Cecil County Life Fall/Winter 2014

Fall/Winter 2014

Cecil County Life Magazine

The Barns of Cecil County (Page 66)

Inside:

• Campbell brothers combine music, stories, and art • Milburn Stone Theatre offers diverse lineup

www.cecilcountylife.com

• The legacy of Jacob Tome lives on A Chester County Press Publication

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Table of Contents...

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Stories and songs and treasures of the past

16 A blend of painting and metal that fires the imagination 24 The legacy of Jacob Tome 32 Collecting war stories 38 Q & A with Tony Covatta 48 Bird watching in Cecil County

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...Fall/Winter 2014

58 Union Hospital transforms Surgical Services suites 62 Cecil College student does whatever it takes to get to class 66 Photo essay: Celebrating northern Cecil County's agricultural heritage 72 The Milburn Stone Theatre 80 Poker Prance event raises awareness about breast cancer On the cover: (photo by Carla Lucas) Barns of all shapes, sizes, and colors can be found along northern Cecil County's roads.

CECIL COUNTY LIFE Meeting a few of the many interesting people in Cecil County Cecil County Life • Fall/Winter 2014 Letter from the Editor

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n the pages of this issue of Cecil County Life, you’ll meet many interesting people, starting with the Campbell brothers, Hugh and Zane. Writer John Chambless profiles the Campbells, talking to them about the off-kilter folk art paintings and the hand-crafted wooden furniture that are available in the Childs Store. The Campbell family has been a presence along the Maryland/Pennsylvania border for decades: They ran Campbell’s Corner, a store outside Oxford, for many years, and Ola Belle Reed, the aunt of Hugh and Zane, was very well known on the bluegrass circuit. The Campbells will also be prominently featured in the 400page book and two-CD package “Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music” that is being released in November.

We profile artist Michael Robear, whose paintings offer views of empty houses and dreamlike landscapes, paired with frames that he makes himself so that it takes the theme of the paintings and expands them beyond the painted surface.

We also introduce you to some of the people whose hard work and dedication have made Milburn Stone Theatre a hit. The theatre’s

schedule is filled with leading musicals and compelling dramas, brought to the stage by some of the best theater talent in the area.

We talk to Union Hospital president and CEO Dr. Kenneth Lewis, M.D. about the ongoing project to revamp the Surgical Services suites. The $12 million project is transforming the unit into a state-of-the-art facility.

We meet with educators at The Tome School to talk about how the school, even after more than 126 years, remains true to the legacy of Jacob Tome and the prominent businessman’s vision for a school that would prepare students to acquire the skills necessary to be successful in their lives at a price that would be affordable.

Tony Covatta is the subject of the Q & A in this issue. Covatta came to North East nearly 30 years ago not as a businessman, but as the owner of a boat. Today, he owns two restaurants in North East, and also gives his time and energy to this town that he has come to love.

We talk to some of the people behind the effort by the Cecil County Historical Society to capture the stories of Cecil County residents involved in the Vietnam era to preserve them for future generations.

In some ways, Cecil County is still very much a rural area, a place that can offer peace and tranquility. In the photo essay, Carla Lucas photographs the barns of Cecil County–barns of all shapes, sizes, and colors that are found along northern Cecil County’s roads. We also talk to a few of the members of the Cecil Bird Club who enjoy their favorite hobby at many different places throughout the county.

We hope that you enjoy the stories and photos in this issue of Cecil County Life as much as we enjoyed putting this issue together for you. We always welcome your comments and suggestions for future stories.

Enjoy the holidays and we’ll see you again in 2015 with the next issue of Cecil County Life.

Randy Lieberman, Publisher, randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553 Steve Hoffman, Editor, editor@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553, ext. 13

www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

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————|Cecil County Business|————

Stories and songs and treasures of the past The Campbell brothers blend folk art and furniture at their historic store

By John Chambless Staff Writer

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verything in the Childs Store comes with a story. That includes the 1906 building, the hand-crafted wooden furniture, the off-kilter folk art paintings, and the store owners themselves.

Greeting visitors with a smile and a handshake, Hugh Campbell shows off the array of furniture that he creates out of cast-off boards, old windows and hardware -- the kinds of things that other people might throw away, but he can’t let go. Hugh’s sturdy furniture echoes past generations, and it retains the marks that time has left -- a knothole or nail hole, a few touches of old paint, perhaps some glass that has the rippled surface of centuries past.

But here and there, on a door or a tabletop, there are paintings by Hugh’s brother, Zane, that give a witty new dimension to the one-of-a-kind pieces. Get both of the Campbells in the same room, and things get interesting.

“My grandfather was a gunsmith and a wagon maker down in North Carolina,” Hugh said.

“The other grandfather was a schoolteacher, so that’s where the wordplay and songwriting came in. Both grandfathers were fiddling champions.

Our parents were both musicians, too. With the woodworking, I didn’t seriously start making stuff until I was about 40. That was right around the time Zane came back here from New York, and we put the two talents together.”

The roots of the Campbell family are in the

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Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

Photos by John Chambless

Zane Campbell (seated) paints furniture that’s built by his brother, Hugh.

North Carolina mountains, but they’ve been a presence along the Maryland/Pennsylvania border for so long that it seems they’ve always been here. Campbell’s Corner store in Oxford was a landmark for generations. Ola Belle Reed, the aunt of Hugh and Zane, achieved renown on the bluegrass circuit and played on dozens of recordings. The Campbells turned up at Sunset Park, the much-missed live music venue in West Grove, many times.

Hugh spent years in Austin, Texas, plugging away as a songwriter. Zane went to New York City to play in a string of bands and as a solo act. Now, with their cousin Jerimy Campbell minding the business end of things, the brothers are the creative force behind the Childs Store, which sits in the center of the tiny village of Childs, just north of Elkton. Hugh bought the building in 2003 after his aunt had run an antique shop there since 1973.

Hugh said his years in Austin just came to an end naturally around 1991, and he longed to return to his home. Zane spent 20 years in New York before feeling the same pull to come

Photos by John Chambless Clockwise from left:

This corner cupboard uses an old window that had been discarded.

Hugh Campbell welcomes visitors to the Childs Store.

A cupboard with a lower door painted by Zane.

A trunk painted as a tribute to both Sunset Park and the New River Ranch.

back to Maryland in 1998. The new version of the Childs Store opened in the spring of 2013.

Jerimy said, “I’m here as much as I can be. I’ve been in retail since I was old enough to see over the register drawer at Campbell’s Corner. So I know how to deal with people in retail situations.”

Zane, stretched out on the couch at the back of the store in a T-shirt spattered with old paint, held forth loudly with rapid-fire jokes and verbal detours. “My internal editor is broken,” he said with a hint of a grin. “I’m an idiot savant with a capital I. “I was in New York for 20 years,” he said. “I worked in the World Trade Center for a while, in an office. I worked in a boardinghouse as a janitor, and later as a manager, when I was in my 20s. I did graphic arts, bounced around. I also played music -- I had an album produced by Tommy Ramone that did not get released. He was a big fan. I opened up for Meat Loaf a couple of times, Joan Jett, people like that. I also did folk and country music up there as well.”

Zane’s days at the boarding house -- home to an array of street people and addicts -- are documented in his “Tales of an Alcoholic Janitor,” a graphic novel Continued on Page 10

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Childs Store...

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he wrote and drew that was excerpted by Kitchen Sink Press.

“It was about all this outrageous stuff that happened while I was living in this Manhattan boarding house in the early ‘80s. Three excerpts from it were put out in Death Rattle Comics,” Zane added with a hearty chuckle. “I said, ‘You’re putting my autobiography in a horror comic?’ And they said, ‘Yes, we think it fits in quite nicely.’ You know your life is bad when it ends up in a horror comic book.”

Now sober, Zane has pursued both his painting and his music.

In the shop, about half of the furniture pieces have a painting by him somewhere. Hugh decides which pieces need some

Photos by John Chambless

Hugh Campbell plays and sings with Zane during a jam session at the store.

Zane plays one of his original songs, with his lyrics notebook on the table in front of him.

artwork, but once he turns Zane loose, the results are spectacularly good.

“I’m starting to sell a lot of art. There’s a backlog now,” Zane said, adding that he’s not a pure “outsider” artist because he had two years of schooling at the University of Maryland. His folk art, however, is the kind of naive, straightfrom-the-heart style that collectors love.

There’s a wall of his work in the shop that regularly sells out and has to be

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Childs Store...

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replenished. Much of it shows Zane’s funhouse sense of humor. A rolling pin is placed on a plaque that reads, “Husband Adjustment Device.” A small painting shows a man nervously looking sideways at others, and it’s captioned “Everybody IS out to get you.” Over in a corner, a rack is painted like a monster’s face in mid-bite.

On the other hand, a slab of wood hanging like a mobile in the middle of the room has pleasant local landscapes painted on both sides. Zane used the darker spots in the wood as lakes in the painting, leaving the raw wood to show through and adding his paint only where necessary.

“I look at the grain to see if I can incorporate the grain in the piece,” he said. “I see if it brings anything to mind. I like to see something in it, like a sculptor will look at a block of stone. I like to do regional stuff about our area -- boats and cattails, mountains, old houses, rivers.”

On a tabletop, a painting of a guitarist sitting on a moonlit porch looks like it could have been painted

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Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

Photos by John Chambless

Above: Albums and memorabilia decorate the store’s back room.

Right: Zane and Hugh Campbell (standing) with their cousin, Jerimy.

in the 1930s. A view of boats on the North East River shows a place he played as a young man.

In the shop, Hugh walks among the furniture he has rescued or built from scratch. All of it reflects a homespun sensibility while also being flawlessly constructed. One

sideboard is made up what looks like a dozen kinds of wood. Two small cabinets were only mismatched pieces when Hugh got ahold of them. He designed and built the resulting matching side tables, and passed them over to Zane for a little painting.

“I’ve been reclaiming wood for 30 years, before it got trendy,” Hugh said. “We go to auctions and get stuff that’s in disrepair, and put it back together. We try to give folks a bargain on these things. We’re not trying to grab every nickel.”

The prices in the store are reasonable to the point of being a steal. Clearly, the Campbells enjoy matching up customers with furniture that they’ll love and that won’t break the budget. “I like to think about when somebody buys a piece that we’ve done and it’s in their home, hopefully it’ll get passed on to their grandkids,” Hugh said. “See, when we’re dead and gone, it’ll be worth something,” he added, laughing.

“It’s always wood that comes by way of auction that was going to be discarded anyway, or it’s reclaimed.

This right here,” Hugh said, “was a slab of wood, going nowhere fast. A fine cabinet maker wouldn’t use this because it has a knot in it. But for my purposes, that’s like natural beauty. I can do anyting with that. And this corner cupboard here started with a window I got, and I built the cupboard around the window.”

There’s a full-size coffin leaning by the front door.

“You’d be amazed how many people want to get in there and have their picture taken,” Hugh said with a smile. “I built it for Halloween one year. Over the years I’ve probably built a dozen that people have purchased.

I didn’t ask any questions. Our brother was a licensed mortician for many years, and we grew up next to a funeral home. It’s not as taboo a subject with us.”

The back room of the store is where the music end of their lives tends to show up. A large mural of the North Carolina mountains is bracketed by LPs, framed photos and posters, CDs and other memorabilia of the generations of Campbells who have played music. Alex Campbell and Ola Belle founded the New River Ranch music park in Rising Sun in 1951. Ola Belle married Bud Reed and she achieved fame as a songwriter and performer. The Campbells played regularly at Sunset Park and at New River Ranch. Herb Campbell, Jerimy’s father, is known for writing “Don’t You Call My Name,” a standard that has been covered many times by other artists.

In November, the Campbells will be prominently Continued on Page 14

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featured in the 400-page book and two-CD package “Ola Belle Reed and Southern Mountain Music,” produced by Dust to Digital, a company that specializes in documenting and preserving Appalachian music and arts. It’s a monumental honor for the family, and Hugh showed off a photocopied preview of the finished product. The book should go a long way toward cementing the Campbell family’s place in Appalachian music.

Hang around long enough at the store and you’ll probably get a song or two. Bringing out his battered acoustic guitar and notebooks packed with handwritten lyrics, Zane launched into his “I Can Write a Song” as Hugh added harmonies from across the room, where he was working on a piece of furniture.

The song was inspired by Jerimy’s father, who walked into Campbell’s Corner one day in 1969 and told Zane he could write a song about anything. At the end of the song, Zane improvises words about whatever strikes his fancy, with results that can easily go off the rails in a highly entertaining way.

Then it was “Don’t You Call My Name,” as Hugh pulled up a chair and added his own guitar and harmonies on the high, heartbroken chorus. Tapping his foot on the timeworn, burnished floor, he blended seamlessly with his brother until Zane, in mid-song, interjected, “It’s draggin’ ass! Pick it up!” and doubled the tempo. “My Little Vessel” was next, a comic tale of cutting ties and taking off, with timeless bluegrass harmonies and the warm interplay of the two guitars.

By the time Hugh and Zane kicked off the poignant “Springtime” and “High on a Mountain” by Ola Belle Reed, their full-throated singing filled the shop, echoing down through the decades, straight to the hills and hollers of their ancestral home.

“High on a mountain, standing all alone, I’m wonderin’ where the years of my life have flown,” Zane sang, glancing over at Hugh with the smile of a contented man.

The Child Store (1375 Blueball Rd., Elkton, Md.) is open Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Call 443-553-1070 or e-mail jerimycampbell@yahoo. com or visit facebook.com/childsstore for more information.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, e-mail jchambless@chestercounty.com.

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Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

Common Core and Critical Thinking The Common Core State Standards are intended to help students prepare for college and the working world, wherein they must think critically and apply the skills they learn in the classroom to a variety of real-world scenarios. The “buzz” about the standards is that they go much deeper into all math and English-language arts areas and emphasize comprehension and building understanding more so than rote memorization. The standards are meant to strengthen students’ ability to think, analyze, comprehend, defend and support one’s ideas, and much more. Here are a few examples: Reading Reading comprehension is top of mind at all levels. As students read a variety of texts – both fiction and nonfiction – they will be expected to make logical inferences, express their insights, explore ideas, and think about topics from many different viewpoints, among other objectives.

Speaking and Listening Through speaking and listening (and through media), students must assess and offer complex information and ideas. The classroom will focus on smaller group discussions as well as one-on-one discussions as a way to encourage students to think crucially, work together to develop ideas and answer questions, and more.

Writing Students are expected to write thoughtful, logical arguments, express their opinions, reason, and conduct focused and in-depth research.

Mathematics High school students will be expected to apply mathematical ways of thinking to real-world issues and challenges and think and reason their way through problems. The elementary and middle school standards help prepare students for this type of thinking.

Throughout our 36-year history, Huntington Learning Center has stayed in tune with the needs of our students. As American education has evolved, Huntington has adjusted its curriculum as appropriate in order to ensure our students receive the tutoring support they need to be successful students.

What does this mean for the families we serve? It means that Huntington stands ready to help students meet the challenges of these new, more rigorous educational standards. As schools curriculum and assessment testing evolve, students will need help that extends beyond the type of support they may have needed previously.

Huntington is prepared and excited to embrace those challenges together.

www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

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‘Snow Angel’

A blend of painting and metal that fires the imagination Michael Robear’s artwork digs into universal feelings Photo by John Chambless

Michael Robear in the painting studio near his home.

‘The Duel’

‘Blue Birth’

By John Chambless Staff Writer Somewhere between dreams and reality, between hard steel and paint, Michael Robear’s art is born.

Robear’s outbuilding studio near his home in Colora, Md., holds both sides of his work. Downstairs are the machines and hand tools and forge where he creates reproduction antique hardware for historic home renovation. It’s also where he crafts the metal and wood frames that defy every rule of what a frame should be. Upstairs, he paints his microscopically detailed views of empty houses and dreamlike landscapes. Each one is paired with a frame that takes the Continued on Page 18

‘Consuming Fire’

Michael Robear...

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themes of the painting and expands them beyond the painted surface.

During a thoughtful interview in his upstairs painting studio, Robear talked about how fragments of inspiration gradually build up, and then coalesce into artworks which look like nothing you’ve ever seen.

“A building has to call out to me,” he said of the homes that feature prominently in his work. They are actual homes he has seen near his own home, or during his travels. He takes photographs of them, “and then I shuffle through the photographs.

Basically, I use them to generate ideas. It’s a way of sorting through the emotional pieces. I call my paintings fragments. They’re really just fragments of what I’ve lived, what I’ve seen, how I see the world.

Then I knit those little things together and they will tell a story.”

Each of his paintings, he said, is essentially a self-portrait.

“In certain ones, there’s information in them that I don’t quite understand yet,” he said. “You would

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‘Into the Garden’

think that after creating them, I’d understand them, but I don’t. I paint very intuitively. I don’t ask, ‘What does this mean?’ I ask, ‘Does it belong?’”

As far as his choice of houses as a motif, “They’re symbols of people,” he said. “We all store things in the attic and the cellar, because we don’t want them to be in our front room. Human beings are the same way.”

In his painting, “Wolves,” he captures a home with a blue porch, and a row of footprints in the snow leading to the front door, which stands ominously open. The real home, now repainted, sits on Cleveland Avenue in Newark, Del. Robear was driving by one day and the blue of the porch stopped him in his tracks.

“When I was in college at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., I was from a rural area and wasn’t used to homeless people,” he explained. “One day, I was getting off the Metro and this really attractive girl, maybe 16 or 17, asked me for money. I figured she had just lost her fare.

This went on, day after day. I started to watch her deteriorate, living in the streets. She had become Continued on Page 20

‘Aurora’

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quite tattered. I would revisit this emotion, asking, ‘What could I have done?’ But I was a boy myself.

I did not understand homelessness.

“When my daughter turned her age, it triggered something,” Robear continued. “I was driving down Cleveland Avenue and this porch was the color frequency of the dress the lady had on. It clicked. That’s how my paintings work.”

The decades-long gestation period for “Wolves” is typical of Robear’s working process.

“I’m married to the emotion, not the materials,” he said. “What I do is start hunting the emotion, putting things together -- buildings or landscapes or skies or colors that support the emotion. Then things start to pile on. When the cup gets full emotionally, then the painting comes.”

Robear’s mother was a reading resource teacher and his father was an engineer. He was one of five children, all of whom entered the engineering or computer fields. “Of the five kids, I was kind of left on my own to work out my sensibilities and find what I really wanted to do,” he said. “There was

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a bit of a fight in the family because my dad was the first in his family to go to college. There was a strong belief in going to college and getting an education. But there also had to be something that paid bills. My fight was to try to stay true to the way I was put together.”

The family moved around the country several times. Then, “when I was 8 or 10 years old, I fell in love with art and knew I wanted to go to art school,” Robear said.

Robear’s parents eventually settled in Elk Neck, and Robear lives on a seven-acre property not far away. Robear and his wife have raised three children, who are now 19 to 26 years old.

Robear had a successful early career as a wildlife illustrator, using his real last name, Robert, but felt pulled in another direction and so created a new body of work under a new name. Eventually, his Robear identity has become his focus.

As a former builder and now metalsmith, “The architectural hardware pays the bills,” Robear said.

“It’s deadline driven. It’s business. A lot of times I’ll put in three 12-hour days so that I have four days to create my art.”

Robear created his first frame at the age of 12.

Now, he can’t imagine turning his paintings over to anyone else. “I don’t want anyone putting their expression on my expression,” he said. “How I make the frame is as personal as what’s in the painting.”

It’s hard to imagine Robear’s paintings without the steel frames, which vividly expand each work into a unique sculptural/painted hybrid.

In “The Duel,” a home in an orchard is the target of two contrasting colored lines that swoop and dart through the air. “It’s about what people struggle with,” Robear said. “It’s about two forces in competition for one thing, and how you decide what you let in and what you let out. It’s the idea that you can block the door and you think it’s impenetrable, but it’s not. Things can come in, whether they’re good things for you or bad things for you. You have to make the decision about what type of person you want to be.”

In “Into the Garden,” a home has untethered itself from electric wires, which are whipping in the wind. The home is on the verge of sliding down a slope, but in the foreground is a brilliantly lit garden Continued on Page 22

‘Wolves’

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full of blooming flowers and a bluebird. One window in the home reflects the garden scene. “This lifeless house is catching a glimpse of this beauty,” Robear said. “The fence separates the two worlds.

And bluebirds are symbolic of my grandmother.”

Careful viewers will find common elements in Robear’s works. Garden gates are seen blowing away in the wind, the arc of a flight of birds echoes the curve of a hillside. “There’s something about the arc, I just love the line,” Robear said.

While he is happy to discuss what the paintings say about himself, he welcomes the interpretations of others. “The thing that’s fascinating about art art is that even though these paintings are personal and they’re about me, when other people see them, they put themselves over top of the painting -- their emotions, their experiences.

“Art can be anything to everybody,” he said. “It doesn’t care what ethnicity you are, how rich you are. It’s inclusive. It doesn’t have rules.”

Robear’s new work is leading him to explore a

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theme of skeletons, and he’s not sure where he will end up. “I don’t get to select where my art goes,” he said.. “Maybe it has something to do with being several years over 50.

“I’d do this even if nobody bought it,” he said.

“I don’t think of them as finished pieces or as art objects. I think of them as emotional fragments that I’m trying to understand.”

Buyers who have been drawn into Robear’s art can count on getting to know him personally.

“People buy art because they want a relationship with the artist,” he said. “As an artist, I want that in return.”

The act of creation - whether in metal, or watercolor, or the egg tempera that is currently Robear’s medium of choice -- is liberating, he said.

“Art is ultimately about an expression. I paint because it’s an oppotunity to be as free as I’ll ever be in the world. I choose the subject, I choose when it’s done, how it’s done. I don’t let anybody dictate.

It’s my world, and I take care of it. I’m totally free in my studio. That’s a beautiful thing to have.”

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, e-mail jchambless@chestercounty.com.

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————|Cecil County History|———— Photo by Steven Hoffman

The Tome School in North East is one of the oldest private schools in Maryland. It was founded by Jacob Tome, a prominent local businessman in 1889 because he wanted to give back to the community.

The legacy of Jacob Tome lives on The Tome School opened in 1889 to fulfill a prominent businessman’s vision for a school that would prepare students to acquire the skills necessary to be successful in their lives. The school remains true to that mission more than 125 years later.

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The numbers tell a story—at least part of the story—at the Tome School.

Earlier this year, 44 students graduated from the school—the largest graduating class ever for one of Maryland’s oldest schools. And those students collectively earned $5.5 million in college scholarships.

The school’s seniors in the two most recent graduating classes exceeded the state average SAT scores in 24

Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

reading, math, and writing by more than 100 points in each category.

More than 125 years after Jacob Tome, a prominent businessman and philanthropist, set out to create a school that would allow students to acquire the skills necessary to be successful in their lives, the school that bears his name remains true to his original vision.

“Tome is unique,” said head of school Christine Szymanski. “We put a big emphasis on respect, personal responsibility, and academic rigor. We talk about doing things the Tome way.”

Photo by Steven Hoffman

The Tome School was founded in 1889.

Amy Brown, a math teacher at the school for the last 18 years, explained, “We do one thing and we do it well. We take average and above-average students who have a goal of going to college and we get there.”

When a graduate of The Tome School arrives on a college campus, he or she is typically ready for the new academic challenge.

“We are very academically driven,” explained Szymanski. “So when they get to those schools, they are very well-prepared.”

This year, there are a total of 465 students in the private, co-ed day school in North East—150 in the upper school (grades 9-12), 155 in the middle school (grades 5-8), and 165 in the lower school (K-4).

Students come mostly from Cecil County and Harford

Photo by Steven Hoffman

Christine Szymanski became the head of school in February. She still teaches one math class so that she remains focused on students.

Continued on Page 26

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County in Maryland, as well as nearby New Castle County in Delaware and Chester County in Pennsylvania.

Everything about the school is very personal. As its top administrator, Szymanski has a hands-on role in selecting which students are admitted to the school. There is a comprehensive system of testing and screening in place during the admissions process.

“We also ask the students to come to the school to shadow for a day,” Szymanski explained.

A student who completes the Upper School curriculum will present 24 academic credits to colleges—eight in English and four each in history, mathematics, science, and foreign

Photo by Steven Hoffman

Dr. William Marston Hogue was responsible for developing a lot of the Tome School’s modern curriculum, with its emphasis on reading and writing.

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language. Students can explore dual enrollment options with Cecil College and University of Delaware and take AP exams.

Chalin Anton is the school’s college counselor.

She works with each student as he or she is selecting a college.

“Our number one goal,” said Anton, “is to help the students find a school that is a Photo by Steven Hoffman good fit for them.”

A portrait of Jacob Tome that is displayed With small class in the school. sizes, the faculty members provide personal attention to students.

Szymanski has more than 13 years of experience at Tome, working as a full-time teacher until she was selected to serve as the interim head of school last October. She became the school’s top administrator on a permanent basis in February. As the parent of three Tome students herself—two who have graduated and one who is still in the school—she is a staunch believer in the school’s mission of providing a high-quality education at an affordable price.

Szymanski still teaches a middle school math class each day.

“It reminds me of my purpose,” she explained. “The reason I am here is for the students. I love the kids that come here, the sense of community and the sense of history that we have. It’s an academically rigorous school, but it’s also a community—a community of students and teachers and board members.”

Teaching a class also helps Szymanski understand what the 37 full-time and 11 part-time teachers are facing on a daily basis.

There is a heavy emphasis on tradition at The Tome School. When Szymanski enters a classroom, the students all rise from their seats as a show of respect. That same respect is shown in the hallways as students move from one classroom to another with quiet courtesy.

Continued on Page 28 www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

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Tome School...

Continued from Page 27

Szymanski said that the students are well-versed on the history of the school, including the story about its founder, Jacob Tome, who travelled down the Susquehanna to Port Deposit to embark on his career. Tome became a banker, politician, and philanthropist who lived most of his life in Cecil County and is believed to be the first millionaire in the county. In 1889, after building one of the largest fortunes in the U.S. at the time, Tome announced plans to create a school that would offer the finest education for students willing to undergo its regimen, regardless of their families’ ability to pay the cost for that education.

When Tome unveiled his vision for the school, he reportedly said, “I have lived for fifty-six years in Port Deposit and have made my money there. I think it is only right that I should spend some of it for the good of the people there. My purpose is to erect and equip the necessary schools and laboratories for 500 children. I want to give them a practical education to fit them for the duties of life.”

The school graduated its first class of high school seniors

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“Tome is unique. We put a big emphasis on respect, personal responsibility, and academic rigor. We talk about doing things the Tome way.” ~ Christine Szymanski, head of school at The Tome School

in 1898, the same year that its founder passed away. The school was a fitting legacy for one of Maryland’s most prominent citizens. With its emphasis on academic rigor, The Tome School flourished in Port Deposit and earned a reputation for its high academic standards. In 1906, it was the founding school for the Cum Laude Society.

Children from the Carnegie and Mellon families studied at The Tome School.

Tome left the school an endowment that helped make the education very affordable for families. The Port Deposit campus had more than a dozen buildings, some of them designed by noted architects William Boring and Edward Lippincott Tilton. Frederick Law Olmstead designed the tree-lined streets of the campus. Landscape Continued on Page 30

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Tome School...

Continued from Page 28

architect Charles Wellford Leavitt designed the school’s gardens. In 1942, the Tome campus was appropriated by the U.S. Congress, along with the land from 70 surrounding farms, for use as a U.S. Naval Training Center.

The school eventually outgrew the campus in Port Deposit and moved to its current home in North East.

The stately building is modeled after Memorial Hall on the Port Deposit campus. The 100-acre property that the school is situated on was donated by Ralph Hostetter, a former member of the board of directors of the school.

A history display in the lobby bears witness to 126 years of learning, and the traditions at the school are still honored.

“We still have lots of traditions that make Tome unique,” Szymanski explained. A Founder’s Day celebration in honor of Tome is held each February.

Much of the modern curriculum still owes a great deal to Dr. William Marston Hogue, a longtime headmaster who served in various capacities during a three-decade career at The Tome School.

Szymanski said that the school’s heavy emphasis on

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literature, composition, and grammar in middle school can be traced to the curriculum that Hogue put in place.

By concentrating on making students well-versed communicators in middle school, it guarantees that even those students who study math, science, or engineering at a higher level will still be able to read, write, and communicate effectively.

While The Tome School utilizes the latest technology in various ways, it’s not at the expense of lessons on practical skills.

“We still teach cursive handwriting here,” Szymanski explained.

At the same time, the 21st century educational opportunities at Tome rival any other school’s. An engineering class is working on designing a heart valve. Sixth-graders complete assignments in a STEM lab.

“We like to think that we’ve been doing STEM programming all along,” Szymanski said, pointing out that the strong academic program has always focused on math and science.

“We are graduating more and more students who are going into math and science fields,” Brown added.

According to Szymanski, she and the rest of the staff take great pride in knowing that they played a part in

preparing students for their futures. In much the same way that the school itself has been shaped by its past, the students carry their Tome School educations and values with them for the rest of their lives.

Ultimately, however, what makes The Tome School the epitome of a small, personal, college preparatory school are the students—those 44 young men and women who worked hard enough to earn $5.5 million in college scholarships and surpass the state averages on standardized tests by wide margins.

“They are the ones who make the school what it is,” Szymanski said.

To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty.com.

Photo by Steven Hoffman

The Tome School

In early October, Tome School seniors Scott and Mark Blumberg, both Civil War re-enactors, taught eighth-graders about how troops would march.

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—————|Cecil County History|—————

Collecting war stories

Historical Society’s Vietnam veterans Listening Station is open

in Bien Miller . This ip k S ) and ril 17, 1972 ives h p ee (left Paul L tnam, on A ed to the arc ct. d ie je d V o a r , p y a tl o n n H g Statio as rece photo w of the Listenin e becaus

Photo by Carla Lucas

Skip Miller participates in the Vietnam War ‘History That is Not Past’ project.

By Carla Lucas Correspondent

T

he files on the Vietnam War at the Cecil County Historical Society include one small folder full of newspaper clippings about ten Cecil County men who lost their lives during the war, and a story about the traveling Vietnam Memorial that came to the area a few years ago.

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That’s it. But not for long.

The Vietnam Veterans Listening Station, part of the “History That is not Past” project, is now open. The Historical Society wants to capture the stories of Cecil residents involved in the Vietnam era and preserve the stories for future generations.

“We have community members who have historical experiences that have not been recognized or recorded,” said Cecil County historian Mike Dixon. “Their stories

have not made it into the public record. Think about how much we are missing.�

According to Dixon, the citizens of Cecil County were largely supportive of the war in the early 1960s. They were proud of the men and women who served. The Bainbridge Naval Training Center, in Port Deposit, employed county residents. There was a draft board in Elkton, and as young men came of age, they would be sent for medical exams. Many young men were drafted or volunteered to serve.

Dixon said the Listening Station will record the experiences of a wide range of people, including those who were drafted or volunteered, who were on the front lines, families of those who were lost in the war, those who supported the war, and anyone who wants to share their thoughts.

Vietnam is the second oral history project done at Cecil County Historical Society. Last year, a program was focused on the 50th anniversary of the 1963 crash of a Pan-Am flight on a farm off Delancy Road in Elkton. Stories were collected from many family members of the 73 passengers

Robert Preston training as a K-9 handler in Texas. He brought this photo to his Listening Station session.

Photo by Carla Lucas

Robert Preston is an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War. He trained in Texas as a K-9 Handler and was assigned to the K-9 Corps at Cam Rahn Bay. His story is now part of the Cecil County Historical Society’s oral history project.

Continued on Page 34

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Vietnam project...

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and eight crew members who died, as well as from locals who witnessed the crash or responded in the aftermath. Part of the presentation is on YouTube and can be accessed by searching “Pan Am Flight 214” online.

The sister of George Robinson, one of the firemen at the scene of the Pan Am crash, Photo by Carla Lucas contacted the Chester historian Ken Broomell County Historical Research searches a Cecil Whig for stories about Society about the the Vietnam War. program and mentioned that her brother was drafted in 1966 and died in Vietnam on April 25, 1969 at the age of 22. For Mike Dixon, the conversation led to the decision to focus on the stories of the Vietnam war.

Upcoming Listening Station topics include: Cecil area women who worked in the area during World War II, school integration, and “Cecil Remembers 9/11” on the 15-year anniversary of the attacks.

Each listening session takes about an hour. The visitor is prompted by a Historical Society volunteer with a couple of basic questions to get the process started. At times, the volunteer may ask additional questions to keep the person moving through his or her story.

Modern technology is making this project possible.

Digital recordings are easy to make and preserve. They are also easy to edit, access and share. Each of the recordings will be indexed and archived by University of Delaware graduate students. The students will listen to each tape and note various subjects. Future scholars will then be able to access the information easily by searching the index by topic.

To enhance the society’s Vietnam era collection, it is also seeking letters, photographs and tapes from home to document how the war affected life in Cecil County.

Ken Broomell, a research historian with the Historical Society, is combing through the Whig and Democrat for Vietnam articles.

Continued on Page 36

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Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

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Vietnam project...

Continued from Page 34

Currently, there is no single document counting how many people from Cecil County actually served in the military during the Vietnam War. The project may lead to an official count.

After all the stories are told and the research is complete, Dixon will present a public program about Cecil County and the Vietnam War. He also plans to produce a short video highlighting what was learned.

To share your stories, contact the Cecil County Historical Society at 410-398-1790.

Photo by Carla Lucas

Vernon Ferguson tells his story about being in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive.

Photo by Carla Lucas

A typical Listening Station session at Cecil County Historical Society.

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Cecil’s Vietnam soldiers in memorium SP5 David N. Clayton, 22 Died in Vietnam on February 17, 1965 when the Army Barracks at Qui Nhon was destroyed by an enemy attack. He was a helicopter mechanic.

PFC Laurence P. White, 19 Killed in Vietnam on June 24, 1966 when the helicopter he was in crashed and exploded under hostile fire.

PFC Thomas Ruff, Jr., 18 Killed May 8, 1967 after being hit by enemy fire near Quang Tri, Vietnam PFC Marshall Freng, 21 Killed November 22, 1967 after only being in Vietnam five days.

The aircraft transporting him to his new unit crashed on take-off at Long Binh, Vietnam.

Corporal Michael Rolfe, 20 Killed March 8, 1968 when the amphibious tank in which he was riding struck a mine while crossing a river near the Demilitarized Zone. He had only been in Vietnam for 17 days.

Warrant Officer Levi Ray Reynolds Killed July 4, 1968 when the engine on the helicopter he was flying failed.

On June 22 of the same year he was injured when the helicopter he was flying crash landed. He had only returned to service a week before this accident. He was a 1957 graduate of Rising Sun High School.

Corporal Marion Tapp, 21 Killed July 12, 1968 when the helicopter in which he was a gunner was shot down by enemy fire and burned.

It was his second tour of duty.

PFC Donald C. McCallister, Jr., 18 Died August 16, 1968 at the Third Medical Battalion Hospital in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam of mortar wounds suffered in battle on July 7.

Sergeant George Robinson, 22 Killed April 25, 1969 when a jeep he was operating near Nha Trang ran over a land mine.

Marine Private Gregory S. Copenhaver, 19 Was first reported missing in action on May 14, 1975 in the invasion of Koh Tang Island in the Gulf of Siam near Cambodia.

www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

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& QA

TONY COVATTA

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Tony Covatta, owner of Steak & Main and The Black Pearl Surf and Turf Grill in North East, Md.

Nearly 30 years ago, Tony Covatta first came to North East not as a businessman, but as the owner of a boat. He loved the Anchor Marina, the people he met, the social vibrancy, and the slow beginnings of a town with a vast potential for growth. Now, with two restaurants in town, he has earned a superb reputation not only as a restaurateur, but as a giver of his time and energies to the town he has truly come to love. Recently, Covatta sat down with Cecil County Life to talk about the restaurant business, his passion for quality, and the people he’d love to have dinner with.

Courtesy photo on opposite page

At The Black Pearl Surf and Turf Grill, chefs fuse together a unique blend of sauces and toppings with the freshest ingredients.

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Q

You have been in the restaurant business since you were a small boy, and you’ve seen the Covatta family name become synonymous with fine quality restaurants, not only in Cecil County, but in Chester County and the Main Line. Now you own and operate two restaurants in North East, the Black Pearl Surf & Turf Grill and Steak & Main Steak House & Oyster Bar. What has been the best advice you have received from family along the way?

My grandfather Anthony Covatta started in the restaurant business in the 1940s, and although his restaurants were always known as Covatta’s, his philosophy was always that no matter what you call your restaurant, make sure that your customers refer to it by your first name. In his case, many of my grandfather’s customers didn’t refer to Covatta’s, but said, ‘Hey, let’s go over to Tony’s for dinner.’ In the front of the house, it’s all about welcoming customers to your achrestaurant like they’re family. It’s teach’s ing your wait staff about wines. It’s allowing them to understand what ingredients are in our dishes, so that they’re not just serving dishes but are truly involved in the entire dining experience.

In the back of the house, it’s teaching your chefs certain culinary skills. Our chefs love cookingg ere and being creative, so I’m back there m new with them every day teaching them things, and they in turn teach me new things.

Q

What did you see in North East that said to you, ‘This would be a great town for restaurants?’

North East was my playground for many years. Being good friends with Butch Trainer at Anchor Marina, I used to be a customer of that former restaurant, having a boat right there at the Marina. When the idea of me taking over the restaurant was discussed, I thought, ‘I am not from this area, but there’s only one way to find out.’

Butch and I decided that I would take over his restaurant. Instantly, there were lines waiting to get in, many big fundraisers that were fun to do, and national boating events were held there. I later opened a seafood market in North East, which later became Unwined. Then I saw an opportunity for a fine dining facility in Steak & Main, and then I opened up the Black Pearl last year.

It’s been 14 years since I’ve been in North East, and I still have the same feelings for this area that I had when I first arrived here. There’s lots of great people I’ve come to know. For instance, there is a great mixed crowd of Main Line residents who have all settled on the houses on the Chesapeake Bay, as well as regulars I’ve known for years.

There is one couple I met -- The Watkins’ -- in 1985 at The Red Rose Inn, a former restaurant, and they’ve been coming to see me for dinner for almost 30 years, both at my former restaurants and now here in North East.

Q

Your two restaurants are continuing mainstays in a growing town. You’ve seen the growth of North East since you’ve been here.

From a business standpoint, what factors continue to stimulate the growth within the town itself?

I think it has to do with the dedication from the store owners in the area. They do an outstanding job, and people have always loved to come here, from our anch anchor restaurant Woody’s to Steak & Main to The Black Pearl Surf and Turf Grill, t the many stores we have here. The to stores are full. The level of retail we have and how great they do in making the customers happy is what makes this entire town move. When you run the gamut, we have everything, from Second Saturdays to events in the park, to our wine festival. It’s not only the retail end of it that’s done wonders, but our town ha maintained clean streets and landscaphall has ing. When I come down here in the morning, there are 10 to 20 workers taking care of this town.

Q

Positive attitudes are infectious, especially when one entity comes up with ideas and invites other entities to become a part of it. A great example of businesses working together in North East is the Crab Crawl, a benefit for the local library. Talk about being a part of this event.

This was a great idea, and a perfect example of how we all work together in North East. There were five restaurants participating in the Crawl, and two of them were mine. The library sold coupons to the five different restaurants, and each restaurant did five different variations on crab dishes. I donated 207 cups of soup and 207 crab pretzels. The people who participated in the event had an absolute blast. It raised some funding for the library, and they’re excited to be able to do it again.

Continued on Page 40 www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

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Q&A...

Continued from Page 39

Q

One of the most popular offerings at Steak & Main has been your sushi nights. How did they start?

I kept looking in the areas of what was not being offered at restaurants in this area. If sushi was being offered, it wasn’t up to the standards of the people I knew who loved sushi. I began to offer four or five rolls as specials on the weekends. It took off really, really well, and then I decided I was going to hire one of the best sushi chefs I could find, and let him control the direction we were going to go. Like any restaurant we’ve opened, it’s always a stab in the dark. You have to take that chance.

Now, it’s just ridiculous how busy it is on Monday and Thursday nights at Steak & Main. The sushi bar is now so busy that we’ve hired a second sushi chef from Philadelphia. We have two of the finest sushi chefs in the area here now, and it’s the best of both worlds.

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Q

What are the most consistent challenges you have as a restaurant owner?

Food costs are going through the roof, and it’s challenging to maintain the highest quality I can, and still be able to know that my customers can still afford to come to my restaurants. There are very inexpensive beef products, very inexpensive chicken, and very inexpensive other types of food. We buy the most expensive food that we can buy. Our scallops are dry fresh-packed and not processed or frozen, and you can immediately taste the difference in their quality.

I have so many food salespersons who come to see me and ask, ‘Why are you serving this prime-quality steak? I can save you money. Your customers won’t even know the difference.’ Well, I know, and I think that my customers know, and that’s why we stay to the highest standards. At Steak & Main and the Black Pearl, I’m going to die serving the best product you can buy.

You’ll never hear anyone say, ‘We’re not going Tony’s restaurants anymore, because the quality isn’t the way it used to be.’

Q

You have given yourself the day off, and you have the opportunity to take your family anywhere in Cecil County. Where do you take them?

I’d take my family to Plumpton Park Zoo and Milburn Orchards. There aren’t too many counties that have zoos, and Plumpton Park is a great zoo, it is very well maintained, and it is filled with exotic animals. There are so many events there with various themes. They have taken this Disney World concept and incorporated it into something that’s great for the entire family.

Milburn Orchards is just an institution. They have Courtesy photo tons of fun activi- At the Steak & Main Steak House & ties for the kids. Oyster Bar, guests can dine on a wide variety of fish, poultry and steak dishes.

Their products are the best, and at this time of the year, their cider donuts are as popular as the beignets at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans.

Q

You’re at the head of a restaurant table.

Who would you like to see sitting around that table with you?

Because I’m Italian, I have to say ‘family first.’ I’d like to see my grandfather at that table. He taught me a lot, and it would be great to be able to see him again.. I’d like to see my father there. And then, of course, my immediate family -- my wife and children.

Q Q

What food is always in your refrigerator?

Our refrigerator is just chock full of fresh fruits and vegetables....and next to the refrigerator, there’s a lot of red wine!

What’s your favorite spot in Cecil County?

The Chesapeake Bay.

-- By Richard L. Gaw www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

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Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

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47

———|Cecil County Outdoors|———

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer During a telephone interview in late September, Ken Drier readily admits that he has a pair of binoculars at his side, ready to scope out any bird that might land in his backyard during the conversation.

“I like looking at birds and I like trying to identify them. I can identify most birds by sight or sound,” he explained.

Drier sees a lot of birds in his own backyard.

He has been an avid bird watcher for a long time, his interest nurtured by a bird identification course that he took at the local college.

The Rising Sun resident was one of the founding members of the Cecil Bird Club when a professor from Cecil College helped establish the group in 1994.

“I’ve been involved with the Cecil Bird Club from the beginning,” Drier explained. “There is a lot of interest in birds in this area.”

Today, the club, which is a chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society, has 40 or 50 members who visit popular birding spots in Cecil County—the Elk Neck Sate Park & Turkey Point, the town parks in North East or Perryville, the C & D Canal, or the Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area. The Cecil Bird Club is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the understanding and enjoyment of wild birds. One of its main objectives is to conserve avian habitats. It is a club for beginners and experienced bird watchers.

Pat Valdata, a resident of Elkton, is the treasurer of the club. She joined after moving to the area from New Jersey. Valdata is a licensed pilot who marvels at the birds’ ability to fly.

Photo courtesy Sean McCandless

Counting hawks in the fall at the hawk watch in Elk Neck State Park.

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Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | wwwcecilcountylife.com

“They are beautiful creatures,” she explained. “They can fly, and that’s amazing. I love their beauty and their songs.”

Drier serves as co-president of the club, along with Sean McCandless.

September is a busy month for the Cecil Bird Club. It’s the start of the annual membership drive, but more importantly birds are migrating in large numbers at this time of the year.

Cecil County, with its 72 square miles of water, including the lower reaches of the Susquehanna River and the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, as well the Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area, is a popular destination for birds—and consequently a prime spot to enjoy bird watching.

Continued on Page 50

Photo courtesy Sean McCandless

A Scrub nesting bird.

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Bird watchers...

Continued from Page 49

“It’s an excellent area for birding,” said Drier, explaining that Cecil County residents get to see many birds passing through the area, like the bay-breasted warbler, which will stay here for only a week or two before heading on their way south. Drier also saw about 100 broadwinged hawks circling overhead, a sight that he described as spectacular.

“Many people don’t realize that so many hawks and other birds migrate through this area,” Valdata explained.

She added that in this part of the country, there are typically three good seasons for bird watching. The summer might be a little slow because birds seek shelter from the heat and don’t roam as much, but the other three seasons can be very active. Even the winter can be rewarding for a bird watcher as rare visitors like the snowy owl can make an appearance.

Continued on Page 52

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A red-tailed hawk.

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Bird watchers...

Continued from Page 50

Drier and Valdata both talked about how much they appreciate those occasions when they see something rare and unforgettable. As a bird watcher, you never know what the day will bring.

“You can go out one day and see a lot of species and go out another day and there won’t be a lot,” Valdata explained.

Photo courtesy Sean McCandless

The very elusive Lincoln’s Sparrow, who hides very well in the willow thickets along rivers, ponds, and wetlands.

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Many members of the Cecil Bird Club keep track of how many species of birds they’ve seen in their own backyard and at last count Drier was at 65. Members of the club collectively keep track of the birds that they’ve sighted and that number is at 315.

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Photo courtesy Sean McCandless

A male bobolink typically arrives on the breeding grounds in the Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area in May, nests in the hay fields where they have four or five young birds, then they migrate back south to Central America.

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Drier explained that the busiest times of the year are in the spring, when the warblers come in from the south, and in the fall. Many hawks are a part of the fall migration, too. Valdata serves as the hawk watch coordinator. Club members volunteer from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1 to scan the skies for hawks, keeping count of how many are sighted. Valdata said that bird club member Dave Kimball then sends those numbers to the Hawk Migration Association of North America.

Photo courtesy Sean McCandless

A Cedar Waxwing spotted in Cecil County

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According to Drier, bird watching is an extremely popular activity, and many people will travel to places where they can enjoy it.

“I will bird wherever I go,” Drier explained. “It gets me outside, in the field. I always liked nature.”

Because people will travel to bird watch, there are economic benefits associated with preserving locations where birds like to gather.

Advocating for the protection of

bird habitats is one goal of club members. The Cecil Bird Club also sponsors recreational and social events, educational programs, information exchanges, research on bird populations, and cooperation on issues important to the future of birds. It also holds monthly meetings for members and arranges a full schedule of field trips in Cecil County and nearby locations.

Valdata said that joining the club for any one of the events open to the public is a good way to learn about birds.

Continued on Page 56

Photo courtesy Sean McCandless

Bird watching at the Turkey Point Lighthouse.

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There can be some pretty exciting experiences, even for seasoned bird watchers like Valdata, to be enjoyed locally.

She recalled a time when an unusual bird came flying over the trees. It wasn’t until other bird watchers positively identified the bird as a short-eared owl that she realized what kind of bird it had been. Now, when she sees this kind of owl, she can identify it by its shape, size, and the way that it flies. One of things that keeps bird watchers engaged in the hobby is the thrill of seeing something new and rare.

Valdata will be leading an eagle watch field trip to the Conowingo Dam on Saturday, Nov. 29. The Conowingo Dam is one of the best eagle-watching sites in the east. It is normally possible to see as many as 50 individuals or more at one time. For more information about this field trip, other activities, or how to join the club, visit www. cecilbirds.org.

To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@ chestercounty.com.

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Photo courtesy Sean McCandless

An adult bald eagle with a mud shad.

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——————|Cecil County Life|——————

Union Hospital’s Surgical Services suites now a state-of-the-art facility

A $12 million project to modernize the facility will be fully completed in 2015.

With the project now past the halfway point, the hospital is already seeing enhanced patient care and outcomes as a result

Courtesy photo

The Surgical Services reconfiguration provides easy and efficient access between “prep” and “post” areas and the operating suites, and all the renovation work is being completed with minimum disruption to patients.

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer

T

he transformation is well underway.

Union Hospital is completely renovating and modernizing its Surgical Services suites into a stateof-the-art facility, and patients are already seeing the benefits, even though the project won’t be completed for another year.

“It’s a huge milestone for Union Hospital,” explained hospital president and CEO Dr. Kenneth Lewis, M.D. “What makes the project special is that it aligns so well

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with where medical care is going. It’s about providing the best possible patient care in a safe environment.”

Lewis outlined some of the advantages of the modernized Surgical Services suites at a Sept. 30 press conference at the hospital. As a modern, state-of-the-art facility, the Surgical Services unit incorporates the best practices in patient care, provides a full complement of resources for a specialized surgical staff, and allows for greater efficiencies and enhanced safety measures for the transportation of both patients and supplies.

The new suites will be larger to minimize the risk of patient infections. Circulation zones will be created for

the sterile and easy movement of both staff and supplies around the operating suite. The larger suites also provide the space necessary for larger, more modern medical equipment that is used in many procedures, such as an endoscopy.

The old Surgical Services rooms dated back to 1971 and the size and design of the rooms limited the staff when it came to certain efficiencies. Despite that, Lewis said, the hospital did make the most of the old surgical spaces.

“We’ve made ongoing investments in technology over the years, so the technology was up to date even though the rooms were not,” Lewis explained.

The modernized Surgical Services suites will allow Union Hospital to fully utilize the most up-to-date technologies that will improve the patient experience by allowing for smaller incisions which result in less pain and bleeding during surgery. As a consequence, there will be shorter recovery times and a lowered risk of infections. As surgery times are decreased, the pain that a patient will likely experience will be minimized and the recovery time will be faster.

This project initially started in September of 2013 and is expected to take a total of about 24 months to complete. As the project crosses the halfway point, three of the five new surgical rooms have been completed and are currently being used by staff to treat patients. The new surgical suites, Lewis said, allow the surgeons and staff to optimize medical care to patients, and everyone is giving great reviews to the new Surgical Services suites.

“The feedback from the staff has been very good,” said Lewis. “The patient experience has been improved. You can tell when something is special when surgeons are calling up the administration and thanking us for the improvements.”

Katie Boston-Leary, the chief nursing officer for Union Hospital, agreed with the assessment that staff members are pleased with the new surgical suites.

“Our surgeons love the new space,” she said. “Morale is through the roof in the department. And we definitely are in the process of recruiting new surgeons.”

Lewis and Boston-Leary both talked about how the project will help retain current surgeons and attract new ones.

Some of the improvements that the project will bring focus on the experiences that the family and friends will have as a patient receives care. There is a family-centered approach to post-surgical care with glass-enclosed patient bays to increase privacy and designated pediatric bays that ease the fear and anxiety a child experiences after surgery. Families can see updates on patients from pre- to postsurgery with digital patient tracking boards.

Another aspect of the project that will help with the hospital’s mission is that it will provide critical resources for the surgical staff. The new layout for the operating suites and post-anesthesia care areas will better position staff to perform the important observation and documentation functions necessary during procedures and recovery.

Kenneth Lewis, M.D., the president and CEO of Union Hospital, called the complete renovation of the Surgical Services suites a milestone in the history of the hospital. The new suites allow for better and safer care for patients.

Surgeons at Union Hospital will be able to utilize tele-medicine where a doctor in another part of the country could watch the proceedings and offer advice.

The operating rooms themselves will incorporate telescoping booms that will allow equipment to be moved easily into position during procedures and stored securely and safely while not in use. All operating suites include new and efficient LED lighting. Ergonomic computer workstations allow staff to update electronic medical records and complete required professional development activities in a timely manner.

The new surgical suites are designed to optimize the flow of both patients and supplies. The renovation combines currently underutilized space and repurposing portions of the existing Surgical Services department to reconfigure patient care areas, including surgery prep, post-anesthesia care, and recovery. The Surgical Services reconfiguration will provide easy and efficient access between “prep” and “post” areas and the operating suites, and Continued on Page 60

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new elevators will allow for dedicated transport for sterilized equipment and supplies between the Sterile Processing Department and the surgical areas.

Because of the improved technology and state-ofthe-art facilities, the renovated Surgical Services suites will also allow the hospital to bring new programs and services to the community in the years to come.

Hospital officials said that there has been no disruption to patient care during the project. Lewis credited Whiting-Turner, the construction company overseeing the project, with ensuring that the work goes on without disrupting the normal operations of the hospital.

“They’ve been fantastic,” Lewis explained, noting that it’s quite a challenge to renovate surgical suites while the surgical unit continues to function as normal.

Once the project is completed, the modern design of the surgical suites will ensure that procedures are completed as efficiently as possible.

“We definitely build in some efficiencies in the design,” explained Boston-Leary.

The total cost of the renovation project is approximately $12 million. Lewis said that the hospital received a $2 million grant from Maryland that helped jump start the fundraising effort. The Union Hospital Auxiliary made a commitment of $411,000 and the Stewart Companies committed $250,000 to the project. An appeal to Union Hospital employees and board members has raised more than $160,000 so far. The Cecil County Department of Social Services is offering a matching grant of $50,000.

Lewis said that hospital officials are thankful for the support that has been received from a diverse group of organizations and individuals in the area. The hospital is now embarking on the next phase of the capital campaign, which will involve reaching out to the residents and businesses in the local communities that are served by the hospital. There will be a directmail appeal and hospital officials will also be meeting with local organizations to discuss the project and the need for financial assistance to finish the fund the much-needed project.

Ultimately, many people will play a role in making this project a reality. The project will allow the hospital to improve the level of care for patients in the 60

Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

Courtesy photos

Left: The new surgical suites are designed to optimize the flow of both patients and supplies.

Below: The new Surgical Services suites are larger and allow the medical staff to utilize the latest technology.

Cecil County community. “Efforts like this embody what a community hospital is all about,� Lewis said.

To get more information about the project or to make a contribution, contact Bill Pritchard, the Union Hospital Foundation executive director at 410-620-3745 or wprichard@uhcc.com.

To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty.com.

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———|Around Cecil County|———

Cecil College student does whatever it takes to get to class Although it’s often been said that “When I was your age, I walked 10 miles to school, in the snow, uphill, both ways,” that is kind of true when it comes to Cecil College student Dallas Stitely.

Not letting the lack of owning a car prevent her from showing up for class, Stitely has been known to lace up her sneakers and make the approximately 10-mile walk between the college’s North East campus and its Elkton Station facility. The 21-year-old music and theater major has also trekked a similar distance from her home in North East to the college’s North East campus, and said she will continue to do whatever it takes to fulfill a commitment she made to herself more than 10 years ago.

“Since I was around 10 years old, I promised myself that I am going to college,” Stitely said. “I feel like if I finish college, my life will be better. I want to make something of myself. If I have to, I will walk to school, no matter how long it takes.”

An aspiring playwright with a dream of a career in London, Stitely said her childhood was “a struggle.” Her parents’ career changes, personal issues and divorce have led to her residing in a number of locations along the East Coast over the years.

“I was born in Cecil County, but I’ve moved around a lot,” she said. “I probably was never in the same school for more than two years. I’m so used to moving and meeting new people that it has become second nature to me.”

Stitely attended North East High School before moving to Virginia, where she graduated from Arcadia High School. Last year, she returned to Cecil County to move in with her father and enroll at Cecil College.

Stitely credits both of her parents with instilling a love of the arts in her. Her father was a guitarist, and her mother was an actress and a songwriter.

“I come from a family of musicians and artsy people,” she said. “I was literally raised on the stage. My mom would have us memorize Shakespeare lines and perform the scenes.

Theater and music are what kept us together.”

Stitely’s grandparents are also aficionados of the arts.

She is a big fan of British movies, television shows and music, and can name about 10 times as many British actors as American ones.

Stitely, who plays the guitar, piano, violin, flute and drums, has acted in a variety of genres, including dramas, comedies and musicals.

A member of the college’s Courtesy photo

Dallas Stitely waits for the bus to pick her up.

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student performing company, Station Players, she played the role of Rosemary in a May production of “Picnic.” She and some of her classmates are planning to create an acting guild as well.

“Cecil’s performing arts program is close-knit and very active,” she said. “I like the small classes and the way the teachers appreciate you.”

When she has a few free moments, Stitely can often be found in the college’s library or hanging out in the student lounge with her friends, some of whom have given her rides to and from class. She has also paid for taxis and was thrilled to hear about Cecil Transit offering a new bus route that connects Perryville, Charlestown, North Continued on Page 63

Courtesy photo

Cecil College student Dallas Stitely arrives at the college’s North East campus on Cecil Transit’s Mid-County Connection.

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Cecil College...

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East and Elkton to Cecil College’s North East campus and Elkton Station. The bus makes several stops per day at both Cecil sites, which is especially helpful to people like her who take classes at the two locations.

Since the inception of the Mid-County Connection in January, Stitely has taken about 60 of the approximately 1,500 rides sold to Cecil College students. She utilized the service about twice per week in the spring semester and was often joined by some of the same students.

“The bus is definitely getting more crowded, and I’ve had some friends join me on it,” Stitely said. “The drivers are very pleasant, and one of them, who frequently drives my route, takes an interest in my life.”

Stitely pays for her classes and bus passes with the money she earns from her job at Wawa. Although she puts in about 40 hours per week, she credits the

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store’s management with being very accommodating around the class schedules of the college students who are employed there.

“I hope I am setting an example for my four younger siblings who are living with our grandparents in Virginia,” Stitely said. “One of my sisters just graduated from high school, and I am trying to convince her to go to college. She is also into theater and music. I told her Cecil has a great program and she should continue her education.”

Stitely, who does have a driver’s license, said her short-term goals are to buy a car, rent an apartment, graduate from Cecil, and keep her job. Although it was not stopping her pursuit of these aspirations, her days of walking down Route 40 have most likely come to an end thanks to Cecil Transit and the support of her classmates and co-workers.

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————|Cecil County Photo Essay|————

Barn Country Celebrating northern Cecil County’s agricultural heritage

Photos by Carla Lucas

By Carla Lucas Correspondent Barns of all shapes, sizes, and colors are found along northern Cecil County’s roads. From major highways to small lanes and twisting roads, follow the crops and in a very short distance. a silo will appear. Nearby are the barns, outbuildings and equipment required to run a farm, whether it’s for cattle, sheep, crops or horses.

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Barns of all shapes

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Photo Essay...

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Barns of all colors

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Photo Essay...

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Around the Farm

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——————|Cecil County Arts|——————

The sweat equity theater The Milburn Stone Theatre has earned a solid reputation on the back of its diversity of shows - from big, colorful musicals to cuttingedge dramas. The audiences are applauding the talent, but behind the stage lights, the success of the company has really been achieved through hard work and dedication

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

I

t is late in the afternoon at the Milburn Stone Theatre on the campus of Cecil College, and the box office phone is practically ringing off the hook.

The company, which completed a successful run of the musical, Tarzan, in September, is now in its second week of The Addams Family, a musical that brings the television characters of Uncle Fester, Gomez, Morticia, Lurch and Wednesday and Thing to living, breathing life. The word of theater travels rapidly in Cecil County and so far, the news on the show is very good -- so throughout her conversation, Production Manager Serenity Rowland secures ticket reservations for the upcoming weekend.

It’s nothing new for Rowland. Over the past several years, a constantly busy box office has become a way

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Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Andrew John Mitchell, left, Lee Lewis, center, and Bob Denton, right, of the Milburn Stone Theatre.

of life for the Milburn Stone Theatre, who has built an outstanding reputation as one of the best community theaters in the Northeast on the strength of power-packed seasons filled with leading musicals and compelling dramas, brought to the stage by some of the best theater talent in the area. The last few seasons have offered a wide scope of productions, including the musicals Young Frankenstein; Spring Awakening; Dinner With Friends; and Shakespeare’s comedy, As You Like It. In addition to Tarzan and The Addams Family, this year’s season will see the thrilling Night of the Living Dead; the family favorite Shrek: The Musical; the drama August: Osage County; and the Broadway sensation, Monty Python’s Spamalot, all coming to the stage at Cecil College.

Productions like these, crafted and designed by a talented troupe of directors, choreographers, set builders and technical designers, have led many local theater

Courtesy photos

Scenes from a recent production of Spring Awakening.

audiences to assume that the Milburn Stone Theatre is a professional theater company. In truth, the company operates as a community theater, whose funding comes from a combination of ticket revenue, individual donations, corporate sponsorships and Cecil College, but those who run the place do not mind the comparison.

“I love it when people say that about us,” Rowland said. “It’s always nice to have that recognition. I think we

strive to operate as a professional theater.”

“Our shop foreman told me once, ‘We don’t view ourselves as doing community theater. We view ourselves as doing theater for the community,’” said Artistic Director Lee Lewis. “That is probably the biggest difference between Milburn and other community theaters in the area. If you treat it like its community theater, it’s going to Continued on Page 74

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be community theater. There’s no one on the entire staff who has ever viewed what we do as community theater.”

The primary mission of any community theater is to come up with the answer to, “Who are we, and how do we wish to go about accomplishing that?” Along with the creative mix of deciding which shows would best define a theater’s mission is the necessity of helping to pay for that definition. For selection committees everywhere, it’s a theatrical juggling match, and in recent years, many community theaters have been taken to task for choosing to load their seasons with edgier works that don’t play to general audiences, while others are criticized for seasons that are top-heavy with surefire chestnuts -- shows that are guaranteed to sell out the house but too often are the nutritional equivalent of a piece of wet kitsch.

The Milburn Stone Theatre has found an effective way of giving audiences the best of both worlds: a potpourri of large-scale, family-based musicals, mainstream comedies and dramas, as well as cutting-edge theater.

“We treat this as a business, an idea that tends to get lost in community theater,” Lewis said. “It’s great to do

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Courtesy photo

In addition to its musical productions, the Milburn Stone Theatre regularly produces a wide variety of comedies and dramas.

the Mickey and Judy thing and say, ‘Let’s do a show in the barn,’ but that’s not realistic. We approach it not only from a creative viewpoint, but from a business standpoint. It’s part of the job to select a money-maker and use it to widen the breadth of your theater’s mission.

You have to realize what the community wants, and in Continued on Page 76

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Theatre...

Continued from Page 74

general, our audiences like “Shrek” and “Tarzan,” for instance. But it’s shows like these that pay for the other side of what we do, which is to produce edgier dramas.”

To some, seeing the plays of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, Sam Shepherd, David Mamet and even Shakespeare are likened to being forced to eat one’s vegetables, but dramas have been and always will be considered the lifeblood of the American theater. At their finest, they are the mirror reflection of the human identity -- its fall and its rise. From the standpoint of box office appeal, however, they are less likely than a popular musical to sell out a house -- namely, the 438-seat theater at Cecil College.

So recently, Lewis and his staff, understanding the need to showcase these works and the plays of contemporary writers, collaborated with Cecil College’s Performing Arts Department to form The Milburn Stone Theatre @ Elkton Station. Tucked into Cecil College’s Elkton campus, the 100-seat theater is opening this year to daring, bold productions of contemporary plays: Walter Kronkite is Dead; Dogfight: The Musical; God of Carnage; Vagina

Courtesy photo

A rehearsal from the production, Avenue Q.

Monologues; Farragut North; as well as an Emerging Artist(s) Showcase.

“Theater is sometimes two very different animals,” said Andrew John Mitchell, Milburn’s director of marketing.

“On one side, you have large musicals. On the other, you have comedies and serious plays. We did a marvelous production of Dinner With Friends at Cecil College last year, but it’s a four-person drama, the type of play

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Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

that appeals to 100 people a night, not 400. At the Elkton stage, it’s still a production by the Milburn Stone Theatre, but it allows us to produce shows that won’t fit the larger stage with a new home.”

The breadth of the Milburn Stone Theatre does not end with its main stage line-up of shows and its cutting-edge plays at Elkton Station. On its main stage at Cecil College, the company is devoting much of its current season to the works of Composer and Lyricist Stephen Sondheim, beginning with Sondheim on Sondheim March, followed

by Follies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company and Merrily We Roll Along.

“We’re doing a whole year of Sondheim, hitting a majority of his most important work,” Mitchell said. “By the time it all wraps up, nearly every major aspect of his work will be covered. If you like Sondheim, then the Milburn Stone Theatre is the place for you.”

A theater production has been compared to a swan; the side of it that we can see is that of pure grace, gliding through the water, while beneath the surface, its feet paddle furiously in order not to drown. Similarly, what audiences at the Milburn Stone Theatre get to see are superb performances complimented by Broadway-level set designs and expert lighting. What they do not see

Courtesy photo

The Milburn Stone Theatre draws its acting talent from the community.

are, essentially, the legs of the swan -- the late nights spent in rehearsal; the endless hours spent building sets; the heated discussions between directors and actors and choreographers; and the machinations of somehow getting it to flow in perfect harmony, even if it takes all weekend.

If there is an unworn hat of duty during the production Continued on Page 78

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of any Milburn show, someone who is already wearing several other hats will often pick it up and place it on their head.

“Every single person in this building wears many more than just one hat, often more than two,” said Tyler Bristow, production assistant and master electrician. “It’s a lot of late nights and a lot of cups of coffee. There are times when we’re all just at each others’ throats, but at the end of the day, we somehow get it all done. We’re constantly challenging ourselves to do more shows, to be better at what we do.

“Because we’ve been experiencing a growing success rate, we’re taking on the challenge of building other sets while another show is still going on,” Bristow added.

“The real challenge isn’t building The Addams Family, but building other sets and holding rehearsals while The Addams Family is currently on the stage.”

Rowland, in addition to serving as the theater’s production manager, stage managed The Addams Family.

During the run of Tarzan, she not only performed her regular job, but was a production manager for the show

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Courtesy photo

The Milburn Stone Theatre regularly produces family musicals.

and was one of the lead actors.

“You don’t last long here as a director, as a choreographer as a backstage crew or an employee, if it’s just a job to you,” Lewis said. “You have to be willing to give your blood, sweat and tears to make the product that we do.

A lot of it comes from the staff. We want each production we do to be better than the one we did before. We

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Regular Hours: Friday – Sunday, 1 - 5 PM April – October Free Admission

Courtesy photos

Scenes from a recent production of Rent.

always joke after each production, ‘Well, how do we build the next show bigger than the last?’”

There is a moment Bristow gets to experience with every production he is involved in -- a moment he knows is shared between the dozens of people responsible for acting, directing, choreography, lighting and sound, set construction, and running the box office.

“It’s a sense of accomplishment we feel after the show’s set is finally completed, and we begin to see the numbers going up in tickets sales,” he said. “It’s that moment you know that these people are about to see and appreciate all of the effort that you’ve spent the last month losing sleep over...the feeling of satisfaction that everything is working the way it should. It overpowers the amount of dread and difficulty of tech week, the times when you swear to yourself that this is going to be the very last show you’ll be involved in.

“Somehow, every time, all of our hard work pays off in the end.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

Their Biggest Season Yet The Milburn Stone Theatre is located at One Seahawk Drive on the campus of Cecil College in North East, Md. 21901. The Milburn Stone Theatre @ Elkton Station is located at Cecil College-Elkton Station, 107 Railroad Avenue, Elkton, Md. 21901.

The Milburn Stone Theatre Box office is open at Cecil College Mondays through Fridays, from noon to 5 p.m.

For complete information about the 2014-15 season at the Milburn Stone Theatre, call 410-287-1937, or visit www.milburnstone.org. www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

79

——————|Around Cecil County|—————

Fair Hill a picture of pink for Poker Prance Annual trail ride benefits breast cancer awareness and research

By Nancy Johnson Correspondent

A

gainst a colorful backdrop on a picture-perfect, mid-October day, Fair 2014 participants Hill was awash in pink as an unprec- who pre-registered edented 388 riders took to the trails received this beautiful for Oxford Feed & Lumber’s Pink 50 embroidered saddle pad. This rider added Poker Prance, a benefit for breast cancer her own bedazzled All photos by Nancy Johnson pink ribbon.

Pony power at the 2014 Pink 50 Poker Prance. awareness and research.

The annual Poker Prance began in 2010 as one of more than 50 events that the Purina com- many of the participants. They are riding for a friend or pany co-sponsored with their dealers nationwide. The family member who had breast cancer, or maybe is still purpose of Purina’s Pink 50 Campaign was to reach out battling the disease.” to women in rural America and raise awareness about A registrant handed Marie a $50 bill for her registration. breast cancer, and raise money for research programs. Though the fee was $30, which included a T-shirt, goodThe fundraisers took many forms, including barbeques, ie bag and lunch, the woman did not want any change tack swaps and trail rides. back. “I want to add it to the donation. I know several “It was such a hit that first year and everyone asked people with this awful disease,” she said. us to continue it, so we have,” explained the Drennen The ride is not timed or competitive -- it’s just a leisurebrothers, Chris and Larry, of Oxford Feed & Lumber. “It’s ly ride at the rider’s own pace. Most riders spend about just gotten bigger and better as people bring their friends an hour enjoying the spectacular countryside of Fair Hill. along for this fun event for a great cause.”

Many prizes are awarded, including five gift cards that As she was registering participants on the morning of are presented to the “most pink” horse and rider teams. the event, Marie Drennen said, “This is very personal for Many horses were painted or dyed pink -- sometimes 80

Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

Aimee Hall of Middletown, Del. and Gina Kisielewski of Chesapeake City, Md., dressed as brides with their horses as their grooms.

just the mane and tail, and sometimes the whole horse.

Pink polo wraps and bell boots were popular, too, and dozens of horses wore pink braids or even tolerated pink hats or big tail bows.

Melanie Guerrera, 14, of Oxford, began dressing herself and her horse, Breena, at 6 a.m. “I have two aunts that are breast cancer survivors,” she said. “So I am doing this for them, and to have fun with my friends.”

Breena, who according to Melanie, “does everything from barrels to jumps,” was a bit more difficult to make pink. According to her mother, the teenager did the entire costume herself. “All I did was buy the stuff,” her mother said.

When it comes to buying things for their costumes, best friends Aimee Hall of Middletown, Del., and Gina Kisielewski of Chesapeake City, Md., went thrift shopping. The two dressed as brides in full-length gowns, and the horses were the grooms in tuxedos.

“Absolutely everything that we and our ‘grooms’ are wearing came from Goodwill, so we are entering their Halloween costume contest as well,” Aimee said.

Gina explained their theme. “Horses are the only ‘stable’ men in our lives, so we decided to put them in tuxes and make it official,” she said.

The women were participating in the Poker Prance for the first time, but they are already planning to ride again next year. Aimee’s sister is a breast cancer survivor, while Gina’s friend, Sue Goodman, is currently battling the disease. Lynn Ashby, a trainer at Delaware Park, is also fighting breast cancer, and she was in the thoughts of both Aimee and Gina at the ride. “This is just a great

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Cecil County Life A Chester County Press Publication

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Poker Prance...

Continued from Page 81

way for us to support our friends and families,” Sue said.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” said Debbie Oxnard of Denton, Md., who is a breast cancer survivor.

She covets her Pink 50 Poker Prance T-shirts – all five of them, one for every year of the fundraiser.

“This is just a magnificent event,” Oxnard said. “So much work goes into this, with the prizes, raffles, lunch -- and it is so appreciated.”

“I’m a survivor, but now I am going through round two,” Oxnard said. “My sister was stage four and now she is clean. It is hard for you to realize what this event means to people who have gone through it.”

Diane Drennen explained, “There were many weeks of preparatory work and meetings in the planning for this event. All of that behind-the-scenes work is why we have such a successful day.”

The poker part of the ride is that each rider gets five cards along the route, making up a poker hand. The five riders who have the best hand each receive a gift card Continued on Page 84

All photos by Nancy Johnson

Melanie Guerrera, of Oxford, created a unique costume for herself and her horse, Breena.

Breast cancer survivor Debbie Oxnard of Denton, Md., has ridden in every Pink 50 Poker Prance.

This participant focused on her pony’s lovely long mane, to display her pink in fine fashion.

www.cecilcountylife.com | Fall/Winter 2014 | Cecil County Life

83

Poker Prance...

Continued from Page 83

to spend at Oxford Feed & Lumber, or the Drennen family’s other stores, Brandywine Ace Pet & Farm in West Chester, and Pets & Friends in Jennersville.

Five additional winners, drawn at random from all the participants’ entry forms, received five bags of premium Purina horse feed.

And even for those who don’t ride or couldn’t attend the Poker Prance, tickets for raffle prize baskets were available about a month prior to the ride. Each basket was valued at several hundred dollars or more.

“It’s a labor of love for the whole family and staff, but when we see the field fill up with trailers, we feel very proud and all agree it’s worth it,” said Larry Drennen.

Chris Drennen added, “Looking at a turnout like this, I can’t imagine not holding this event. It means so much to so many people.”

84

All photos by Nancy Johnson Clockwise from above left:

Real men do wear pink – especially at the Poker Prance.

The horses were amazingly tolerant of the pink garb.

This gorgeous Gypsy Vanner horse was even prettier in pink.

A lovely headdress and rider in pink tutu were especially attractive on this gray horse.

Cecil County Life | Fall/Winter 2014 | www.cecilcountylife.com

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