above will have on the public interest will include an application of the Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) promulgated by the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The USACE is soliciting comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Native American Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of the proposed activity. The USACE will consider these comments when determining whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, the USACE takes into account public hearing comments regarding the assessment of impacts on endangered species, historic property, and other public-interest factors listed above.

June 14, 2012

By Todd B. MorganSt. Mary’s County Commissioner, District 4

As we have complet-ed our FY 2013 budget all should know it has been a good year. While there have been differences of opinion amongst Board members and we are en-during through a tight economic reality, St. Mary’s County is far-ing better than many parts of our nation. As Commissioner from the 4th Commissioner District I’d like to note a few things of interest.

The county remains very fiscally conservative.

We have held our tax rates below the constant yield and remain at one of the low-est in the State. We have very low debt and are well within any parameters the financial markets use to judge fiscal solvency.

There is a budget surplus, which posi-tions us well for the future. Collectively, we have a plan to use this money to carry out much needed projects, as a hedge towards future DOD BRAC’s, and to support our county.

More importantly we have recognized the significant accomplishments and dedica-tion of our county employees and our Sher-iff’s office and given them a 2% cost of living increase and a $500 stipend. Well done to all of them.

We have worked successfully with the Board of Education on a fair and inclusive budget. We have focused on the passing down of teachers’ pensions and future OPEB contributions.

Through consensus building we have begun to address critical infrastructure re-quirements such as FDR Blvd. Collectively these projects must continue to progress as our County grows.

Yet at the same time while we can tout these successes we have partially slighted many of those in need during a time of eco-nomic uncertainty. We operate our County Government at 1999 staffing levels while we are the fastest growing County and region in Maryland.

The future for all of us is a great un-known. To me it is about our collective focus on the future, for a stronger and more vibrant St. Mary’s County. To be willing to accept the challenges placed before us and to act pragmatically to reach objectives and not con-tinue to kick the can down the road. I work for those who have elected me, the citizens of St. Mary’s County. We must remain steadfast on our local needs and wants and not be dragged into the bickering of those in Annapolis or Washington, DC. After all, we must focus on what we can control and effect meaningful change upon.

My fellow St. Mary’s County residents, our budget is strong, our community contin-ues to grow and expand in these economic times. We are indeed fortunate, our future is bright. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.

Thank you for your support and continu-al prayers for Maria.

Commissioner’s Corner


Local band The Bartons will be back for a repeat performance during Ignite the Night June 16 starting at 5:30 p.m. Headliners include Ashes Remain and Curvine.

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Antique & CollectibleFriday, June 15th - 6 p.m.

Ignite the Night – Back for Round FiveBy Sarah MillerStaff Writer

This year’s Ignite the Night is sched-uled for June 16, and there will be a couple changes to the popular Christian music fes-tival, the biggest being a shift from being a day-long music festival to an evening event starting at 5:30 p.m. and ending at 11 p.m.

Among the headliners at this year’s event at the St. Mary’s County Fairground in Leonardtown will be 2012 Dove Award nominee Ashes Remain and hip-hop artist Curvine.

There will also be drama performanc-es and spoken word messages from Chris Bernstorf. Every year local talent is also in-cluded in the lineup. This year, local sibling trio The Bartons will be returning for their second Ignite the Night engagement. Also performing will be Finally Here and Area 42.

Ignite the Night Founder and Coordi-nator Vicky Bailey said they generally in-vite local bands to perform with them for two years, and then they try to bring in new talent.

“We don’t want to look the same each year,” she said.

In addition to performing Saturday night, Curvine will be doing a meet and greet at Life Community Church of God tomorrow night from 7-9 p.m. and sharing

music and ministry at the Leonardtown Church of the Nazarene at the 10:45 a.m. service Sunday.

Entry is free, but donations are wel-come to help offset operational costs. Ignite the Night it is not geared toward one spe-cific age group, but meant to be an evening for the whole family to enjoy.

“Its purpose is to provide a night of fun and fellowship with a positive message for everyone,” the Ignite the Night website reads.

Bailey said for the past couple of years Ignite the Night has been held on hot days,

and the shift in time is to help alleviate the effect of the sun. Another change this year will be a salute to the military to kick off the night.

“We want to let the military know we love them,” Bailey said, adding the military is often in the thoughts and prayers of the community.

Other additions include a classic car and motorcycle show. Bailey said some other changes this year are being kept under wraps until the night of the concert, but she is “really excited” about them.

Local youth groups and churches will be selling food, drinks and snacks. All seat-ing is on the lawn, and people are welcome to bring blankets and lawn chairs, though they are asked to leave large umbrellas, tents and canopies at home. Alcoholic bev-erages and glass containers are also prohib-ited. Because Ignite the Night will happen rain or shine, it is recommended to prepare for any kind of weather by bringing things

like sunscreen and raincoats.For more information about Ignite the

Night, visit www.ignitethenight.com or e-mail [email protected]. For more in-formation about the artists, visit www.ash-esremain.com, www.myspace.com/curvine and www.facebook.com/chrisbernstorf.

Ignite the Night is still looking for vol-unteers wanting to help out Saturday night. To volunteer, call Vicky or Mike Bailey at 301-373-9731.

Bailey said the Ignite the Night orga-nizers are looking for area youth to get in-volved in the planning of the event.

“We’re looking for the younger gen-eration to step up and take over Ignite the Night,” Bailey said, adding they are hoping to transition youths into running the concert and allow the small core group to step back into advisory and support roles.

[email protected]

Photos by Sarah Miller


AnnouncinIssued Marriage Applications for May 2012

May 1, 2012

Steven-Allen Kendall Alvey 22 Charlotte Hall, MD

Jordan Alexis Markley 21 Charlotte Hall, MD

John Robert Bogner 42 Lusby, MD

Melissa Ann Curley 37 California, MD

Vernon Ignatius Thomas 62 California, MD

Rosetta Ann Butler 54 Lexington Park, MD

May 2, 2012

Bruno Renzo Gavilano Liner 23 Lexington Park, MD

Lauri Leivic Contreras Espinal 20

Lexington Park, MD

May 3, 2012

Benjamin Dermaine Hebb 35 Hollywood, MD

Crystal Ann Coontz 22 Hollywood, MD

Austin Timothy Williams 25 Waldorf, MD

Stephanie Hope Chapman 25 Waldorf, MD

Maurice Daryl Mitchell 26 Great Mills, MD

Shari Alethia Wellington 26 Great Mills, MD

May 4, 2012

Frederic Winslow Rust, IV 33 Washington, DC

Kristin Elizabeth Padukiewicz 31

Washington, DC

Cameron Martin Leischer 24 Lexington Park, MD

Lauren Ashley Gill 24 Pasadena, MD

Frank James Fenwick III 37 Dundalk, MD

Laura Latrell Patton 38 Lexington Park, MD

Bruce Robert Marsh 39 Alexandria, VA

Paola Piscioneri 38 Alexandria, VA

May 7, 2012

Jeffrey Paul Lewis 29 Ashton, MD

Kathleen Grace Sidorowicz 26 Ashton, MD

May 8, 2012

Wade Allen Koch 46 Leonardtown, MD

Margaret Elisabeth Thomas 36 Leonardtown, MD

Paul Morgan Brasher 26 Mechanicsville, MD

Tiffanie Renee Hardesty 25 Mechanicsville, MD

Turhan Erick Datcher 27 Lexington Park, MD

Britney Ileah Spowl 23 Lexington Park, MD

Hans Ernst Hunziker, IV 31 Ridge, MD

Billie Kathleen Fitzpatrick 32 Ft. Washington, MD

May 9, 2012

Ramon Moniek Stone 43 Mechanicsville, MD

Raquel Renee Davis 41 Mechanicsville, MD

May 11, 2012

Gary Randall Farrell 25 Chaptico, MD

Shannon Emily Goddard 21 Chaptico, MD

Trent Edmund Tebeau 38 Great Mills, MD

Stacy Rene Cortez 39 Great Mills, MD

William Michael Conner 26 California, MD

Holly Lynn Owens 23 California, MD

Jered Thomas Miller 24 Lexington Park, MD

Erika Renee Brown 26 Lexington Park, MD

Russell Steven Reagan Jr., 20 Hallsboro, NC

Candice Marie Parker 17 Whiteville, NC

May 14, 2012

Keith Michael Canales 21 Machipongo, VA

Adrienne Christine Brunger 21 Hollywood, MD

David Benjamin Raum 26 Leonardtown, MD

Diane Elizabeth Luc 30 Leonardtown, MD

Tony Raymond Bean 33 California, MD

Nicole Allison Gandy 30 California, MD

Ryan Michael Drury 24 California, MD

Katherine Margaret Keefe 23 California, MD

May 15, 2012

Charles Casey Wood 32 Scotland, MD

Marilien Baloy Legaspi 29 Lexington Park, MD

Kenneth Francis Burnham 26 Baltimore, MD

Alexandra Carolyn Boris 24 Baltimore, MD

Ryan Dale Stauffer 20 Mechanicsville, MD

Lorraine Faye Brubacher 20 Leonardtown, MD

Kelvin Briley Hughes 41 Mechanicsville, MDPeggy Sue Lowry 44 Mechanicsville, MD

Randy Aloysius Wathen 23 California, MD

Christine Marie Popp 23 California, MD

Elijah Holmes, Sr., 34 Lexington Park, MDKea Denee Green 28 Lexington Park, MD

Robert Stephen Armiger 31 Catonsville, MD

Amy Elizabeth Bishop 30 Catonsville, MD

May 16, 2012

Timothy Alexander Moran 26 Mechanicsville, MD

Brittney Nicole Bradshaw 21 Mechanicsville, MD

Brian Robert Johnson 31 Avenue, MD

Jessica Marie Norris 26 Avenue, MD

Jackson Elias Miller 24 Mechanicsville, MD

Kimberly Eleanor Clark 23 Mechanicsville, MD

Kevin Lamont Summers, Jr., 23 Lusby, MD

Crystal Natasha Moore 24 Lusby, MD

May 17, 2012

Nathaniel James Murrell 20 Fredericksburg, VA

Caitlin Elizabeth Mercer 21 Fredericksburg, VA

Harry Michael Faber, III, 33 Piney Point, MD

Sarah Elizabeth Lawson 27 Piney Point, MD

Carter Even Hower 23 Colorado Springs, CO

Amber Nicole Gragan 19 Colorado Springs, CO

May 18, 2012

Michael Myron Barton 24 Woodbridge, VA

Veronica Lea Loveless 23 Owings, MD

Ryan Vincent Casselman 21 Great Mills, MD

Bailey Marie Loveless 20 Great Mills, MD

May 21, 2012

Scott Joseph Raley 33 Great Mills, MD

Dawn Marie Stauffer 30 Great Mills, MD

James Elmer Lacey 33 Avenue, MD

Elaine Marie Farrell 27 Avenue, MD

David Christopher Norris, Jr., 27 Clements, MD

Jana Leigh Osborne 26 Clements, MD

Don Edward Salamon 25 Leonardtown, MD

Debra Lynn Gillispie 32 Leonardtown, MD

May 23, 2012

Franklin Antonio Ventura Romero 26

Hyattsville, MD Nicola Jane Wood 32

Washington, DC

Devon Jerome Green 29 Upper Marlboro, MD

Adonna Jernaye Bannister 33 Upper Marlboro, MD

Jonathan Matthew Emas 26 Holland, PA

Rebecca Ann Belote 23 LaPlata, MD

May 24, 2012

Larry Ray Smith 35 Lexington Park, MDLeslie Anne Mintz 34

LeMoore, CA

Michael Kieth Ramsey 28 Great Mills, MDCharlie-Marie

Coulby Stamm 25 Lexington Park, MD

Matthew Jared Hoepfl 25 Bel Alton, MD

Meredith Lindsay Queen 26 Baltimore, MD

Joshua John Mast 25 Mechanicsville, MD

Noelle Kathleen Barnes 20 Clements, MD

Peter August Frandsen 56 Silver Spring, MD

Reada Rush Robinson 54 Landover, MD

May 25, 2012

David Michael Hafeman 30 California, MD

Jocelyn Rae Jahn 30 California, MD

Earl Scott Midgett 56 Charlotte Hall, MDLisa Elaine Miller 47 Charlotte Hall, MD

Andrew Lawrence Critelli 25 Ocean Grove, NJ

Anna De Laine Phoenix 26 Ocean Grove, NJ

Michael Jason Stalcup 25 Mechanicsville, MDKayla Elsie Bryant 25 Mechanicsville, MD

May 29, 2012

Rickey Dave Townsend, Jr., 29 Hollywood, MD

Christi Lynn Passmore 24 California, MD

Michael Grafton Robinson 43 Middle River, MD

Rebecca Marie Sweeney 38 Middle River, MD

Vincent Damian Lawson 28 Lusby, MD

Anna Marie Jean 26 Lusby, MD

May 30, 2012

Richard Samuel Lerner 23 Patuxent River, MD

Samantha Elizabeth Green 18 Patuxent River, MD

Luis Eduardo Navarrete 41 Lexington Park, MD

Amber Dawn Martinez 31 Fernley, NV

May 31, 2012

Edward Wayne Stauffer, Jr., 24 Lusby, MD

Lindsay Jane Taylor 22 Lusby, MD

William Allen Trice 30 California, MD

Tiffany Shivon Bowles 25 California, MD

Call The County Times to Place an Engagement Announcement - It’s Free! 301-373-4125


CommunityLibrary items

Cover CropProgram Returning

Mobile Career Center Set For Juneteenth

Woman’s Club Installs Officers, Awards Scholarships

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Following up on the restoration goals outlined in Maryland’s Watershed Imple-mentation Plan (WIP) to protect and re-store the Chesapeake Bay, Governor Martin O’Malley has allocated approximately $18 million for the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) 2012-2013 Cover Crop Program, a press release states. This popu-lar program provides grants to farmers who plant cover crops in their fields in the fall to conserve nutrients, reduce soil erosion and protect water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Farmers may sign up for this year’s cover crop program by visiting their local soil conservation district office between June 21 and July 16.

“For two years running, Maryland farmers have planted more than 400,000 acres of cover crops on their fields and their efforts are making a difference,” Governor Martin O’Malley said in a statement.

This year, farmers who plant traditional cover crops receive a base rate of $45/acre and up to $55/acre in add-on incentives for using highly valued planting practices. Tra-ditional cover crops may not be harvested, but can be grazed or chopped for livestock forage for on-farm use after becoming well established.

Farmers who want to harvest their cover crops receive $25/acre plus a $10/acre bonus if rye is planted as the cover crop. Farmers may fill out one application to enroll in both program options. There are no enrollment caps and certain restrictions apply.

“Last year’s statewide cover crop plant-ing of 429,000 acres prevented roughly 2.5 million pounds of nitrogen and 85,000 pounds of phosphorus from reaching the Bay and its tributaries,” said Maryland Ag-riculture Secretary Buddy Hance.

Cover crops are cereal grains and win-ter annual brassicas (plants in the cabbage family) that are planted to take up nutrients that remain in the soil following produc-tion of corn, soybeans, sorghum, tobacco or vegetables. Barley, canola, rapeseed, kale, rye, rygrass, spring oats, triticale and wheat planted in the fall of 2012 are eligible. All seed used is required to meet Maryland Seed Law and Regulatory Standards and have a minimum germination rate of 80 percent.

Farmers should visit their local soil conservation district office during the June 21 – July 16, 2012 enrollment period. Ad-ditional information is available on MDA’s website. Learn more at www.baystat.mary-land.gov.

The NAACP St. Mary’s County Branch will man the Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Committee Mobile Career Center at the UCAC’s 9th Annual June-teenth Celebration at Freedom Park, 1744 S. Coral Place in Lexington Park on Saturday. The event begins at 12 p.m. and the center will be on site all afternoon.

The mobile center is an information resource for the community. You will be able to board to find information on employment opportunities in the tri-county area and the resources that are available to assist you in applying for vacancies, a press release states. For more information, visit www.mwejobs.com.

The new officers of the GFWC Woman’s Club of St. Mary’s Coun-ty were installed during a recent monthly meeting and luncheon held at the James A. Forrest Technical Center. Pictured from left is Presi-dent Linda Fry, First Vice President Judy Loflin, Second Vice President Lynn Newkirk, Treasurer Carole Romary, Recording Secretary Joan Springer and Corresponding Secre-tary Sally Huff.

Two $2,000 scholar-ships were awarded May 21 by the GFWC Woman’s Club of St. Mary’s County dur-ing an event held at Lenny’s Restaurant. Katrina Bennett and Trevor Butcher were the recipients. Pictured from left is Carloe Bennett (Katrina’s mother), Katrina Bennett, Scholarship Chairman Sue Watters, Trevor Bennett and William Butcher (Trevor’s father).

Mobile Career Centers to visit librariesThe Southern Maryland JobSource Mo-

bile Career Center will be at Lexington Park library on June 18, Charlotte Hall library on June 19 and Leonardtown library on June 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. This self-con-tained vehicle is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and provides an array of services to job searchers and others who have workforce related needs.

Free showings of Oscar winning filmsThis Friday at 2 p.m. Lexington Park Li-

brary will show the movie that won the 2012 Oscar Best Performance by an Actor in a Sup-porting Role. In this R-rated movie Oliver upon meeting Anna is flooded with memories of his late father who came out of the closet at the age of 75 following 44 years of marriage.

On June 21 at 2 p.m. the Leonardtown branch will show the 2012 Oscar winning movie about an orphan boy named Hugo who gets caught up in an adventure when he repairs a mechanical man.

Talent show planned for teens

Lexington Park Library will host a teen talent show on June 21 at 5 p.m. Teens who would like to perform need to register their performance. Teens coming to watch the per-formances do not need to register.

Lexington Park to host stuffed animal sleepover

Children can bring a stuffed animal to storytime at Lexington Park branch on June 20 at 6 p.m. and then leave their animal for a

sleepover at the library. When they pick up their stuffed animals the next day, they can watch a slide show of the animal’s overnight adventures. The program will be repeated at both Leonardtown and Charlotte Hall later in the summer.

Children can earn prizes in Summer Read-ing programs

Babies through teens can earn prizes by completing fun reading activities in the Sum-mer Reading programs. Those children who complete their game boards receive a book. Children can join at any time by registering at the library or online.

The Professional Performance series kicks off on June 25 with a performance by Uncle Pete. Storytimes and crafternoons will also begin the week of June 25 at each branch. Charlotte Hall branch will offer LEGO fun on June 27 at 10 a.m. for ages 3-6 and at 2 p.m. for ages 6 and older.

New service tracks library items

Customers can now sign up for Library Elf, a new service that will track library items and help them reduce their overdue fines and consolidate library accounts. A custom email is sent alerting customers of what’s due, over-due and the holds on their accounts as well as other family member’s accounts. Customers can sign up for this free service by clicking on Library Elf on the library’s homepage.


Thursday, June 14• The War of 1812 – “The Choice” Sotterley Plantation (44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood) – Tours at 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The second War of 1812 Living His-tory event, “The Choice” will be held at Sotterley Plantation. The war with the British brought hardship to the plantation but a chance at freedom for the enslaved. At the living history presentations you will meet the people who lived and labored at Sotterley during the summer of 1814. Come to one of our events and be a part of the drama as slaves must make a difficult and daring choice. What will you decide? In FY2011, Sotterley was awarded grants from the Maryland Heritage Area Au-thority, the Maryland Humanities Coun-cil, and the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium to create a living history script from Sotterley’s unique story of the War of 1812, as well as the costuming and props needed for the production. Now that the script and costuming had been com-pleted it was time to begin production, and Old Line Bank stepped forward to generously sponsor the production phase of this project. Due to the support from these three organizations, Sotterley will now be able to share a unique story with a perspective rarely told about the War of 1812. This event is free to the public, but space is limited. Advanced reservations can be made by calling the Sotterley office at 301-373-2280.

Friday, June 15• Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament VFW Post 2632 (23282 Three Notch Road, California) – 6:20 p.m.

Buy in is $50 with an optional $10 Add-On to receive an extra $1000 and 50/50 entry. Sign In is from 6:20 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., Tournament starts at 7 p.m. Reg-ister and pay by 6:45 p.m. to receive an ex-tra $500 early bird bonus. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. Late play-ers will be accepted until the end of the first break. Payouts are determined by the number of entries. The public is welcome. Individuals must be 18 or older to play. Side games are available. For more infor-mation or to pre-register contact Brian at [email protected] or 240-925-4000.

• Men of Honor SimulcastHughesville Baptist Church (8505 Old Leonardtown Road, Hughesville) – 7 p.m.

Hughesville Baptist Church will be having a “Men of Honor” simulcast. Dur-ing this event they will be joining Sher-wood Baptist Church and other viewers around the world for a time of Worship. Then they will hear from the main actors in the movie about how God spoke to them during the making of the “Courageous” movie. For more information call 301-884-8645 or 301-274-3672 or visit our web site www.hughesvillebaptist.com

Saturday, June 16• Marie Croke Book SigningBooks-A-MIllion (3304 Crain Highway, Waldorf) – 1-3 p.m.

Winner of International Writing/Il-lustrating Contest and Hollywood resident Marie Croke will be signing copies of “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Fu-ture Volume 28.”

Resident of Hollywood. Marie Croke

was born and raised in southern Mary-land. Being the sixth child out of nine, she watched the rest of her family go to bed with books, so she would sit in bed with a miniature dictionary. By the time she could read, the basement had been turned into a library, shoved full of books of every genre imaginable on account of the num-ber of people in her family and their very different tastes. Many science fiction and fantasy authors introduced themselves to her in that basement. Eventually, she did start having to buy her own books. The two authors she credits with shaping her love of otherworldly stories are L. Frank Baum and Anne McCaffrey. In fact, the only childhood birthday she can remember with any clarity is the one on which she re-ceived the entire Oz series. She hopes to one day inspire other children to dream big the way these authors inspired her. In 2008, Marie began following her own dreams. Her Writers of the Future win is her first professional sale and she has since sold two more stories, one to Daily Science Fiction and another to Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Marie graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a degree in eco-nomics and she currently lives in Mary-land with her fiancé and their two children.

• Gala in the Garden - “Cast Off for the Caribbean”Sotterley Plantation (44300 Sotterley Lane, Hollywood) – 6:30 p.m.

An event like no other, the Gala in the Garden – “Cast Off for the Carib-bean” will take place at Sotterley Planta-tion. The Mama Jama band’s Caribbean vibe will draw you to the Colonial Revival Garden, where Canard’s Catering will be serving foods kissed by island flavors! The tent will be brimming with magnifi-cent live and silent auction items and re-freshing cool drinks, as you cast yourself away on a fantasy of turquoise seas and sugary beaches. Advance reservations are required. Tickets are available online at www.sotterley.org. For more information, call 301-373-2280. The $100 per person admission supports Sotterley’s important educational programming.

• Ignite the NightSt. Mary’s County Fairgrounds (42455 Fairgrounds Road, Leonardtown) – 5:30 p.m.

Ignite the Night 2012, featuring the Dove Award nominated Ashes Remain, will kick-off at 5:30PM at the St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds, rain or shine. “Ig-nite the Night” started with a handful of folks from area churches coming together to put on a FREE Christian Concert event at the St. Mary’s County Fair Grounds. It started as a one evening event that is now, this year, celebrating 5 years of reaching out and bringing together our communi-ty for an event filled with great music of all kinds, a great time of fellowship, and a great message from many of our local ministries. We don’t want anyone to miss out, this year will be even more exciting as we bring in two nationally known artist, Ashes Remain a contemporary Christian Rock Band, and Curvine who is an amaz-ing speaker as well as Hip-Hop artist. There will be many locally known artists and so much more, too much to list. The funds are raised each year by the planning committee of “Ignite the Night Ministries” to keep this event free to the public. Bring your lawn chairs, your family and friends, and expect to have an amazing time. For more information, call Mike or Vicky Bai-ley at 301-373-9731

Sunday, June 17• All You Can Eat Breakfast Second District Fire Department (Valley Lee) – 8-11 a.m.

The menu includes scrambled eggs, home fried potatoes, pancakes, French toast, sausage links, ham, hot biscuits, creamed chipped beef, spiced apple-sauce, juices, milk & coffee. Adults are $8, children 6-12 - $4, children 5 and un-der are free. For more information call 301-994-9924.

• Wine in the GardensSummerseat Farm (26655 Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville) – 2-6 p.m.

Summerseat Farm will provide an af-ternoon of fine wine, music and food in the beautiful gardens of Summerseat Farm. The cost is $20 per person and includes a commemorative wine glass and a tasting of select wines from wineries of Southern Maryland. Chef Loic of the Café Des Ar-tistes will present hors d’oeuvres to pair with the wine. Summerseat Farm, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization operated entirely by volunteers. Your support will help us preserve over 120 acres of historic farmland dating back to the 18th century. For more information, visit www.summer-seat.org or call 301-373-6607.

Monday, June 18• Week Long Summer Art CampAnnmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Cen-ter (13480 Dowell Road, Solomons) – 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Learn to develop realistic fantasy characters as you learn life drawing tech-niques and model your drawings after characters that might live in our forest fairy houses and gnome homes. Learn tips and tricks for drawing the human figure and write a short story or poem about your new characters. All illustrations and stories will be composed in a booklet to accompany our Fairy House exhibit. The class is open to students entering grades 10-12. Classes run from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. June 18-22. Cost for member is $85 and non-members are $95. For more information or to register, call 410-326-4640. For more information visit http://www.annmariegarden.org/annmarie2/teen_workshops

Tuesday, June 19• Rally For the Cure Cedar Point Golf Course (23248 Cedar Point Road, Patuxent River) – 7:45 a.m.

Cedar Point Ladies Golf Association (CPLGA) is hosting a Rally for the Cure Honoring our oldest member and a Breast Cancer survivor, Lois O’Connell. A $75 per entry fee covers cart and greens fees, lunch, prizes, goody bag and more! Cap-tain’s Choice Scramble: bring your four-some or we can pair you up! Prizes for winning team(s), Longest Drive, Longest Putt, Closest to the Pin, and Cluster Putt contest and more. Registration and Conti-nental Breakfast by CPLGA is from 7:45 - 8:30 a.m. Cluster Putt Contest is at 8:45 a.m. and shotgun Start is at 9 a.m. To reg-ister, mail a check made out to CPLGA to: Shirley Vatter, CPLGA Chairman/Rally Ambassador, 26377 Hillendale Road, Hol-lywood MD 20636. Email names of the team members and if Base access is need-ed to [email protected]. Checks must be received by June 11. Wear pink!

Wednesday, June 20• Summer Knights offers The College Series – Session 2St. Mary’s Ryken High School (22600 Camp Calvert Road, Leonardtown) – 5:30-8 p.m.

Next in The College Series is “Writ-ing the Admission Essay” presented by the Director of Admissions at St. Mary’s College of Maryland Rich Edgar. Edgar is known for his wit and wisdom in his presentations to high school students and will detail the process of deciding what to write about for your application essay and why. Registration is open to students in the classes of 2013, 2014 and 2015. You do not need to be a student at St. Mary’s Ryken to sign up. Participants can choose one or all of the workshops. Cost is $75 for each workshop and a light meal is included be-fore each session. For more information, or to register, visit www.smrhs.org/sum-merknights or call 301-475-2814 ext. 411.

• Free Concert with Branches BandShepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church (9463 HG Trueman Road, Lusby) – 7 p.m.

Branches Band, Milwaukee-based Christian band, will be presenting a con-cert hosted by Shepherd of the Bay Lu-theran Church. Call 410-231-2075 for more information or directions. For more information about the band, visit www.branchesband.com.

Thursday, June 21• Summer Knights offers The College Series – Session 3St. Mary’s Ryken High School (22600 Camp Calvert Road, Leonardtown) – 5:30-8 p.m.

“Uncovering the truth behind the PSAT/SAT/ACT tests and their importance to your child’s entrance into college” is the third workshop. Learn what role each of these tests plays in your college application and academic career. Registration is open to students in the classes of 2013, 2014 and 2015. You do not need to be a student at St. Mary’s Ryken to sign up. Participants can choose one or all of the workshops. Cost is $75 for each workshop and a light meal is included before each session. For more information, or to register, visit www.smrhs.org/summerknights or call 301-475-2814 ext. 411.

• Free Family Movie - HugoLeonardtown Library (23250 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown) – 2 p.m.

In this PG rated movie, an orearched for and found the cowndependence Day celebration will include some of John Williams’ famous mowebsite or by call-ing 410-535-0291. Attendees must be 13 or older or accompanied by a parent/guardian who must give permission to participate. There will be plenty of other brawling going on besides the tournament so everyone will have the opportunity to play. There will be ten matches where two players from Calvert Library will play two players from another library. Those twenty scores make up Calvert Library’s total score to determine whether Calvert Library advances to the Finals. The rules are available on the library website at cal-vert.lib.md.us. Bring your own controller if you like and costumes are welcome. This tournament is sponsored by Friends of Calvert Library. For more information, call the Calvert Library Prince Frederick at 410-535-0291 or 301-855-1862.


Shoe Swap at NorthernOn Wednesday, June 20, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.,

the annual shoe swap event returns to the Northern Senior Activity Center. Enjoy trading in quality, clean, hardly-worn shoes, for a credit to get another pair of shoes at no charge. This is a ladies dream. You’ll find a place for those special event shoes or something you paid good money for but never got to wear. For each trade in, you’ll get a ticket that you can redeem for a different pair of shoes. You can use your voucher or gift it to someone else. Shoe screening will be very selective -- only very good quality shoes (no slippers or beachwear) with little or no wear will be accepted. Donations are due to the Operations Manager by noon on June 19. For more information, call 301.475.4002, ext. 1001.

Press your favorite blooming flowers at Loffler Se-nior Activity Center

Bring some fresh picked flowers and foliage (enough for you and some to share) plus a heavy book and some newspaper to Loffler on Friday, June 22 at 10 a.m. We will show you how to press them in the book. Leave your pressed flowers with us and come

back the following Friday (June 29) at 10 a.m. and look at your treasures! Bring a picture frame with glass (8x10 or larger) and arrange the little beauties into a masterpiece worthy of your wall. To sign up for this workshop call 301.737.5670, ext. 1658 or stop by the Loffler reception desk by Wednesday, June 20.

Make a bracelet with silver and semi-precious stones

Hand-made jewelry is the hottest thing in acces-sories this year so sign up early to make your own bracelet at Loffler Senior Activity Center. Class takes place Monday, July 2 from 2 - 4 p.m. and continues the following Monday (July 9) if you need more time to finish your project. Cost of $20 includes instruction and all materials (including choice of stones) needed to finish your bracelet. Call 301.737.5670, ext. 1658 to register for this class by Thursday, June 28.

PokenoBring your pennies for this bingo-like card game

held at the Garvey Senior Activity Center on Wednes-day, June 20 at 10:30 a.m. To sign up for lunch follow-ing the game, call the Garvey Senior Activity Center

Receptionist at 301.475.4200, ext. 1050.

Arthritis Foundation Exercise ProgramThe Garvey Senior Activity Center offers the

Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 – 9:30 a.m. This low-impact physical activity program is proven to reduce pain and decrease stiffness. The routines include gentle range-of-motion exercises that are suitable for every fitness level. Prior to class, participants are invited to participate in an optional, gentle walk around the Gov-ernmental Center Campus beginning at 8:30 a.m. For more information, call 301.475.4200, ext. 1050.

Mah Jong meets at Loffler Senior Activity Center the 1st and 3rd Thurs. at 1:30 p.m.

If you have some experience with this game and would like to play, or if you would like more infor-mation call 301.737.5670, ext. 1658. At this time, the group is not be able to teach inexperienced players, but if enough interest is expressed in learning how to play, a class can be arranged.

SENIOR LIVING

St. Mary’s Department of Aging Programs and Activities

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

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DireCToryBusiness

Classifieds

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

Important

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

Deadlines for Classifieds are Tuesday at 12 pm.

Real Estate

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face 51. Bark of the paper mul-berry tree 56. Actress Lupino 57. Keyboard partner 62. Family cyperaceae 63. Thou __ do it

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Last Week’s Puzzle Solutions

erKiddieKor n


By Linda RenoContributing Writer

It’s almost Fa-ther’s Day…a time to pay tribute to that special man who is or was always there for you; who loved you unconditionally;

and who would sacrifice anything for you. Whether by birth, adoption, or marriage, he’s your father.

This week’s article is about a young man who will never have that joy and it’s a choice he made himself. Matt, my grand-son, is now 27 years old and he was born with learning disabilities. When he was seven, he came to live with us. Matt has taught me many things, not the least of which is to never underestimate him or his abilities. Matt and many others like him will tell you “I’m slow, not stupid.” Re-member that. It’s important.

Matt decided about 5 years ago that he didn’t want to take the chance of fathering any children. He recognized that they might face the many chal-lenges he does on a daily basis. We talked about this at great length and waited some time before the procedure was actually done because I wanted to ensure this was his decision. It was.

A couple of years later, he had to have his tonsils removed. At the hospital, the nurse was gathering information about Matt’s health record and asked if he’d had any other surgeries. I told her yes and explained, thinking ahead to what the next question might be, but lo and behold I thought I was going to have to go to battle with this self-righteous wench! I have to wonder if that indignation would extend to the idiot in Tennessee and the 11 women by whom he’s fathered 30 children. But I digress…

I never cease to be amazed at the number of people Matt knows. Rarely have we been anywhere that someone hasn’t called out “Hi Matt!” The first two jobs he had he got on his own. While still in school, a group of stu-dents visited Giant in California, just check-ing out places where they might get a job. Matt wasn’t there for a visit—he was a man on a mission. Giant hired him on the spot and he worked there for two years pushing carts. The

first week the store received a thank you letter from a customer who had left her purse in a cart--Matt found her and gave it back.

Today he works two part-time jobs, one at Dunkin’ Donuts and the other at Vintage Values. Had the circumstances been different, I would have to believe Matt would have made a wonderful hus-band and father. Those of us who live in the day-to-day world look at his cup half-empty and I admit that I often do this. He doesn’t look at it that way, so maybe this is another lesson we can all learn from Matt and those like him. If you can’t relate to my story, attend a Special Olympics event. You’ll see more courage and joy in one day than most people do in a lifetime.

Happy Father’s Day!

A Journey Through TimeA Journey Through TimeThe ChronicleWanderings

You can check out anytime…”

By Shelby OppermannContributing Writer

I don’t know what happens when we head towards Colonial Beach, Virginia. The town must know when we are coming, or at least when I am coming. We now start singing the line from “Hotel California” by the Eagles that says, “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave” before we even hit the town. We not only have trouble checking out of town, we have trouble checking in. Even as a young child I was not a good omen for the town. While staying in the old Colonial Beach Hotel, we nearly burned it down. My Mother covered a lamp with a towel in the room so I could nap. I remember waking up to lots of smoke and the lamp shade melted. It’s a good thing she came back from the beach or The Reno when she did. You might remember one of my earlier articles of a stay in Colo-nial Beach when my husband’s old convertible locked itself and we were unable to get back into it to get our luggage or even my purse.

Aimless Mind

of an

Chef Loic of the Café Des Artistes will present hors d’oeuvres to pair with the wine. Singer/Song writer David Norris will perform acoustically.

A selection of fine beers will also be available.

Summerseat Farm, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization operated entirely by volunteers. Your support will help us preserve over 120 acres of historic farmland

dating back to the 18th century.

Summerseat Farm 26655 Three Notch Road • Mechanicsville, MD 20659

Wine in the GardensSummerseat Farm would like to cordially invite you to an afternoon

of fine wine, music and food in the beautiful gardens ofSummerseat FarmFATHER’S DAY

Sunday, June 17, 20122:00 PM – 6:00 PM$20.00 per person

Cost includes a commemorative wine glass and a tasting of select wines from wineries of

Southern Maryland

Tickets maybe purchased in advance at:http://www.ticketderby.com/event/wine-in-the-gard-id-8117

For directions and information: visit www.summerseat.org

Cash, Check or Visa/MC are accepted

Matt Dobson, 2007

Luckily hotels have all the necessary items needed for emergency stays.This past weekend we were invited to spend the evening with my husband’s son,

his wife and two of their three children at Beth Page Campground in Urbanna, Vir-ginia. Saturday was his son’s birthday so we looked forward to a nice evening with them, and then we thought we’d stay in Colonial Beach for the night. I had entered three paintings over at Mattawoman Creek Arts Center’s art show located inside of Smallwood State Park in Charles County. So it made sense (to us anyway) to drive straight from Colonial Beach over the bridge to Marbury the next day for the 1:00 opening reception instead of heading down Rt. 234 to Mechanicsville.

I must say at first glance Beth Page looked very plain, but we went on a bumpy yet fun tour of the large campground by golf cart after dinner and were very impressed. In the middle of the campground is lovely Lake LeCompte with a pier leading out to a beautiful gazebo. There are pavilions, and beach, a floating trampoline, and of course the Beth page water park. The far end of the campground is surrounded by Robinson’s Creek leading out to the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay. The lake was beautiful at night with all the camper’s firepits blazing and party lights strung on their decks.

Our first indication that the late evening would not turn out well, was when we were leaving the campground; my husband’s son drove us up to the registration park-ing lot on the golf cart. We found out that the gates close at ten not at eleven. Let’s just say that we had to make a new way out of the park on the grass, finally squeezing between the main gate and a tree with an inch or so to spare. Happily, and blissfully ig-norant that the 60th Annual Potomac River Festival was happening over the weekend, we drove on to Colonial Beach. Upon arriving at the Beach Hotel, we were told that there were no rooms to be found anywhere in the Northern Neck. We sadly got back in the car, my husband noisily stuffing his wallet back in the door pocket, clanking all sorts of things around and off we drove to Dahlgren. By the time we got to Dahlgren it was sometime after 12:30 a.m. The desk clerk there told me the same thing. When I came outside my husband was looking all over for his phone. You guessed it. The clinking sound we heard earlier was his cell phone dropping on the Colonial Beach hotel’s pavement. A quick call confirmed this. Yes, we drove back to Colonial Beach. Once there, (by this time it had to be 1:30 a.m.) we begged for any room they had. The desk clerk said they were renovating rooms on the second floor, and there was a room but it had no TV, no alarm clock, and most importantly no door knob or lock. I asked if there was a chair to prop up in front of the door. I have actually stayed in a place like that before. He called his manager, and she said “Okay”. It was actually a fine room, plus they gave it to us for $35.00. And you know waking up on the sparkling “Play-ground of the Potomac River” was worth it all.

To each new day’s adventure, Shelby

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


Absinthe: ‘Grab a Piece of the Circus’By Carrie MunnStaff Writer

Southern Maryland five-piece Ab-sinthe formed in 2005, when brothers-in-law Mike a.k.a. Hannibal and Hyde Von Hitchcock decided to re-invent the cover band.

Finding more like-minded musi-cians, that not only rock musically but understand the importance of an enter-taining live show, they’ve built up a fan base throughout the region and play bars and pubs, as well as big stages like Ram’s Head Live.

Vocalist Hyde Von Hitchcock is from Calvert County and in addition to being Absinthe’s lively frontman, is a full-time father and owner of Hitchcock Automotive and Custom Exhaust. He calls himself an “extreme entertainer” and names David Bowie, Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pi-lots/Velvet Revolver, and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails as a few of many musical influences.

Hannibal, originally from Bowie, has been a guitarist for 26 years and said he drew influence from axe icons Jimi Hen-drix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eddie Van Halen. He told The County Times that he’s a dad and husband first, and has a day job, but music has always been his passion and he’d love the opportunity to play full-time.

The band’s name, he said, was in-spired by one of Hyde’s favorite actors drinking absinthe in the movie “From Hell”. Hyde explained further that absinthe is “one of the most artistically prolific muse-filled drinks of all time.” He said it

had gotten a bad wrap in the late 19th cen-tury, labeled deadly and falsely perceived as a hallucinogenic, causing it to be banned in many places. The drink was recently re-introduced in America and the stigmas at-tached found to be completely false.

Drummer Billy the Kid said he’s been keeping beats “forever.” He said Absinthe shows are crazy, because you never know what’s going to happen. He said he has too many influences to name and would love to become a national act.

Munky-Bonez, the bassist, hales from Friendship and has been mastering his in-strument for 8 years. He said Pantera, Nine Inch Nails and Rob Zombie have been in-fluential on his music.

He is a full-time musician, audio en-gineer and producer and describes an Ab-sinthe show as “sweet melodic mayhem packed with high energy performances.”

Jason, who plays guitar with the group as Dr. X, said he’s been playing for 22 years. He said his influences include Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, The Who and Hendrix. When asked to describe the band, he said, “We don’t follow what the rest of the world does … we have our own standards of what is acceptable entertainment.”

Hyde told The County Times, “We have a vision to express artistically,” add-ing their very unconventional array of mu-sic offers something for everyone. While it might not be songs the audience recog-nizes or expects, many like what they hear and seek out the material they play after hearing Absinthe’s version.

He said fans of DC 101 and 98 Rock will dig their always changing setlist that includes covers from groups like Alice In Chains, Tool and Radiohead. “We have a simple drive to not only entertain, but put on an intense show,” he said.

While their gigs are covers, all band members said they’re gradually working on originals. Munky-Bonez said “great things take time,” explaining the group is taking its time to produce work they can

take pride in and offering originals that will have a bigger impact on the crowds.

“We have big dreams on a little bud-get, and work days, but no road is with-out turns,” Hyde said. “We have exciting things in the works.”

Catch a sonically and visually en-tertaining performance by Absinthe this weekend with a show at Budd’s Creek in Mechanicsville on Friday, June 15 at 7 p.m. or Saturday night, the 16th, at Ape-hanger’s in Bel Alton at 9 p.m.

To find out more about the band, visit their website at absinthehrawk.com. For booking info or to share your comments, email the high energy quintet at [email protected].

[email protected]

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

e-mail [email protected].

Photos Courtesy of Absinthe

Thursday, June 14, 201229 The County TimesW

hat’sGoing On

In EntertainmentThursday, June 14

Karaoke w/ DJ DustySea Breeze Restaurant & Crab House (27130 S. Sandgates Rd., Mechanics-ville) – 8:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Virgil Cain”The Blue Dog Saloon (7940 Port To-bacco Road, Port Tobacco) – 7 p.m.

Live Music: “The Musician Protec-tion Program”The Westlawn Inn (9200 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach) – 7:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Joe Martone”Chesapeake Beach Resort & Spa (4165 Mears Avenue, Chesapeake Beach) – 6 p.m.

Friday, June 15

Live Music: “The Switch”Sea Breeze Restaurant & Crab House (27130 S. Sandgates Rd., Mechanics-ville) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “The Piranhas”Jake & Al’s Chophouse (258 Town Square Drive, Lusby) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Absinthe”Budds Creek (27963 Budds Creek Rd., Mechanicsville) – 7 p.m.

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

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

Live Music: “Travis Adams Band”The Green Turtle (98 Solomons Island Rd., South Prince Frederick) – 9:30 p.m

Live Music: “Justin Crenshaw Band”Gilligan’s Pier (11535 Popes Creek Road, Newburg) – 9 p.m.

Saturday, June 16

Live Music: “The Creole Gumbo Jazz Band”The Westlawn Inn (9200 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach) – 7:30 p.m.

Live Music: “R & R Train”Fat Boys Country Store (41566 Medleys Neck Road, Leonardtown) – 8 p.m.

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

Live Music: “The Sam Grow Band & Three Day Ride”Jake & Al’s Chophouse (258 Town Square Drive, Lusby) - 8 p.m.

Live Music: “2 Blinks for Yes”Sea Breeze Restaurant & Crab House (27130 S. Sandgates Rd., Mechanics-ville) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Three Notch Country”Anderson’s Bar (23945 Colton Point Road, Clements) – 8:30 p.m.

Live Music: “Too Many Mikes”Cryer’s Back Road Inn (22094 New-towne Neck Road, Leonardtown) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Four of A Kind”Toot’s Bar (23971 Mervell Dean Road, Hollywood) – 8:30 p.m.

Bikini Contest on the Beach feat. “Synergy”Vera’s White Sands Beach Club (1200 White Sands Drive, Lusby) – 3 p.m.

Live Music: “Liquid”Vera’s White Sands Beach Club (1200 White Sands Drive, Lusby) – 9:30 p.m.

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

Live Music: “Slamm”Gilligan’s Pier (11535 Popes Creek Road, Newburg) – 9 p.m.

Live Music: “The Three Amigos”Morris Point Restaurant (38869 Morris Point Rd., Abell) – 5 p.m.

Sunday, June 17, Father’s Day

Live Music: “Anthony Ryan”Vera’s White Sands Beach Club (1200 White Sands Drive, Lusby) – 12 p.m.

Live Music: “Country Memories”Vera’s White Sands Beach Club (1200 White Sands Drive, Lusby) – 5 p.m.

Wine in the GardensSummerseat Farm (26655 Three Notch Rd., Mechanicsville) – 2 p.m.

Monday, June 18

Open Mic NightRustic River Bar and Grill (40874 Mer-chants Lane, Leonardtown) – 5 p.m.

Team Trivia NightDB McMillan’s (23415 Three Notch Road, California) – 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 19

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

Live Music: “Fair Warning”DB McMillan’s (23415 Three Notch Road, California) – 5 p.m.

Wednesday, June 20

Wolf’s Blues JamEmerald Cove (3800 Harbor Road, Chesapeake Beach) – 8 p.m.

Open Mic Night w/ Mike DamronToot’s Bar (23971 Mervell Dean Road, Hollywood) – 8:30 p.m.

Oakville5 minutes North of Hollywood

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Great Mills High School formally welcomed their new head football coach – and the first African-American head football coach in St. Mary’s County – Ty-rone Bell on Tuesday.

Bell, a graduate of Great Mills High School in 1997, comes back to the program where he once was the star with football knowledge and experience he acquired from nearly 20 years of involvement with the sport.

Since leaving the area, Bell has played football for Towson University and coached at Albany, N.Y., Shippensburg, Penn., Tow-son, and Shenandoah, Va.

“It’s a joy for me to come back,” Bell said.During his introduction speech, Bell compared

football to life, stressing the emphasis on character he is going to bring to the program both on and off the field. He said he has had great mentors throughout his life that “stayed on” him and gave him direction. Now that he fills the mentor shoes as a head football coach, he plans on doing the same thing for his players.

It is important stay focused and concerned with “life outside the sport,” Bell told the audience of ap-proximately 50 players and parents in the school’s

media center, “and make sure the community respects you.”

“He’s a strong example of what we want for our kids, and a positive role model,” Great Mills High School Principal Jake Heibel said.

Bell, who won many football games and played in championship games during his career, said he was also coming back home to win and to create a winning program at Great Mills. He said he believes winning can only be accomplished as a “by-product of preparation” and plans on doing everything in his power to have his team ready

when they step on the field.During a brief question and answer session for

the parents following his introduction speech, he touched on his conditioning program, the respect he and his coaching staff will demonstrate towards the players at all times and his encouragement for parent and fan enthusiasm in the stands on gameday.

According to Heibel, Great Mills is ecstatic with its newest addition to the football program.

“He’s one of us from the community,” Heibel said. “He comes highly recommended and we were fortunate to get someone of his stature.”

[email protected]

Owned and Operated by Call For More Information: Bella Bailey, Marketing & Leasing MGR.

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Sp rtsGreat Mills Introduces

New Football CoachInterns Wanted

The County Times and Calvert Gazette newspapers have internship opportunities

available for local students year round who are looking to hone their journalism

talents in writing or photography. Send an email to [email protected] with information about your career goals

attn: Sean Rice, editor.

Southern Maryland PublishingHollywood, Maryland

301-373-4125

Tyrone Bell

Thursday, June 14, 201231 The County Times Sp rts

By Keith McGuireContributing Writer

Several devoted readers contacted me with concerns that I had aban-doned ship. Naw! I was out of town with three fishing buddies for six days last week to fish the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and lower Bay hotspots for flounder. We managed to make the trip worthwhile with enough fish to make everyone happy.

Meanwhile, in our area the fish of the week has been croakers – hardhead – be-cause they’re here for all of us to catch. They can be caught in the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers and from Point Lookout all the way up the bay to buoy #76 with concentrations in the usual hotspots. Croakers to 19 or 20 inches have been reported by anglers fishing

the evenings in shallow waters up to 10 feet deep.

If you want to target hardhead, use bloodworms, squid, Fishbites™, or small pieces of cutbait, and fish over oyster bars and rough bottom. The best times are early mornings or evenings on a high tide. With all the fish that are being reported, you should be able to catch them anytime.

White perch are also on the structures in the rivers. They’re most aggressive on a high tide in the shallows, but a falling tide will find them around dock pilings and oyster bars. The perch are big this year, presenting opportunities to catch a mess of 9” and big-ger fish for those who pursue them. White

perch will take a small jig or spinner bait, but the most popular baits are bloodworms, Fish-bites™ and peeler crab or soft crab pieces.

There are lots of stripers being caught in the area as they begin their summer pat-terns. Late evening and early morning high tides will have the rockfish chasing baitfish on the surface. They can also be caught by jigging over and around structure. Top water plugs are beginning to produce in the usual hotspots.

Speckled trout continue to be caught around the Eastern Shore islands, and a few have been caught by knowing anglers on this side of the Bay. The folks at Buzz’s Ma-rina (www.buzzsmarina.com) have posted pictures of speckled trout that were report-edly caught at the inlet of St. Jerome’s Creek. Small bucktails or jigs dressed with Gulp!™ work well on speckled trout. Storm Shad™ and similar baits also work well. Another

favorite method is a “Caro-lina Rig” baited with min-now. Speckled trout make wonderful table fare!

The disappointment so far this season is floun-der. I haven’t seen any reports of flounder catches in our area. I have seen several reports of unsuc-cessful attempts to catch them here. I think they’re coming, but they seem to be slow in moving to our northern reaches of their range. Based on what I found at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, I think that when they come we’ll have plenty.

The bonus for us is that the bluefish are here. They’re easiest to find in schools of breaking fish on the Bay. Those folks troll-ing for stripers are also catching them. Some are quite big for this time of year, running as big as 5 lbs.

Spot are here but not in numbers that live-liners would like. If you catch spot, they make great bait whether live-lined whole or used for cut bait.

Remember to take a picture of your catch and send it to me with your story at [email protected].

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

By Ronald N. Guy Jr.Contributing Writer

In sports, momentum is as mysterious and elusive as it is powerful. Call it your asset and victory will likely follow; if it remains your stubborn liability, defeat will be a familiar bedfellow. Having a game’s momentum is as exhilarating as a bike ride down a smooth moun-tain trail. Combating it is as arduous as pedaling back up that same slope where every bump, traction-sap-ping section of loose dirt and energy-draining patch of soggy earth – none of which you noticed on descent - are felt acutely in your burning, lactic acid-flooded quadriceps.

Every individual competitor or team is just a few big plays from acquir-ing momentum’s swell or wrestling it from the anxious hands of one’s desper-ate opponent. Sounds simple enough, but executing a string of such plays into an identifiable reflection point is diffi-cult and the source of momentum’s tran-sitory properties.

This time of year, with the stressful NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs winding

to a close and the baseball season taking shape, the fickleness and tremen-dous end-state influence of momentum is acted out nightly. Last Friday, for example, Nationals’ ace Stephen Strasburg was cruising with a 7-2 lead over the Boston Red Sox entering the 6th inning. After retiring the leadoff batter, Strasburg surren-dered a single, double and

a walk, in succession, to load the bases. Suddenly my beer tasted a little more bitter and I was on the edge of the couch, not comfortably sunk into its doughy depths. Strasburg promptly struck out the next batter and got a borderline strike called on a 3-2 pitch to Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis to end the threat. For a minute there though, momentum was heavily flirting with the Red Sox and the game’s outcome was in serious question.

And then there’s sports’ most emo-tionally perilous ride: the NBA...where 10-point swings are commonplace. During NBA playoff games, momen-tum, playing the role of an emotional polygamist, whimsically passes be-

tween teams as quickly and natu-rally as a gigolo bounces between girl-friends. This year alone, the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 0-2 series hole and a double-digit deficit in Game 6 to win the Western Conference and the in-consistent Boston Celtics vacillated be-tween “wise and experienced” and “old and slow” on a game-to-game basis.

Which all means what, exactly? Well, nothing if you simply acknowl-edge that peaks and valleys exist at nearly all levels of athletic competition. But there’s more to momentum’s wax-ing and waning during the course of an athletic contest than its mere existence and randomness. The “more” is the hu-man reaction to it; and, specifically, the reaction of those combating momen-tum’s challenge.

Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives…It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” At the time he ut-tered these words, Darwin sought only to describe the ability of surviving spe-cies to produce appropriate physical responses to changes in climate, food supply, etc. His evolutionary axiom car-ries, if not greater, then at least broader application today. Where the animal kingdom’s great survivors change with a changing environment, the most adap-

tive athletes react to stress - to changes in momentum - with no noticeable re-sponse at all.

Think about it: the very best ath-letes - the one’s that win Superbowls, NBA titles, hoist Stanley Cups or win World Series’ - combat inevitable nega-tive swings in momentum with nothing more than calm, steely resolve. There are no childish facial contortions, im-mature stomping of feet or classless berating of officials. There’s only the next pitch, possession or play…in other words, the next chance to reacquire that mysterious force of momentum and end on the victorious side of the final ledger.

Think about something else: doesn’t the same apply in all facets of life? Aren’t we better spouses and par-ents when we react to family challenges with a calm, solution-oriented approach? Aren’t we better supervisors when we’re consistent, levelheaded and logical? And aren’t we better workers when we accept the latest icky, delegated project with confidence and determination?

Charles Darwin: scientist, evolu-tionary theorist…and (apparently) ana-lytical sports fan and commentator on the modern human condition.

Send comments to [email protected]

BleaChersA View From The

Charles Darwin Was a sports Fan

The Croaker Wave

Angler AnglerThe Ordinary

From left, Richard Everson, Bill DeLorme, and Bill Luke – the Ordinary Angler Cape Charles crew catches their Flounder Limit.


MHBR No. 103

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

2012-06-14 the county times

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