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Wednesday, November 21, 2007 • St. Mary’s County, Maryland

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CWSP Public Hearing The St. Mary’s County Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan went to public hearing Tuesday with no new property additions, however a correction for Andover Estates has been updated to include the maps and text of the plan, according to Jeff Jackman in land use and growth management.

New Position for Wicomico Golf Club

No Tri-County Partnership

Photo Courtesy of Leonardtown Commissioners

Members of the Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Depatment preparing Christmas Tree in Leonardtown.

Work Release Man Faces New Charges Detectives with the St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Investigations arrested a convicted sex offender Monday on charges that he allegedly exposed himself to a 6-year-old girl Nov. 15. Vernon John Gifford, 62, of Lexington Park has been charged with child abuse and child abuse by sexual exploitation.

Gifford, who was on work release from the county detention center, has had his work privileges revoked, according to a BCI press release.

Op.-Ed .......... Page A - 4 Obituaries..... Page A - 9 Community... Page B - 4 Police ............ Page B - 7 Classifieds..... Page B - 9

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John Gatton, Jr., a member of the Hollywood Volunteer Rescue Squad, can remember when he was a boy how community members would gather around a 30-foot tree on Mervell Dean Road and decorate it for Christmas.

The tree is no longer there, Gatton said, but the desire to celebrate that same community spirit at one of the most special times of the year still burns bright in Hollywood.

The Hollywood volunteers have taken steps to make sure that their tree lighting ceremony this year will be more memorable than in years past with a high quality, 24-foot artificial tree that is ready to be decorated for their Dec. 2 ceremony.

“The trees haven’t been really full of lights and decorations,” Gatton told The County Times. “So we wanted to see if we could do something different this year.”

Bill Mattingly, president of the Hollywood volunteer firefighters, said the tree will be lighted outside this year, which will be the first time as the fire department’s trees have traditionally been lit inside the bays.

The tree, purchased from a company called Bethlehem Lighting, cost $10,000. The funds all came from sales of a 2008 calendar from the firehouse and from community donations, Mattingly said.

“This was one way to give back to the community, since we ask them to support us year-round,” Mattingly said. “It’s the community’s tree.”

Aside from the cookies and See Christmas page A-10

Students Still Share Textbooks

By Adam Ross Staff Writer

If you have a car, the Internet can help you find your way from point A to point B. Now, a tri-county initiative to provide pertinent route and connection information online for public transportation users is on the docket. However, the St. Mary’s Board of County Commissioners voted down funding their portion, despite Charles and Calvert Counties formal funding commitments.

Thank You!

Community Christmas Tree Lightings

-Dave Tallman SMR Basketball Coach

The Commissioners are expected to consider creating a banquet supervisor position for Wicomico Shores Golf Course Tuesday, who would jumpstart the banquet operation made possible by the clubhouse renovation. The position is brought on by eliminating the full-time assistant golf course manager from the course’s budget, although an assistant manager will still work full-time hours on a part-time pay scale, according to Phil Rollins, director of recreation parks and services.

•

Bringing a textbook home can’t always make a great student, but it can break one. While there is no current textbook shortage in St. Mary’s public schools, according to representatives from public schools’ central administration, there are a number of students sharing books instead of having their own assigned to them for the school year.

In high schools for instance, U.S. History textbooks in 9th and 11th grades act in a similar capacity to movie rentals. Students don’t have individually assigned textbooks to use at their leisure, but rather leave them behind when the bell rings.

Several high school career and technology education courses, health courses and English courses utilize a number of books, some of which are left behind in school each day. At the elementary school level, students in grades 3-5 don’t regularly bring home books in reading and language arts, and music classes, some reading materials are shared between the classes. In county middle schools, some books remain locked up in schools for reading and language arts classes, and ancient history books.

“

There’s heart burn with a course like history that cannot provide a textbook everyday” -Cathy Allen, Member Board of Education

Although in all cases, books are available to be checked out on request.

“There’s heart burn with a course See Textbooks page A-

Second Murder Indictment In A Week

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer St. Mary’s County criminal investigators have indicted two men in separate murder cases that both occurred last summer; one for the brutal bludgeoning of the owner of a hair salon and the other for a stabbing.

William Marcus White III, 32, of Mechanicsville was indicted last week for the alleged June 2006 murder of Robert Martin Phipps, the owner of the Hairtasia salon in Charlotte Hall as was Eric Antonio Brooks for the killing of Edmond Travis Copeland during a verbal altercation that turned into a fight August of last year.

Investigators with the St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Investigations have taken their time in looking into White’s alleged involvement in the Phipps murder when they learned that White had been arrested, convicted and is currently serving time for bank robbery in Missouri.

“That gave us time to build our case,” said Lt. Rick Burris, commander of BCI. “We knew he wasn’t going See Murder page A-

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The County Times

Section A -

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The children who take part in the program are referred mostly by the county public school system, but also by churches and community organizations.

“We’ll pretty much take referrals from anywhere,” Stanalonis said.

On the morning of Dec. 22, police officers from the county sheriff’s office, Maryland State Police, Department of Natural Resources and even the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service will pick up their assigned child and drive them to the Wildewood Shopping Center where they will meet and caravan down to Wal-Mart to begin their shopping day, Raddatz said.

It should make for quite a sight, he added, if there are as many law enforcement officers that day as there are children in need.

“This is the only time 100 police vehicles will be out with their lights and nothing bad is happening,” Raddatz said.

Stanalonis said the Shop with a Cop program could help encourage disadvantaged youth, who are at a high risk of engaging in criminal behavior as they get older, have a better relationship with the police that could steer them away from bad decisions.

“We’re hoping that kids who have been in this program will have a better relationship with the police because sometimes they can see them as the enemy when in fact they’re trying to help.”

Cops Will Take Needy Kids Out For Christmas Cheer

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer This December, for the fifth consecutive year local and regional law enforcement officers will make sure that needy children and their families will not be left out when it comes to getting Christmas presents.

Det. William Raddatz, of the St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said the Shop with a Cop program is still looking for community donations that will allow them to give Christmas gifts to children who ordinarily would not get them.

“The more money we can raise the more kids we’re able to help and the more they can get what they want,” Raddatz told The County Times. “We’ve helped well over 500 kids with this program.”

Raddatz said that children who participate in the program often do not look for toys when they go shopping, but for simple and necessary household items.

He remembered one girl he went shopping with one year who instead of getting toys, despite his encouragement to do so, only wanted to get food for her parents.

Raddatz said the selflessness of that child, and many other children, was heart

wrenching.

“These are kids who are not in trouble,” Raddatz said. “They’re good kids… their parents are just down on their luck right now.”

Raddatz said the program currently has only about $8,000 in its coffers to buy presents for the children, but he hopes to have $35,000 in time for Christmas shopping.

Last year the program was able to raise about $34,000 for children, Raddatz said.

Joseph Stanalonis, assistant state’s attorney and a Shop with a Cop organizer, said the fundraising window, open until Dec. 22, the day police officers escort the children to Wal-Mart to buy their gifts, is fast approaching, but he remains confident that the goal will be reached.

“In past years the community has been very generous,” Stanalonis said.

“Last year we were able to help 131 kids and spend about $250 on each of them.”

Stanalonis said that children who get just household supplies for their family would still be able to get presents.

“We’ve had several kids go into WalMart who’ve filled their baskets with groceries, cleaning supplies and toilet paper,” Stanalonis said. “And then we send them out again to buy toys.”

Law enforcement officers take local needy children out to Wal-Mart for Christmas shopping during the Shop with a Cop program last year. Police officers will do the same for more needy children this year.

Paraeducators Receive Long Awaited Pay Raise

By Adam Ross Staff Writer Around this time last year, paraeducators were scheduled to receive a pay raise, but when the commissioners slashed a final $196,000 from the budget, Superintendent Michael J. Martirano and the board of education decided to put the raises on hold.

On the heals of $2.8 million in health care savings, the board of education has revisited the shortfall that left 150 paraeducators fuming last year, and approved the pay raise.

If the St. Mary’s Board of

County Commissioners lends its approval, the teachers should see increases in their paychecks in March.

The raises will cost St. Mary’s County Public Schools’ roughly $160,000 for the rest of this year, and would be a $300,000 reoccurring cost. This will give paraeducators in St. Mary’s a roughly $2,000 yearly boost in salary, and bring them more in line with salaries in Calvert County. Public schools’ chief financial officer Daniel Carney said sustaining the raise would be a first priority in the fiscal year 2009 budget negotiations.

“We made this commitment some time ago and of course fiscal restraints wouldn’t allow it, but we now have the funding available,” said William M. Mattingly, district 3 board of education member. “Paraeducators are so deserving, I can’t think of a wiser way to use funds from citizens than to give to [them].”

Paraeduactors did receive a 3.8 percent cost of living adjustment and step increases for years of service last year, as required by contract.

The board of education is also moving towards qualification-based pay for

paraeducators instead of position-based salary. A salary study done several years ago recommended this shift to encourage more teachers to attain “highly qualified” status under No Child Left Behind.

“Those people who attain qualification for highly qualified will certainly be rewarded for moving up to higher Para II level,’ Carney said. “And definitely gives incentive to individuals to gain those credentials because one they bring them to human resources it’s just an automatic adjustment [of pay range].”

The rest of the savings will go toward a two-month

insurance premium holiday where all employees and retirees will not see health insurance deductions, and a down payment on $5.4 million of Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) monies owed.

“It’s smart to designate the funds for OPEB,” said board of education member Cathy Allen. “It sends a resounding message to the commissioners and the community that we understand our responsibility and are prepared to meet that responsibility.”

The two-month insurance premium holiday will cost roughly $700,000 of the excess funds administered by

CareFirst. Each year, money not used is refunded to the school system under the selfinsured plan. However, there are cases where the system uses more money than premiums collected. In those cases, the county has to write a check to CareFirst. The board of education did not discuss investing the extra money in case the system comes up short in subsequent years. Last year the school system awarded employees with a one-month premium holiday.

Martirano has remained committed to funding increases for paraeducators, even after taking responsibility last April for cutting it out of the budget.

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The County Times

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Volunteer Services Lack Significant Recruitment and Retention

By Adam Ross Staff Writer Recruitment and retention for volunteer response forces is not keeping pace with county growth, according to data provided by the Emergency Services Committee’s 2007 annual report.

The most recent data is from fiscal year 2006 where the county’s volunteer services have only shown a slight increase in volunteer numbers. From 749 volunteers in 2002 to 866 in 2006, this 16 percent increase will not likely sustain the current response ability as the county grows, according to Robert Bean, secretary of the Emergency Services Committee.

Consequently, missed calls are up. In 2006, the advanced life support unit missed nearly 500 of roughly 3500 emergency calls. The committee hastens that the number is inflated because of Hurricane Ernesto, which increased the overall amount of emergency calls received.

“Recruitment and retention numbers are always the numbers we are concerned with,” Bean said.

The ESC’s presentation showed a stark divide between volunteers with at least four year’s of service versus those with two or three years. The data shows that with four years or more under their belts, volunteers are far more likely to be retained. More volunteers with just two or three years of service are leaving their posts than staying. The data shows just 314 volunteer members retained with one to five

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years of experience.

To combat these losses, ESC is reaching out to the surrounding community for more public support and training, especially in public schools. ESC also offered 14 scholarships in 2007, all of which were utilized by their awardees.

“In previous year we had 28 scholarships, but this year we had 14, and all took advantage and made good use of scholarship funds,” said Keith Fairfax, chairman of the ESC. “ It’s part of getting them in and retaining them for a certain amount of time.

Once you get them in and get

them past the four year mark, I think we can keep them.”

The committee plans to continue its scholarship opportunities into the future, but didn’t make aware other options for increasing recruitment and retention to the commissioners.

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Section A - sides discussed how bringing more towers on line could increase radio coverage for emergency services. Signals are often lost in rural parts of the county, something Fairfax is working closely on with David Zylak, the county’s director of public safety.

Fairfax said it doesn’t make any sense that the volunteers on the street everyday should have to deal with this problem. The two sides discussed looking into using commercial towers across the county to expand coverage. Fairfax is also asking that additional

towers be built, or at least a study on if that would solve the issues.

Three commercial towers currently exist that Zylak said would be considered for emergency use. A presentation from the state on Dec. 5 will look into all the options, Zylak said.

The County Times

Section A -

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Editorial & Opinion A Time For Giving Thanks, For Some Most of us living in St. Mary’s County enjoy the “good life”. We have a place to call home, a car or two to drive, food to put on the table and most anything we want for. For those who struggle paycheck to paycheck or worse, it seems that times are getting tougher. Not to mention that if the State legislators have their way a lot more of us will be in that paycheck to paycheck category when we get hit with an unprecedented array of increased taxes.

It really all comes down to choices, whether they are choices we make ourselves or ones that are made for us by someone else. We all

complain about the price of gas, yet we can still go where we want to. Most of us will pick up our keys and jump in the car whenever we feel like it. Never considering if the trip is really necessary or not. We haven’t all traded in our gas guzzling SUV’s for a hybrid yet.

We complain that we want more shopping choices close to home yet every time we are out on the road we rant about the traffic and how bad it has gotten.

As Rt. 235 has developed with one strip shopping center after another, and the existing stores supersize, we have heard over and over that we don’t want

to be another Waldorf. Yet there is always one more store or restaurant we just have to have.

To make room for those additional shopping and dining choices something else has to go. Recently two of the last handful of remaining mobile home parks are being vacated to make room for new development. Have you stopped to think where those 164 families who call National and White Oak Mobile Home Parks their home are going to go? The rules say no new mobile home parks can be built and the existing ones are near capacity.

Many of these residents worked and worked to be

To The Editor: Thanks for Giving!

Dear Editor:

As Thanksgiving and Holiday season are here again, family and friends gather to give thanks for their good fortune over the past year. The Southern Maryland Chapter would like give thanks to our volunteers who so generously give their time, energy and spirit and to our financial donors who enable us to effectively carry out our mission to provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. Hundreds of volunteers and members of our community have given their energy, talent and generosity over the past year to help those in need. As a result, your Southern Maryland Chapter was able to provide disaster relief to over 200 family members, victims of local disasters, and over 90 house fires that have affected our area. When there is a single family fire our volunteers are there as the first responders are leaving the remains of the home, to provide comfort, and arrange shelter, food and clothing. When the remnants of hurricane’s come through or mass power outages during our winter months occur chapter volunteers opened shelters, and provided a safe place to stay until the danger passed and our volunteers were there providing food, clothing and shelter to many others that were further affected by other disasters in our region. With donated time, they taught members of our community life-saving skills such as CPR, first aid and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training. They also taught your children how to swim, educated your neighbors about disaster preparedness and provided worldwide emergency communications for local military personnel and their families. These vital services would not have been possible without the valuable contributions of our financial donors. Together, our volunteers and donors are the heart and soul of the American Red Cross. You turn America’s caring and concern for the victims of disaster into immediate action. Whether the disaster is a single-family fire or a highly-publicized hurricane, flood or act of terrorism, we thank our volunteers and donors who stand ready to provide vital relief services to our community. It is your continuous commitment to providing warmth and support to other members of our community for which we at the Southern Maryland Chapter are so thankful. Have a safe and happy holiday season, and know that you, employees, volunteers, financial and blood donors have truly made a positive difference in Southern Maryland this year.

Mike Zabko

CEO

Chapter HQ La Plata, MD

Serving All of Southern Maryland

For more information on giving time, money or blood, you can contact the Southern Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross at 888 276 2767, go online to http://SouthernMaryland.

RedCross.org When you help the American Red Cross you help Southern Maryland!

LifeLine2 Dear Southern MD

I started a support group with the help of Father Sal Jordan, he was affiliated with ST. Ignatius Catholic Church in Chapel Point MD. Father has since moved to a new church in NC. Father was involved in the start of the Group LIFE LINE in Washington DC. I borrowed the idea and translated it to include friends and families too. I tried for over a year to get this group to grow; I think perhaps that the place that I chose to have the meeting was too far for most people to come. I did have a few people come but they never came back more than once or twice. I was having my gatherings down in Chapel Point MD, just a few miles from the VA line down RT 301. Also I feel that another reason is that I am in “ SO MD, the Waldorf Metro area. The feeling around here is that there is not an issue with HIV/AIDS. I know better, spoke to the Charles Co Health Dept, and they have somewhere in the area of 150 cases, but no calls from anyone, I posted flyers there. Spoke to Charles Co DSS, and they say over 300 cases, again no calls. Not sure, am I in the wrong area or the wrong time frame. I do not want to see this end. I keep LL 2 in my heart and on my tongue. I tell anyone that will listen to me about my little idea and dream. I do not want to see this die. What caused me to do this is that I lost my brother Bill to HIV over 3 years ago. When this happened I was looking for a grief group that understood what I was going thru. Most groups the people didn’t understand what I was going thru as the cause of my brother’s death is not one that most people want to hear or understand. Seems that when you say your brother died most people understand and will be very kind and understanding, even touch you. But when you say that your brother died of HIV/ AIDS they take a step back, whether it is a real or emotional step. So I felt excluded from those groups. I wanted others to not have that feeling; the dream is that HIV/AIDS cure is found and that no one else dies from this plague. However this dream is a long time coming the need is there, I feel for the others affected by this condition. WE as the families and friends of those affected need someone to hear us and touch us, just as our friend or family member need it. No this group does not exclude the person that is POZ; I wish it to be there for them also. But in my travels there are no groups for the friends and family members to help them deal with this issue. You can reach us at SOMDLIFELINE@aol.com

Elisa Mills

Hughesville, MD

able to buy a mobile home.

Investing their life savings into it, only to have no where to move their home once the deadline comes for vacating.

Oh and by the way affordable housing is a number one priority for our county. But are the rules government puts in place making affordable housing a possibility? We recently saw the St. Mary’s County Commissioners pass new requirements that anyone building a single family home in an area that has public water will be required to spend several more thousand dollars to put in fire sprinklers. What about our goal to protect

the rural character of St. Mary’s County? This legislation places a larger burden on anyone who chooses to build in our developmental districts. Does that really make good sense?

Is the time right to enact legislation that will increase the price of buying a home? We all know the state of the housing market today. This housing slump has hit many in our area hard and no end is in sight.

Layoffs in the construction field are becoming more and more common. Few homes are being sold. The mortgage crisis has few being able to buy a new home.

This crisis touches us all in one way or another. From

realtors to bankers, laborers to appliance salespeople, engineers and surveyors we are all being affected.

The rules being put in place by our elected officials need to make sense in the big picture, not just to satisfy a few. Scoring points with a vocal group of constituents at the expense of everyone else cannot continue. At some point we all need to realize that we can’t have it all. What is good for some may not be good for others. The choices that we make are not in a vacuum and may have wider effects. The importance of making good choices for ourselves and considering how those choices effect others has never been more crucial.

Congress Should Complete its Work Dear Editor: The following has been sent to Senators Mikulski, Cardin and Representative Hoyer. --- It has come to my attention that Congress has finished work on the money bill for the Veterans Administration, but, you won’t send it to the President for signature for political reasons. Shame on you! You are already 45 days overdue in completing your primary annual task and you continue to delay. Your collective misfeasance in not having completed ALL the budget and appropriations before the beginning of the fiscal year is scandal. Because previous Congresses, too many to count, have been remiss is no excuse. If you were my employee and had nine months to complete your primary task and failed I would fire you. Just what I intend to do next November. Don’t tell me of your good intentions; you know down which road that leads. This is not a private letter. They don’t seem to work. Attached is a recommended Constitutional Amendment which would bring some accountability to our government. Now get to work and complete your PRIMARY task as my elected representative. Stop the bickering and get it done. No excuses.

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES SECTION 1. The annual budget, appropriation and tax laws shall be made law no later than sixty days before the beginning of the fiscal year. SECTION 2. Any other budget, appropriation or tax law which has a period in excess of one year shall be made law at least sixty days prior to its fiscal beginning, except in case of declared war under Article 1, Section 8 or natural disaster.

SECTION 3. Should the Congress and the Executive not complete those actions of Sections 1 and 2 above by the date specified in Sections 1 and 2, none in those elected offices shall be allowed to be elected to a Federal office for twelve years succeeding the end of the term of office in which they are serving. SECTION 4. The beginning of the fiscal year may not be adjusted within ten months prior to its next beginning. SECTION 5. No changes in tax law may be made except in those years not evenly divided by a factor of two, nor be made retroactive. SECTION 6. The budget of the United States shall be in balance in each year the enumeration of the citizens is accomplished as required by Article I, Section 2 and modified by Amendment 14, Section 2, of the Constitution, beginning with the year 2010 or the enumeration after the ratification of this amendment, whichever is later. SECTION 7. Should the requirements of Section 6 not be complied with, all Federal elected officials incumbent at the time shall not be allowed to be elected to any Federal office for fifteen years after said non-compliance.

JIM BLASS MECHANICSVILLE, MD

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The County Times

Section A -

Ramblings of a Country Girl St. Mary's City St. Mary’s City

Christmas Happenings Terri Bartz Bowles The day after Thanksgiving has become a day for shopping; it’s billed as the official start of the holiday shopping season. I don’t particularly care for large crowds of crazed bargain shoppers fighting over this year’s “must have” gift.

You couldn’t pay me to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. But there is one happening the day after Thanksgiving that is definitely on my agenda and that’s Christmas on the Square and the Tree Lighting in Leonardtown.

You must go! It’s a great evening, fun for everyone as the saying goes. There are plenty of things for kids and adults to do; you don’t have to have kids to enjoy yourself. My husband and I are in our fourth decades of life (that sounds a lot better than middle-aged!), don’t have kids and we always have a blast! It starts at 5:00 PM and Santa Claus arrives to light the tree at 7:00 PM. There’s music and Christmas caroling and a live nativity in front of the Church of the Nazarene. Businesses are open and there’s hot cocoa and meeting up with friends. There are horse-drawn carriage rides, sleigh rides and more. The best part, though, is this: fire truck rides! How often do you get the chance to ride in a fire truck? Not often and it is way cool. Everybody is seven years old when they climb up in a fire truck! Get yourself to

Leonardtown on November 23 and have some old-fashioned, small-town fun.

There are so many things to do and so much fun stuff going on now for the holiday season. There are lots of craft shows being held at churches and volunteer rescue squads and firehouses. You should really check these out. These events serve as fund raisers for the sponsoring organizations and let’s keep in mind that rescue squads and fire departments in St. Mary’s County are all volunteer and the churches use these funds to do good works in the community. Plus, the stuff you buy at these craft shows is good, hand-made, local, MADE IN THE USA stuff. What a good gift - you’re supporting local folks and you’re giving your loved ones quality items that were made with love. It’s all good, folks.

You can also shop at the Piney Point Lighthouse Museum for unique gifts or the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum.

And don’t forget all of the locally-owned shops and businesses in the area. All of them host Open Houses with special sales, refreshments, etc. If you’re looking for a shopping experience that is pleasant and personal and less hectic than the big box stores, check out the local shops. You’ll be glad you did.

Sotterley Plantation always hosts Christmas events to support the on-going expenses of maintaining that historic land-

mark. Don’t forget the local farms where you can cut your own Christmas tree. Many of them have other activities as well as beautiful handmade wreaths and other greenery items. If you’re lucky, you live in an area where the fire department comes through your neighborhood with Santa on board. Check the website of your local fire department for details, pour some hot chocolate and get out there and listen for the sirens! It’s as much fun waiting as it is seeing Santa when he arrives. And if you haven’t mailed your annual donation to your local volunteers yet, this would be a great time to hand Santa’s helpers a check.

Lots of churches have concerts and musical programs, too. Let’s not forget the reason for the season. It’s easy to do amid the hustle and bustle but there’s one Gift that’s way more important than any of the gifts on wish lists this year.

Take the time to attend Advent and Christmas services and remind yourself of the greatest gift of all.

This Thanksgiving, eat some turkey, eat some pie and enjoy your family. Then get out there and enjoy the treasures of the season awaiting you in St. Mary’s County.

DATE Fri. Nov. 23 Sat. Nov. 24 Sun. Nov. 25 Mon. Nov. 26 Tue. Nov. 27 Wed. Nov 28 Thu. Nov. 29

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10:30 a.m.

11:27 a.m.

HIGH 12:11 p.m.

1:01 p.m.

1:52 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

3:39 p.m.

4:35 p.m.

5:35 p.m.

LOCATION Breton Bay Bushwood Wharf Colton's Point Point Lookout Piney Point Wicomico Beach Solomons Island

HIGH "+31 min." "+45 min." "+50 min." "+7 min." "+9 min." "+58 min." "+31 min."

LOW "+29 min." "+45 min." "+24 min." "+5 min."

"-8 min." "+63 min."

"-11 min."

LOW 7:01 p.m.

7:54 p.m.

8:47 p.m.

9:39 p.m.

10:31 p.m.

11:23 p.m.

12:15 a.m.

You can email the Country Girl at countrygirlramblings@gmail.com

Odd News BEIJING - A French climber scaled part of a mountain in southern China using only his bare hands, months after he was banned from the country for clambering up Shanghai’s tallest building without permission. The man is nicknamed “Spiderman,” but his name is Alain Robert, and he is known for scaling the world’s tallest buildings. This time Robert scaled 656 feet near the top of the Hunan province’s Tianmen Mountain without equipment Sunday, official Xinhua news agency said. This time the climber was hailed for accomplishment, instead of being arrested. He had previously spent five days in a Shanghai jail and was banned from China for five years in June.

He had received the sentence for scaling the eastern city’s famed Jin Mao tower while dressed in a spiderman costume. He has also climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York, all without safety precautions.

NEW YORK – After a Manhattan restaurant unveiled a record-breaking $25,00 dessert last week, it was forced to shut its doors with a mice and cockroach infestation. Serendipity 3 on the Upper East Side failed its second consecutive health inspection in a month on Wednesday. Officials found a live mouse, mouse droppings in multiple places, flies and dozens of live cockroaches, the health department said. Meanwhile, the restaurant had set a Guinness world record on November 7 for the most expensive dessert when it partnered with luxury jeweler Euphoria New York to create “Frrozen Haute Chocolate,” a blend of 28 cocoas fused with 0.2 ounces of edible 23-karat gold. The dessert also comes with an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds at the base of the goblet. The sundae is topped with whipped cream and covered with more gold. It also comes with a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound in stores. There is also a $1,000 ice cream sundae on the menu called Golden Opulence.

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The County Times

Section A -

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Missionary Hopes Artwork Will Raise Proceeds For Evangelism

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer Cathy East, a former St.

Mary’s County resident, has been spreading the Christian gospel since 2003 with her husband David on the streets

of Southeast D.C., and now in the rural lands of the Yakima American Indian Reservation in Washington State.

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Photo by Guy Leonard

Denise Cox, of Waldorf, shows off some of the photographs taken by her friend and artists Cathy East at the Room With a Brew coffeehouse in Leonardtown Nov. 17. East, who is a missionary to the Yakima Indian reservation in Washington state hopes proceeds from the art sales will help their ministry.

PUBLIC NOTICE

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REMERCHANDISING RELINQUISHMENT NOTHING HELD BACK!

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But she has not forgotten about Southern Maryland; through her artwork as a photographer shooting both scenic Pacific vistas and life on the streets alike, she wants to evoke emotion in those who view her work. “I’ve always been interested in art as a child,â€? East said. “I started taking photos in Southern Maryland‌ I try to reflect how I feel in my picture.â€?

In sharing her work with friends and family members over the past several years, and having it on exhibit at the College of Southern Maryland in La Plata, where she studied and worked for a time, she was encouraged to share her art work more and more, she said.

East’s mother, sister and close friend put some of her work on display Nov. 17 at the Room With a Brew coffeehouse in Leonardtown with the proceeds targeted to helping her ministry work with the International Four Square church.

East, 52, was still on the West Coast, handing out turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner to the needy on the reservation, she said.

But her friend Denise Cox, of Waldorf, was happy to show visitors around through East’s work, which includes dazzling photos of nature like trees covered with ice and snow and trees sporting their autumn foliage. “A lot of her shots are taken out of her front door,�

Cox said of her friend’s scenically rich home. “It’s amazing.�

May Wolfe, of Bryantown, East’s mother and herself an artist in oil and acrylic paints, said she missed her daughter while she was so far from home, but felt more connected to her through her work.

East said getting people to feel deep emotions was what her work was all about. “I hope that it will evoke some feeling with them, that they’ll feel some kind of connection,� East told The County Times. “I hope they’ll walk away from it either happy or reflective.�

East said she knows what to shoot with her camera when she herself is stirred emotionally. “I’ll observe and look and if something connects with me then I hope to grab it through the lens,� she said.

The County Times

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Section A - Chopticon, Leonardtown, and Great Mills are overcrowded by 183 seats combined, two thirds of that from Leonardtown. But they are the only schools currently overcrowded.

Part of the task force’s recommendations was to consider paying for new schools out of the county’s checkbook, but the commissioners haven’t shown much support for that notion.

“We share your emphasis in a

County Still Considering Growth Policy

By Adam Ross Staff Writer There just aren’t enough school seats to go around in St. Mary’s, according to a task force of community members studying the impact of growth on the county’s infrastructure.

It was almost a year ago when a task force of community members learned that school overcrowding was the culprit of a windfall of new home constructions springing up in rural areas. Naturally, the county stirred with discontent.

School overcrowding and rural integrity are of paramount significance to the community, and both have been compromised by unequal state rules for funding new school constructions. When schools’ lack open seats it acts as an emergency shut off valve in the county’s three development districts. Some homes are shuffled to the rural preservation district (RPD), but most are kept waiting – roughly 3,575 are awaiting approval today.

But there’s also a disparity of major subdivisions stuck in the planning stage, which may take 10 or more years to be built, if at all, leaving many school seats unavailable with no actual bodies in sight.

“If a development is approved for 300 homes, APF turns all of those seats over at the same time,” said Kimberly Howe, supervisor of capital planning for St. Mary’s pub-

lic schools’, earlier this year in reference to public misconceptions of overcrowding. “We see the students coming in gradually over time, and the APF accounts for children that might not enter the district sometimes 13 years down the road.”

Meanwhile, the APF task force sees a 1.86 percent increase in student enrollment and 2.09 percent increase in county population over the last four years as evidence of future issues. Although a slowing in the housing market suggests a tapering off of those trends.

The task force contends that the only way to combat this abyss of mismanagement is to adopt a growth policy that will responsibly reopen the development districts to construction, and allow public schools’ to accumulate students slowly over time so that they can qualify for state funding to build new schools. Denis D. Canavan, director of the county’s land use and growth management department said he favors an adoption of a growth policy, as well.

“Managing growth means to bring into alignments the rate of growth with the rate of provision of infrastructure to support the growth,” said Ford L. Dean, a member of the community based Adequate Public Facilities Task Force, which made five recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners as part of its proposal. “The central question for today’s meeting is where do we go from here?”

The flagship recommendation build a new middle school until from the task force is to adopt a 2012, and high school until 2015. county growth policy of 2.25 per- “The Leonardtown school district cent. The 2.25 percent would allow will continue to be closed down for for 804 homes to be built out of the another 8 years with respect to high que each year. There’s been whis- school capacity if we continue to calpers that 2.25 percent may be too aggressive of a number, and that many of the project plans currently stuck in land use and growth management’s long, tenuous process, will likely not be developed.

“The 2.25 percent is not to be an iron clad number,” said John A. Candela, chairman of the APF task force, “but to be reestablished every year.”

Meanwhile, a 3 to 2 vote by the planning commission earlier this year favored allowing 60 percent of the yearly growth to be built in the development district and 40 percent in the RPD. The task force’s original recommendation was for a 70-30 split.

Photo Courtesy of BOE The commissioners authorized Denis D. Canavan Tuesday to begin Artist rendering of Evergreen Elementary School. A County’s second new elementary school drafting the text amendments to the to be built in the past five years. county’s comprehensive zoning or- culate school capacity in accord with sense of urgency to get this done,” dinance to adopt the growth policy. current zoning regulations,” Dean Commission President Francis Jack Once the verbiage is worked out a said.

Russell (D-Point Lookout) said to series of public hearings and discusIn order to receive state funding Dean and Candela. “St. Mary’s sion will begin. The planning com- for new schools, schools need to be County has been working on this for mission is also expected to vote on overcrowded enough to accommo- a long time.” the specific recommendations again, date for 50 percent of the proposed The APF task force first met in once they are drawn up from Land schools’ enrollment, with the other January of 2006. It involves memUse and Growth Management.

50 percent projected to be enrolled bers from the community, business Without adopting a growth poli- by the time the school is up and owners, public schools’ staff, and cy, the public school system projects running. county government representatives. it won’t have enough to students to The three county high schools,

Environmentalists Appeal To Higher Court

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer The Potomac River Association has filed an appeal in the state Court of Special Appeals after losing a case in which they accused the St. Mary’s County Government of deliberately disobeying its own soil erosion ordinances involving the Myrtle Point housing development.

The group took the county to court in May over a Board of Appeals decision earlier that year that said the Department of Public Works did not err in issuing grading permits to developer P.F. Summers to build on six disputed lots.

The Potomac River Association claimed that the six lots in question each had a grade

slope of greater than 15 degrees, in violation of the county’s own steep slopes law.

Circuit Court Judge C. Clarke Raley ruled Oct. 24 that the Board of Appeals was not in error with its decision and denied the PRAs petition claiming it was erroneous.

“It’s kind of silly,” said Erik Jansson, president of the PRA. “He didn’t accept the wording of the ordinance.

“That’s why we’re appealing it; the wording is very clear.”

Raley’s opinion on the case, which came after six months of looking it over and reviewing the arguments, stated that the ordinance read that neither a lot nor a parcel as a whole could be greater than 15 degrees in slope.

Too Many Left Behind At Great Mills

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer A study conducted by Johns Hopkins University using student enrollment data from the federal government showed that Great Mills High School was one of about 1,700 high schools across the nation that had promoted just 60 percent or less of its students to the senior ranks over a three year period.

The study, from the university’s Center for Social Organization of Schools, claimed that schools that had such low promotion power rates were in danger of becoming or exhibited signs of what researchers dubbed “dropout factories.”

“That can be considered a harsh term, but it’s indicative of a lot of dropouts,” said Mary Maushard, spokesman for the university regarding the study. “When the number of seniors is far fewer than the number of freshmen three years before, that’s an indicator the school is losing a significant number of students.

“And most of these students, research shows, are dropouts.”

Maushard said that there were

Textbooks Continued from page A-

extenuating circumstances that could explain why so few students were making it to their senior year from 2004 up to 2006, the length of the study.

Students transferring inside the district or to other school systems could be one explanation, she said.

So far 16 schools have been removed from the list compiled by the Johns Hopkins researchers, Maushard said, and researchers were looking over their findings to ensure no schools were on the list unnecessarily.

The three-year length of the study was designed to weed out any one event that might impact a schools promotion rate, such as a new school opening that would draw out a significant number of students, Maushard said.

The data for Great Mills high, she said, denoted a steady pattern.

“The school had 60 percent of its 9th graders make it to 12th grade,” Maushard said. “It looks like a consistent number of students are leaving.”

Data compiled in the Johns Hopkins study showed that for the Class of 2006 there were originally 569 students; that number dwindled down to

The county was correct in allowing the development to move forward, Raley confirmed in his opinion, because the entire parcel that included the six disputed lots was acceptable regarding grading according to the ordinance.

County Attorney Christy Holt Chesser said that the county is preparing to engage in the legal proceedings in the higher court.

Both she and attorneys for the developer argued that their permits to build were legal and that the PRA had selectively ignored the whole ordinance regarding steep slopes and were relying on one sentence to prove their case.

Raley’s October opinion agreed with the defendants’ arguments.

“Both sides will do an appellate brief,” Holt said of the pending case. “We’ll be arguing similar issues as before in the case.

“It will take a while to get through the Court of Special Appeals. It’s not quick.”

Jansson and the PRA first brought the suit in 2006 over concerns that the development of the Myrtle Point land was causing massive soil

333 by the time those students reached their senior year.

Other schools observed around the nation were able to promote as many as 95 percent of their students from the freshman ranks to the 12th grade, Maushard said.

Kathleen Lyon, director of Pupil Services for St. Mary’s County Public Schools, said administrators were aware of the study and its potential impact and were already taking steps to increase student retention in high schools.

A middle school task force was finishing up its work on how to better serve students so they could adapt to the change in environment once they reached high school, Lyon said, and a high school task force would be forming soon to examine how best to keep students in high school grades.

“Attendance is a significant key to success in high school,” Lyon said.

“A 60 percent promotion rate is a significant issue; we are concerned about the retention rates.”

The latest data from the state Department of Education Web site mdreportcard.org shows that Great Mills High School has an 82.8 percent graduation rate with a 4.38 percent dropout rate. While attendance remains high at about 88 percent sta-

like history that cannot provide a textbook everyday,” said Cathy Allen, a board of education member, and parent who has suffered trying to answer homework questions for her children without ref-

erence to a textbook.

Dr. Charles Ridgell, public schools’ director of curriculum and instruction, who oversees the purchasing and implementation of textbooks, says students are welcome to check books out from the class sets. In some cases, there are extra books that a student can check out for the entire year, Ridgell said. But there are obvious disadvantages to this system, according to Allen, who asked that teachers offer more class time for homework. Ridgell maintains that there are advantages to using class sets, but that it depends on the kind of book and how it is used in class. While it would not be impossible to have individually assigned books for each student in all subjects, Ridgell said it’s not necessarily priority number one.

Most of the board of education members said they were satisfied with the current system.

“It’s reassuring to know that a student will have a textbook and can take a textbook home if they need [one],” said Mary M. Washington, district 4 board of education member. “Not every student will need to take one home.”

erosion into nearby creeks and streambeds.

Local residents also complained that they believed that the P.F. Summers development was responsible for the erosion of the soil, which residents said was so light that it was easily washed away by rain.

Jansson has also argued that if the courts did not rule in favor of the PRA’s position that they would be endangering land throughout the county that had steep slopes and soil that was eroded easily.

“It’s going to fill up all our waterways on the Patuxent [River] side,” Jansson claimed of development of steep slopes allowed by the court’s decision. “That soil is so light.”

Jansson has said that the PRA could not afford to file for an injunction to stop the Woods at Myrtle Point development from proceeding ahead as planned and so pinned the PRA’s hopes to the lawsuit.

In the meantime the development of the six disputed lots has continued.

tistics do show that the there is a high degree of student mobility at Great Mills — students who are transferring in or re-entering school between September and June — of about 12.7 percent.

At Chopticon and Leonardtown high schools the dropout rate is much lower, at 1.35 percent and 1.98 percent respectively according to the latest data. Their percentages of student mobility are also lower at a little less than 8 percent.

Lyon said that despite concerns about retaining students at Great Mills High School, the school had made progress in reducing its dropout

rate as well as its performance on the High School Assessments tests.

“It still has much more of a way to go,” Lyon said of Great Mills. “But it’s on the right track.”

Great Mills was the only county high school listed on the Johns Hopkins University study. Thirteen high schools from across the state made it on to the list, with three from Prince George’s County, five from Baltimore City, two from Talbot County and one each from Anne Arundel and Washington counties.

Among 1,700 high schools across the nation, Great Mills had promoted just 60 percent or less of its students

Class sets at both the middle and high school levels include supplemental reading materials, including novels, trade books, and short texts. In U.S. History, where textbooks have to be replaced in two years, teachers decided through a Social Studies Workgroup to use class sets instead of purchasing 1,600 additional textbooks.

“Such a purchase was determined to be an inefficient use of resources,” according to the annual 2006-2007 public schools’ textbook report.

The same textbook report said career and technology education courses in high school would be better served by class sets because the courses require constant updates to a “rapidly changing body of content.”

“As a result, students are best served through the use of class sets of instructional materials that reflect the national and state standards used to develop the curricula as well as through the use of current and topical software programs,” the report goes on to read.

Public schools’ has increased its spending on textbooks greatly over the last three years. In 2006, St. Mary’s spent $672,483 on the purchasing of textbooks, compared to just $142,892 spent in 2003. For 2007, public schools’ has spent over $564,000, and still counting.

However, most of the money spent on textbooks is on additional students coming into the system. Needs are determined on enrollment projections for the following school year, but additional books are often needed after the school year starts.

Section A -

The County Times

Health Department Tops In The State The St. Mary’s County Health Department’s Medical Transportation Program got top honors from the state Monday for transporting people to medical appointments who could not on their own. Last year health department drivers transported 1,241 patients to and from appointments for a total of 206,534 miles according to a health department release.

Did You Know?

The tradition of professional football on Thanksgiving Day is now more than 80 years old.

Thanksgiving football is most associated with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. Both teams host a game each Thanksgiving. However, the Turkey Day tradition actually dates back to the National Football League’s first season in 1920, when the league was known as the American Professional Football Association (APFA). In fact, while Thanksgiving football is now limited to just three games (a third game was added in 2006), in the league’s first year a total of six games featuring APFA teams were played on Thanksgiving Day in 1920, a concept that would surely thrill today’s football fans. The Lions have the longest running Turkey Day tenure, having hosted a game every year since 1934 (excluding the years 1939 to 1944, when the game was not played due to World War II). The Lions’ involvement in the game is due to former owner G.A. Richards, who volunteered his team to play onThanksgiving as a means of increasing sagging attendance.

If Richards were around today, chances are he might volunteer his team to play on every holiday, as the Lions boast a 33-31-2 mark on Thanksgiving Day, compared to a 448-513-30 in regular season games not played on Turkey Day.

Murder Continued from page A- to be a threat.”

Police were called out to the Hairtasia salon in Charlotte Hall June 26 of last year, according to BCI information, and found Phipps, 61, of Aquasco dead from wounds to his head.

A passerby that day reported seeing a body lying on the floor of the hair salon and alerted the police that a robbery might have taken place.

States Attorney Richard Fritz said that DNA was one piece of evidence that he said linked White to Phipp’s killing.

Fritz said that there was enough evidence to convict White of the crime, though the exact motive of the killing had yet to be determined.

“Often times in these cases it remains unclear why a person acts out the way he acts out,” Fritz said. “We can obviously place him at the location… forensic information leads us to

Wednesday, November 21, 2007 believe it was him.

“I believe we have enough to go before a jury.”

Fritz said that it could take about a month or slightly more to get White back from his incarceration in Missouri. His office is working out extradition details now, he said.

White faces charges of first-degree murder, seconddegree murder, first-degree assault, manslaughter and carrying a dangerous weapon with the intent of doing bodily harm.

In the second case, Brooks, 19, of California is accused of stabbing to death a former corrections officer from Virginia during an altercation on Mako Way in Lexington Park last August.

According to charging documents filed last year in St. Mary’s County District Court, Copeland, the victim, became involved in an argument with a friend of Brooks, which soon turned into a brawl.

According to charging documents Brooks initially denied knowing about any stab-

bing that resulted from the melee but later admitted, charging documents allege, to stabbing Copeland twice with a kitchen knife.

Charging documents allege that Brooks admitted also to hiding the alleged murder weapon under a flowerpot.

Brooks was eventually released from detention for his alleged crime that year and remained free.

However, a warrant for Brooks was issued by the county Circuit Court Nov. 18 on charges of first and second degree murder.

“The case had a lot of moving parts that had to be investigated before anyone was charged,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel of the time taken to get the indictment.

Copeland’s murder was the fourth homicide in the county last year; so far there has been only one homicide in St. Mary’s this year.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The County Times

Section A -

Obituaries Mary “Alice” Beitzell, 95 Mary “Alice” Beitzell McWilliams, 95, of Clements, Md. died Nov. 15, in St. Mary’s Nursing Center. Born July 27, 1912 in El Centro, Calif., she was the daughter of the late Charles Henry and Lelia “Lillie” Virginia Cheseldine Beitzell and the stepdaughter of the late Mary Ida Cheseldine . She was the loving wife of the late George McWilliams, Jr. who preceded her in death of November 5, 1992. She is survived by her children; George McWilliams III and his wife Bobbie of Avenue, Md., Mary Alice McWilliams Muir and her husband Michael of Trumbull, Conn., Ida Claudia McWilliams McAuliffe of Rockville, Md., James Joseph McWilliams and his wife Myrtle of Bushwood, Md., Charles Henry McWilliams and his wife Barbara of Leonardtown, Md., Rose Marie McWilliams Benson and her husband Benjamin of Jasper, Ga., and Andrew Jackson McWilliams and his wife Dianne and William Patrick McWilliams and his wife Sharon, all of Mechanicsville, Md. Alice is also survived by twenty-two grandchildren and thirty-four great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son-in-law James McAuliffe and her siblings Lelia Virginia Beitzell, Grace Beitzell and George Lee Beitzell. Alice was a life long resident of St. Mary’s County, and attended Katy Dunn’s Beauty Academy where she received her Beautician’s license. She was a homemaker who belonged to many organizations, including the Catholic Daughters of America, American Legion Auxiliary - Post #221, St. Mary’s Historical Society, St. Clements Island and Piney Point Museums, St. Clements Hundred, Seventh District Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary and Sacred Heart Church.

Carrie Hare Moore, 92 Carrie Hare Moore, 92, of Lexington Park, Md. and formerly of Westminister, S.C. died Nov. 15, in Bayside Nursing Center. Born Nov. 6, 1915 in Westminister, S.C. she was the daughter of late Wallace and Addie Rholetter Hare. She was the loving wife of the late Oscar Clint Moore, whom she married on Dec. 24, 1936 in Westminister, S.C. and who preceded her death on July 3, 1998. She is survived by her children Elaine and Ronald Moore, both of Lexington Park, Md., as well as her siblings Vernon Hare of Hollywood, Md., Bruner Hare of Longcreek, S.C., Beulah Phillips of Westminister, S.C. and Eva Gause of Madison, S.C. She was also preceded in death by her siblings Brodus Hare, Nelson Hare, Ivy Murray, Vinnie Holden and Wallace Hare, Jr. Mrs. Moore graduated from Madison High School in South Carolina and moved to St. Mary’s County in 1945 from Westminister, S.C. She enjoyed quilting, sewing, gardening and attending yard sales and was a member of the Garvey Senior Citizen Association.

Norma Anna Emma Harms Strickland, 83 Norma Anna Emma Harms Strickland, 83, of California, Md., died Nov. 17, at her residence. She is survived by two daughters, Susan Strickland Thompson of California, Md., Dianna Lee Strickland Clemens of Chase City, Va., and a son, Scott Gregory Strickland of St. Inigoes, Md. For services please call the Brinsfield Life Celebration Home in Leonardtown, Md., at 301-475-5588

or condolences to the family may be made at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.

Ruby Pegg Morgan, 85 Ruby P e g g M o r gan, 85, of Holly woo d , Md., died Nov. 15, in St. M a r y ’s Nu r si ng Ce nt e r, Leonardtown, Md. Born Sept.

23, 1922 in Jarboesville (now Great Mills), Md., she was the daughter of the late William Franklin Pegg and Drucy Gatton Pegg. After graduating from Great Mills High School she worked for a brief time at the Navy Exchange, Longmore’s 5 & 10 Cents Store in Leonardtown, Md., and she retired from the St. Mary’s County Board of Education in 1987. She is survived by a daughter, Carole Nelson Herbert and her husband Philip of Hollywood, Md., a son, Charles “Chuck” Morgan of Leonardtown, Md., three grandchildren, whom she adored, Johnny Nelson, Christopher Morgan and his wife Farrah and Karla MacRae and her husband Dwane, three great grandchildren, Randall and Jackie Nelson and Promise Morgan and one great great grandchild. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, J. Carroll Morgan, two sisters, Helen Strickland and Leona Sanner and three brothers, Richard, Charles and Ralph Pegg. Memorial contributions may be made to the Leonardtown Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 299, Leonardtown, MD 20650 or the Hollywood Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 79, Hollywood, MD 20636 or the St. Mary’s Nursing Center, Inc., 21585 Peabody Street, Leonardtown, MD 20650.

Christian Z. Byler, 85 Christian Z. Byler, 85, of Mechanicsville, Md., died Nov. 18, at his residence. Born September 19, 1922 in Wilmington, Pa., he was the son of the late Benjamin Z. and Mary Zook Byler and the husband of Susie Stoltzfus Byler.

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 9:00 a.m., in the family home, the graveside service will follow at 12:00 Noon in Woodburn Hill Cemetery, Mechanicsville, Md. A full obituary will appear at a later date. Arrangements provided

by Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A.

James Walter Butler, 61 James Walter Butler, 61, of Bushwood, Md., died Nov. 18, in Clinton Rehabilitation Center. Born August 28, 1946 in Bushwood, Md., he was the son of Aloysius and Grace Helen Bowman Butler. For arrangement details please visit our website at www.mgfh. com. A full obituary will appear at a later date.

Mary Theresa Pettit, 50 Mary Theresa “ M i s s Mary” Pettit, 50, of Great Mills, Md., died Nov. 16, in Leonardtown, Md. Born July 30, 1957 in Washington, D.C.; she was the daughter of the late Marian Cecelia and Horace Lamar Pettit. She is survived by her siblings; David L. Pettit and his wife Diane of Silver Spring, Md., Richard W. Pettit and his wife Helena of White Plains, Md., and Cecelia A. Price and her husband Mike of Leonardtown, Md.

Mary is also survived by a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, many cousins and her extended family at the ARC of Southern Maryland and The Center for Life Enrichment. She was also preceded in death by her brother Mark A. Pettit. Mary moved to St. Mary’s County from Forestville, Md., in 1960.

She was employed as a stock clerk at Vintage Values for the past 5 years. She enjoyed watching her cooking shows, bowling and dates with her special friend Mike as well as being with her family and friends. Mary loved people and liked to make them smile and had a wonderful sense of humor. She always loved everyone she met and touched the hearts of many people.

Her large beautiful smile will always be remembered. She was a resident in the ARC of Southern Maryland and a day participant of the Center for Life Enrichment as well as a member of the bowling team for the Special Olympics of St. Mary’s. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, Nov. 20, from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, where Prayers will be said at 6:30 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 10:00 a.m. in St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Leonardtown, Md., with Fr. John Dakes officiating. Interment will follow in Charles Memorial Gardens, Leonardtown, Md. Pallbearers will be Jamie Price, Wayne Pettit, John Pettit, Bill Rayle, Rob Meador and Kevin Riley.

Mary Beitzell McWilliams, 95 Mary “A l i c e ” Beitzell M cW i l liams, 95, of Clements, Md., died Nov. 15 in St. Mary’s Nursing Center. Born July 27, 1912 in El Centro, Calif., she was the daughter of the late Charles Henry and Lelia “Lillie” Virginia Cheseldine Beitzell and the step-daughter of the late Mary Ida Cheseldine . She was the loving wife of the late George McWilliams, Jr. who preceded her in death of Nov. 5, 1992. She is survived by her children; George McWilliams III and his wife Bobbie of Avenue, Md., Mary Alice McWilliams Muir and her husband Mike of Trumbull, Conn., Ida Claudia McWilliams McAuliffe of Rockville, Md., James Joseph McWilliams and his wife Myrtle of Bushwood, Md., Charles Henry McWilliams and his wife Barbara of Leonardtown, Md., Rose Marie McWilliams Benson and her husband Bennie of Jasper, Ga., and Andrew Jackson McWilliams and his wife Dianne and William Patrick McWilliams and his wife Sharon, all of Mechanicsville, Md. Alice is also survived by twenty-two grandchildren and thirty-four great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her sonin-law Jim McAuliffe and her siblings Lelia Virginia Beitzell, Grace Beitzell and George Lee Beitzell. Alice was a life long resident of St. Mary’s County, and attended Katy Dunn’s Beauty Academy where she received her Beautician’s license. She was a homemaker who belonged to many organizations, including the Catholic Daughters of America, American Legion Auxiliary - Post #221, St. Clements Island and Piney Point Museums, St. Clements Hundred, Sev-

enth District Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary and Sacred Heart Church.

John Joseph Cullison, 73 John Joseph Cullison, 73, of Lexington Park, Md., died Nov. 14, in St. Mary’s Ho s p it a l .

Born November 13, 1934 in Ridge, Md., he was the son of the late Charles Thebaud and Claudia Mary Wood Cullison, Sr. He was the loving husband of Dorothy Ann Cullison whom he married on June 5, 1954 in St. John’s Church, Hollywood, Md. He is survived by his children Mark Alan Cullison of Lexington Park and Stacie Heller of Chevy Chase, Md., six grandchildren and his siblings ,Leigh Alvey and Shirley Skrabacz, both of Lexington Park, Md. He was preceded in death by his brother Charles T. Cullison. John was a lifelong resident of St. Mary’s County and was the Owner of Cullison Sheet Metal. He enjoyed fishing and woodworking.

Fredrick Edward Lilley Sr., 75 Fredrick Edward Lilley, Sr., 75, of Leonardtown, Md., died Nov. 13, in St. Mary’s Hospital, Leonardtown, Md. Born May 6, 1932 in Cairo, Ill., he was the son of the late Fredrick and Helen Hawf Lilley. He is survived by two daughters, Cynthia Anne Burch of Compton, Md., Barbara Anne Bates of Charlotte Hall, Md., two sons Ricky Lilley of Mannington, W.Va., Francis Edward Lilley of Compton, Md., 8 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, three sisters, Nancy Turk of Huntington Beach, Calif., Shirley Taylor of McDonough, Ga., Jane Langer of Ellsworth, Wis., and one brother John Lilley of Apollo Beach, Fla. He was preceded in death by a son, Gordon Alexander Lilley and a brother, Ricky Lilley. Raised in Cairo, Ill., after school he served in the Army National Guard for three years where he was a cook and a marksman. He then joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md., for four years. He successfully completed the Introduction to Aircraft and Aviation Boastswain’s Mate, Vol. I. Mr. Lilley was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and First Award Good Conduct Medal. He served as a firefighter at Webster Field until retirement. Mr. Lilley enjoyed woodworking, cooking, model boats and money folding. His daily routine was to go to Abell’s Diner for his coffee, and on the way home he would stop and check on the family.

Harry G. Kirst, 90 Harry G. Kirst, 90, a resident of Asbury-Solomons in Calvert County, passed away quietly in Calvert Memorial Hospital on Nov. 12. Born on Jan. 22, 1917 in Dodgeville, Wis., he was the youngest child of John and Lila Glanville Kirst. He lived his childhood in Mineral Point, Wisconsin and upon marrying Lois Pepper, he moved to Maryland. He was employed as an accountant for various Federal government agencies, including the Department of Commerce in Washington, D. C. In 1989 he married Dorothy Eldredge and lived in Hollywood, Md. He was an avid fisherman, gardener, and loved to play cards, both Bridge and Poker, with his friends. He is survived by his step-daughter, Dorothy Sparling and her husband George; his step-granddaughter, Genevieve Sparling; his brother-in-law, Louis Pepper and his wife Mollie;

sister-in-law, Doroathy Fagan; niece, Dorothy Jones and her husband Edward and numerous nieces, nephews and great nieces and great nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Solomon’s Volunteer Fire Department or the Solomon’s Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 189, Solomons, MD 20688. Funeral arrangements provided by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. Leonardtown, MD.

Bayse Harry Reedy Sr., 87 B ay s e H a r r y Reedy, Sr., 87, of York, Pa., formerly of Holly wood, Md. died Nov. 14, in York, Pa. Born Sept. 1 1920 in Grayson County, Va., he was the son of the late Glen V. and Jensey N. Jones Reedy. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 65 years, Katie Greer Reedy whom he married in Aug. 26, 1940 in Tennessee. He is survived by his children; Patsy R. Ervin of Hollywood, Md., and Dr. Bayse “Bud” H. Reedy, Jr. of York, Pa., siblings: Earvin C. Reedy and Alma Davis, both of Whitetop, Va., Vivian Osborne of Crumpler, N.C., Bryant Reedy of Rice, Va., and May Richardson of White, Va.; 4 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. He was also preceded in death by his brother Ray Reedy. Mr. Reedy served in the United States Naval Service and was discharged on July 7, 1944.

He retired from Patuxent Naval Air Station Public Works Department as a civil service employee where he was a dispatcher, heavy truck operator and conducted driver testing.

Bayse was a longtime member of the Hollywood Church of the Nazarene and served on the church board for many years. He was also a member of the Gideon’s International.

Delores Ann Thomas, 65 Delores Ann Thomas, 65, of Compton, Md., died on Monday, Nov. 12. The journey for Delores began on Sunday, Nov. 1, 1942 in Compton, Md., with her late parents Horace Melvin Robinson and Mary Florine Turner Robinson welcoming her into the world.

She spent her entire life in her much beloved St. Mary’s County and was educated at Benjamin Banneker School graduating in 1960. She married her late husband James Bernard Thomas Sr. on his birthday, Aug. 27, 1966. For 18 years, Delores worked for the St. Mary’s County Board of Education as a food service technician until her retirement in 1993. She also held employment at St. Mary’s Nursing Center and St. Mary’s Hospital. Delores or “Lois” lived a modest life. She enjoyed the simple things in life such as a quiet moment in front of the television watching Mama’s Family or Wheel of Fortune.

Her favorite music artists were Ray Charles and Luther Vandross. Delores’ legacy lies within the love and dedication to her family. A family which consists of seven children, 15 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild: Daughter Lisa of Great Mills, MD and her children Corey, Terrence and his daughter Kayla, Sylvia and Reginald; Daughter Bernadette of Lexington Park, Md., and her children Derek and Kierra; Son David of Mechanicsville, Md., and his wife Charlene and their children Tyesha and Chantel; Daughter Sylvia of Avenue, Md., and her children Joseph and Jada; Son James Bernard Jr. of Compton, Md., and his children Alonzo, Alante and Kenya; Daughter Agnes of Hollywood, Md., and her husband Larry Sr. and their children Travis and Larry Jr. and Son Corey of District Heights,

Md. Also left to mourn “Lois” are her eight siblings, sisters: Mary Florence Mason, Agnes Hortense Barnes, Mary Ann Wilkins, Rosetta Gough, Linda Dyson and Ella Louise Robinson, brothers Joseph and Francis Hebb, mother-in-law Mrs. Agnes L. Thomas as well as three godchildren: Phyllis Washington, Eunice Bond and Charles Thomas. Delores was preceded in death by her parents and husband as well as two sisters, Mary Viola Jones and Ella Lucas and four brothers, Charles A. Robinson, James Ignatius Hebb, Thomas Leroy Hebb and Horace Bernard Robinson.

Stephen Brumback Huffman, 58 Ste p h e n Brumback Huff man, 58, of Lexington Park, Md., died Nov. 13 at his residence.

Born April 15, 1949 in Winchester, Va., he was the son of Winston David Huffman and Elizabeth Grove Huffman of Middletown, Va. Mr. Huffman was an Aircraft Fabricator. He is survived by two daughters, Dorothy L. Gass and Kimberly P. Paré both of Lexington Park, Md., one son, David R. Huffman of Havelock, N.C., seven grandchildren, two sisters, Kitty LeMarr of Winchester, Va., Rebecca Rickard of Stephen City, Va., and a brother, David Huffman of Winchester, Va.

Joseph Paul Adams, 73 Joseph Paul Adams, 73, of Orlando, Fla., died Oct. 22, in the Life Care Center of Orlando in Orlando, Fla. Born Nov. 4, 1933 in Valley Lee, Md., he was the son of the late Aubrey and Pauline Demko Adams.

Mr. Adams was a computer engineer for the U.S. Government. He is survived by his son, Joseph Paul Adams, Jr. of Falls Church, Va., two sisters, Ann Scott of Orlando, Fla., Hilda McElveen of Tennessee.

He was preceded in death by a sister, Shirley Hardman and a brother, Billy Adams.

James William Chase Sr., 93 James William “Jimmy” Chase, Sr. of Hollywood, MD, died Nov. 10 in St. Mary’s Hospital, Leonardtown, Md. Born Dec. 19, 1913 in Hollywood, Md., he was the son of the late John Henry Chase and Catherine Young Chase.

Mr. Chase was a World War II Veteran, worked in the Public Works Department at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and was a custodian at St. John’s Catholic Church in Hollywood, Md. He is survived by two sons, James W. Chase, Jr. and Joseph E. Chase both of Boston, Mass., 17 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, two sisters, Alberta Woodland and Mary Lorretta Cruz both of Mechanicsville and one brother, John “Bubba” Chase of Hollywood, Md., and many nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Florence A. Wilson Chase, two sons, William R. Chase and John D. Chase, four sisters, Marie Wilson, Cecilia Briscoe, Rosalie Chase, Mary Dorothy Barber and one brother, Irvin Chase.

To Place A Memorial Anniversary Notice Call 301-373-4125

The County Times

Section A - 10

Christmas Continued from page A- punch that will be available that night at the firehouse, Santa’s visit there should be a real crowd pleaser, Mattingly said.

Santa’s visits were one of his fondest memories from when he was young and attending the tree lightings.

open late to service and feed the many visitors.

A parade of fire engines will usher in Santa’s coming and all kinds of rides will be available for children, even on carriages.

Musical acts and stage performances will take place,

ington Park community Nov. 30 to try and force stronger bonds both between residents and the department.

Bay District Fire Chief Wayne Johnson said the aim of the ceremony, which will take place at the new firehouse on Shangri-La Drive, is to better the community’s image.

“We want to make Lexington Park a more desirable place to live,” Johnson said.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

A nniversary 0 6 th

Mr. & Mrs . Joseph Dickerson of Abell will observe their DiAMonD weDDing AnniversAry on noveMber 22, 2007. on this thAnksgiving DAy they will celebrAte with fAMily.

Joseph AnD MAry were MArrieD noveMber 22, 1947 in st. Joseph’s cAtholic church, MorgAnzA, MD by the lAte fAther kAvAnAugh. they hAve resiDeD in Abell During their entire MArrieD life . MAry retireD boArD of eDucAtion eMployee AnD her MAte Joseph A retireD wAterMAn Are the prouD pArents of seven, grAnDpArents of thirteen, AnD greAt grAnDpArents of twelve .

Hours: M-Th 9-5pm Fri 9-4pm Sat 9-1pm Evening Appointments Available

Photo by Guy Leonard

Julie Lemmon, events coordinator for the Town of Leonardtown, and Dan Burris help with Christmas decorations in preparation for the Christmas in the Square celebration set for Nov. 23.

“He’s been coming since I was a kid,” Mattingly said.

In Leonardtown, the Christmas tree is already up and decorated and only requires Santa’s help to light it according to town officials.

They were busy last week decorating the town square in preparation for his arrival, along with the arrival of an expected 5,000 to 7,000 attendees for the Nov. 23 ceremony.

This year’s Christmas on the Square event will be the 60th of its kind, town officials said, and many shops and restaurants will remain

too.

“It’s amazing when Santa lights up the tree,” said Laschelle Miller, the town’s administrator.

Calls from outside the county have been pouring in asking for more information on the event, Miller said, from as far away as the District and north of Baltimore.

“It’s a safe environment for kids,” Miller said. “It’s a big draw for families.

“It grows every year.”

The Bay District Volunteer Fire Department plans its second Christmas tree lighting ceremony for the Lex-

“It gets a bad rap.

“We’re trying to give it a more positive perspective.”

Magic shows and another appearance by Santa will be centerpieces of the show, along with the tree lighting, Johnson said, but so will the chance for the community, especially the youth, to see what firefighting is all about.

“It might draw the children out to become volunteers in the future,” Johnson said. “We want to show them we do have something to offer; we’re providing training for the future.”

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