2011-12-22 Calvert Gazette

December 22, 2011

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Gazette Calvert

Everything Calvert County

Reaching OUT To Those Spending

Christmas Behind Bars

Page 11

Photo By Frank Marquart

The Calvert Gazette

Thursday, December 22, 2011

On T he Cover

Also Inside

4 County News 8 Community 9 Education 11 Feature Story 12 Business 13 Letters 14 Obits 15 Newsmakers 16 Games 17 Sports 18 Entertainment Out and About 19

2

On Christmas Day, Chaplin Jerald Graham will stop by every cell in Calvert County’s Detention Center to give out Christmas cards and visit with each inmate.

education

When Katie Lerch was in pre-kindergarten, she shared The Salvation Army’s, “Dress a Bear” program with Calverton School. Now she is continuing that spirit with a stuff a stocking effort.

out & about out and about

There’s only 10 days left to catch Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center’s Garden in Lights in Solomons, which runs through Jan. 1.

FOR EVENTS HAPPENING IN YOUR AREA, CHECK PAGE 19 IN OUT AND ABOUT

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

MHBR No. 103

The Calvert Gazette

COUNTY NEWS

The Calvert Gazette

Shaw Removed From Commissioner Presidency

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer Commissioner Jerry Clark has replaced Susan Shaw as President of the Board of County Commissioners.

Clark was nominated by Commissioner Pat Nutter, who said the board of county commissioners is a learning experience. He said Shaw and Clark both have eight years experience and it is important to benefit from both of them.

“You cannot just have one point of view,” Nutter said.

Shaw said Nutter’s motive behind nominating Clark was flawed.

“I do not believe county government should be a learning experience,” Shaw said.

Changing the president would “be like starting over” and the transparency of the board could suffer under a new president, she said.

Clark said the idea that the board could be less transparent without her as the president is “ludicrous.”

He also disputed Shaw’s claim that the president is the top vote getter from the county commissioner election every four years. He said that has not been his experience, and for that to be the policy would mean the southern portion of the county, which has fewer voters, is never represented by the board president.

Shaw also said the job description of the commission president is not complete.

“The idea that the only job of the president is to set the agenda is dead wrong,” she said.

Nutter said the commissioners can change the president at any time, and if having a new president is such a bad idea, they can always choose another one.

In the end, Shaw was the only commissioner who didn’t vote Clark for president, with Evan Slaughenhoupt changing his vote from Shaw to Clark in what he called a show of solidarity with the board.

“I guess we will see how this experiment works,” Shaw said. “I don’t think it’s a good experiment.” sarahmiller@countytimes.net

Thursday, December 22, 2011

4

O’ Malley Enacts PlanMaryland Local Officials Say it Usurps Local Authority

By Alex Panos Contributing Writer On Monday, Governor Martin O’Malley enacted PlanMaryland, beginning the vision of what state officials say will be long-term sustainable growth and development.

The plan uses three types of maps, an environmental “GreenPrint”, agricultural “AgPrint” and developmental “GrowthPrint” in order to determine and implement the best growth pattern for Maryland, while preserving as many environmental and agricultural resources as possible. “[PlanMaryland] will serve as a tool for targeting resources,” O’Malley stated in a press release.

“In the long run, that means a healthier environment, stronger communities and a more sustainable future and better quality of life for our kids.”

According to the plan, the state government, more specifically a “Smart Growth Subcabinet”, will have majority say as to where state funding will be going and how it will be spent by county and local governmental entities.

St. Mary’s County Commissioner Todd Morgan is one of many local officials who oppose PlanMaryland, saying the idea of the state government having such a large say in local decision-making is “ridiculous.”

While it is still to be determined what areas the Smart Growth Subcabinet will allocate money to, there is concern among Morgan and many other local officials in Southern Maryland that it will not be coming their way.

Morgan believes that most of the funding that was being sent to Southern Maryland will now be going into metropolitan areas such as Annapolis, Baltimore, and the DC metro area.

“With money going up the road, we are limited to what we can do because of PlanMaryland,” Morgan said.

Calvert County Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt said O’Malley’s administration ignored 17 counties when they made the decision.

“We wanted time to make improvements to the plan,” Slaughenhoupt said.

“It was a single-minded decision … We never heard back on our suggestions. It was not even known if it was taken into the plan.”

Leonardtown Town Administrator Laschelle McKay says there is a “con-

cern over process of where to grow” because it is unknown how the growth maps will look.

However, state documentation claims the plan does not ignore local governments, but help them.

According to plan.maryland.gov, “Rather than threatening the ability of local governments to control their own destiny, PlanMaryland will enhance their capacity to do so.”

Slaughenhoupt called this “laughable.”

“The first chapter [of the document] says how they will not control local zoning,” he said, “And the rest of the document described how they will control local zoning.”

St. Mary’s County officials echo a similar stance.

“I strongly question the word ‘enhance,’” Morgan agreed.

But O’Malley’s spokespersons defend the claim, emphasizing that the long decision making process has only just begun.

“They will be part of the process.” Spokesperson Raquel Guillory said. “We’re planning on sitting down and meeting with county and town officials.”

The Maryland Association of Counties, or MACo, has been voicing its concerns and will play a big role by representing Southern Maryland’s views during the planning process. As Associate Director Leslie Knapp points out, there are still many holes to fill in the final draft of PlanMaryland.

For the plan to be acceptable to MACo, Knapp said the state must advocate the planning guidelines, dilute the power of the Smart Growth Subcabinet and address fully if the local government is authorized to fund its own local projects.

While Guillory said that the state would not stop a local government from beginning projects on its own dime, Knapp believes that the document implies otherwise.

Aside from growth and development, officials claim PlanMaryland aids the preservation of Maryland’s vital natural resources.

“We are going to make sure state resources are used wisely; agriculturally and environmentally,” Guillory said.

Still, local officials aren’t buying it.

“We have preserved 30,000 acres of land (in Calvert County) and are on track to preserve 40,000,” Slaughenhoupt said. “We know what we’re doing and don’t need someone controlling it.”

“The Grinch that stole Christmas equals Governor O’Malley and PlanMaryland,” Morgan said.

Old Calvert Middle School to be Demolished

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer The old Calvert Middle School, currently sitting empty on the side of Route 4, is soon to be gone.

At the Dec. 20 Board of County Commissioners meeting, a contract for $252,221 was awarded to Sun Demolition LLC out of Beltsville, with an additional $30,000 for unforeseen circumstances.

County Commissioner President Jerry Clark said they go with the lowest qualified bidder for a job, a practice Commissioner Susan Shaw approved of, saying by saving money on the job, the commissioners can save money for the taxpayers.

Shaw and Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt were pleased to see something being done in the New Town District in Prince Frederick, where the old Calvert Middle School is located.

Slaughenhoupt said he has heard from voters in support of further development in the New Town district, one of eight districts in Prince Frederick, and has heard from citizens concerned about keeping growth in the town centers. sarahmiller@countytimes.net

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Calvert Gazette

COUNTY NEWS

Lusby Ready for Christmas

Photos by Sarah Miller

The Lusby Business Association recently held its second Christmas tree lighting in the parking lot of the Bank of America. There was hot chocolate and face painting, and instead of the traditional compliment of sleigh and reindeer, Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up with a parade of Solomons Volunteer Fire Department fire trucks, all strung with Christmas lights. After lighting the Christmas tree, the Claus couple was available for pictures with children.

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COUNTY NEWS

The Calvert Gazette

County Watching Cemetery Bankruptcy Process

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer State officials announced this week that Badtec, Inc., the company that owns Southern Memorial Gardens in Dunkirk, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland.

The cemetery had been in foreclosure since the summer and a cease and desist order has been in place since August from the county’s Circuit Court that prohibited the owners from performing any new burials, according to information from the state’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR).

The Office of Cemetery Oversight (OCO), part of DLLR, filed an injunction earlier this year against the cemetery owners, Daniel and George Martin, the principals in Badtec, Inc., and the problems surrounding the cemetery led to criminal and civil charges against both.

Burials have been allowed to continue since mid-August, a DLLR press release stated, but only if customers had owned a plot at the site prior to August 12 of this year and if the burial was being performed by another, independent contractor.

The problems started when over the summer the property became subject to foreclosure

by the bank, the state reported, and the OCO sought criminal charges against the owners for allegedly operating the cemetery without the proper permits and registration.

Terry Shannon, county administrator, said the county is closely watching the proceedings and has worked with the state to try to maintain the site.

“The biggest issue when it comes to us was the property being maintained,” Shannon told The Calvert Gazette. “You really feel for the folks with family there.”

Shannon said that grass often went uncut there and the site was in generally lackluster condition, but volunteers have come forward to maintain it.

“It’s been very heart warming,” she said.

Badtec, Inc.’s creditors are scheduled to meet with state representatives Jan. 10 to discuss the future of the property, a DLLR press release stated.

Parties with an interest in Southern Memorial Gardens are welcome to attend a Jan. 10 meeting of creditors at 11:30 a.m. The meeting will be on the sixth floor of the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Maryland at 6305 Ivy Lane in Greenbelt. guyleonard@countytimes.net

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

6

Safe Nights Offers Beds, Meals to People in Need

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer Safe Nights is back for its fourth winter, offering assistance to people in need throughout the county.

Mary Ann Zaversnik, who runs Safe Nights with her husband Joseph, said the number of host churches has grown to 23, and there are another 8-10 assisting churches offering additional support.

Safe nights is offered now through April 8. Everyone in the program gets a warm place to sleep every night, and two meals plus a sack lunch every day. Zaversnik said people who register for Safe Nights are expected to be at the host church every night or at a pick up point to be transported to the church. Not coming without being excused can result in being suspended from the program, Zaversnik said.

While the rules may be strict, Zaversnik said they are designed to keep everyone safe and help the program run smoothly.

While the normal hours are 7 p.m. until 7 a.m., during holidays and some Sundays when libraries and other public locations are closed the host churches will have daylong programs.

Safe Nights works closely with Project ECHO. Project ECHO offers people a place to sleep for 90 days and coordinates with Safe Nights to help people who will reach the end of their 90 days and have nowhere to stay.

“We want to try to work hand in hand with them,” Zaversnik said.

Project ECHO also gets community support. Girl Scout Troop 1610 from Lusby recently held a cookie mix sale to help purchase items for sack lunches sent to Project ECHO. “It was hard for them to understand they were doing one project to raise money for another project,” troop leader Casey Hanback said.

She said the project helped the girls get involved in community service. The troop has supported Project ECHO in various ways for the past few years.

“I like the fact that I’m just helping out,” said Girl Scout Jordan Abell.

Even though they want to help anybody who needs it, Zaversnik said Safe Nights doesn’t publicize what church they will be at on a given night because they would prefer the residents register for the program.

“We did find we were being used as a drop in shelter,” Zaversnik said.

The registration process also helps the group keep a count of the people they are expecting so they know there will be enough food and beds.

For more information, call 443-4868670 or visit calvertinterfaithcouncil.org/ SafeNights.html. sarahmiller@countytimes.net

Mini Grant Funding Opportunities The Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Board has announced that applications for the Mini Grant Program are available.

Projects selected for funding will assist RC&D in implementing its Annual Plan and Area Plan which are both focused on community development, land conservation, land management and water management in Charles, Calvert, St. Mary’s and Anne Arundel counties.

The maximum amount for each mini grant award is $500. The Southern Maryland RC&D Board will accept applications at its office in Leonardtown via email, fax or regular mail.

The Mini Grant Program will operate on a rolling basis throughout the fiscal year (July 2011 to June 2012) while funds are available. Applications are due the 1st of every month.

Visit the website at www.somdrcd.org for more information about RC&D. Call the RC&D office at 301-475-8427 X 6 or email denitra.brawner@somdrcd.org if you are interested in applying and would like to receive an application.

The RC&D is a nonprofit organization that carries out community development and conservation projects in Charles, Calvert, St. Mary’s and Anne Arundel Counties.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Calvert Gazette

COUNTY NEWS

Breakfast With Santa

Brent Sulhoff, Braden Blonshine and Ricardo Fabila grab some breakfast between shifts as Santa’s Helper Elves.

Photos by Sarah Miller The Patuxent High School JROTC orchestrated their first Breakfast with Santa Dec. 18. JROTC Booster President Chris Tilley, said they brought in $1,365 before factoring in cost of the breakfast. “This is amazing considering our target audience were allowed to come in for free,” Tilley said. The JROTC will share 10 percent of the proceeds with the SMILE Food Pantry.

State Proposes More Time for WIP

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer When the Chesapeake Bay’s Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) was first introduced by the EPA, Maryland volunteered to reach the 100 percent reduction goals by 2020, instead of 2025 as required by the EPA mandate.

Now, with less than 10 years until 2020, the state is proposing to move their goal back to 2025 in order to have more time, according to Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) spokesperson Samantha Kappalman.

“The targets are constantly shifting,” Kappalman said. She said since the start of Phase I of the WIP, the state recognized a need to move the timeline out.

“The early target date would be too hard to reach,” Kappalman said.

In the draft of WIP Phase II the state submitted to the EPA, they proposed moving the self-imposed deadline back to 2025, in addition to other changes to be reviewed by the EPA before being adopted.

“We’re now on track to meet it by 2025,” Kappalman said.

Representatives of individual counties support moving the deadline back.

“It certainly would help,” said Calvert County Principal Environmental Planner David Brownlee.

Currently, Calvert is working on a WIP Phase II to be submitted to the state and the EPA. He said the county wouldn’t have met the goals by 2020, though efforts have been made to come in line with the EPA mandates. According to a Dec. 6 presentation by Brownlee to the Board of County Commissioners, some of the efforts made haven’t been fully recognized by the state and continued growth presents an additional challenge.

“We need to turn the tide on pollution and we have made progress,” Brownlee’s presentation reads. “However, growth continues to set us back on the progress we are making.”

There will be a second work session to discuss the Calvert County WIP Phase II on Jan. 10. Brownlee said they will be addressing some of the concerns the commissioners had during the first work session.

Jeff Jackman, senior planner for St. Mary’s County, said the county could probably meet the goal by the current deadline of 2020, but the process is “intricate, challenging and expensive.”

“It is something we have to move forward with” Jackman said.

He said the additional years could be useful, but if the state continues to change the deadline, he said there would need to be an understanding between the state and the individual counties so the counties deadline isn’t continuously changing as well.

What it comes down to is money, officials from both counties said. In order to get on track and stay on track for the reduction goals, funding is required.

Calvert County commissioners have not yet committed funding to the WIP Phase II, something Brownlee said will be discussed during the next work session.

Jackman also said the “missing piece” is money. sarahmiller@countytimes.net

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Community

The Calvert Gazette

Thursday, December 22, 2011

8

Tuba Christmas

Town Warns of Sewer Clogging

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer On Thanksgiving Day, North Beach Town Councilman Mike Benton helped out some of their public works staff deal with a clogged sewer line located at the corner of Dayton Avenue and 3rd Street; what they found after they snaked out the line was a common cause to a messy problem, sanitary wipes.

Benton retold the story at the Dec. 8 council meeting and said town residents need to be more careful when it comes to what they dispose of in their household drains.

He said that an overabundance of kitchen grease as well as sanitary wipes are Mike Benton the main culprits in perhaps three sewer clogging incidents in the past 18 months.

“These things get caught and clog up; with that and with household grease, we’ve had problems,” Benton said.

With the sanitary wipes, he said, they can become caught on any imperfection in the line and they continue to build up until they clog the system because they do not readily decompose.

Residents may have a misconception, he said, that because the town is on central water and sewer it would not have the same problems associated with individual septic systems found throughout Calvert County.

“They think it won’t clog but it does,” Benton said. “I even recycle my coffee grounds, I won’t put anything down the drain that shouldn’t be there.” guyleonard@countytimes.net

Photo by Carrie Munn Tuba players from the tri-county area and beyond gathered recently to perform classic Christmas carols during the tenth annual Tuba Christmas at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Solomons. All-tuba ensembles across the nation have been putting on the holiday show for 38 years.

Provisions Sought For Box Stores in Prince Fredrick

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer Larger stores in Prince Frederick may be on the horizon, if discussions before the Calvert County Planning Commission on proposed changes to the Prince Fredrick zoning ordinance are realized.

Randy Barrett of Bargo L.L.C. is seeking the maximum square footage to be changed from 120,000 square feet to 125,000 square feet with a 1,000-foot road setback in the New Town District of Prince Fredrick. The New Town District is east of Solomons Island Road and north of Dares Beach Road in northern Prince Frederick.

According to Calvert County Planning and Zoning

Director Chuck Johnston, a portion of the land in the New Town District is owned by Calvert County Public Schools and the Calvert armory.

Before the change can be made, there will have to be a work session and public hearing. The planning commission anticipates the public hearing being well attended with the issue of big box stores in question, members said at their Dec. 14 meeting.

In a letter to Johnston, Barrett said most larger builders scale prototypes to be between 120,000 and 125,000 square feet. sarahmiller@countytimes.net

O’Donnell Trying to Unseat Hoyer

By Guy Leonard Staff Writer Del. Anthony J. O’Donnell, Republican minority leader in the Maryland House of Delegates, announced last week he is taking on Steny Hoyer for the 5th District seat in Congress in 2012 and came out swinging by saying that Hoyer has contributed to the continued expansion of the federal government and national debt.

O’Donnell’s announcement ends several weeks of uncertainty over whether he would seek to unseat the incumbent Democrat, who was elected to the seat in 1980.

O’Donnell castigated Hoyer, accusing him of having a virtually identical voting record as that of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, but he also recognized that his will be an uphill battle.

The 5th District is overwhelmingly Democrat, with a near two-to-one advantage in voters; Hoyer defeated his last opponent in 2010, Charles Lollar, by 30 percentage points.

Demographics have also shifted in key areas like Charles County, where an influx of Democrats helped carry Hoyer to victory with his solid win in Prince George’s County.

“I am under no illusions with regards to the difficulties in

this campaign … but I’m up to the challenge,” O’Donnell told the Calvert Gazette. “Let’s start solving this country’s problems.

He’s [Hoyer] been there 31 years, what’s he doing to solve these problems.”

One of O’Donnell’s key charges against Hoyer was that he was the chief vote wrangler for the Obama Administration’s health care bill, which O’Donnell said is an intrusion on personal freedoms.

O’Donnell said he would campaign up to the end of November of next year, when the election will be decided. Hoyer has already stated publicly that he has filed for re-election and that he is confident that Democrats will retake the House of Representatives after being trounced by Republicans in 2010 mid-term elections.

All this despite the announced retirements of several senior Democrats, including Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, which some political pundits have said shows cracks in the Democratic Party’s ability to regain traction.

“We need a congressman who understands what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck … one who has not been disconnected from everyday Marylanders for so long that he doesn’t remember what it’s like to struggle,” O’Donnell said in a video release announcing his candidacy.

O’Donnell was elected to represent St. Mary’s and Calvert counties in the District 29C seat in 1994, when he defeated Thomas Pelagatti by 32 votes. In 2010, O’Donnell was reelected to his fifth term. guyleonard@countytimes.net

9

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Calvert Gazette

Transition Students Have More Input Into Future Careers

By Corrin M. Howe Staff Writer Sara Wagner, a teacher at Calvert High School, is excited her students have an opportunity to experiment with various skills in different career fields so they can provide input into the types of jobs they want when they transition out of school.

She has seven students in ISLE – Intensive Structured Learning Environment, which according to Board of Education documents, “is designed to meet the needs of students who exhibit characteristics of autism spectrum disorders and whose needs cannot be met in lesser restrictive environments.”

In an email inviting the Calvert Gazette to come see what her students are doing, Wagner wrote: “My students have special needs, primarily autism, and we go to the a pre-vocational work lab weekly. The [Practical Assessment Exploration System] PAES Lab is housed at the Country School and my students have been working very hard over there. The lab gives them an opportunity to try and become familiar with jobs in all types of fields. So often our special needs people are told what kind of a job they would be good at and told to do it.”

According to Transition Specialist Zakia Lindsey, the school system purchased a program with grant money last year for students in the high school and functional students at Calvert Country John Kirby matches pipe sizes and shapes to charts.

School.

The program takes skills from the career areas task correctly and whether they sought assistance. Next they (consumer/service, construction/industrial, business/marketing, processing/production and computer tech) compare their times with a chart to see if their performance and breaks them down into smaller manageable tasks and fell in the category of slow, medium or fast. Finally, the students evaluate their personal interest in the task as high, methen walks the students through learning the skill.

For example, student John Kirby worked on a skill in dium or low. All this data is entered into a computer program processing/production. He pulled a large plastic bucket from which helps Wagner know the student's interests and abilities.

Lindsey likes the program because the students learn the shelf and started sorting various shapes and sizes of pipes.

Charts labeled from A to G had images in exact sizes that real life work skills such as punching a time card. During the demonstration another real world scenario played out. StuKirby matched from pieces stored in the container.

The program has him start a small timer to see how long dents discovered they weren't always able to locate the mait takes him to finish the task. Once he’s finished with the task, terials and supplies necessary to perform their tasks. In one Wagner goes over a checklist with him to self evaluate how he case the box was misfiled. In another, the item wasn't in the did on his task. First students must decide if they finished the room.

“They are students now, but they will be adults in the community,” said Lindsey. And they want to be productive members of society.

Wagner likes the data collection. It helps her to individualize her instruction to the student’s interests and needs.

“What I’m finding is they might have a high interest level in a task, but they don’t perform it well. Now I know what I need to do to help them get good at the job.”

Being organized, staying on task, following instructions, self evaluating and correcting are all “executive function” skills that many children with special needs lack. The lab also helps her to write better goals and objectives for the student’s annual educational plan. She can identify skills that need to be “generalized” or taken from one environment to another.

The program is open to all the high schools but so far Calvert High and Patuxent are the only ISLE programs taking advantage of it. According to Lindsey having to travel by bus to Calvert County School in Prince Frederick is a limiting factor.

Lindsey said the program has a middle school component where teachers start talking about jobs, introducing them to vocabulary and work scenarios so that they are familiarized with the lab when the stuVictor Stew works on following instructions. His teacher says he is always happy dents enter high school. and very quick and efficient with his tasks.

corrin@somdpublishing.net

Spotlight On

Maryland Earns Race to the Top Grant

By Corrin M. Howe Staff Writer As other states continued to slash education funding, the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) reports that intense activism on their part led to the General Assembly restoring a large chunk of the governor’s proposed education budget cuts during legislators’ last session.

As it stands, the current total of state aid to public schools is roughly $5.8 million for FY2012, with additional funding for school construction projects totaling nearly $300 million. About $47.5 million worth of those projects are funded out of appropriated funds from the new alcohol tax, with another $15 million going to the Developmental Disabilities Administration, as originally intended.

The state will provide $92.7 million in education funding to St. Mary’s County for FY 2012 and $82.9 million to Calvert County, according to MSEA. Both figures are less than those for the current year.

At the county level, education officials’ worry rests on local government funding, which averages at 46 percent statewide but has been under intense scrutiny by commissioners as they work through local budgets.

Gaining a leg up through the federal government, Maryland was announced as one of nine states to receive a multi-million dollar grant for the Race To The Top Early Learning Challenge, reports Maryland State Department of Education. While hard numbers are unavailable, MSDE stated Maryland was eligible for $50 million over four years and these funds are targeted at narrowing the school readiness gap for disabled children, English language learners and children living in poverty.

According to an MSDE press release, over the past decade, children in Maryland have improved their school readiness assessments, upon entering kindergarten, from 49 to 81 percent.

Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD-5) said, “In applying for this grant, Maryland created a plan to increase access to highquality programs for children from low-income families, providing more children from birth to ages 5 with a strong foundation necessary for success in school and beyond.”

Senators Mikulski and Cardin also issued statements highlighting the state’s strong support for and accomplishments in early childhood education.

“As Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, I believe that early childhood education and care has one of the most profound impacts on a child’s future,” Mikulski stated. The funds will be channeled into comprehensive education reform that will improve academic standards and assessments, support staff and enhance achievements at the lowest performing schools. carriemunn@countytimes.net

Until Behavior Improves, Patuxent High Lunch Period Shortened Patuxent High School administration has suspended student’s one-hour lunch program indefinitely.

Instead, students will have a half hour lunch period either at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of their fifth period. According to the school’s website, in order to have one hour lunch reinstated, the administration will expect students to be on time to their classes, improve their behavior in the cafeteria and have a hall passes when out of class. The administration also expects public displays of affection to stop.

When contacted for more information, Patuxent High School principal Nancy Highsmith said she has no comment.

Spotlight On

The Calvert Gazette

Learn and Share at National Mentoring Month Breakfast The Calvert County Mentoring Partnership (CCMP) is hosting its Seventh Annual National Mentoring Month Breakfast on Thursday, Jan. 19, from 8:30 to 11 a.m., at the Southern Community Center in Lusby.

Gary Wynn, president of the Solomons Steelers Youth Football and Cheerleading, will be the Honorary Chair at this free networking event. The breakfast will feature a panel discussion from business leaders, school officials, non-profits, and the community on their perspective of mentoring, and information on how to get involved in mentoring programs.

Individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and local nonprofit organizations can all play a part in increasing the number of mentors in Calvert County and assuring a better future for our youth, a press release states.

The Mentoring Breakfast is held in observance of

National Mentoring Month 2012, a month-long campaign dedicated to recruiting caring mentors for America’s youth.

Research has shown that mentorship can play a powerful role in reducing drug abuse and youth violence, while greatly enhancing a young person’s prospects for leading a healthy and productive life. Calvert County is rich in opportunities for young people to become involved with an adult who cares about their well-being. If your organization offers a mentoring program that you wish to feature at a booth at the breakfast, email Nadine Happell at nhappell@gscnc.org.

To RSVP for the FREE National Mentoring Month Breakfast, or to sponsor the event on behalf of a business or organization, contact Roseanna Vogt at the Circle of Angels Initiative at 301-778-3848 or by email at circleofangels@chesapeake.net.

Calverton Students Fill Stockings for Less Fortunate Eleven years ago when Katie Lerch, current ninth grade student at The Calverton School, was in pre-kindergarten, she shared The Salvation Army’s, “Dress a Bear” program with Calverton.

Each child in Katie’s class took home a bear, dressed it in an outfit, delivered it back to school, and the bears were sent to The Salvation Army to be distributed to less fortunate children during the holidays.

In the years following, the entire Lower School participated in the program, a Calverton press release states. Unfortunately, due to the expense of the bears, The Salvation Army is no longer able to provide bears for the “Dress a Bear” program. They are, however, able to provide the school with stockings to fill and/or decorate.

On Nov. 22, each Lower School student, including students in preschool and pre-kindergarten, received a stocking. In the spirit of giving and compassion, students will fill the stocking and decorate if they wish, for another child.

During class time, students will also write a letter to the child receiving their stocking.

The stockings will be displayed in Calverton’s Lower School library honoring the act of giving to others this holiday season.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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SLES Winter Festival Includes Art Show, Holiday Shop and Book Fair

By Corrin M. Howe Staff Writer St. Leonard Elementary School recently combined an art show, a holiday shop and book fair for its after school Winter Festival celebration.

Art teacher Mimi Torres lined all the cafeteria tables with pinch pots, Christmas trees, animals, angels and coil pots created by preschool through fifth grade students. Each grade worked on same theme; however, none of the grade levels shared the same subject.

“Each project took about three class periods. One to shape, one to paint and one to make up missed work or add fine detail,” said Torres, who is new to Calvert Public Schools but having taught in Puerto Rico and New York over the last 12 years.

In the gym, SLES VP Janel McPhillips was one of the many volunteers helping students do their holiday shopping. Each table grouped trinkets in one price range or themes. For example, one table displayed items for adult men while another for adult women. Parents waited out in the hall while their children selected items for family members. After the students purchased their items, more tables and volunteers were available to help wrap them.

Back in the library, a book fair vendor and volunteers sold reading materials, computer games and posters to families looking for additional choices for holiday gifts. The bank of computers was very popular and kept children entertained while waiting for their parents to shop or visit with other adults.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Calvert Gazette STORY

Jail Chaplain to Meet With Each Inmate

‘What Teaching In Prison Taught Me’

By Corrin M. Howe Staff Writer

By Corrin M. Howe Staff Writer

On Christmas Day, Chaplain Jerald Graham will stop by every cell in Calvert County’s Detention Center to give out Christmas cards and visit with each inmate.

It is another way he and other volunteers serve a part of the population locked away from sight and memory.

Although the time between Thanksgiving and the New Year is called a time for giving and spreading cheer, the average citizen, church group or service organization cannot serve the local prison population on the holidays. For the health and safety of everyone involved, Graham says there are very specific rules about what can be brought into the jails and all volunteers have to go through training first.

Graham is part of a volunteer ministry called Point of Change Jail and Street Ministry, Inc. out of Waldorf founded by Chaplain John Lewis. In 2008, Charles County Detention Center welcomed Lewis as their Chaplain after he’d served as a volunteer there.

Graham heads up the Calvert program Point of Change runs 17 “sessions” a week in Calvert’s Detention Center. The majority of the sessions are religious services, 10 to be exact, and the others are educational in nature including a program called REST – Rehabilitation Empower Structure Transition. Residents on their way out of the center and back into the community can apply to enter into the program which teaches computer skills, anger management, goal setting, resume writing, interviewing skills, first aid and other programs Since the program started in Calvert none of the inmates have returned to jail, something Graham and Lewis are proud of, considering the national recidivism rate is 43.3 percent of inmates return within three years of being released.

Point of Change is volunteer driven and has a budget which comes strictly from donations. At this point it has brought in nearly $22,500 in annual revenue but has paid out over $26,000 in expenses.

“We do the work and have faith” that the financial needs will be met, said Graham. He would love to see local churches willing to donate even $25 a month to the work to help them “keep their head above water.”

Graham volunteers nearly full-time and works shift work at the Metro. His wife also has a full-time job which provided for his family.

“Seeing lives changed for the better means more than any dollar amount,” he said,

Everybody has a story to tell. Merle Morrow, like many, experienced a life changing event on Sept. 11, 2001. She was a civil rights attorney working for the Department of Justice conducting an investigation at a men’s maximum security prison. As she was escorted to where she had to go, the guards walked her through a chapel where several inmates were preparing a service.

“The men in here are as devoted to their country as people on the outside, but many can’t write an intelligent letter to us – their government – to ask for help,” she said. Then she asked herself what she was going to do about it.

Long story short, she left her job on Sept.

28, 2001. By April 2002, she had received orientation to become a GED teacher at Maryland House of Correction, commonly referred to as the Cut. She spent three years at a maximum security men’s prison in a room full of men convicted of significant crimes. She was alone with them twice a week with the closest guard down the hall and around the corner.

“It was a one room school with educational levels from 1st to 12th grade. I didn’t know enough to panic. I’d never taught before and had a room full of students. We had fun in the classroom. These men worked hard. They did their homework. They wanted to grow as human beings even though some knew they’d never get out,” said Morrow, who wrote about her experience in a book called “So Am I: What Teaching In Prison Taught Me.” The first thing she had to do was convince herself that these men “were fellow children of God” and worthy of respect. So she went in right away, ready to look them in the eye. The first year and a half she worked with her students, she didn’t know what kinds of crimes they committed. However, when they asked her to write a book about them, to show the world that they are just like everyone else only having made bad choices, Morrow realized she needed to learn about their crimes.

Once she started reading the trial records, she went through a “spiritual struggle”.

“How do I go back into the classroom?

when asked how he can invest so much of his time administrating 75 services a month.

A number of local churches support the jail ministry as well. They send volunteers to run Bible studies and educational programs.

He said he has one volunteer who has been there 20 years.

Anyone wanting to come in to volunteer has to go through a three to four hour class after a clearance check. After the class the volunteer will receive a badge. The training is “very important because the officers go over the dos and don’ts.”

The reason for providing training sessions, especially at the local jails, is to help the inmates develop skills and make better choices when they return. Otherwise, “they return back to the same community which got them in trouble to begin with,” said Graham.

Space is a limiting factor in the number of programs they can offer. He can only schedule 12 inmates at a time for a session of any kind, religious or educational. Each week he puts out a list and inmates sign up for something they want.

Graham said if he could “write a check” he could purchase a facility in which he could help with at-risk youth and work with them before they make bad choices. At the same facility he would run follow up programs for those transitioning out of jail.

He would also partner with more local churches to provide the “after care” necessary. It could be as simple as churches providing classroom space for his volunteers to continue teaching computer skills, job readiness, matching positive mentors up with at risk youth and helping them find productive channels for their energy and creativity.

“All the youth we work with say they made the wrong choices. We teach them not to allow peer pressure to get them down the wrong path,” said Graham.

The programs in the jail are even helping those not participating, according to Graham.

“They see the lives changing and they want to be a part of that.”

These men had become my friends. It is different having a friend as a rapist than it being a stranger,” she said.

On the other side of her struggle, she realized “these men aren’t one thing or another.

They were more than their horrible crimes.

They wanted to be better people. They wanted to give back.”

While she was working there, she had seen conditions which troubled her. She wanted to make a change, but didn’t know how.

Then she had a spiritual director tell her, “You have to change hearts before you can change systems.”

She hopes her book will change hearts.

“Even if my book only changes two, it will be a start.”

Her students asked her to write the book about their experiences. She agreed and decided to donate the proceeds to at risk programs for youth at the request of her students.

She would love to come talk to groups and organizations who want to learn more about her experience and how they can help change one heart at a time by working with youth before they end up in prison or helping to educate those in prison so they don’t return.

Contact her at: A Closer Connection, LLC, P.O. Box 70, Owings, MD 20736 or www.teachinginprison.com.

Morrow agreed to write some of her students with questions from the Calvert Gazette. Here are some of their thoughts: How can society help prevent people from ending up in prison?

“Society can start programs, open up jobs, schools. Teach people to learn to do the right things in life. Teach them about going to church, treat people with respect.” - James Hill.

“Help youth to be interested in/ like different types of trades and apprenticeships programs. Which provide a great education as well as a great means of living, having recover programs for adults, more affordable educational classes, more interactive self-help groups.” - Donti Hayes “Society needs to invest money in the kids; recreation and vocational training.” - Thomas Maddox.

“I believe it starts with at risk kids.

Because the at-risk kids that enter juvenile facilities, three out of four become adult offenders. So society must give them what they need while they are young.” James Wells.

What kinds of programs are needed in prison? If you could control prison programming what would you provide?

“Reinstitute an emphasis on rehabilitative programming. Since the majority of prisoners are destined to return to society it seems logical and practical to have them better prepared to return to society.”

“More programs that will enhance a person’s educational level and programs that prepares men for employment and gives them life skills.”

The Calvert Gazette

3/50 Project Promotes Local Businesses

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer Their motto is “pick 3, spend 50, save your loca economy.”

The 3/50 Project promotes stronger local economies through support of independent retailers and the consumers who shop with them.

Area businesses involved in the project include DB McMilians Pub and Grill, Fenwick Street Used Books and Music and Crazy for Ewe in St. Mary’s County ad Dickinson Jewelers, Heavenly Chicken and Ribs and Second Looks Books in Calvert County.

Amy Thompson, owner of the Lola Belle Company in Leonardtown, said she has been in the 3/50 Project for the past six months, and they have given her promotional tools to tell the community how small businesses serve their community.

“Small businesses have grown his community,” Thompson said.

She said small businesses have a vested interest in the community they serve, and give back directly to the people who help them succeed. In addition to helping with promotional ideas, she said the 3/50 projects helps small businesses find ways to give back to their communities.

Registration for the 3/50 Project is done at the website, and there are categories for storefront retailers, other small businesses, businesses wearing national or regionally recognized brand names, supporters that don’t fit into the small business category and other supporters.

Thompson said she has had no lack of support, and believes the public understands just how much they need to support locally owned and operated small businesses.

“I think our community understands, definitely,” she said.

According to the 3/50 project website, for every $100 spent at locally owned independent stores, $68 returned to the community through various means. Only $43 from national chains stays in the community. And the community gets nothing from Internet purchases.

If half the employed population spent $50 at three local small businesses, it would generate $42.6 billion in revenue, which could go to help employ more people and allow the small businesses to grow and better serve the community.

For more information or to become a supporter of the 3/50 Project, visit www.the350project.net.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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Total Eclipse Day Spa Celebrates Third Year

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer Walking into Total Eclipse Day Spa, customers are greeted by the coos of the store’s mascot mourning dove instead of piped music over a speaker system and welcomed by one of the handful of women working at the spa.

Total Eclipse celebrates its third anniversary Dec. 23 and, so far, business has been good.

Owner Hilde Woell said the spa is meant to be a “one stop shop” where customers can come in to get pampered from head to toe.

For customers getting three or more separate services done during the day, such as a hair cut, a facial and a massage, they also get lunch catered from CD Café.

In addition, refreshments offered for all customers.

“We spoil our customers, “ Woell said.

The spa believes in giving back to the community that keeps them in business. During December and January, 5 percent of all revenue is donated to the Humane Society of Calvert County and the American Cancer Society. She also donates gift certificates for spa treatments to various fundraisers.

Total Eclipse offers discounts to customers who get three or more people to some in for services. Woell said the majority of their clientele comes in because o f

sarahmiller@countytimes.net

word of mouth.

“We’re Calvert County’s best kept secret,” Woell said.

Woell is currently looking to hire “anything buy receptionists,” she said. She said she is looking for licensed cosmetologists, manicurists, pedicurists and other specialists who take initiative and pride in their work.

Total Eclipse boasts state of the art equipment, including pedicure chairs with massage features and hospital grade disinfectants. They also mix dye colors in front of customers at a color bar so the customers can see the process instead of being left alone until their stylist comes back.

“I need someone serious, willing to work, no mood swing people here,” Woell said.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit totaleclipsesalonspa.com. sarahmiller@countytimes.net

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Calvert Gazette

Editorial

Today’s cover stories highlight a local jail and street ministry’s work in the Calvert Detention Center and the story of a woman teaching among Maryland’s toughest criminals. A common theme ran through their stories, the need for more programs to help at risk youth and to educate those already in prison. Although these stories are running together, they were actually conceived and people interviewed months apart. The decision to run these stories this week came two months later.

In November the Calvert Gazette ran stories about local programs and organizations providing the very services mentioned in the featured stories. In fact, for the second year in a row, Calvert County has won the 100 Best Communities for Young People given by America’s Promise Alliance in recognition for programs targeting the high school drop-out rate, and coming together as a community to identify and address gaps in services to the youth.

According to a report from March 2010 from the Department of Legislative Services Office of Policy Analysis, Calvert’s Detention Center averaged 230 inmates a day in its population. So one can assume, if the prisoners quoted in the featured stories story are an accurate reflection of what others in their situation would say, there appears to be a gap between the services offered and their target audience.

So the answer can’t be as simple as providing more programs, spending more on education and rehabilitation or working with at risk populations. While these are necessary and great goals and should be done, there has to be a different and better answer.

Merle Morrow said her spiritual director told her, “The way you change systems is by changing hearts.”

As mentioned above, there appears to be a gap between what many in society are trying to provide and what others in society are receiving. How can the gap be filled? Maybe the answer is in what seemed purely coincidental, the choice to run the featured stories this week. The front cover photo is of Chaplin John Graham passing out Christmas cards and “giving an individual word to each of the inmates.”

Over a century ago, on March 12, 1905 on page four of the Washington Post the headline read “Fervor of Religious Revival Stirs Two Continents.” The headline took up eight column spaces. The accompanying the story related information about 100,000 confirmed conversions in Wales and unnumbered conversions in London and a half a dozen American cities. The Post “proclaimed that the earth would become heaven if people would only “realize God” and follow the Golden Rule,” according to authors Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge in A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir.

The story further stated that in Wales, “the police found no crime to investigate amid ‘an almost complete realization of the Golden Rule in all affairs of daily life.’”

The origin of Christmas comes from the Christian story of God stepping down from heaven to take the form of a baby, later to grow into the man of Jesus. Whether you believe that Jesus was both fully man and fully God is up to you. But that is what Christians profess. One international ministry which teaches about Jesus uses the illustration of two cliffs separated by a bottomless pit – man is on one cliff and God is on the other. “How can man get across to God?” The ministry draws a bridge that takes the form of a cross, the place upon which Jesus died for proclaiming his message.

Jesus’ message was about changing hearts. One at a time. He said. “There is no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for another.” He had two meanings in mind when he said this. First he foretold of his dying for his people. But he also meant people laying down their lives daily for others. Imagine if everyone laid down time spent watching TV, reading the Internet Social Networks, working extra hours to get ahead … and invested that hour or so a week in developing relationships with at risk youth, teaching a job skills class in prison or mentoring an inmate who just got out of prison.

The nation was originally founded by men and women who believed in the message of Jesus, the reason for Christmas. As the nation moves further away from the lessons taught, the prisons fill up. Coincidence? While the Gazette doesn’t have space to provide all the prisoner’s responses to questions asked, it was interesting to note that the majority wrote about getting back to teaching church, morals, respect, spirituality, and sanctity of life as solutions for keeping the prison population down.

The message of the Christmas season boils down to this: When God considered the struggles of humanity he did not just resource a project to help out. He laid aside the comforts of heaven and came down to earth. Jesus lived among his people, personally touching them at their point of greatest need. In addition to the resources of governments and charities, society needs more people like Chaplin John Graham and Merle Morrow who followed Jesus’ example willingly laying aside their comforts to touch those in need. Not just as an act of holiday kindness, but throughout the year.

Editor

When is a Birthday Cake an Ethics Violation? ommissioners

c

By Susan Shaw Calvert County Commissioner, 2nd District Recently, the criminal cases of former Prince Georges County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife, Councilmember Leslie Johnson, have been in the news.

How did the so-called “pay to play” culture of corruption develop in Prince George’s County and then continue for so long?

At the very beginning of the problem someone should have filed an ethics complaint before the behavior escalated to the criminal level. Is this what would have happened in Calvert County? I hope so.

Calvert County has an Ethics Commission comprised of citizen members appointed by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). There is also a state Ethics Commission, from whom the local Ethics Commission can seek advice. The role of the Calvert County Ethics Commission (CCEC) is first to provide advice, training, and counsel to County employees and County elected officials to try to prevent any ethics issues. When asked for advice, the CCEC may issue an advisory opinion that is available to other employees who may have the same or similar questions. Employees, elected officials, and many Board and Commission members are required to fill out a financial disclosure statement at the beginning of each calendar year.

The CCEC reviews these forms and follows up to clarify any apparent conflict of interest.

In the last Maryland Legislature, an updated state ethics bill was passed with new, strengthened requirements that counties pass similar local legislation. Our local CCEC had already been working on a re-write of our local ethics code. Using the

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Stories Highlight True Meaning of Christmas

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guidance of the new state ethics code, the CCEC has presented some draft ethics ordinances to the BOCC. I have been disappointed to learn that the updated state code still sets the gift limit for reporting at $20, which I see as being too low. If someone bakes a fellow employee a birthday cake, that could cake could be worth more than $20. The employee must report all gifts that have a value of more than $20.

I see the first role of the CCEC as being to address conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts of interest. What is the difference between an actual and a perceived conflict of interest? Very little. If it looks like self-dealing, it probably is self-dealing. The second role is to address undue influence. Judging undue influence can be tricky, because perhaps the individual just made an error in judgment or a mistake that benefits a particular party without any undue influence from anyone or any benefit to self.

If the CCEC suspects a bigger problem that might rise to the level of criminal behavior, they refer their suspicions to the State’s Attorney’s Office for further investigation.

As part of the current update of the Calvert County Ethics Code, the CCEC requested subpoena power. Later, they modified the request to one for summons power. This request is controversial. An appointed Ethics Commission is not a court. It turns out that, so far, no one has ever failed to appear at a CCEC inquiry when requested to do so. However, in some instances, individuals have failed to bring requested documents and have declined to answer some questions. That happens even in court. Should this type of judicial power be extended to the appointed citizens of the CCEC? What about due process and privacy rights? Stay tuned as the BOCC continues to weigh the pros and cons on the way to a new Ethics Code.

Publisher Thomas McKay Associate Publisher Eric McKay Editor Sean Rice Graphic Artist Angie Stalcup Office Manager Tobie Pulliam Advertising sales@somdpublishing.net Email info@somdpublishing.net Phone 301-373-4125 Staff Writers Guy Leonard Sarah Miller Corrin Howe Contributing Writers Joyce Baki Keith McGuire

Law Enforcement Government, Education Community, Business

Calvert Gazette

P. O. Box 250 . Hollywood, MD 20636 The Calvert Gazette is a weekly newspaper providing news and information for the residents of Calvert County. The Calvert Gazette will be available on newsstands every Thursday. The paper is published by Southern Maryland Publishing Company, which is responsible for the form, content, and policies of the newspaper. The Calvert Gazette does not espouse any political belief or endorse any product or service in its news coverage. Articles and letters submitted for publication must be signed and may be edited for length or content. The Calvert Gazette is not responsible for any claims made by its advertisers.

The Calvert Gazette

Rita Vick, 60 Rita Maria Vick, 60, of Lusby, MD, formerly of Silver Spring, MD passed away on Dec. 9, 2011 at Calvert Memorial Hospital, Prince Frederick, MD. She was born on May 6, 1951 in Cheverly, MD to the late Armondo

ment followed in Solomons United Methodist Church Cemetery, Solomons, MD. Should friend’s desire contributions may be made in her memory to St. Leonard Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad, 200 Calvert Beach Road, Saint Leonard, MD 20685. Arrangements by the Rausch Funeral Home, P. A., Lusby, MD. rauschfuneralhomes.com.

Charles LaMarr, 84 Charles Arthur LaMarr, 84 of Hollywood, MD died December 19, 2011 at Solomons Nursing Center.

Born September 11, 1926 in Indianapolis, IN, he was the

and Frances Pietraskiewicz.

Rita is survived by her husband Rudy Vick; daughter Joyce Sacks of Calvert County; son, Danny Vick of Illinois and her granddaughter Keston Sacks.

The family received friends on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 10:30 AM until the time of the service celebrating her life at 11:30 AM., Father John Howanstine officiated. Inter-

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son of the late Paul A. LaMarr and Mary (Monroe) LaMarr.

Charles was a United States Marine Corp. Master Sergeant, serving for twenty four years. After retiring from the USMC in 1968 at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, he worked for 22 years as a manual writer for Lockheed Martin. Charles was the first volunteer for the Maryland State Police, Leonardtown, MD, serving over 10,000 hours. He was a member of the Hollywood Moose Lodge, Chapter 2173 and the VFW in California, MD. Charles was married to Rosalie Anderson on February 8, 2003 in Issue, MD. Charles is survived by his wife, Rosalie, his children, Thomas Gauchat (Lin) of Solomons, MD, Michele Zito of Helena, AL, and Donald LaMarr of (Joan) of Santa Clarita, CA, his stepchildren, Joseph L. Anderson (Kim) of Hollywood, MD, Michelle Richards (Scott) of Hollywood, MD, Mary McLean (Michael) of Waldorf, MD and George C. Anderson (Beth Poor) of Leonardtown, MD, 17 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren and 7 great-great grandchildren. In addition to his parents, Charles was preceded in death by his wife Rosemary (Elliott) LaMarr in 2001, his children, Mary Perkins and John Gauchat and his brother, Paul LaMarr.

The family received friends for Charles’ Life Celebration on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at St. George Catholic Church, 19199 St. George’s Church Road, Valley Lee, MD 20692. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Monsignor Karl A. Chimiak.

Interment will be private.

Serving as pallbearers were members of the Maryland State Police. Serving as honorary pallbearers were two of Charles’ sons and six grandsons.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contribu-

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tions may be made to the Hollywood Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 79, Hollywood, MD 20636.

Arrangements by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown, MD. www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.

Wesley Mandell, 84 We sl e y Corbin Mandell, USN Retired, of Upper Marlboro, MD passed away peacefully after a brief illness on December 8, 2011, at age 84. Wes was born on July 9, 1927, in El Paso, Texas, to the late Darwin and Louise Mandell.

He grew up on a farm with his three younger brothers in the Mesilla Valley area of eastern New Mexico and enlisted in the U.S. Navy on December 7, 1944. He served his country for 30 years, retiring as an E9 Master Chief Petty Officer. Most of his Navy career was spent in the engine room of nuclear propulsion submarines. Following his naval retirement, he worked another 20 years at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. Never one to sit still and always someone who needed a purpose, his second retirement was followed by numerous part time jobs including serving as a bailiff in the Prince George’s County Court House in Upper Marlboro for many years until he “officially” retired last year. As a resident of Upper Marlboro for 56 years, he enjoyed serving his community and his church, Trinity Episcopal. He was proud to be a member of the Fleet Reserve in Annapolis; the American Legion; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Deale; the Moose Lodge in Upper Marlboro; the FOP Lodge 89; and the Masonic Centennial Lodge in Upper Marlboro. He was truly one of a kind and he will be dearly missed.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred Buck Sherbert Mandell, and by his brothers Darwin “Junior” and Paul Mandell.

He is survived by his brother Harold Mandell of San Antonio, Texas; two daughters Donna Hyatt of Richmond, VA, and Ann Marie Smith and her husband Pierre Laprade Smith of Chesapeake Beach, MD; and his son Melvin D. Sherbert and his wife Janet Distad Sherbert of Dunkirk, MD. He is also survived by his grandchildren Marleigh and Jared Smith and Doug, Greg, and Russell Sherbert; six greatgrandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family received friends on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 at Rausch Funeral Home, 8325 Mt. Harmony Lane, Owings, MD from 7:00 – 9:00 P.M. The interment will be privately held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his memory to Trinity Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 187, Upper Marlboro, MD 20773 or to a charity of your choice.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Calvert Gazette

Newsmakers

Christmas Tour of Decorated Homes Becoming an Annual Event

By Corrin M. Howe Staff Writer Three businesses and six homeowners who are members of the Republican Women Leaders of Calvert (RWLC) opened their homes and businesses recently for the Second Annual Christmas Tour of Decorated Homes.

Changing their annual fundraiser from a wine tasting, the RWLC collected $25 per person to walk through decorated homes in the middle of the county. Last year, the first year of the Christmas Tour, the homes were in the northern end of the county, while next year they hope to have homes from the southern end.

The money raised goes toward the Joyce Lyons Terhes Scholarship, named for the founding member of the organization and awarded to a Calvert County high school student who has “demonstrated their belief in the philosophy and initiatives of the Republican Party and their support of conservative causes,” according to the tour program guide.

The day turned out sunny with a slight nip in the air as men and women drove from house to business between Dunkirk Town Center and Prince Frederick Shopping Center. The tour hours opened at 10 a.m. and lasted until 5 p.m.

The tour itself took about three hours.

While all the houses were decorated for Christmas, one house in particular felt like walking into a Christmas store with every room dressed to the nines.

Mary Orrecchio, of Huntingtown, told guests she started decorating on September 1

James and Janice Graner of Huntingtown stepped up to open their house when damage from Hurricane Irene knocked the original house off the tour.

When asked which of the four decorated Christmas trees they would hide presents under, Graner laughed. “Good question. Probably the newest tree in the newly refinished basement.” corrin@somdpublishing.net

and only recently finished. She will leave everything up until at least February. Walking into the two story stucco house, visitors were greeted immediately by “glitzy” silver decorations in the formal dining room and entry.

Further back in the house were some more traditional reds and greens. Bathtubs filled with white and red poinsettias.

In the program, Orrecchio said her “husband doesn’t know what to say when he answers the door on Halloween. Merry Christmas

This white penguin on skies decorated a doorway outside Leslie Wills home in Ownings.

or Trick or Treat.”

Michael Overfelt showed off his holiday decorated “man cave,” a cottage off the driveway of the main house. He wore a Santa hat, smoked his cigar and invited people to partake of the finger sandwiches as he showed off his new space, “just in time to watch the last half of the football season.”

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The Calvert Gazette

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e i d d i K Kor

CLUES ACROSS

1. Angry 4. Mr. Claus 9. Minerals 11. Gluten-free diet disease 12. Nickel-cadmium accumulator 14. Day or rest & worship 15. King of Magadha (273-232) 16. Satisfy an appetite 17. Stage signal 18. Durable aromatic wood 19. Something used to lure 20. Actress Basinger 21. A rare and exceptional person 24. Quick head movement 25. Yeddo 26. Mythological bird 27. Root mean square (abbr.)

28. Chart of the Earth’s surface 29. Fish eggs 30. Recto 37. The cry made by sheep

Thursday, December 22, 2011

38. Pitcher 39. Supports climbing plants 40. Arbitrager 41. Winglike structures 42. Singer Ross 43. Belonging to Barney & Betty 45. “Promises” author Wendi 46. Swindles 47. In widespread existence 48. Those opposed to 49. Used to be U___

CLUES DOWN

1. Grace’s Principality 2. No longer seated 3. Translate into ordinary language 4. Point that is one point E of SE 5. Linen vestment worn by priests 6. A B vitamin 7. Ryan O’Neal’s daughter 8. Dull steady pain 10. Seaport on Osaka Bay

16

11. Cowpunchers 13. Mend a sock 14. Ship’s canvas 16. Aformentioned 19. Big man on campus 20. English actress Stark 22. Malaria mosquitoes 23. Many subconsciousses 26. A scrap of cloth 27. Cry loudly 28. Actress Farrow 29. S. Korean Pres. Syngman (1948-65) 30. Rectangular grooved joint 31. “___ the night before Christmas” 32. Male parents 33. Earlier in time 34. Rampart of felled trees 35. Scoundrel (Yiddish) 36. Pencilmark remover 37. Danish ballet dancer Erik 40. Blood clams genus 41. Subsititutes (abbr.)

44. Spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan

Last Week’s Puzzle Solutions

17

Sp rts

The Calvert Gazette

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Deer Harvest

Fur and Feathers

By Keith McGuire Contributing Writer I’ve been hearing reports from Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties that the firearms season for our region was dismal. I can vouch for that!

The deer just seemed to disappear when the guns came out – more so than usual. Sure, there were some lucky hunters who bagged really nice bucks with their guns, and quite a few does as well. The local deer processing facilities report that numbers of deer brought in for butchering are less, but very nearly the same as they were last year. As I sat in the woods throughout the season, there were not as many blasts punctuating the woodland symphony as there seemed to be last year.

Last Friday, Maryland DNR released the preliminary harvest totals for the 2011 firearms season. Overall, the harvest is up slightly from 2010, but in our region the overall total is down by about 1% (according to them). Statewide the

total harvest from the regular firearms season was 41,421.

In 2010 the total was 40,694.

The totals for the tri-county region 2011 Regular Firearms Season are as follows: County Antlered Calvert 243 Charles 555 St. Mary’s 379

Antlerless 549 1085 839

County Antlered Calvert 32 Charles 61 St. Mary’s 48

Antlerless 30 62 50

Total 62 123 98

2010 Total 30 79 42

Last Saturday, instead of being in the woods for the beginning of the late segment of the Muzzleloader Season, I found myself at an afternoon holiday party.

There was not a single hunter or angler there besides me, so I was a little out of my element. One very nice lady asked me if I knew of a way to get more deer to her back yard. She loves to watch them and has had little success at attracting them to stay. She has tried apples and even a salt lick. The apples rot where she puts them – even hanging from a string – and the salt lick dissolves away in the rain.

Now, I really hate to tell people how to attract deer to their backyards because those who do often regret their actions when they discover how deer love to eat

Bleachers Assemble all NFL teams together and, like every schoolyard, you’ll find a sample of styles covering the entire athletic continuum. The awkward and uncoordinated (the Colts and ‘Skins), the talented but unfocused (the Cowboys), the naturally gifted and elegant (Green Bay) and even the bullies are represented. There are many teams claiming territory in this latter group, but there’s only one true NFL playground thug: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

No sports franchise personifies its city more accurately than the Steelers. The franchise’s name and logo were, obviously, derived from the local trademark steel in-

2010 Total 704 1878 1304

The Junior Firearms Season was 2 days long this year – for the first time ever – and the harvest for this season alone was up by 47%. Twenty of the State’s 23 counties allowed hunting on Sunday on private land during the junior season. The statewide total harvest for the Junior Firearms Season was 3,014. In 2010, 2053 deer were harvested by juniors. The breakdown for the tri-county region Junior Firearms Season is as follows:

A View From The

By Ronald N. Guy Jr. Contributing Writer

Total 792 1640 1218

dustry, but the team’s cultural connection with the region is far deeper than these superficial indicators. Western Pennsylvania is synonymous with Appalachia, rugged, resilient Americans and steel. Similarly, as far back as the early 1970s and the famed Steel Curtain defense, Pittsburgh has proudly been one of the NFL’s tough guys. Stingy defenses, hard hits and bluecollar, no-nonsense players have been the hallmark of Steelers football for 40 years.

The organization long ago adopted a successful formula that, like a good family recipe, they’ve stubbornly maintained without compromise. They draft and develop their own players and have little use for free agents who’ve been corrupted with another, non-Steelers culture. They seek out “steel”minded, hard-nosed coaches that embody the “Steelers way “, show them uncommon loyalty – they‘ve had but three coaches since 1969 – and empower them to run the football operations. It’s a business model, a franchise and a style of play I’ve admired for many years. That admiration, despite the team’s on-going success, is starting to wane.

flowers and rub the bark from small trees and shrubbery.

Still, the lady persisted, so I told her to coat her salt lick with molasses or one of the concoctions sold in sporting goods stores for this method of attracting deer. If that’s not enough, buy several bags of “deer corn” (which is little more than shelled corn) and spread that corn on the ground. Autumn harvest “ear corn” will also work. Then I reminded her that deer are very nocturnal creatures, but when fed and not disturbed, she could expect to see them at all times of day or night. Deer are fascinating creatures to watch. A few years back, I used these methods to attract deer to my own back yard until my better half – a devoted gardener – taught me the error of my ways.

If you have a particularly interesting hunting story and a picture, please drop me a line at riverdancekeith@gmail. com.

If you have a particularly interesting hunting story and a picture, please drop me a line at riverdancekeith@ gmail.com.

Ah those summer days of fishing!

Savage Amusement Violence, an innate aspect of football, is under assault. League rules regarding hits on quarterbacks and defenseless receivers has been redefined; the powers-that-be in the NFL have absolutely zero tolerance for helmet to helmet hits and NFL headhunters who lead recklessly with the crown of their helmets. As one might suspect, such violence legislation and its enforcement has been met with great resistance from fans and players alike. Every Sunday fans erupt over perceived dubious personal fouls and players cry to their union over league-levied fines for illegal hits. Ground zero for this battle between old school football ops and the new school neutering of defensive aggression is Pittsburgh, Penn.

No team has gotten more publicity for its blackout hits and fines than the Steelers.

The new rules fly in the face of everything the Steelers are and team and fans are united in their angst. I was with them for a while.

Now my answer to Black and Gold nation’s gripes is “too bad.” The truth is violence follows the Steelers. If you watch a team against any other opponent and then watch them against the Steelers, you’ll see two different brands of football. The Steelers are like the attitude-laden co-worker who brings out the worst in everyone around him or her. Watch a Steelers game and you’re probably going to see someone from the other team knocked senseless and stagger

off the field. And for the most part, football fans – Steelers fans or otherwise – love it.

That is sad commentary on the lack of basic humanity pervading society and stands on Sundays. Our ignorance of the long-term impact of concussions is long gone. There should be a collective intolerance for players who blatantly and habitually hit opponents high and disgust, not barbaric celebration, when someone’s husband, father or son is knocked senseless. For whatever reason, such play follows the Steelers and in this battle of wills, the NFL will, thankfully, prevail. The Steelers will conform… eventually. Their style represents football’s past, the league’s approach its sustainable, safer future.

In the movie Gladiator, an enslaved Maximus continues to win the favor of his captors and fans for his victorious acts of violence in arranged battles. In a poignant moment, Maximus, irritated by the bloodthirst of spectators seeking savage amusement, hurls his sword at his captor’s perch.

The act was met with catcalls and prompts an annoyed Maximus to yell, “Are you not entertained?” In that moment Maximus, as the great human conscience, captures exactly how I feel about Steelers football.

Am I entertained by Steelers football? Not anymore.

Send comments to rguyjoon@yahoo.com

The Calvert Gazette

Thursday, December 22, 2011

18

The Calvert Gazette is always looking for more local talent to feature!

To submit art or band information for our entertainment section, e-mail sarahmiller@countytimes.net.

Community Choir Raises Money for Charities Upcoming Rehearsals and Concerts Jan. 8, 2012 -

practice, 4-6 p.m.

Saint Paul United Methodist Church HG Trueman Road and Cove Point Road

Jan. 15 -

practice, 4-6 p.m.

North Beach Union Church 8912 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach

By Sarah Miller Staff Writer For nine years, the Chesapeake Community Chorus has been entertaining the community and raising money for local charities.

“Both things are very important to us,” said Larry Brown, the chorus director for the past nine years.

William Goodwin, a recent addition to the chorus, said singing has “been in the back of my mind for many years” but it was the charities the group is involved in that gave him the final push to go ahead and do it.

“That it was involved with Hospice made it a no brainier,” Goodwin said.

Vivian Wright, who has been singing with the group for the past three years, also said she got involved in the chorus due to its connection with Hospice. She said she has volunteered with Hospice, and loves singing so the chorus was a perfect fit for her.

The original purpose of the chorus was to raise money for Hospice, and the chorus has since branched out to be an all around fundraising group. Instead of charging admission, individuals attending concerts are asked to make a donation, which are passed on. Brown said the chorus doesn’t charge admission because they “want to make sure everyone comes that wants to come.”

Most of the music the group performs is sacred music; fitting for the church settings where the group normally performs.

For a little bit of variety, they will throw in a little bit of gospel and “general concert type music,” Brown said.

They are not a professional group, but every member is a volunteer and there because they want to be there, not because they are getting paid or receiving credits for school. The singers love for what they do comes out in their performance, with every singer engaged and actively participating.

Goodwin said that because the chorus is all-volunteer, Brown has to be able to direct and lead the group without forcing them to do anything, a feat he accomplishes with energy and style. He said Brown gives and takes suggestions, and is as excited about the chorus as his singers.

The chorus doesn’t rehearse every week, and Brown said the number of people in the choir changes each time. On average, he said there are 30 singers at rehearsals and 25 at concerts. The chorus is always looking for more singers. Most of the performances and rehearsals are in the late afternoon on Sundays in order to have the least impact on the workweek and to allow the most people to join in.

Jan. 22 -

practice, 4-6 p.m.

Northeast Community Center 4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue, Chesapeake Beach

Feb. 19 -

practice, 4-6 p.m.

Northeast Community Center 4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue, Chesapeake Beach

March 18 -

practice, 4-6 p.m.

Northeast Community Center 4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue, Chesapeake Beach

April 15 -

practice, 4 p.m. concert, 5 p.m.

Waters Memorial United Methodist Church 5400 Mackall Road, St. Leonard

April 22 -

practice, 4 p.m. concert, 5 p.m.

North Beach Union Church 8912 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach

May 6 -

People interested don’t have to audition or have prior experience, just a willingness to come and sing, Brown said.

‘We’d love to have anybody,” Brown said.

For more information, call Brown 301-855-7477 or e-mail lbrown9601@ verizon.net. sarahmiller@countytimes.net

practice, 4 p.m., concert, 5 p.m.

Huntingtown United Methodist Church 4020 Hunting Creek Road, Huntingtown

May 20 -

practice, 4-6 p.m.

Northeast Community Center 4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue, Chesapeake Beach

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

• Tens of thousands of holiday lights twinkle in Chesapeake Beach to make it the Brightest Beacon on the Bay. Take the family and ride through Chesapeake Beach to enjoy holiday lights displayed until the week after the New Year. (www. chesapeake-beach.md.us) • Make a stop at Tan’s Cycles to visit their free Holiday Train Garden. The train garden is on a 20’ X 20’ platform with five levels, 30 trains, seven super streets, a carnival, waterfall, construction site, disappearing trains, tunnels, bridges and much more. The Holiday Train Display begins November 25 and runs through January 14, weekdays 3 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays noon to 5 p.m.; special times on Dec. 24 and 31 (noon to 5 p.m.) and Dec. 27 thru 30 (noon to 8 p.m.). Tans is at 9032 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach.

For more information, call 410-257-6619.

• Surround yourself with one-of-akind, handmade creations at Annmarie Garden’s annual Garden in Lights. Mythical creatures, spectacular wild animals, illuminated works of art, hidden beasts, romantic dancers and more will delight all ages. Don’t forget to ask for a “holiday I spy” program. After your walk, enjoy a hot drink, entertainment, the Ornament Show and the Celebrations Glass Exhibit in the Arts Building. Garden in Lights runs through January 1, 2012. Check the website for more information: www.annmariegarden.org.

• The Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum invites you to share in a holiday tradition as their “conductors” read a classic children’s Christmas story, “The Polar Express,” on Thursday, December 22, at 6 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. After each reading there will be a tour of Chesapeake Beach on the Holiday Trolley. Space is limited and reservations are required. Learn more about this event at www.cbrm.org or call the museum at 410-257-3892. You may reserve your space online at http:// www.planetreg.com/E101111521898.

• Dunkirk Baptist Church invites you to join us Saturday, December 24 at 6PM for our Family Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship. For more information call: 301-855-3555 or click: www. dunkirkbaptistchurch.org

The Calvert Gazette

• SMILE, INC. invites you to a Christmas Dinner from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm on Christmas Day to be held at the Arick L. Lore Post 274 American Legion in Lusby. Santa Claus and his helpers will be there with toys for the children and it is fun for all. Christmas Dinner at the American Legion Hall has become a tradition. SMILE gathers volunteers to prepare and serve the dinner. Santa Claus, though weary from the previous evening’s deliveries also volunteers his time and arrives with a bag full of gifts.

Some of our guests find such a meal beyond their means, others are alone and enjoy the company and still others simply do not care to cook.

• Dunkirk Baptist Church invites you to join us Sunday, December 25 at 10:30AM for our Christmas Day Family Worship. For more information call: 301855-3555 or click: www.dunkirkbaptistchurch.org • Looking for things to do with the family during the holidays? The Calvert Marine Museum offers programs throughout the school holiday. Each day from December 26 through December 30 you can discover interesting facts about sea life. Did you know horseshoe crabs have been around since dinosaurs? What good are jellyfish? On Friday, December 30, visit the Discovery Room for a handson lesson about the different kinds of turtles that can be found in our area. On Monday, January 2, kids can take special tours of the Drum Point Lighthouse and learn what life was like for children stationed at the lighthouse with their families. Check the Calvert Marine Museum website, www.calvertmarinemuseum. com, for complete listings and registration information. All programs are free with museum admission.

• Start off your New Year with an invigorating swim in the Chesapeake Bay! Join the crowd at North Beach as they run across the beach into the chilly waters for the annual Polar Bear Plunge. After, everyone will warm up beside a large beach bonfire and enjoy a hot drink. It is great fun for all ages – both to participate and to watch! The fun starts at 1 p.m. at the beach located at the intersection of 5th Street and Bay Avenue. (www.ci.north-

Out&About

beach.md.us) • Dunkirk Baptist Church invites you to join us Sunday, January 1 as we celebrate the New Year. 9:15AM we will have Sunday School for all ages and at 10:30AM we will have a New Year’s Day Worship. For more information call: 301855-3555 or click: www.dunkirkbaptistchurch.org • Is your New Year’s resolution going to be “Get a new job”? If so, you may want to register for the resume and cover letter workshops offered at Calvert Library Prince Frederick. Beginning Jan. 3, library volunteer and job counselor Sandra Holler will host small group workshops from 10 a.m. to noon two Tuesdays a month, usually the first and third Tuesday. Participants will learn what makes a strong resume and cover letter and will get individualized help. If you already have a resume started, bring it with you so editing can happen on the spot. Registration is required and can be done through the library website at calvert.lib.md.us or by calling 410-535-0291.

For more information, call Robyn Truslow at 410-535-0291 or 301-855-1862.

• It is that time of year again! The Annual Giant Gently Used Book Sale hosted by Friends of Calvert Library will begin with a members-only preview night on Thursday, Jan. 12 from 5-8pm.

You can join at the door with $10 for an individual and $15 for a family membership. The sale opens to the public on Friday, Jan. 13 from noon to 4pm and will also be held on Saturday, January 14 from 9am-3pm. The event is in the meeting rooms at the Calvert Library Prince Frederick and there will be thousands of books in good to excellent condition.

• Sunday Conversations with Chesapeake Authors at 2 p.m. Jan. 15 will feature Richard LaMotte, back by popular demand, to talk about his beautiful book “Pure SEA GLASS.” LaMotte will identify sea glass and show sample glassware.

Sea Glass jewelry will be featured in the Museum Store and the artists that make it will also be on hand. Purchase a copy of “Pure Sea Glass” and have it signed on the spot.

Garden in Lights Continues to Jan. 1

Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center in Solomons is continuing its award-winning Garden in Lights through Jan. 1.

Showcasing several hundred handmade light sculptures throughout the 30-acre park, visitors will be surrounded by a holiday light show that won Maryland Life Magazine’s Best Holiday Tradition award in 2010. Garden in Lights attendees will be able to see a myriad of light sculptures which include mythical beasts, a circus, dancers, animated characters, the Centennial of Naval Aviation, and much more.

Starting the light show experience in Annmarie’s 15,000 sq. ft. arts building, visitors will begin their adventure with live entertainment, shopping opportunities at the 4th Annual Ornament Show & Sale, and be able to indulge in some light refreshments before heading outside to see the light sculptures.

In addition, Annmarie will also be hosting a Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots drive throughout the Garden in Lights event. Visitors are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the Annmarie Arts building for local kids in need of some holiday cheer; why not give the gift of joy while enjoying Garden in the Lights this year.

Garden in Lights opens from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. weather permitting and with limited closures (December 24-25). Admission is only $5 (Children 4 and under and members are free).

Annmarie will continue its normal hours of operation for its featured Toys and Imagine a… exhibits during the day.

For more information about Garden in Lights or Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, go to www.annmariegarden.org or call 410-326-4640.

Where’s the Party At?

Thursday, Dec. 22 Live Music: “Oren Polak Duo” Casey Jones Pub (417 E. Charles St., La Plata) – 9:30 p.m.

Pajama Party w/ DJ Mike Apehangers Bar and Grill (9100 Crain Highway, Bel Alton) – 9 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 25

Live Music: “Half Naked Trio” The Blue Dog Saloon (7940 Port Tobacco Road, Port Tobacco) – 8 p.m.

Open Christmas Day Apehangers Bar and Grill (9100 Crain Highway, Bel Alton) – 2 p.m.

Live Music: “Sam Grow” Ruddy Duck Brewery (13200 Dowell Road, Dowell) - 8 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 26

Friday, Dec. 23 Live Music: “Neil Tracy Trio” Island Bar and Crab House (16810 Piney Point Rd., Piney Point) – 7:30 p.m.

Christmas Party & Live Music: “The Sam Grow Band” The Greene Turtle (6 St. Mary’s Avenue Suite 104, La Plata) – 9 p.m.

Live Music: “Silvertung Christmas Bash w/ the Black Dahlia” Memories Nightclub and Bar (2360 Old Washington Road, Waldorf) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Dave and Kevin Trio” Ruddy Duck Brewery (13200 Dowell Road, Dowell) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Natural Progression” Back Creek Bistro (14415 Dowell Road, Dowell) – 6 p.m.

Live Music: “Diane Daly” The Westlawn Inn (9200 Chesapeake Avenue, North Beach) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “No Green JellyBeanz” Big Dogs Paradise (28765 Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville) – 9:30 p.m.

Open Mic Night Rustic River Bar and Grill (40874 Merchants Lane, Leonardtown) – 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 27 Trivia Night Rustic River Bar and Grill (40874 Merchants Lane, Leonardtown) – 6:30 p.m.

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

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

Wednesday, Dec. 28 Live Music: “Wolf’s Hot Rods and Old Gas Blues Jam” Beach Cove Restaurant (8416 Bayside Road, Chesapeake Beach) – 8 p.m.

Live Music: “Acoustical Sounds” Martini’s Lounge (10553 Theodore Green Boulevard, White Plains) – 8 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 24

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

Live Music: “Groove Span” The Blue Dog Saloon (7940 Port Tobacco Road, Port Tobacco) – 6:30 p.m.

Karaoke w/ DJ Harry Big Dogs Paradise (28765 Three Notch Road, Mechanicsville) – 7 p.m.

Is your bar or business hosting a special celebration on New Year’s Eve? Let us know when and where, so our readers can find the best spots in Southern Maryland to ring in 2012. Please send detailed info to carriemunn@countytimes.net no later than Monday, Dec. 26.

Save ENERGY and Save MONEY this winter SMECO has a variety of programs that can help reduce your energy use and increase your savings.

SMECO’s top ten ways to reduce heating costs 10

Consider upgrading to high-efficiency heating equipment.

9

Remove leaves and snow from around your heat pump.

8

Open curtains and blinds during the day.

7

Tune up your heating system annually.

6

Insulate your attic and ductwork.

5

Take advantage of SMECO’s energy efficiency programs and rebates.

4

Schedule a Quick Home Energy Check-up.

3

Change your air filter once a month.

2

Set your programmable thermostat to 68°F.

1

Weather-strip around doors and caulk around windows.

Visit www.smeco.coop/save for updates, ideas, and more ways to save.

This program supports the EmPOWER Maryland Energy Efficiency Act.