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June 21, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

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Both Sides Now (Part Two): Preserve Talbot History’s President David Montgomery

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As the Mid-Shore community begins a weekend of celebration of Juneteenth, the national commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, it seemed like the appropriate time to focus on the controversial “Talbot Boys” Confederate memorial that sits on the Talbot County Courthouse lawn. While the arguments for maintaining or moving the statue are now increasingly well-known to Spy readers, for the first time, we have reached out to the two organizations who have either taken the lead in preserving it where it stands now (Preserve Talbot History) or moving it (Move the Monument Coalition) to a less controversial location to provide short summaries of each group’s position.

We conclude today with Preserve Talbot History’s President David Montgomery. In his interview with the Spy, David talks about the misinterpretations those seeking to move the Talbot Boys have on the statue and a false reading of Eastern Shore history. He also talks about his organization’s proposal to build a memorial to commemorate soldiers from the Union side of the Civil War. David also responses to the recent lawsuit by the NAACP/ACLU against the Talbot County Council and how the community should embrace its full history as part of its tourism industry. Finally, he speaks about his group’s desire to see a county-wide referendum on the future of the Talbot Boys.

On Wednesday, the Spy published our interview with Move the Monument Coalition leaders Ridgely Ochs and Jess Taylor. You can view that video here.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about the Preserve Talbot History organization please go here.

Both Sides Now (Part One): Move the Monument Coalition’s Ridgely Ochs and Jess Taylor

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As the Mid-Shore community begins a weekend of celebration of Juneteenth, the national commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, it seemed like the appropriate time to focus on the controversial “Talbot Boys” Confederate memorial that sits on the Talbot County Courthouse lawn. While the arguments for maintaining or moving the statue are now increasingly well-known to Spy readers, for the first time, we have reached out to the two organizations who have either taken the lead in preserving it where it stands now (Preserve Talbot History) or moving it (Move the Monument Coalition) to a less controversial location to provide short summaries of each group’s position.

We began today with Move the Monument Coalition leadership team members Ridgely Ochs and Jess Taylor. In their interview with the Spy, Ridgely and Jess talk about their motivation in getting involved, the group’s plans to hold a rally to move the statue in Easton this Saturday, and their support of the recent NAACP/ACLU lawsuit against the Talbot County Council as part of their organization’s strategy to relocate the Talbot Boys from the Courthouse lawn.

On Thursday, the Spy will publish our interview with David Montgomery, president of Preserve Talbot History, to discuss his organization’s opposition to removing the Talbot Boys from its current position.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about the Move the Monument Coalition and its Juneteenth Rally please go here.

Light at the End of the COVID Tunnel with Qlarant’s CEO Ron Forsythe

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It is hard to think of another Mid-Shore company in recent history that has made more cultural and strategic changes in how they conduct their business than Qlarant, headquartered in Talbot County. In this case, Qlarant, which had been operating its nonprofit businesses since 1973, made the bold move over five years ago to consolidate those free-standing entities and bring its entire workforce under one name to offer their solutions for fraud, waste & abuse, quality improvement,  and data sciences & technology management.

This major change in corporate culture and team building was bearing significant results with Qlarant’s growth, at least before the entire world changed in the face of an international pandemic in March 2020. By its 2nd quarter, everything had changed for Qlarant and their clients. And watching all of this unfold was Ron Forsythe, Qlarant’s president, and CEO, who had carefully planned and the company’s organizational change, and in what seemed to him like a New York minute, everything not only changed but stayed changed for the next eighteen months.

The good news for Qlarant was that they had always planned for a crisis situation. As Ron notes in the Spy’s latest interview with him last week, the company’s 500 plus employees quickly pivoted to those “Plan B” playbooks. And even under these unprecedented conditions, Forsythe notes that revenue grew by six percent in 2020.

But as America has started to move into a new post-COVID era, Ron highlights a new set of challenges for him and his colleagues. Questions like which employees should be allowed to continue to work at home, how to manage and build relations with customers in the future, and most importantly for any CEO, how does one keep and grow corporate culture.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about Qlarant please go here.

Talbot County Check-In with Council President Callahan: Senior Staff, COVID Response, and Talbot Boys Status

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Every three months, the Talbot Spy checks in with the Talbot County Council President to get an update on the highlights and other concerns the Council has been working on during that time.

Last week, we sat down with Chuck Callahan, the current Council president, to understand more about some of the major leadership positions being filled, including the Council’s decision to replace a full-time county attorney, with a part-time contract with legal counsel Patrick Thomas. We also catch up on how the County is working on a new County Sheriff center, the FY 21-22 annual budget, the status of COVID-19 in the region, new plans to improve customer relations in county agencies, and President Callahan’s approach to the controversial proposal and recent lawsuit to move the Confederate memorial from the Courthouse lawn.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length. For more information about the Talbot County Council please go here.

Mid-Shore Health: Choptank Comes to Kent County with Sara Rich

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While Kent County has had good reasons to celebrate the recent news that the Shore Regional Health’s Chestertown hospital would remain a full-service facility with its new designation as a “critical care” health center, there was another bit of news about the same time that might have been overlooked with all that excitement.

About the same time that the State of Maryland re-classified the town’s hospital, it was also announced that Choptank Community Health System had joined in a partnership with Shore Health to serve the needs of Kent County. Choptank might be a new name for locals, but it has been a highly respected health provider for the Mid-Shore for almost four decades.

Originally launched by concerned nurses and doctors in Caroline County in 1978, Choptank’s mission was to establish comprehensive primary health care services to all residents, regardless of one’s ability to pay. And since that time, the nonprofit health provider has grown to establish centers in Cambridge, Denton, Easton, Federalsburg, Goldsboro, and St. Michaels. And now Chestertown will be added to this list starting in 2022.

Not only has Choptank grown in the territory they cover, but in the last several years, they have significantly expanded their mission to include dental care, in-school health centers, and now behavioral health as well.

The Spy sat down with Sara Rich, Choptank’s CEO and president, at the White Swan Tavern the other day to learn more about Choptank and what they will be bringing to Kent County.

This video is approximately seven minutes in length. For more information about the Choptank Community Health System please go here.

Sheriff Joe Gamble Not Happy with the New State Police Officer Disciplinary Process

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Talbot County Sheriff Joe Gamble is known for keeping within his lane when talking about political issues. While he does need to run for election, the Sheriff has made it a point to limit his opinion to only things he knows best, which comes down to law enforcement.

With an entire career devoted to policing, including serving on state-wide boards reviewing use of force policies, it came to no surprise to the Spy that Gamble has more than a few thoughts regarding the State of Maryland’s new laws related to law enforcement.

Just weeks ago, Annapolis lawmakers overrode Governor Hogan’s veto to pass one of the country’s most sweeping police reform bills. From the mandatory use of video cams for all police officers, new disclosure protocols of law officer records, to the repeal of Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, the net results makes the lives of Joe Gamble and other law enforcement peers a lot more challenging in the years to come.

While Sheriff Gamble had strong opinions about many of these reforms, including his support of the the police cam mandate, he saved his strongest criticism for the new officer disciplinary process, which fundamentally changes his management role, and in fact eliminates his ability to discipline his officers.

In a series of conversations with Joe Gamble over the next few months, we share his views of this change of law and process, as well as his concerns as a publicly elected officer held accountable for the conduct of his department.

This video is approximately four minutes in length.

 

Talbot Historical Society Project Rewind: The Saturday Morning Haircut

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Thank you Ellen Sands Smith for sharing this picture of your father Lou Sands’ Barber Shop on Harrison Street in Easton, Maryland! Lou Sands is the far right Barber and the Barber by the window is James Peyton. The Thompson & Sands Barber Shop was located across the street from the visible Hotel Avon when this 1940 picture was taken! The Hotel Avon was destroyed by fire January 10, 1944 and the Tidewater Inn was built in that location. Do you remember this Barber Shop? Photo from the Talbot Historical Society’s Sands Family Collection.

Contact: Cathy Hill cvhill@atlanticbb.net to share your old photos and purchase our collections photos. Comment, Like our page and join the Talbot Historical Society

Editor Notes: From and Fuller Get a Week Off, George Merrill’s Return, and COVID Reports

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After over a year of weekly commentary, the Spy’s friends Al From and Craig Fuller have been granted their first break from their popular From and Fuller podcast in honor of Memorial Day Weekend. They will return to their seats next week to share their unique points of view of American politics and inside Beltway perspectives.

Their absence gives me a long-overdue opportunity to thank Al and Craig for contributing their time and talent to the Spy. Given their extraordinary backgrounds, it remains astonishing to me as the Spy’s publisher and executive editor that they have been willing to participate every week with this modest nonprofit media outlet.

Nonetheless, over the last 13 months, these two Washington pros have developed a substantial following, not only on the Shore, but accordingly to our Google Analytics reports, nationally as well, including having the show be re-broadcasted several times by the highly regarded Real Clear Politics network. This is also true with our partner WHCP Community Radio in Cambridge.

While both confess their motivation is based on a lifelong passion for politics and a friendship that has existed for decades, the Spy remains humbled by this extraordinary gift to the communities we serve and the thousands of followers they have attracted in the last year.

Speaking of a large fan base, many readers have reached out to us recently inquiring about the absence of the Spy’s Sunday columnist, George Merrill. While we noted in George’s last column a few weeks ago that George had requested a mini-sabbatical, it was exciting news to hear from him yesterday that he plans to return to his column starting in early July.

As we highlighted in our editor’s note to readers in his last column in May, George has graced the pages of the Spy with now some 330 commentaries with his beautifully nuanced, playful, but ultimately powerful moral observations since 2015. And like our friends, From and Fuller, he too has developed a loyal following of thousands over the year, who has made his Sunday morning essays part of their weekend ritual. As one of those fans, I eagerly await his return.

Finally, the Spy has recently decided that we will be ending our daily COVID reports at the end of June. While we reserve the right to change our minds if circumstances dictate it, the Mid-Shore will soon reach such a reduced level of risk and such a high rate of vaccinations for us to conclude that this devastating health crisis has reached the end of its horrific existence.

I want to once again make note of the Spy’s public affairs editor, John Griep, for his exceptional work on collecting and reporting data on this evil pandemic. For the last fourteen months, John has not missed a day in sharing critical important information to the region, as well as providing thoughtful analysis of what those numbers have meant for the communities we serve. I remain, as do countless Spy readers, profoundly grateful to John for this true public service.

Dave Wheelan
Publisher and Executive Editor

Profiles in Philanthropy: The “Come Here” Impact with Bill Ryan

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For close to four centuries, the Mid-Shore has debated the pros and cons of “Come Heres” by the “From Heres.” Harking back to when white settlers were starting to arrive in Maryland in the 1600s, there has been a longstanding caution by those born in the five-county region to outsiders moving into their communities.

While this historic impulse is now mostly the subject of good humor, the dynamic can still have an edgy side when it comes to politics, culture and the inevitable impact on home values and property tax assessments.

But to its credit, the Mid-Shore is also well aware of the extraordinary positives that come with the “new” people. And one of those clearly in the case of philanthropy. With such extraordinary examples as the W. Alton Jones family and more recently, the late Jim Clark, generations of “Come-Heres” have been instrumental in the creation and ongoing support of museums, schools, hospitals, and countless other civic needs.

That’s important information to remember as the Eastern Shore experiences an unprecedented surge of Come-Heres, well, coming here. Even before the COVID pandemic fundamentally changed both life and work for many, the Mid-Shore, with its proximity to three major American cities, was seeing a wave of former urbanites calling Dorchester, Kent, or Talbot Counties their primary home of residence.

One of those new “Come Heres” is Bill Ryan. A native of Pittsburgh, Bill makes no secret that he has come from a very privileged background. The grandson of a mining engineer who made a fortune inventing the first hardhat with a light built into it, Bill has enjoyed the kind of upper-class life that included private schools, professional success, and such recreational pursuits as sailing.

And sailing was a major co-factor in Bill and his wife moving to Talbot County eight years ago. Both long-time professors at Penn State, the semi-retired couple were not only eager to enjoy life on the Chesapeake Bay but also to give back to the community.

In his Spy interview, Bill talks about his roots, his family’s influence in wanting to give back, and his unique role as Chair of Building African-American Minds (BAAM) in Easton.

Following in the footsteps of Clark, Bill Hunter, and Dickie Firth, Bill was keen to support the work of founders Derick and Dina Daly with capital investments to expand programming, the building of an athletic center, and now heading up a capital campaign for BAAM’s new academic center.

The Spy spoke with Bill at the Spy Studio a few weeks ago in Easton.

 

Catching Up with Jack: Midshipman Gill after Three Years at the USNA

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Three years ago, the Spy interviewed St. Michaels High School senior Jack Gill about his two-year campaign to gain acceptance at the United States Naval Academy.

On the face of it, Jack had all the “right stuff.” This included being the school’s valedictorian, class president, athlete, countless hours of volunteer work, and the blessings of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen and 1st District Congressman Andy Harris. And yet, a dreaded email that spring crushed Gill’s dreams when he was notified that he had been placed on the “waitlist.” In other words, this was the subtle way in which the USNA informed applicants that they should be looking at other schools.

Through sheer determination, Jack did not go gently into retreat. He redoubled his efforts and, against all odds, was indeed accepted at the last minute into the Class of 2022.

The Spy remembered that background when one of our readers asked how Jack has fared since that interview took place. Beyond the initial challenges of Plebe (freshman) year of intensive physical and mental endurance tests, Gill and his classmates have also had to fulfill their academic requirements during the COVID pandemic, resulting in being restricted to dorm rooms for more than a year.

Given all this, the Spy was just as curious as some of our readers on Jack’s journey, and we drove over to Annapolis a few weeks ago for a quick check-in with him just outside the Academy’s Visitor Center to get an update.

This video is approximately five minutes in length.