christmas behind bars - County Times - Southern Maryland Online

Gazette
December 22, 2011
Calvert
Priceless
Everything Calvert County
Reaching OUT To Those Spending
Christmas Behind Bars
Page 11
Photo By Frank Marquart

The Calvert Gazette
Thursday, December 22, 2011 2
Also Inside
4 County News
8 Community
9 Education
11 Feature Story
12 Business
13 Letters
14 Obits
15 Newsmakers
16 Games
17 Sports
18 Entertainment
19 Out and About
education
When Katie Lerch was in pre-kindergarten, she shared The Salvation Army’s, “Dress a Bear”
program with Calverton School. Now she is continuing that spirit with a stuff a stocking effort.
out and about
There’s only 10 days left to catch Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center’s
Garden in Lights in Solomons, which runs through Jan. 1.
On T he Cover
On Christmas Day, Chaplin Jerald Graham will stop
by every cell in Calvert County’s Detention Center to
give out Christmas cards and visit with each inmate.
out & about
FOR EVENTS HAPPENING IN
YOUR AREA, CHECK PAGE 19
IN OUT AND ABOUT

3 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
MHBR
No. 103

COUNTY
NEWS
Shaw Removed From
Commissioner Presidency
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
Commissioner Jerry Clark has replaced Susan Shaw as President of the Board of
County Commissioners.
Clark was nominated by Commissioner Pat Nutter, who said the board of county
commissioners is a learning experience. He said Shaw and Clark both have eight years
experience and it is important to benefit from both of them.
“You cannot just have one point of view,” Nutter said.
Shaw said Nutter’s motive behind nominating Clark was flawed.
“I do not believe county government should be a learning experience,” Shaw said.
Changing the president would “be like starting over” and the transparency of the
board could suffer under a new president, she said.
Clark said the idea that the board could be less transparent without her as the
president is “ludicrous.”
He also disputed Shaw’s claim that the president is the top vote getter from the
county commissioner election every four years. He said that has not been his experience,
and for that to be the policy would mean the southern portion of the county,
which has fewer voters, is never represented by the board president.
Shaw also said the job description of the commission president is not complete.
“The idea that the only job of the president is to set the agenda is dead wrong,”
she said.
Nutter said the commissioners can change the president at any time, and if having
a new president is such a bad idea, they can always choose another one.
In the end, Shaw was the only commissioner who didn’t vote Clark for president,
with Evan Slaughenhoupt changing his vote from Shaw to Clark in what he called a
show of solidarity with the board.
“I guess we will see how this experiment works,” Shaw said. “I don’t think it’s a
good experiment.”
sarahmiller@countytimes.net
The Calvert Gazette
By Alex Panos
Contributing Writer
Thursday, December 22, 2011 4
O’ Malley Enacts PlanMaryland
Local Officials Say it Usurps Local Authority
On Monday, Governor Martin O’Malley enacted
PlanMaryland, beginning the vision of what
state officials say will be long-term sustainable
growth and development.
The plan uses three types of maps, an environmental
“GreenPrint”, agricultural “AgPrint”
and developmental “GrowthPrint” in order to determine
and implement the best growth pattern for
Maryland, while preserving as many environmental
and agricultural resources as possible.
“[PlanMaryland] will serve as a tool for targeting
resources,” O’Malley stated in a press release.
“In the long run, that means a healthier environment,
stronger communities and a more sustainable
future and better quality of life for our kids.”
According to the plan, the state government,
more specifically a “Smart Growth Subcabinet”,
will have majority say as to where state funding
will be going and how it will be spent by county
and local governmental entities.
St. Mary’s County Commissioner Todd Morgan
is one of many local officials who oppose Plan-
Maryland, saying the idea of the state government
having such a large say in local decision-making is
“ridiculous.”
While it is still to be determined what areas
the Smart Growth Subcabinet will allocate money
to, there is concern among Morgan and many other
local officials in Southern Maryland that it will not
be coming their way.
Morgan believes that most of the funding that
was being sent to Southern Maryland will now be
going into metropolitan areas such as
Annapolis, Baltimore, and the DC metro
area.
“With money going up the road, we
are limited to what we can do because of
PlanMaryland,” Morgan said.
Calvert County Commissioner
Evan Slaughenhoupt said O’Malley’s
administration ignored 17 counties
when they made the decision.
“We wanted time to make improvements
to the plan,” Slaughenhoupt said.
“It was a single-minded decision … We
never heard back on our suggestions. It
was not even known if it was taken into
the plan.”
Leonardtown Town Administrator
Laschelle McKay says there is a “concern
over process of where to grow” because it is
unknown how the growth maps will look.
However, state documentation claims the plan
does not ignore local governments, but help them.
According to plan.maryland.gov, “Rather than
threatening the ability of local governments to control
their own destiny, PlanMaryland will enhance
their capacity to do so.”
Slaughenhoupt called this “laughable.”
“The first chapter [of the document] says how
they will not control local zoning,” he said, “And
the rest of the document described how they will
control local zoning.”
St. Mary’s County officials echo a similar
stance.
“I strongly question the word ‘enhance,’” Morgan
agreed.
But O’Malley’s spokespersons defend the
claim, emphasizing that the long decision making
process has only just begun.
“They will be part of the process.” Spokesperson
Raquel Guillory said. “We’re planning on
sitting down and meeting with county and town
officials.”
The Maryland Association of Counties, or
MACo, has been voicing its concerns and will play
a big role by representing Southern Maryland’s
views during the planning process. As Associate
Director Leslie Knapp points out, there are still
many holes to fill in the final draft of PlanMaryland.
For the plan to be acceptable to MACo, Knapp
said the state must advocate the planning guidelines,
dilute the power of the Smart Growth Subcabinet
and address fully if the local government is
authorized to fund its own local projects.
While Guillory said that the state would not
stop a local government from beginning projects
on its own dime, Knapp believes that the document
implies otherwise.
Aside from growth and development, officials
claim PlanMaryland aids the preservation of Maryland’s
vital natural resources.
“We are going to make sure state resources are
used wisely; agriculturally and environmentally,”
Guillory said.
Still, local officials aren’t buying it.
“We have preserved 30,000 acres of land
(in Calvert County) and are on track to preserve
40,000,” Slaughenhoupt said. “We know what
we’re doing and don’t need someone controlling
it.”
“The Grinch that stole Christmas equals Governor
O’Malley and PlanMaryland,” Morgan said.
Old Calvert Middle School
to be Demolished
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
The old Calvert Middle School, currently sitting empty on the side of Route 4, is soon to be
gone.
At the Dec. 20 Board of County Commissioners meeting, a contract for $252,221 was awarded
to Sun Demolition LLC out of Beltsville, with an additional $30,000 for unforeseen circumstances.
County Commissioner President Jerry Clark said they go with the lowest qualified bidder for
a job, a practice Commissioner Susan Shaw approved of, saying by saving money on the job, the
commissioners can save money for the taxpayers.
Shaw and Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt were pleased to see something being done in
the New Town District in Prince Frederick, where the old Calvert Middle School is located.
Slaughenhoupt said he has heard from voters in support of further development in the New
Town district, one of eight districts in Prince Frederick, and has heard from citizens concerned
about keeping growth in the town centers.
sarahmiller@countytimes.net

5 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
Lusby Ready for Christmas
COUNTY
NEWS
The Lusby Business Association recently held its second Christmas tree lighting in the parking
lot of the Bank of America. There was hot chocolate and face painting, and instead of the
traditional compliment of sleigh and reindeer, Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up with a parade of
Solomons Volunteer Fire Department fire trucks, all strung with Christmas lights. After lighting
the Christmas tree, the Claus couple was available for pictures with children.
Photos by Sarah Miller
Free InItIal ConsultatIon
The law offices of P.a. Hotchkiss & associates
Providing Excellent Service For Over 20 Years
Auto Accidents
Workers’ comp
• Divorce/Separation
• Support/Custody
• Domestic Violence
• Criminal/Traffic
• DWI/MVA Hearings
Power of Attorney
• Name Change • Adoption
• Wills • Guardianship
Scan this “Times Code”
with your smart phone
Accepting:
99 Smallwood Dr. Waldorf, MD • 206 Washignton Ave. LaPlata, MD
SERVING CHARLES • ST. MARY’S • PG • CALVERT
(301) 932-7700 (301) 870-7111
Harvest Fellowship
9905 H.G. Trueman Road, Lusby
Next to The Frying Pan
office@harvestfellowshippca.org
www.harvestfellowshippca.org
410-326-0033
Christmas Eve Service time: 7:00pm
All Saints Parish
Episcopal Church
100 Lower Marlboro Rd. (Corner of Rtes 2&4)
Sunderland, MD 20689
allsaints1692@verizon.net
www.allsaints1692.org
410-257-6306
Christmas Eve
Holy Eucharist Services:
4:00pm Family Service w/ children's pageant
Music Program at 9:15pm followed by
10:00pm Candlelight Service
St. Paul
United
Methodist
Church
11000 H.G. Trueman Rd.
Lusby, MD
410-326-4475
stpaul.umc@comcast.net
http://stpaul-lusby.com/
Christmas Eve Service times:
7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Come Worship With
Us On Christmas Eve
11275 S. MD Blvd. Dunkirk, MD
office@dunkirkbaptistchurch.org
dunkirkbaptistchurch.org
301.855.3555
410.286.8500
December 24 at 6PM:
Family Christmas Eve
Candlelight Worship Service
Sunday, December 25
at 10:30AM:
Christmas Day Worship Service

COUNTY
NEWS
County Watching Cemetery
Bankruptcy Process
The Calvert Gazette
Thursday, December 22, 2011 6
Safe Nights Offers Beds,
Meals to People in Need
By Guy Leonard
Staff Writer
State officials announced this week that
Badtec, Inc., the company that owns Southern
Memorial Gardens in Dunkirk, has filed for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the District of Maryland.
The cemetery had been in foreclosure since
the summer and a cease and desist order has
been in place since August from the county’s
Circuit Court that prohibited the owners from
performing any new burials, according to information
from the state’s Department of Labor,
Licensing and Regulation (DLLR).
The Office of Cemetery Oversight (OCO),
part of DLLR, filed an injunction earlier this
year against the cemetery owners, Daniel and
George Martin, the principals in Badtec, Inc.,
and the problems surrounding the cemetery led
to criminal and civil charges against both.
Burials have been allowed to continue
since mid-August, a DLLR press release stated,
but only if customers had owned a plot at the site
prior to August 12 of this year and if the burial
was being performed by another, independent
contractor.
The problems started when over the summer
the property became subject to foreclosure
by the bank, the state reported, and the OCO
sought criminal charges against the owners for
allegedly operating the cemetery without the
proper permits and registration.
Terry Shannon, county administrator, said
the county is closely watching the proceedings
and has worked with the state to try to maintain
the site.
“The biggest issue when it comes to us was
the property being maintained,” Shannon told
The Calvert Gazette. “You really feel for the
folks with family there.”
Shannon said that grass often went uncut
there and the site was in generally lackluster
condition, but volunteers have come forward to
maintain it.
“It’s been very heart warming,” she said.
Badtec, Inc.’s creditors are scheduled to
meet with state representatives Jan. 10 to discuss
the future of the property, a DLLR press
release stated.
Parties with an interest in Southern Memorial
Gardens are welcome to attend a Jan. 10
meeting of creditors at 11:30 a.m. The meeting
will be on the sixth floor of the United States
Bankruptcy Court of the District of Maryland at
6305 Ivy Lane in Greenbelt.
guyleonard@countytimes.net
MELLOMAR
GOLF PARK
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
Safe Nights is back for its fourth winter,
offering assistance to people in need
throughout the county.
Mary Ann Zaversnik, who runs Safe
Nights with her husband Joseph, said the
number of host churches has grown to 23,
and there are another 8-10 assisting churches
offering additional support.
Safe nights is offered now through
April 8. Everyone in the program gets a
warm place to sleep every night, and two
meals plus a sack lunch every day. Zaversnik
said people who register for Safe Nights
are expected to be at the host church every
night or at a pick up point to be transported
to the church. Not coming without being
excused can result in being suspended from
the program, Zaversnik said.
While the rules may be strict, Zaversnik
said they are designed to keep everyone
safe and help the program run smoothly.
While the normal hours are 7 p.m. until
7 a.m., during holidays and some Sundays
when libraries and other public locations
are closed the host churches will have daylong
programs.
Safe Nights works closely with Project
ECHO. Project ECHO offers people a place
to sleep for 90 days and coordinates with
Safe Nights to help people who will reach
the end of their 90 days and have nowhere
to stay.
“We want to try to work hand in hand
with them,” Zaversnik said.
Project ECHO also gets community
support. Girl Scout Troop 1610 from Lusby
recently held a cookie mix sale to help purchase
items for sack lunches sent to Project
ECHO.
“It was hard for them to understand
they were doing one project to raise money
for another project,” troop leader Casey
Hanback said.
She said the project helped the girls get
involved in community service. The troop
has supported Project ECHO in various
ways for the past few years.
“I like the fact that I’m just helping
out,” said Girl Scout Jordan Abell.
Even though they want to help anybody
who needs it, Zaversnik said Safe
Nights doesn’t publicize what church they
will be at on a given night because they
would prefer the residents register for the
program.
“We did find we were being used as a
drop in shelter,” Zaversnik said.
The registration process also helps
the group keep a count of the people they
are expecting so they know there will be
enough food and beds.
For more information, call 443-486-
8670 or visit calvertinterfaithcouncil.org/
SafeNights.html.
sarahmiller@countytimes.net
Gift Certificates:
$5 and Up
Any $100 or more:
10% OFF
Obscurely Located: 6215 Scaggs Rd., Owings, Maryland 20736
410.286.8212
www.mellomar.com
Mini Grant Funding Opportunities
The Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Board has announced
that applications for the Mini Grant Program are available.
Projects selected for funding will assist RC&D in implementing its Annual Plan and Area
Plan which are both focused on community development, land conservation, land management
and water management in Charles, Calvert, St. Mary’s and Anne Arundel counties.
The maximum amount for each mini grant award is $500. The Southern Maryland RC&D
Board will accept applications at its office in Leonardtown via email, fax or regular mail.
The Mini Grant Program will operate on a rolling basis throughout the fiscal year (July 2011
to June 2012) while funds are available. Applications are due the 1st of every month.
Visit the website at www.somdrcd.org for more information about RC&D. Call the RC&D
office at 301-475-8427 X 6 or email denitra.brawner@somdrcd.org if you are interested in applying
and would like to receive an application.
The RC&D is a nonprofit organization that carries out community development and conservation
projects in Charles, Calvert, St. Mary’s and Anne Arundel Counties.

7 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
Breakfast With Santa
COUNTY
NEWS
Brent Sulhoff, Braden Blonshine and Ricardo Fabila
grab some breakfast between shifts as Santa’s Helper Elves.
Photos by Sarah Miller
The Patuxent High School JROTC orchestrated their first Breakfast with Santa Dec. 18. JROTC Booster President
Chris Tilley, said they brought in $1,365 before factoring in cost of the breakfast. “This is amazing considering our
target audience were allowed to come in for free,” Tilley said. The JROTC will share 10 percent of the proceeds
with the SMILE Food Pantry.
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
State Proposes More
Time for WIP
When the Chesapeake Bay’s Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) was first introduced
by the EPA, Maryland volunteered to reach the 100 percent reduction goals by 2020, instead
of 2025 as required by the EPA mandate.
Now, with less than 10 years until 2020, the state is proposing to move their goal back
to 2025 in order to have more time, according to Maryland Department of the Environment
(MDE) spokesperson Samantha Kappalman.
“The targets are constantly shifting,” Kappalman said. She said since the start of Phase I
of the WIP, the state recognized a need to move the timeline out.
“The early target date would be too hard to reach,” Kappalman said.
In the draft of WIP Phase II the state submitted to the EPA, they proposed moving the
self-imposed deadline back to 2025, in addition to other changes to be reviewed by the EPA
before being adopted.
“We’re now on track to meet it by 2025,” Kappalman said.
Representatives of individual counties support moving the deadline back.
“It certainly would help,” said Calvert County Principal Environmental Planner David
Brownlee.
Currently, Calvert is working on a WIP Phase II to be submitted to the state and the EPA.
He said the county wouldn’t have met the goals by 2020, though efforts have been made
to come in line with the EPA mandates. According to a Dec. 6 presentation by Brownlee to
the Board of County Commissioners, some of the efforts made haven’t been fully recognized
by the state and continued growth presents an additional challenge.
“We need to turn the tide on pollution and we have made progress,” Brownlee’s presentation
reads. “However, growth continues to set us back on the progress we are making.”
There will be a second work session to discuss the Calvert County WIP Phase II on Jan.
10. Brownlee said they will be addressing some of the concerns the commissioners had during
the first work session.
Jeff Jackman, senior planner for St. Mary’s County, said the county could probably
meet the goal by the current deadline of 2020, but the process is “intricate, challenging and
expensive.”
“It is something we have to move forward with” Jackman said.
He said the additional years could be useful, but if the state continues to change the deadline,
he said there would need to be an understanding between the state and the individual
counties so the counties deadline isn’t continuously changing as well.
What it comes down to is money, officials from both counties said. In order to get on
track and stay on track for the reduction goals, funding is required.
Calvert County commissioners have not yet committed funding to the WIP Phase II,
something Brownlee said will be discussed during the next work session.
Jackman also said the “missing piece” is money.
sarahmiller@countytimes.net
Wishing you and your family a Merry
Christmas and a safe and joyful holiday from
the Stephen D. Mattingly Insurance Agency
Ava Riley visits
with Santa Claus.
Top Row: Carolyn Quade, Shirley Mattingly and Barbara Livingston.
Bottom Row: Betty West, Steve Mattingly and Alice Kingsley
Stephen D. Mattingly Insurance
Phone: 301-884-5904
28290 Three Notch Road
Mechanicsville, Maryland 20659

Community
The Calvert Gazette
Thursday, December 22, 2011 8
Town Warns of
Sewer Clogging
By Guy Leonard
Staff Writer
Tuba Christmas
On Thanksgiving
Day, North Beach
Town Councilman
Mike Benton helped
out some of their public
works staff deal with a
clogged sewer line located
at the corner of
Dayton Avenue and 3rd
Street; what they found
after they snaked out
the line was a common
cause to a messy problem,
sanitary wipes.
Benton retold
the story at the Dec. 8
council meeting and
said town residents
need to be more careful
when it comes to what
they dispose of in their
household drains.
He said that an
overabundance of
kitchen grease as well
as sanitary wipes are Mike Benton
the main culprits in
perhaps three sewer clogging incidents in the past 18 months.
“These things get caught and clog up; with that and with household
grease, we’ve had problems,” Benton said.
With the sanitary wipes, he said, they can become caught on
any imperfection in the line and they continue to build up until they
clog the system because they do not readily decompose.
Residents may have a misconception, he said, that because the
town is on central water and sewer it would not have the same problems
associated with individual septic systems found throughout
Calvert County.
“They think it won’t clog but it does,” Benton said. “I even
recycle my coffee grounds, I won’t put anything down the drain that
shouldn’t be there.”
guyleonard@countytimes.net
Photo by Carrie Munn
Tuba players from the tri-county area and beyond gathered recently to perform classic Christmas carols during the tenth annual Tuba Christmas at
Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Solomons. All-tuba ensembles across the nation have been putting on the holiday show for 38 years.
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
Provisions Sought For Box
Stores in Prince Fredrick
Larger stores in Prince Frederick may be on the horizon,
if discussions before the Calvert County Planning
Commission on proposed changes to the Prince Fredrick
zoning ordinance are realized.
Randy Barrett of Bargo L.L.C. is seeking the maximum
square footage to be changed from 120,000 square
feet to 125,000 square feet with a 1,000-foot road setback in
the New Town District of Prince Fredrick. The New Town
District is east of Solomons Island Road and north of Dares
Beach Road in northern Prince Frederick.
According to Calvert County Planning and Zoning
O’Donnell Trying to Unseat Hoyer
Director Chuck Johnston, a portion of the land in the New
Town District is owned by Calvert County Public Schools
and the Calvert armory.
Before the change can be made, there will have to be
a work session and public hearing. The planning commission
anticipates the public hearing being well attended with
the issue of big box stores in question, members said at their
Dec. 14 meeting.
In a letter to Johnston, Barrett said most larger builders
scale prototypes to be between 120,000 and 125,000 square
feet.
sarahmiller@countytimes.net
By Guy Leonard
Staff Writer
Del. Anthony J. O’Donnell, Republican minority leader in
the Maryland House of Delegates, announced last week he is
taking on Steny Hoyer for the 5th District seat in Congress in
2012 and came out swinging by saying that Hoyer has contributed
to the continued expansion of the federal government and
national debt.
O’Donnell’s announcement ends several weeks of uncertainty
over whether he would seek to unseat the incumbent
Democrat, who was elected to the seat in 1980.
O’Donnell castigated Hoyer, accusing him of having a virtually
identical voting record as that of House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi, but he also recognized that his will be an uphill
battle.
The 5th District is overwhelmingly Democrat, with a near
two-to-one advantage in voters; Hoyer defeated his last opponent
in 2010, Charles Lollar, by 30 percentage points.
Demographics have also shifted in key areas like Charles
County, where an influx of Democrats helped carry Hoyer to
victory with his solid win in Prince George’s County.
“I am under no illusions with regards to the difficulties in
this campaign … but I’m up to the challenge,” O’Donnell told
the Calvert Gazette. “Let’s start solving this country’s problems.
He’s [Hoyer] been there 31 years, what’s he doing to solve these
problems.”
One of O’Donnell’s key charges against Hoyer was that
he was the chief vote wrangler for the Obama Administration’s
health care bill, which O’Donnell said is an intrusion on personal
freedoms.
O’Donnell said he would campaign up to the end of November
of next year, when the election will be decided. Hoyer has
already stated publicly that he has filed for re-election and that
he is confident that Democrats will retake the House of Representatives
after being trounced by Republicans in 2010 mid-term
elections.
All this despite the announced retirements of several senior
Democrats, including Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts,
which some political pundits have said shows cracks in the Democratic
Party’s ability to regain traction.
“We need a congressman who understands what it’s like
to live paycheck to paycheck … one who has not been disconnected
from everyday Marylanders for so long that he doesn’t
remember what it’s like to struggle,” O’Donnell said in a video
release announcing his candidacy.
O’Donnell was elected to represent St. Mary’s and Calvert
counties in the District 29C seat in 1994, when he defeated
Thomas Pelagatti by 32 votes. In 2010, O’Donnell was reelected
to his fifth term.
guyleonard@countytimes.net

9 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
Spotlight On
Transition Students Have More
Input Into Future Careers
By Corrin M. Howe
Staff Writer
Sara Wagner, a teacher at Calvert High
School, is excited her students have an opportunity
to experiment with various skills in different career
fields so they can provide input into the types of
jobs they want when they transition out of school.
She has seven students in ISLE – Intensive
Structured Learning Environment, which according
to Board of Education documents, “is designed
to meet the needs of students who exhibit
characteristics of autism spectrum disorders and
whose needs cannot be met in lesser restrictive
environments.”
In an email inviting the Calvert Gazette to
come see what her students are doing, Wagner
wrote: “My students have special needs, primarily
autism, and we go to the a pre-vocational work
lab weekly. The [Practical Assessment Exploration
System] PAES Lab is housed at the Country
School and my students have been working very
hard over there. The lab gives them an opportunity
to try and become familiar with jobs in all types of
fields. So often our special needs people are told
what kind of a job they would be good at and told
to do it.”
According to Transition Specialist Zakia
Lindsey, the school system purchased a program
with grant money last year for students in the high
school and functional students at Calvert Country
School.
The program takes skills from the career areas
(consumer/service, construction/industrial, business/marketing,
processing/production and computer tech)
and breaks them down into smaller manageable tasks and
then walks the students through learning the skill.
For example, student John Kirby worked on a skill in
processing/production. He pulled a large plastic bucket from
the shelf and started sorting various shapes and sizes of pipes.
Charts labeled from A to G had images in exact sizes that
Kirby matched from pieces stored in the container.
The program has him start a small timer to see how long
it takes him to finish the task. Once he’s finished with the task,
Wagner goes over a checklist with him to self evaluate how he
did on his task. First students must decide if they finished the
Victor Stew works on following instructions. His teacher says he is always happy
and very quick and efficient with his tasks.
John Kirby matches pipe sizes and shapes to charts.
task correctly and whether they sought assistance. Next they
compare their times with a chart to see if their performance
fell in the category of slow, medium or fast. Finally, the students
evaluate their personal interest in the task as high, medium
or low. All this data is entered into a computer program
which helps Wagner know the student's interests and abilities.
Lindsey likes the program because the students learn
real life work skills such as punching a time card. During the
demonstration another real world scenario played out. Students
discovered they weren't always able to locate the materials
and supplies necessary to perform their tasks. In one
case the box was misfiled. In another, the item wasn't in the
room.
“They are students now, but they will be adults
in the community,” said Lindsey. And they want to be
productive members of society.
Wagner likes the data collection. It helps her to
individualize her instruction to the student’s interests
and needs.
“What I’m finding is they might have a high interest
level in a task, but they don’t perform it well. Now
I know what I need to do to help them get good at the
job.”
Being organized, staying on task, following instructions,
self evaluating and correcting are all “executive
function” skills that many children with special
needs lack. The lab also helps her to write better goals
and objectives for the student’s annual educational
plan. She can identify skills that need to be “generalized”
or taken from one environment to another.
The program is open to all the high schools but so
far Calvert High and Patuxent are the only ISLE programs
taking advantage of it. According to Lindsey
having to travel by bus to Calvert County School in
Prince Frederick is a limiting factor.
Lindsey said the program has a middle school
component where teachers start talking about jobs,
introducing them to vocabulary and work scenarios so
that they are familiarized with the lab when the students
enter high school.
corrin@somdpublishing.net
Maryland Earns Race
to the Top Grant
By Corrin M. Howe
Staff Writer
As other states continued to slash education funding, the
Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) reports that intense
activism on their part led to the General Assembly restoring
a large chunk of the governor’s proposed education budget cuts
during legislators’ last session.
As it stands, the current total of state aid to public schools
is roughly $5.8 million for FY2012, with additional funding for
school construction projects totaling nearly $300 million. About
$47.5 million worth of those projects are funded out of appropriated
funds from the new alcohol tax, with another $15 million
going to the Developmental Disabilities Administration, as originally
intended.
The state will provide $92.7 million in education funding
to St. Mary’s County for FY 2012 and $82.9 million to Calvert
County, according to MSEA. Both figures are less than those for
the current year.
At the county level, education officials’ worry rests on local
government funding, which averages at 46 percent statewide but
has been under intense scrutiny by commissioners as they work
through local budgets.
Gaining a leg up through the federal government, Maryland
was announced as one of nine states to receive a multi-million
dollar grant for the Race To The Top Early Learning Challenge,
reports Maryland State Department of Education. While hard
numbers are unavailable, MSDE stated Maryland was eligible
for $50 million over four years and these funds are targeted at
narrowing the school readiness gap for disabled children, English
language learners and children living in poverty.
According to an MSDE press release, over the past decade,
children in Maryland have improved their school readiness assessments,
upon entering kindergarten, from 49 to 81 percent.
Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD-5) said, “In applying for
this grant, Maryland created a plan to increase access to highquality
programs for children from low-income families, providing
more children from birth to ages 5 with a strong foundation
necessary for success in school and beyond.”
Senators Mikulski and Cardin also issued statements highlighting
the state’s strong support for and accomplishments in
early childhood education.
“As Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and
Families, I believe that early childhood education and care has
one of the most profound impacts on a child’s future,” Mikulski
stated. The funds will be channeled into comprehensive education
reform that will improve academic standards and assessments,
support staff and enhance achievements at the lowest
performing schools.
carriemunn@countytimes.net
Until Behavior
Improves, Patuxent
High Lunch Period
Shortened
Patuxent High School administration has suspended student’s
one-hour lunch program indefinitely.
Instead, students will have a half hour lunch period either
at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of their fifth period.
According to the school’s website, in order to have one hour
lunch reinstated, the administration will expect students to be
on time to their classes, improve their behavior in the cafeteria
and have a hall passes when out of class. The administration also
expects public displays of affection to stop.
When contacted for more information, Patuxent High
School principal Nancy Highsmith said she has no comment.

Spotlight On
The Calvert Gazette
Learn and Share at National
Mentoring Month Breakfast
The Calvert County Mentoring Partnership (CCMP)
is hosting its Seventh Annual National Mentoring Month
Breakfast on Thursday, Jan. 19, from 8:30 to 11 a.m., at
the Southern Community Center in Lusby.
Gary Wynn, president of the Solomons Steelers
Youth Football and Cheerleading, will be the Honorary
Chair at this free networking event. The breakfast will
feature a panel discussion from business leaders, school
officials, non-profits, and the community on their perspective
of mentoring, and information on how to get
involved in mentoring programs.
Individuals, businesses, government agencies,
schools, faith communities and local nonprofit organizations
can all play a part in increasing the number of mentors
in Calvert County and assuring a better future for our
youth, a press release states.
The Mentoring Breakfast is held in observance of
National Mentoring Month 2012, a month-long campaign
dedicated to recruiting caring mentors for America’s
youth.
Research has shown that mentorship can play a
powerful role in reducing drug abuse and youth violence,
while greatly enhancing a young person’s prospects for
leading a healthy and productive life. Calvert County
is rich in opportunities for young people to become involved
with an adult who cares about their well-being. If
your organization offers a mentoring program that you
wish to feature at a booth at the breakfast, email Nadine
Happell at nhappell@gscnc.org.
To RSVP for the FREE National Mentoring Month
Breakfast, or to sponsor the event on behalf of a business
or organization, contact Roseanna Vogt at the Circle of
Angels Initiative at 301-778-3848 or by email at circleofangels@chesapeake.net.
Calverton Students Fill Stockings for
Less Fortunate
Eleven years ago when Katie Lerch, current ninth
grade student at The Calverton School, was in pre-kindergarten,
she shared The Salvation Army’s, “Dress a
Bear” program with Calverton.
Each child in Katie’s class took home a bear,
dressed it in an outfit, delivered it back to school, and
the bears were sent to The Salvation Army to be distributed
to less fortunate children during the holidays.
In the years following, the entire Lower School
participated in the program, a Calverton press release
states. Unfortunately, due to the expense of the bears,
The Salvation Army is no longer able to provide bears
for the “Dress a Bear” program. They are, however,
able to provide the school with stockings to fill and/or decorate.
On Nov. 22, each Lower School student, including students in preschool and pre-kindergarten, received a stocking.
In the spirit of giving and compassion, students will fill the stocking and decorate if they wish, for another child.
During class time, students will also write a letter to the child receiving their stocking.
The stockings will be displayed in Calverton’s Lower School library honoring the act of giving to others this
holiday season.
By Corrin M. Howe
Staff Writer
Thursday, December 22, 2011 10
SLES Winter Festival
Includes Art Show,
Holiday Shop
and Book Fair
St. Leonard Elementary School recently combined an art show,
a holiday shop and book fair for its after school Winter Festival
celebration.
Art teacher Mimi Torres lined all the cafeteria tables with pinch
pots, Christmas trees, animals, angels and coil pots created by preschool
through fifth grade students. Each grade worked on same
theme; however, none of the grade levels shared the same subject.
“Each project took about three class periods. One to shape, one
to paint and one to make up missed work or add fine detail,” said Torres,
who is new to Calvert Public Schools but having taught in Puerto
Rico and New York over the last 12 years.
In the gym, SLES VP Janel McPhillips was one of the many
volunteers helping students do their holiday shopping. Each table
grouped trinkets in one price range or themes. For example, one table
displayed items for adult men while another for adult women. Parents
waited out in the hall while their children selected items for family
members. After the students purchased their items, more tables
and volunteers were available to help wrap them.
Back in the library, a book fair vendor and volunteers
sold reading materials, computer games and
posters to families looking for additional choices for
holiday gifts. The bank of computers was very popular
and kept children entertained while waiting for their
parents to shop or visit with other adults.

11 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
STORY
Jail Chaplain to Meet
By Corrin M. Howe
Staff Writer
With Each Inmate
On Christmas
Day, Chaplain Jerald
Graham will
stop by every cell
in Calvert County’s
Detention Center
to give out Christmas
cards and visit
with each inmate.
It is another way he
and other volunteers
serve a part of the
population locked
away from sight and
memory.
Although
the time between
Thanksgiving and
the New Year is
called a time for
giving and spreading
cheer, the average
citizen, church
group or service
organization cannot
serve the local prison population on the holidays.
For the health and safety of everyone
involved, Graham says there are very specific
rules about what can be brought into the jails
and all volunteers have to go through training
first.
Graham is part of a volunteer ministry
called Point of Change Jail and Street Ministry,
Inc. out of Waldorf founded by Chaplain
John Lewis. In 2008, Charles County Detention
Center welcomed Lewis as their Chaplain
after he’d served as a volunteer there.
Graham heads up the Calvert program
Point of Change runs 17 “sessions” a
week in Calvert’s Detention Center. The majority
of the sessions are religious services,
10 to be exact, and the others are educational
in nature including a program called REST
– Rehabilitation Empower Structure Transition.
Residents on their way out of the center
and back into the community can apply to
enter into the program which teaches computer
skills, anger management, goal setting,
resume writing, interviewing skills, first aid
and other programs
Since the program started in Calvert
none of the inmates have returned to jail,
something Graham and Lewis are proud of,
considering the national recidivism rate is
43.3 percent of inmates return within three
years of being released.
Point of Change is volunteer driven and
has a budget which comes strictly from donations.
At this point it has brought in nearly
$22,500 in annual revenue but has paid out
over $26,000 in expenses.
“We do the work and have faith” that the
financial needs will be met, said Graham. He
would love to see local churches willing to
donate even $25 a month to the work to help
them “keep their head above water.”
Graham volunteers nearly full-time and
works shift work at the Metro. His wife also
has a full-time job which provided for his
family.
“Seeing lives changed for the better
means more than any dollar amount,” he said,
when asked how he can invest so much of his
time administrating 75 services a month.
A number of local churches support the
jail ministry as well. They send volunteers to
run Bible studies and educational programs.
He said he has one volunteer who has been
there 20 years.
Anyone wanting to come in to volunteer
has to go through a three to four hour class
after a clearance check. After the class the
volunteer will receive a badge. The training is
“very important because the officers go over
the dos and don’ts.”
The reason for providing training sessions,
especially at the local jails, is to help
the inmates develop skills and make better
choices when they return. Otherwise, “they
return back to the same community which got
them in trouble to begin with,” said Graham.
Space is a limiting factor in the number
of programs they can offer. He can only
schedule 12 inmates at a time for a session
of any kind, religious or educational. Each
week he puts out a list and inmates sign up
for something they want.
Graham said if he could “write a check”
he could purchase a facility in which he could
help with at-risk youth and work with them
before they make bad choices. At the same
facility he would run follow up programs for
those transitioning out of jail.
He would also partner with more local
churches to provide the “after care” necessary.
It could be as simple as churches providing
classroom space for his volunteers to
continue teaching computer skills, job readiness,
matching positive mentors up with at
risk youth and helping them find productive
channels for their energy and creativity.
“All the youth we work with say they
made the wrong choices. We teach them not
to allow peer pressure to get them down the
wrong path,” said Graham.
The programs in the jail are even helping
those not participating, according to Graham.
“They see the lives changing and they want to
be a part of that.”
By Corrin M. Howe
Staff Writer
‘What Teaching In
Prison Taught Me’
Everybody has a story to tell. Merle
Morrow, like many, experienced a life changing
event on Sept. 11, 2001. She was a civil
rights attorney working for the Department of
Justice conducting an investigation at a men’s
maximum security prison. As she was escorted
to where she had to go, the guards walked
her through a chapel where several inmates
were preparing a service.
“The men in here are as devoted to their
country as people on the outside, but many
can’t write an intelligent letter to us – their
government – to ask for help,” she said. Then
she asked herself what she was going to do
about it.
Long story short, she left her job on Sept.
28, 2001. By April 2002, she had received orientation
to become a GED teacher at Maryland
House of Correction, commonly referred
to as the Cut. She spent three years at a maximum
security men’s prison in a room full of
men convicted of significant crimes. She was
alone with them twice a week with the closest
guard down the hall and around the corner.
“It was a one room school with educational
levels from 1st to 12th grade. I didn’t
know enough to panic. I’d never taught before
and had a room full of students. We had fun in
the classroom. These men worked hard. They
did their homework. They wanted to grow as
human beings even though some knew they’d
never get out,” said Morrow, who wrote about
her experience in a book called “So Am I:
What Teaching In Prison Taught Me.”
The first thing she had to do was convince
herself that these men “were fellow
children of God” and worthy of respect. So
she went in right away, ready to look them in
the eye. The first year and a half she worked
with her students, she didn’t know what kinds
of crimes they committed. However, when
they asked her to write a book about them, to
show the world that they are just like everyone
else only having made bad choices, Morrow
realized she needed to learn about their
crimes.
Once she started reading the trial records,
she went through a “spiritual struggle”.
“How do I go back into the classroom?
These men had become my friends. It is different
having a friend as a rapist than it being
a stranger,” she said.
On the other side of her struggle, she realized
“these men aren’t one thing or another.
They were more than their horrible crimes.
They wanted to be better people. They wanted
to give back.”
While she was working there, she had
seen conditions which troubled her. She wanted
to make a change, but didn’t know how.
Then she had a spiritual director tell her, “You
have to change hearts before you can change
systems.”
She hopes her book will change hearts.
“Even if my book only changes two, it will
be a start.”
Her students asked her to write the book
about their experiences. She agreed and decided
to donate the proceeds to at risk programs
for youth at the request of her students.
She would love to come talk to groups
and organizations who want to learn more
about her experience and how they can help
change one heart at a time by working with
youth before they end up in prison or helping
to educate those in prison so they don’t
return.
Contact her at: A Closer Connection,
LLC, P.O. Box 70, Owings, MD 20736 or
www.teachinginprison.com.
Morrow agreed to write some of
her students with questions from the
Calvert Gazette. Here are some of their
thoughts:
How can society help prevent people
from ending up in prison?
“Society can start programs, open
up jobs, schools. Teach people to learn
to do the right things in life. Teach them
about going to church, treat people with
respect.” - James Hill.
“Help youth to be interested in/
like different types of trades and apprenticeships
programs. Which provide
a great education as well as a
great means of living, having recover
programs for adults, more affordable
educational classes, more interactive
self-help groups.” - Donti Hayes
“Society needs to invest money
in the kids; recreation and vocational
training.” - Thomas Maddox.
“I believe it starts with at risk kids.
Because the at-risk kids that enter juvenile
facilities, three out of four become
adult offenders. So society must give
them what they need while they are
young.” James Wells.
What kinds of programs are
needed in prison? If you could control
prison programming what would you
provide?
“Reinstitute an emphasis on rehabilitative
programming. Since the
majority of prisoners are destined to
return to society it seems logical and
practical to have them better prepared
to return to society.”
“More programs that will enhance
a person’s educational level and
programs that prepares men for employment
and gives them life skills.”

The Calvert Gazette
Thursday, December 22, 2011 12
3/50 Project
Promotes Local
Businesses
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
Their motto is “pick 3, spend 50, save your loca
economy.”
The 3/50 Project promotes stronger local economies
through support of independent retailers and the consumers
who shop with them.
Area businesses involved in the project include DB
McMilians Pub and Grill, Fenwick Street Used Books and
Music and Crazy for Ewe in St. Mary’s County ad Dickinson
Jewelers, Heavenly Chicken and Ribs and Second
Looks Books in Calvert County.
Amy Thompson, owner of the Lola Belle Company
in Leonardtown, said she has been in the 3/50 Project for
the past six months, and they have given her promotional
tools to tell the community how small businesses serve
their community.
“Small businesses have grown his community,”
Thompson said.
She said small businesses have a vested interest in
the community they serve, and give back directly to the
people who help them succeed. In addition to helping with
promotional ideas, she said the 3/50 projects helps small
businesses find ways to give back to their communities.
Registration for the 3/50 Project is done at the website,
and there are categories for storefront retailers, other
small businesses, businesses wearing national or regionally
recognized brand names, supporters that don’t fit into
the small business category and other supporters.
Thompson said she has had no lack of support, and
believes the public understands just how much they need
to support locally owned and operated small businesses.
“I think our community understands, definitely,” she
said.
According to the 3/50 project website, for every $100
spent at locally owned independent stores, $68 returned to
the community through various means. Only $43 from national
chains stays in the community. And the community
gets nothing from Internet purchases.
If half the employed population spent $50 at three
local small businesses, it would generate $42.6 billion in
revenue, which could go to help employ more people and
allow the small businesses to grow and better serve the
community.
For more information or to become a supporter of the
3/50 Project, visit www.the350project.net.
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
Walking into Total Eclipse
Day Spa, customers are greeted
by the coos of the store’s mascot
mourning dove instead of piped
music over a speaker system and
welcomed by one of the handful
of women working at the spa.
Total Eclipse celebrates its
third anniversary Dec. 23 and,
so far, business has been good.
Owner Hilde Woell said the spa
is meant to be a “one stop shop”
where customers can come in to
get pampered from head to toe.
For customers getting three
or more separate services done
during the day, such as a hair cut,
a facial and a massage, they also
get lunch catered from CD Café.
In addition, refreshments offered
for all customers.
“We spoil our customers, “
Woell said.
The spa believes in giving
back to the community that
keeps them in business. During
December and January, 5 percent
of all revenue is donated to
the Humane Society of Calvert
County and the American Cancer
Society. She also donates gift
certificates for spa treatments to
various fundraisers.
Total Eclipse offers discounts
to customers who get
three or more people to some in
for services. Woell said the majority
of their clientele
comes in
because
o f
Total Eclipse Day Spa
Celebrates Third Year
sarahmiller@countytimes.net
word of mouth.
“We’re Calvert County’s best kept secret,” Woell
said.
Woell is currently looking to hire “anything buy
receptionists,” she said. She said she is looking for
licensed cosmetologists, manicurists, pedicurists
and other specialists who take initiative and pride in
their work.
Total Eclipse boasts state of the art equipment,
including pedicure chairs with massage features and
hospital grade disinfectants. They also mix dye colors
in front of customers at a color bar so the customers
can see the process instead of being left alone until their
stylist comes back.
“I need someone serious, willing to work, no mood
swing people here,” Woell said.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit
totaleclipsesalonspa.com.
sarahmiller@countytimes.net

13 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
Editorial
Stories Highlight True
Meaning of Christmas
Today’s cover stories highlight a local jail and street ministry’s work in the Calvert
Detention Center and the story of a woman teaching among Maryland’s toughest
criminals. A common theme ran through their stories, the need for more programs
to help at risk youth and to educate those already in prison. Although these
stories are running together, they were actually conceived and people interviewed
months apart. The decision to run these stories this week came two months later.
In November the Calvert Gazette ran stories about local programs and organizations
providing the very services mentioned in the featured stories. In fact, for the
second year in a row, Calvert County has won the 100 Best Communities for Young
People given by America’s Promise Alliance in recognition for programs targeting
the high school drop-out rate, and coming together as a community to identify and
address gaps in services to the youth.
According to a report from March 2010 from the Department of Legislative
Services Office of Policy Analysis, Calvert’s Detention Center averaged 230 inmates
a day in its population. So one can assume, if the prisoners quoted in the featured
stories story are an accurate reflection of what others in their situation would
say, there appears to be a gap between the services offered and their target audience.
So the answer can’t be as simple as providing more programs, spending more
on education and rehabilitation or working with at risk populations. While these are
necessary and great goals and should be done, there has to be a different and better
answer.
Merle Morrow said her spiritual director told her, “The way you change systems
is by changing hearts.”
As mentioned above, there appears to be a gap between what many in society
are trying to provide and what others in society are receiving. How can the gap be
filled? Maybe the answer is in what seemed purely coincidental, the choice to run
the featured stories this week. The front cover photo is of Chaplin John Graham
passing out Christmas cards and “giving an individual word to each of the inmates.”
Over a century ago, on March 12, 1905 on page four of the Washington Post
the headline read “Fervor of Religious Revival Stirs Two Continents.” The headline
took up eight column spaces. The accompanying the story related information
about 100,000 confirmed conversions in Wales and unnumbered conversions
in London and a half a dozen American cities. The Post “proclaimed that the earth
would become heaven if people would only “realize God” and follow the Golden
Rule,” according to authors Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge in A God-Sized
Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir.
The story further stated that in Wales, “the police found no crime to investigate
amid ‘an almost complete realization of the Golden Rule in all affairs of daily life.’”
The origin of Christmas comes from the Christian story of God stepping down
from heaven to take the form of a baby, later to grow into the man of Jesus. Whether
you believe that Jesus was both fully man and fully God is up to you. But that is
what Christians profess. One international ministry which teaches about Jesus uses
the illustration of two cliffs separated by a bottomless pit – man is on one cliff and
God is on the other. “How can man get across to God?” The ministry draws a bridge
that takes the form of a cross, the place upon which Jesus died for proclaiming his
message.
Jesus’ message was about changing hearts. One at a time. He said. “There is no
greater love than this that a man lay down his life for another.” He had two meanings
in mind when he said this. First he foretold of his dying for his people. But he
also meant people laying down their lives daily for others. Imagine if everyone laid
down time spent watching TV, reading the Internet Social Networks, working extra
hours to get ahead … and invested that hour or so a week in developing relationships
with at risk youth, teaching a job skills class in prison or mentoring an inmate who
just got out of prison.
The nation was originally founded by men and women who believed in the
message of Jesus, the reason for Christmas. As the nation moves further away from
the lessons taught, the prisons fill up. Coincidence? While the Gazette doesn’t have
space to provide all the prisoner’s responses to questions asked, it was interesting to
note that the majority wrote about getting back to teaching church, morals, respect,
spirituality, and sanctity of life as solutions for keeping the prison population down.
The message of the Christmas season boils down to this: When God considered
the struggles of humanity he did not just resource a project to help out. He laid
aside the comforts of heaven and came down to earth. Jesus lived among his people,
personally touching them at their point of greatest need. In addition to the resources
of governments and charities, society needs more people like Chaplin John Graham
and Merle Morrow who followed Jesus’ example willingly laying aside their comforts
to touch those in need. Not just as an act of holiday kindness, but throughout
the year.
When is a Birthday
Cake an Ethics
c
Violation?
By Susan Shaw
Calvert County Commissioner, 2nd District
Recently, the criminal
cases of former
Prince Georges County
Executive Jack Johnson
and his wife, Councilmember
Leslie Johnson,
have been in the news.
How did the so-called
“pay to play” culture of
corruption develop in
Prince George’s County
and then continue for so
long?
At the very beginning of the problem someone
should have filed an ethics complaint before the behavior
escalated to the criminal level. Is this what
would have happened in Calvert County? I hope
so.
Calvert County has an Ethics Commission
comprised of citizen members appointed by the
Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). There
is also a state Ethics Commission, from whom the
local Ethics Commission can seek advice. The role
of the Calvert County Ethics Commission (CCEC)
is first to provide advice, training, and counsel to
County employees and County elected officials to
try to prevent any ethics issues. When asked for
advice, the CCEC may issue an advisory opinion
that is available to other employees who may have
the same or similar questions. Employees, elected
officials, and many Board and Commission members
are required to fill out a financial disclosure
statement at the beginning of each calendar year.
The CCEC reviews these forms and follows up to
clarify any apparent conflict of interest.
In the last Maryland Legislature, an updated
state ethics bill was passed with new, strengthened
requirements that counties pass similar local legislation.
Our local CCEC had already been working
on a re-write of our local ethics code. Using the
Publisher
Thomas McKay
Associate Publisher Eric McKay
Editor
Sean Rice
Graphic Artist Angie Stalcup
Office Manager Tobie Pulliam
Advertising
sales@somdpublishing.net
Email
info@somdpublishing.net
Phone 301-373-4125
Staff Writers
Guy Leonard
Sarah Miller
Corrin Howe
Contributing Writers
Joyce Baki
Keith McGuire
Law Enforcement
Government, Education
Community, Business
to the
Editor
LETTERS
ommissioners
guidance of the new state ethics code,
the CCEC has presented some draft ethics
ordinances to the BOCC.
I have been disappointed to learn that the
updated state code still sets the gift limit for reporting
at $20, which I see as being too low. If
someone bakes a fellow employee a birthday cake,
that could cake could be worth more than $20. The
employee must report all gifts that have a value of
more than $20.
I see the first role of the CCEC as being to address
conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts
of interest. What is the difference between an
actual and a perceived conflict of interest? Very
little. If it looks like self-dealing, it probably is
self-dealing. The second role is to address undue
influence. Judging undue influence can be tricky,
because perhaps the individual just made an error
in judgment or a mistake that benefits a particular
party without any undue influence from anyone or
any benefit to self.
If the CCEC suspects a bigger problem that
might rise to the level of criminal behavior, they
refer their suspicions to the State’s Attorney’s Office
for further investigation.
As part of the current update of the Calvert
County Ethics Code, the CCEC requested subpoena
power. Later, they modified the request to
one for summons power. This request is controversial.
An appointed Ethics Commission is not
a court. It turns out that, so far, no one has ever
failed to appear at a CCEC inquiry when requested
to do so. However, in some instances, individuals
have failed to bring requested documents and have
declined to answer some questions. That happens
even in court. Should this type of judicial power
be extended to the appointed citizens of the CCEC?
What about due process and privacy rights? Stay
tuned as the BOCC continues to weigh the pros and
cons on the way to a new Ethics Code.
Calvert Gazette
P. O. Box 250 . Hollywood, MD 20636
c
orner
The Calvert Gazette is a weekly newspaper providing news and information for the residents of
Calvert County. The Calvert Gazette will be available on newsstands every Thursday. The paper is
published by Southern Maryland Publishing Company, which is responsible for the form, content, and
policies of the newspaper. The Calvert Gazette does not espouse any political belief or endorse any
product or service in its news coverage. Articles and letters submitted for publication must be signed
and may be edited for length or content. The Calvert Gazette is not responsible for any claims made
by its advertisers.

The Calvert Gazette
Thursday, December 22, 2011 14
Rita Vick, 60
Rita Maria
Vick, 60, of Lusby,
MD, formerly
of Silver Spring,
MD passed away
on Dec. 9, 2011 at
Calvert Memorial
Hospital, Prince
Frederick, MD.
She was born
on May 6, 1951 in
Cheverly, MD to
the late Armondo
and Frances Pietraskiewicz.
Rita is survived by her husband Rudy
Vick; daughter Joyce Sacks of Calvert County;
son, Danny Vick of Illinois and her granddaughter
Keston Sacks.
The family received friends on Thursday,
December 15, 2011 at 10:30 AM until the
time of the service celebrating her life at 11:30
AM., Father John Howanstine officiated. Interment
followed in Solomons United Methodist
Church Cemetery, Solomons, MD.
Should friend’s desire contributions may
be made in her memory to St. Leonard Volunteer
Fire and Rescue Squad, 200 Calvert Beach
Road, Saint Leonard, MD 20685. Arrangements
by the Rausch Funeral Home, P. A.,
Lusby, MD. rauschfuneralhomes.com.
Charles LaMarr, 84
Where Life and Heritage are Celebrated
www.RauschFuneralHomes.com
Owings
8325 Mt. Harmony Lane
410-257-6181
Charles Arthur
LaMarr, 84
of Hollywood,
MD died December
19, 2011
at Solomons
Nursing Center.
Born September
11, 1926
in Indianapolis,
IN, he was the
During a difficult
time… still your best choice.
Affordable Funerals, Caskets, Vaults,
Cremation Services and Pre-Need Planning
Family Owned and Operated by
Barbara Rausch and Bill Gross
Port Republic
4405 Broomes Island Rd.
410-586-0520
Lusby
20 American Lane
410-326-9400
Over 250,000
Southern Marylanders
can’t be wrong!
Your Online Community for
Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s Counties
New to the area? Lifelong resident?
• Stay abreast of local happenings
• Check our highly popular classifieds
• Speak your mind in the forums
• Enter our contests and
win terrific prizes
Stop by and see what
Southern Maryland Online
has to offer!
www.somd.com
son of the late Paul A. LaMarr and Mary
(Monroe) LaMarr.
Charles was a United States Marine
Corp. Master Sergeant, serving for twenty
four years. After retiring from the USMC
in 1968 at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station,
he worked for 22 years as a manual
writer for Lockheed Martin. Charles was
the first volunteer for the Maryland State Police,
Leonardtown, MD, serving over 10,000
hours. He was a member of the Hollywood
Moose Lodge, Chapter 2173 and the VFW
in California, MD. Charles was married to
Rosalie Anderson on February 8, 2003 in Issue,
MD.
Charles is survived by his wife, Rosalie,
his children, Thomas Gauchat (Lin)
of Solomons, MD, Michele Zito of Helena,
AL, and Donald LaMarr of (Joan) of Santa
Clarita, CA, his stepchildren, Joseph L. Anderson
(Kim) of Hollywood, MD, Michelle
Richards (Scott) of Hollywood, MD, Mary
McLean (Michael) of Waldorf, MD and
George C. Anderson (Beth Poor) of Leonardtown,
MD, 17 grandchildren, 23 great
grandchildren and 7 great-great grandchildren.
In addition to his parents, Charles was
preceded in death by his wife Rosemary
(Elliott) LaMarr in 2001, his children, Mary
Perkins and John Gauchat and his brother,
Paul LaMarr.
The family received friends for Charles’
Life Celebration on Wednesday, December
21, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.
at St. George Catholic Church, 19199 St.
George’s Church Road, Valley Lee, MD
20692. A Mass of Christian Burial was
celebrated by Monsignor Karl A. Chimiak.
Interment will be private.
Serving as pallbearers were members
of the Maryland State Police. Serving as
honorary pallbearers were two of Charles’
sons and six grandsons.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions
may be made to the Hollywood Volunteer
Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 79, Hollywood,
MD 20636.
Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral
Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD. www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.
Wesley Mandell, 84
W e s l e y
Corbin Mandell,
USN Retired, of
Upper Marlboro,
MD passed
away peacefully
after a brief illness
on December
8, 2011, at
age 84. Wes was
born on July 9,
1927, in El Paso,
Texas, to the late
Darwin and Louise Mandell.
He grew up on a farm with his three
younger brothers in the Mesilla Valley area
of eastern New Mexico and enlisted in the
U.S. Navy on December 7, 1944. He served
his country for 30 years, retiring as an E9
Master Chief Petty Officer. Most of his
Navy career was spent in the engine room
of nuclear propulsion submarines. Following
his naval retirement, he worked another
20 years at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power
Plant. Never one to sit still and always
someone who needed a purpose, his second
retirement was followed by numerous part
time jobs including serving as a bailiff in
the Prince George’s County Court House
in Upper Marlboro for many years until he
“officially” retired last year. As a resident
of Upper Marlboro for 56 years, he enjoyed
serving his community and his church, Trinity
Episcopal. He was proud to be a member
of the Fleet Reserve in Annapolis; the
American Legion; the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks in Deale; the
Moose Lodge in Upper Marlboro; the
FOP Lodge 89; and the Masonic Centennial
Lodge in Upper Marlboro. He
was truly one of a kind and he will be
dearly missed.
He was preceded in death by his
wife, Mildred Buck Sherbert Mandell,
and by his brothers Darwin “Junior”
and Paul Mandell.
He is survived by his brother Harold
Mandell of San Antonio, Texas;
two daughters Donna Hyatt of Richmond,
VA, and Ann Marie Smith and
her husband Pierre Laprade Smith of
Chesapeake Beach, MD; and his son
Melvin D. Sherbert and his wife Janet
Distad Sherbert of Dunkirk, MD. He
is also survived by his grandchildren
Marleigh and Jared Smith and Doug,
Greg, and Russell Sherbert; six greatgrandchildren;
one great-great-granddaughter;
and numerous nieces and
nephews.
The family received friends on
Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 at Rausch Funeral
Home, 8325 Mt. Harmony Lane,
Owings, MD from 7:00 – 9:00 P.M.
The interment will be privately held at
a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial
contributions may be made in his
memory to Trinity Episcopal Church,
P. O. Box 187, Upper Marlboro, MD
20773 or to a charity of your choice.

15 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
Newsmakers
Christmas Tour of Decorated Homes
Becoming an Annual Event
By Corrin M. Howe
Staff Writer
Three businesses and six
homeowners who are members of
the Republican Women Leaders
of Calvert (RWLC) opened their
homes and businesses recently for
the Second Annual Christmas Tour
of Decorated Homes.
Changing their annual fundraiser
from a wine tasting, the
RWLC collected $25 per person to
walk through decorated homes in
the middle of the county. Last year,
the first year of the Christmas Tour,
the homes were in the northern
end of the county, while next year
they hope to have homes from the
southern end.
The money raised goes toward
the Joyce Lyons Terhes Scholarship,
named for the founding member
of the organization and awarded
to a Calvert County high school
student who has “demonstrated
their belief in the philosophy and
initiatives of the Republican Party
and their support of conservative
causes,” according to the tour program
guide.
The day turned out sunny
with a slight nip in the air as men
and women drove from house to
business between Dunkirk Town Center and
Prince Frederick Shopping Center. The tour
hours opened at 10 a.m. and lasted until 5 p.m.
The tour itself took about three hours.
While all the houses were decorated for
Christmas, one house in particular felt like
walking into a Christmas store with every
room dressed to the nines.
Mary Orrecchio, of Huntingtown, told
guests she started decorating on September 1
and only recently finished. She will leave everything
up until at least February. Walking
into the two story stucco house, visitors were
greeted immediately by “glitzy” silver decorations
in the formal dining room and entry.
Further back in the house were some more traditional
reds and greens. Bathtubs filled with
white and red poinsettias.
In the program, Orrecchio said her “husband
doesn’t know what to say when he answers
the door on Halloween. Merry Christmas
This white penguin on skies decorated a doorway outside
Leslie Wills home in Ownings.
or Trick or Treat.”
Michael Overfelt showed off his holiday
decorated “man cave,” a cottage off the driveway
of the main house. He wore a Santa hat,
smoked his cigar and invited people to partake
of the finger sandwiches as he showed off his
new space, “just in time to watch the last half of
the football season.”
James and Janice Graner of Huntingtown
stepped up to open their house when
damage from Hurricane Irene knocked the
original house off the tour.
When asked which of the four decorated
Christmas trees they would hide presents
under, Graner laughed. “Good
question. Probably the newest tree
in the newly refinished basement.”
corrin@somdpublishing.net
Michael Overfelt welcomes tour visitors into his newly remodeled “man cave” where he can enjoy his cigars.
AUCTION AUCTION
New Years Day
Antique & Collectible
Sunday, January 1st - 10 a.m.
Chesapeake Auction House
St. Leonard, MD 20685 • 410-586-1161 • chesapeakeauctionhouse.com

The Calvert Gazette
Thursday, December 22, 2011 16
Kiddie er
n
Kor
CLUES ACROSS
1. Angry
4. Mr. Claus
9. Minerals
11. Gluten-free diet disease
12. Nickel-cadmium
accumulator
14. Day or rest & worship
15. King of Magadha
(273-232)
16. Satisfy an appetite
17. Stage signal
18. Durable aromatic wood
19. Something used to lure
20. Actress Basinger
21. A rare and exceptional
person
24. Quick head movement
25. Yeddo
26. Mythological bird
27. Root mean square (abbr.)
28. Chart of the Earth’s
surface
29. Fish eggs
30. Recto
37. The cry made by sheep
38. Pitcher
39. Supports climbing plants
40. Arbitrager
41. Winglike structures
42. Singer Ross
43. Belonging to Barney &
Betty
45. “Promises” author Wendi
46. Swindles
47. In widespread existence
48. Those opposed to
49. Used to be U___
CLUES DOWN
1. Grace’s Principality
2. No longer seated
3. Translate into ordinary
language
4. Point that is one point E of
SE
5. Linen vestment worn by
priests
6. A B vitamin
7. Ryan O’Neal’s daughter
8. Dull steady pain
10. Seaport on Osaka Bay
11. Cowpunchers
13. Mend a sock
14. Ship’s canvas
16. Aformentioned
19. Big man on campus
20. English actress Stark
22. Malaria mosquitoes
23. Many subconsciousses
26. A scrap of cloth
27. Cry loudly
28. Actress Farrow
29. S. Korean Pres. Syngman
(1948-65)
30. Rectangular grooved joint
31. “___ the night before
Christmas”
32. Male parents
33. Earlier in time
34. Rampart of felled trees
35. Scoundrel (Yiddish)
36. Pencilmark remover
37. Danish ballet dancer Erik
40. Blood clams genus
41. Subsititutes (abbr.)
44. Spoken in the Dali region
of Yunnan
Last Week’s Puzzle Solutions

17 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
Sp rts
Fur and
Feathers
By Keith McGuire
Contributing Writer
I’ve been hearing reports
from Calvert, Charles and St.
Mary’s counties that the firearms
season for our region was
dismal. I can vouch for that!
The deer just seemed to disappear
when the guns came out –
more so than usual. Sure, there
were some lucky hunters who
bagged really nice bucks with
their guns, and quite a few does
as well. The local deer processing
facilities report that numbers
of deer brought in for butchering
are less, but very nearly the same
as they were last year. As I sat in the woods throughout the
season, there were not as many blasts punctuating the woodland
symphony as there seemed to be last year.
Last Friday, Maryland DNR released the preliminary
harvest totals for the 2011 firearms season. Overall, the harvest
is up slightly from 2010, but in our region the overall total
is down by about 1% (according to them). Statewide the
total harvest from the regular firearms season was 41,421.
In 2010 the total was 40,694.
The totals for the tri-county region 2011 Regular
Firearms Season are as follows:
County Antlered Antlerless Total 2010 Total
Calvert 243 549 792 704
Charles 555 1085 1640 1878
St. Mary’s 379 839 1218 1304
The Junior Firearms Season was 2 days long this year
– for the first time ever – and the harvest for this season
alone was up by 47%. Twenty of the State’s 23 counties
allowed hunting on Sunday on private land during the junior
season. The statewide total harvest for the Junior Firearms
Season was 3,014. In 2010, 2053 deer were harvested
by juniors. The breakdown for the tri-county region Junior
Firearms Season is as follows:
County Antlered Antlerless Total 2010 Total
Calvert 32 30 62 30
Charles 61 62 123 79
St. Mary’s 48 50 98 42
Last Saturday, instead of being in the woods for
the beginning of the late segment of the Muzzleloader
Season, I found myself at an afternoon holiday party.
There was not a single hunter or angler there besides
me, so I was a little out of my element. One very nice
lady asked me if I knew of a way to get more deer to
her back yard. She loves to watch them and has had
little success at attracting them to stay. She has tried
apples and even a salt lick. The apples rot where she
puts them – even hanging from a string – and the salt
lick dissolves away in the rain.
Now, I really hate to tell people how to attract deer
to their backyards because those who do often regret
their actions when they discover how deer love to eat
Deer Harvest
flowers and rub the bark from small trees and shrubbery.
Still, the lady persisted, so I told her to coat her salt lick
with molasses or one of the concoctions sold in sporting
goods stores for this method of attracting deer. If that’s not
enough, buy several bags of “deer corn” (which is little more
than shelled corn) and spread that corn on the ground. Autumn
harvest “ear corn” will also work. Then I reminded
her that deer are very nocturnal creatures, but when fed and
not disturbed, she could expect to see them at all times of
day or night. Deer are fascinating creatures to watch. A few
years back, I used these methods to attract deer to my own
back yard until my better half – a devoted gardener – taught
me the error of my ways.
If you have a particularly interesting hunting story and
a picture, please drop me a line at riverdancekeith@gmail.
com.
If you have a particularly interesting hunting story
and a picture, please drop me a line at riverdancekeith@
gmail.com.
Ah those summer days of fishing!
A View From The
Bleachers
By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
Contributing Writer
A s s e m b l e
all NFL teams
together and, like
every schoolyard,
you’ll find
a sample of styles
covering the
entire athletic
continuum. The
awkward and uncoordinated
(the
Colts and ‘Skins),
the talented but
unfocused (the
Cowboys), the
naturally gifted and elegant (Green Bay)
and even the bullies are represented. There
are many teams claiming territory in this
latter group, but there’s only one true NFL
playground thug: the Pittsburgh Steelers.
No sports franchise personifies its city
more accurately than the Steelers. The
franchise’s name and logo were, obviously,
derived from the local trademark steel industry,
but the team’s cultural connection
with the region is far deeper than these
superficial indicators. Western Pennsylvania
is synonymous with Appalachia, rugged,
resilient Americans and steel. Similarly,
as far back as the early 1970s and the
famed Steel Curtain defense, Pittsburgh
has proudly been one of the NFL’s tough
guys. Stingy defenses, hard hits and bluecollar,
no-nonsense players have been the
hallmark of Steelers football for 40 years.
The organization long ago adopted a successful
formula that, like a good family
recipe, they’ve stubbornly maintained without
compromise. They draft and develop
their own players and have little use for free
agents who’ve been corrupted with another,
non-Steelers culture. They seek out “steel”-
minded, hard-nosed coaches that embody
the “Steelers way “, show them uncommon
loyalty – they‘ve had but three coaches
since 1969 – and empower them to run the
football operations. It’s a business model,
a franchise and a style of play I’ve admired
for many years. That admiration, despite
the team’s on-going success, is starting to
wane.
Savage Amusement
Violence, an innate aspect of football,
is under assault. League rules regarding
hits on quarterbacks and defenseless receivers
has been redefined; the powers-that-be
in the NFL have absolutely zero tolerance
for helmet to helmet hits and NFL headhunters
who lead recklessly with the crown
of their helmets. As one might suspect, such
violence legislation and its enforcement has
been met with great resistance from fans
and players alike. Every Sunday fans erupt
over perceived dubious personal fouls and
players cry to their union over league-levied
fines for illegal hits. Ground zero for
this battle between old school football ops
and the new school neutering of defensive
aggression is Pittsburgh, Penn.
No team has gotten more publicity for
its blackout hits and fines than the Steelers.
The new rules fly in the face of everything
the Steelers are and team and fans are united
in their angst. I was with them for a while.
Now my answer to Black and Gold nation’s
gripes is “too bad.” The truth is violence
follows the Steelers. If you watch a team
against any other opponent and then watch
them against the Steelers, you’ll see two
different brands of football. The Steelers
are like the attitude-laden co-worker who
brings out the worst in everyone around him
or her. Watch a Steelers game and you’re
probably going to see someone from the
other team knocked senseless and stagger
off the field. And for the most part, football
fans – Steelers fans or otherwise – love it.
That is sad commentary on the lack of basic
humanity pervading society and stands on
Sundays. Our ignorance of the long-term
impact of concussions is long gone. There
should be a collective intolerance for players
who blatantly and habitually hit opponents
high and disgust, not barbaric celebration,
when someone’s husband, father
or son is knocked senseless. For whatever
reason, such play follows the Steelers and
in this battle of wills, the NFL will, thankfully,
prevail. The Steelers will conform…
eventually. Their style represents football’s
past, the league’s approach its sustainable,
safer future.
In the movie Gladiator, an enslaved
Maximus continues to win the favor of his
captors and fans for his victorious acts of
violence in arranged battles. In a poignant
moment, Maximus, irritated by the bloodthirst
of spectators seeking savage amusement,
hurls his sword at his captor’s perch.
The act was met with catcalls and prompts
an annoyed Maximus to yell, “Are you not
entertained?” In that moment Maximus,
as the great human conscience, captures
exactly how I feel about Steelers football.
Am I entertained by Steelers football? Not
anymore.
Send comments to rguyjoon@yahoo.com

The Calvert Gazette
Thursday, December 22, 2011 18
The Calvert Gazette is always looking for more local talent to feature!
To submit art or band information for our entertainment section,
e-mail sarahmiller@countytimes.net.
Community Choir Raises Money for Charities
By Sarah Miller
Staff Writer
For nine years, the Chesapeake Community Chorus has
been entertaining the community and raising money for local
charities.
“Both things are very important to us,” said Larry Brown,
the chorus director for the past nine years.
William Goodwin, a recent addition to the chorus, said
singing has “been in the back of my mind for many years” but it
was the charities the group is involved in that gave him the final
push to go ahead and do it.
“That it was involved with Hospice made it a no brainier,”
Goodwin said.
Vivian Wright, who has been singing with the group for the
past three years, also said she got involved in the chorus due to
its connection with Hospice. She said she has volunteered with
Hospice, and loves singing so the chorus was a perfect fit for her.
The original purpose of the chorus was to raise money
for Hospice, and the chorus has since branched out to be an all
around fundraising group. Instead of charging admission, individuals
attending concerts are asked to make a donation, which
are passed on. Brown said the chorus doesn’t charge admission
because they “want to make sure everyone comes that wants to
come.”
Most of the music the group performs is sacred music; fitting
for the church settings where the group normally performs.
For a little bit of variety, they will throw in a little bit of gospel
and “general concert type music,” Brown said.
They are not a professional group, but every member is a
volunteer and there because they want to be there, not because
they are getting paid or receiving credits for school. The singers
love for what they do comes out in their performance, with every
singer engaged and actively participating.
Goodwin said that because the chorus is all-volunteer,
Brown has to be able to direct and lead the group without forcing
them to do anything, a feat he accomplishes with energy
and style. He said Brown gives and takes suggestions, and is as
excited about the chorus as his singers.
The chorus doesn’t rehearse every week, and Brown said the number of
people in the choir changes each time. On average, he said there are 30 singers
at rehearsals and 25 at concerts. The chorus is always looking for more
singers. Most of the performances and rehearsals are in the late afternoon on
Sundays in order to have the least impact on the workweek and to allow the
most people to join in.
People interested don’t have to audition or have prior experience, just a
willingness to come and sing, Brown said.
‘We’d love to have anybody,” Brown said.
For more information, call Brown 301-855-7477 or e-mail lbrown9601@
verizon.net.
sarahmiller@countytimes.net
Upcoming
Rehearsals
and Concerts
Jan. 8, 2012 -
practice, 4-6 p.m.
Saint Paul United
Methodist Church
HG Trueman Road and
Cove Point Road
Jan. 15 -
practice, 4-6 p.m.
North Beach Union Church
8912 Chesapeake Avenue,
North Beach
Jan. 22 -
practice, 4-6 p.m.
Northeast Community Center
4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue,
Chesapeake Beach
Feb. 19 -
practice, 4-6 p.m.
Northeast Community Center
4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue,
Chesapeake Beach
March 18 -
practice, 4-6 p.m.
Northeast Community Center
4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue,
Chesapeake Beach
April 15 -
practice, 4 p.m. concert, 5 p.m.
Waters Memorial
United Methodist Church
5400 Mackall Road, St. Leonard
April 22 -
practice, 4 p.m. concert, 5 p.m.
North Beach Union Church
8912 Chesapeake Avenue,
North Beach
May 6 -
practice, 4 p.m., concert, 5 p.m.
Huntingtown
United Methodist Church
4020 Hunting Creek Road,
Huntingtown
May 20 -
practice, 4-6 p.m.
Northeast Community Center
4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue,
Chesapeake Beach

19 Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Calvert Gazette
Out & About
• Tens of thousands of holiday lights
twinkle in Chesapeake Beach to make it
the Brightest Beacon on the Bay. Take
the family and ride through Chesapeake
Beach to enjoy holiday lights displayed
until the week after the New Year. (www.
chesapeake-beach.md.us)
• Make a stop at Tan’s Cycles to visit
their free Holiday Train Garden. The train
garden is on a 20’ X 20’ platform with
five levels, 30 trains, seven super streets,
a carnival, waterfall, construction site,
disappearing trains, tunnels, bridges and
much more. The Holiday Train Display
begins November 25 and runs through
January 14, weekdays 3 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays
noon to 5 p.m.; special times on
Dec. 24 and 31 (noon to 5 p.m.) and Dec.
27 thru 30 (noon to 8 p.m.). Tans is at
9032 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach.
For more information, call 410-257-6619.
• Surround yourself with one-of-akind,
handmade creations at Annmarie
Garden’s annual Garden in Lights. Mythical
creatures, spectacular wild animals,
illuminated works of art, hidden beasts,
romantic dancers and more will delight
all ages. Don’t forget to ask for a “holiday
I spy” program. After your walk, enjoy
a hot drink, entertainment, the Ornament
Show and the Celebrations Glass Exhibit
in the Arts Building. Garden in Lights
runs through January 1, 2012. Check the
website for more information: www.annmariegarden.org.
• The Chesapeake Beach Railway
Museum invites you to share in a holiday
tradition as their “conductors” read a classic
children’s Christmas story, “The Polar
Express,” on Thursday, December 22, at
6 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. After each reading
there will be a tour of Chesapeake Beach
on the Holiday Trolley. Space is limited
and reservations are required. Learn
more about this event at www.cbrm.org
or call the museum at 410-257-3892. You
may reserve your space online at http://
www.planetreg.com/E101111521898.
• Dunkirk Baptist Church invites
you to join us Saturday, December 24
at 6PM for our Family Christmas Eve
Candlelight Worship. For more information
call: 301-855-3555 or click: www.
dunkirkbaptistchurch.org
• SMILE, INC. invites you to a
Christmas Dinner from 11:30 am - 2:30
pm on Christmas Day to be held at the
Arick L. Lore Post 274 American Legion
in Lusby. Santa Claus and his helpers
will be there with toys for the children
and it is fun for all. Christmas Dinner at
the American Legion Hall has become
a tradition. SMILE gathers volunteers
to prepare and serve the dinner. Santa
Claus, though weary from the previous
evening’s deliveries also volunteers his
time and arrives with a bag full of gifts.
Some of our guests find such a meal beyond
their means, others are alone and
enjoy the company and still others simply
do not care to cook.
• Dunkirk Baptist Church invites
you to join us Sunday, December 25 at
10:30AM for our Christmas Day Family
Worship. For more information call: 301-
855-3555 or click: www.dunkirkbaptistchurch.org
• Looking for things to do with the
family during the holidays? The Calvert
Marine Museum offers programs
throughout the school holiday. Each day
from December 26 through December 30
you can discover interesting facts about
sea life. Did you know horseshoe crabs
have been around since dinosaurs? What
good are jellyfish? On Friday, December
30, visit the Discovery Room for a handson
lesson about the different kinds of
turtles that can be found in our area. On
Monday, January 2, kids can take special
tours of the Drum Point Lighthouse and
learn what life was like for children stationed
at the lighthouse with their families.
Check the Calvert Marine Museum
website, www.calvertmarinemuseum.
com, for complete listings and registration
information. All programs are free
with museum admission.
• Start off your New Year with an invigorating
swim in the Chesapeake Bay!
Join the crowd at North Beach as they run
across the beach into the chilly waters for
the annual Polar Bear Plunge. After, everyone
will warm up beside a large beach
bonfire and enjoy a hot drink. It is great
fun for all ages – both to participate and
to watch! The fun starts at 1 p.m. at the
beach located at the intersection of 5th
Street and Bay Avenue. (www.ci.northbeach.md.us)
• Dunkirk Baptist Church invites
you to join us Sunday, January 1 as we
celebrate the New Year. 9:15AM we will
have Sunday School for all ages and at
10:30AM we will have a New Year’s Day
Worship. For more information call: 301-
855-3555 or click: www.dunkirkbaptistchurch.org
• Is your New Year’s resolution going
to be “Get a new job”? If so, you
may want to register for the resume and
cover letter workshops offered at Calvert
Library Prince Frederick. Beginning
Jan. 3, library volunteer and job
counselor Sandra Holler will host small
group workshops from 10 a.m. to noon
two Tuesdays a month, usually the first
and third Tuesday. Participants will learn
what makes a strong resume and cover
letter and will get individualized help. If
you already have a resume started, bring
it with you so editing can happen on the
spot. Registration is required and can be
done through the library website at calvert.lib.md.us
or by calling 410-535-0291.
For more information, call Robyn Truslow
at 410-535-0291 or 301-855-1862.
• It is that time of year again! The
Annual Giant Gently Used Book Sale
hosted by Friends of Calvert Library
will begin with a members-only preview
night on Thursday, Jan. 12 from 5-8pm.
You can join at the door with $10 for an
individual and $15 for a family membership.
The sale opens to the public on Friday,
Jan. 13 from noon to 4pm and will
also be held on Saturday, January 14
from 9am-3pm. The event is in the meeting
rooms at the Calvert Library Prince
Frederick and there will be thousands of
books in good to excellent condition.
• Sunday Conversations with Chesapeake
Authors at 2 p.m. Jan. 15 will feature
Richard LaMotte, back by popular
demand, to talk about his beautiful book
“Pure SEA GLASS.” LaMotte will identify
sea glass and show sample glassware.
Sea Glass jewelry will be featured in the
Museum Store and the artists that make
it will also be on hand. Purchase a copy
of “Pure Sea Glass” and have it signed on
the spot.
Garden in Lights Continues to Jan. 1
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center in Solomons is
continuing its award-winning Garden in Lights through Jan. 1.
Showcasing several hundred handmade light sculptures
throughout the 30-acre park, visitors will be surrounded by a
holiday light show that won Maryland Life Magazine’s Best
Holiday Tradition award in 2010. Garden in Lights attendees
will be able to see a myriad of light sculptures which include
mythical beasts, a circus, dancers, animated characters, the
Centennial of Naval Aviation, and much more.
Starting the light show experience in Annmarie’s 15,000
sq. ft. arts building, visitors will begin their adventure with live
entertainment, shopping opportunities at the 4th Annual Ornament
Show & Sale, and be able to indulge in some light refreshments
before heading outside to see the light sculptures.
In addition, Annmarie will also be hosting a Marine Corps
Reserve Toys for Tots drive throughout the Garden in Lights
event. Visitors are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the
Annmarie Arts building for local kids in need of some holiday
cheer; why not give the gift of joy while enjoying Garden in the
Lights this year.
Garden in Lights opens from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. weather permitting
and with limited closures (December 24-25). Admission
is only $5 (Children 4 and under and members are free).
Annmarie will continue its normal hours of operation for its
featured Toys and Imagine a… exhibits during the day.
For more information about Garden in Lights or Annmarie
Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, go to www.annmariegarden.org
or call 410-326-4640.
Thursday,
Dec. 22
Live Music:
“Oren Polak Duo”
Casey Jones Pub
(417 E. Charles St., La
Plata) – 9:30 p.m.
Live Music:
“Half Naked Trio”
The Blue Dog Saloon
(7940 Port Tobacco Road,
Port Tobacco) – 8 p.m.
Live Music:
“Sam Grow”
Ruddy Duck Brewery
(13200 Dowell Road, Dowell)
- 8 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 23
Live Music:
“Neil Tracy Trio”
Island Bar and Crab House
(16810 Piney Point Rd.,
Piney Point) – 7:30 p.m.
Christmas Party & Live
Music: “The Sam Grow
Band”
The Greene Turtle (6 St.
Mary’s Avenue
Suite
104,
La Plata) – 9 p.m.
Live Music: “Silvertung
Christmas Bash w/ the
Black Dahlia”
Memories Nightclub and
Bar (2360 Old Washington
Road, Waldorf) – 8 p.m.
Live Music: “Dave and
Kevin Trio”
Ruddy Duck Brewery
(13200 Dowell Road, Dowell)
– 8 p.m.
Live Music: “Natural
Progression”
Back Creek Bistro (14415
Dowell Road, Dowell) – 6
p.m.
Live Music: “Diane Daly”
The Westlawn Inn (9200
Chesapeake Avenue, North
Beach) – 8 p.m.
Live Music: “No Green
JellyBeanz”
Big Dogs Paradise (28765
Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville)
– 9:30 p.m.
Saturday,
Dec. 24
Live Music:
“Groove Span”
The Blue Dog Saloon
(7940 Port Tobacco Road,
Port Tobacco) – 6:30 p.m.
Pajama Party
w/ DJ Mike
Apehangers Bar and Grill
(9100 Crain Highway, Bel
Alton) – 9 p.m.
Sunday,
Dec. 25
Open
Christmas Day
Apehangers Bar and Grill
(9100 Crain Highway, Bel
Alton) – 2 p.m.
Monday,
Dec. 26
Open Mic Night
Rustic River Bar and Grill
(40874 Merchants Lane,
Leonardtown) – 5 p.m.
Tuesday,
Dec. 27
Trivia Night
Rustic River Bar and Grill
(40874 Merchants Lane,
Leonardtown) – 6:30 p.m.
Open Mic Night
Ruddy 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,
Dec. 28
Live Music:
“Wolf’s Hot Rods and
Old Gas Blues Jam”
Beach Cove Restaurant
(8416 Bayside Road,
Chesapeake Beach) –
8 p.m.
Live Music:
“Acoustical Sounds”
Martini’s Lounge (10553
Theodore Green Boulevard,
White Plains) – 8
p.m.
Live Music:
“Mason Sebastian”
DB McMillan’s (23415
Three Notch Road, California)
– 5 p.m.
Karaoke
w/ DJ Harry
Big Dogs Paradise (28765
Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville)
– 7 p.m.
Where’s the PARTy At?
Is your bar or business hosting a special celebration on New Year’s Eve? Let us know when and where, so our readers can find the best spots
in Southern Maryland to ring in 2012. Please send detailed info to carriemunn@countytimes.net no later than Monday, Dec. 26.

Save ENERGY and
Save MONEY this winter
SMECO has a variety of programs that can help
reduce your energy use and increase your savings.
SMECO’s top ten ways to reduce heating costs
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Consider upgrading to high-efficiency heating equipment.
Remove leaves and snow from around your heat pump.
Open curtains and blinds during the day.
Tune up your heating system annually.
Insulate your attic and ductwork.
Take advantage of SMECO’s energy efficiency programs
and rebates.
Schedule a Quick Home Energy Check-up.
Change your air filter once a month.
Set your programmable thermostat to 68°F.
Weather-strip around doors and caulk around windows.
Visit www.smeco.coop/save for updates, ideas,
and more ways to save.
This program supports the EmPOWER Maryland Energy Efficiency Act.