Towne Spotlight Local

GRANTS FOR GUNSTON 

The Gunston School and the Chesapeake Watershed Semester (CWS) have received grants from the Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Educators (MAEOE) and Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLAES). Gunston’s environmental programs expand beyond the classroom to include the nationally-recognized Chesapeake Bay Studies (a four-year program and graduation requirement for all students), annual Earth Day celebrations, and the Chesapeake Watershed Semester, which is open to the public for any 11th and 12th grade students. CWS offers the opportunity to travel across the watershed over five different learning expeditions. These grants support student research on submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration along our waterfront and transportation to field study locations. For more information about the programs, visit gunston.org.

 Tidewater Rotary Bowling Fundraiser

The second annual Tidewater Rotary Bowling Fundraiser was held on Monday, April 4, at Easton Bowl. After postponing for two years, club members were eager to come back together to relaunch the fundraiser and invite the community to come out and support Talbot Humane. Lanes were sponsored by more than 20 local businesses and organizations. Approximately 125 bowlers participated in the festivities of the evening. Participants enjoyed 20 frames of bowling, food and drinks provided by Easton Bowl, and raffles. Bowlers and their guests made additional donations and fundraising contributions during the event. The Tidewater Rotary Club event netted approximately $6,000 in total donations. Proceeds will support Talbot Humane’s mission to service animals and their owners of the Midshore with compassion, transparency and thoughtfulness. “It was great to see two community-based organizations like Tidewater Rotary and Talbot Humane come together, join forces, and raise money for the shelter,” Tidewater Rotary Club President Chuck Lennon said. Learn more at tidewaterrotary.org.

MARYLAND DOVE LAUNCHES

Nearly three years after beginning the largest construction project they had ever taken on, shipwrights at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels completed construction of the Maryland Dove this spring. “I am incredibly proud of my team and what they’ve accomplished,” said CBMM’s lead shipwright, Joe Connor, who has served as the construction manager on the project since its inception. “We have assembled some of the most talented shipwrights I’ve ever worked with, and we’re all looking forward to seeing the ship sail away.” A major milestone in the project happened in CBMM’s working Shipyard on March 28, when the roughly 94,000-pound ship was hoisted by crane and placed in the Miles River—touching water for the first time in its new life. It was the largest vessel launched in St. Michaels since 1904, and a spectacle to behold.

Funds for New Health Center

$2.889M for Choptank Health’s new Federalsburg Health Center was recently secured in legislation by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.). The funding supports the construction of Choptank Health’s new Hayman Ave. Federalsburg Health Center. The new community health center is expected to be completed in 2024 and replaces Choptank Health’s current Bloomingdale Ave. medical and dental center, which has outgrown the space while annually seeing more than 5,100 medical and dental patients. “We are extremely grateful for the Senators Cardin and Van Hollen’s support and investment in this new Federalsburg Health Center,” said Choptank Health CEO Sara Rich. “The new health center will better support the medically underserved residents of Caroline County, and we’ll be able to have space for Choptank Health’s medical rural residency program, expanded dental residency programs, and behavioral health services. Learn more at choptankhealth.org.

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