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July 4, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

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1 Homepage Slider Food and Garden Food Notes

Thanksgiving for vegans

November 23, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

The traditional image of a family Thanksgiving meal includes turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with butter, green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup, buttered biscuits, and pie made with eggs and milk. It’s all food full of animal ingredients. So, is there any room at the Thanksgiving table for vegans, who ethically eat nothing containing animal products?

Absolutely.

I say this from experience, being a vegan myself. Sure, there were times in the past when Thanksgiving dinner with relatives could be a challenge for me, but not these days. In fact, it doesn’t have to be a problem for anyone. There are not only lots of ready-made products in the supermarket that can replace the classic fare, but there are literally hundreds of creative recipes for sumptuous dishes that will make you forget about the turkey entirely.

Why vegan Thanksgiving?

One reason to eat a vegan meal, or even just substitute certain foods, is to save a bird. Turkeys are gentle, social creatures who form strong bonds and show affection to their feathered fellows and humans they trust. They’re curious and inquisitive and like to explore. They enjoy music and often sing along. They purr like cats when petted. Their personalities are as varied as humans. So, give one a break, eh?

There are also health benefits to a vegan diet. They include reduced risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and some cancers. You can improve your digestion and lower blood pressure. Anyone who thinks vegans aren’t healthy can rest assured. My mother is 71 and doesn’t look it.

So, what is there to eat?

Someone on the vegan section of Reddit asked, “What do you guys eat for Thanksgiving?” Someone else responded, “I still make everything I used to make…but now it’s vegan.”

If you want the traditional dishes, there are vegan versions of them all: green bean casserole (with veggie broth, mushrooms, and coconut milk), mashed potatoes (with plant-based butter), gravy (made with mushrooms or caramelized onions), bread stuffing, and even pumpkin pie (with almond milk and egg substitute). Trust me, you won’t know the difference.

But you can broaden your fare with other favorites, such as vegan meatballs, vegan meatloaf, vegan macaroni and cheese, and vegan cheesecake. For more exotic dishes, try brown-sugar BBQ whole-roasted cauliflower, butternut squash curry, roasted beet salad with horseradish-cashew cream, pumpkin soup with Thai red curry paste and lemongrass, Owamni sweet potatoes with maple-chile crisp, or nutty Baklava pie.

The Main Course

“That’s all great,” you say, “but what do I eat instead of turkey?”

Well, this year, my mom is serving Gardein stuffed roast for the entree. But that’s far from the only alternative. How about Portobello Wellington with red wine gravy, or vegan lentil shepherd’s pie with parsnip and potato mash? If you want something less turkeyish, there’s vegan lasagna with roasted vegetables, zucchini verde enchiladas, and nutty veggie burgers!

It takes no more effort to prepare a plant-based Thanksgiving meal than it does to cook a dead bird for half a day. So, go vegan this year, even if just for the holiday. Your stomach will thank you. Your heart will thank you. Your soul will thank you.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 1 Homepage Slider, Food Notes

Christina Wingate-Spence Loves 21613: A Spy Q & A with Main Street’s Executive Director

October 7, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

The Cambridge Main Street board of directors announced in early July that they had selected Christina Wingate-Spence as the new executive director. She now leads the nonprofit organization that seeks to foster Cambridge’s economic vitality and preserve and promote its historic downtown.

The Spy sat down with this award-winning marketer in her office at the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce to discuss her background and her ambitions for Cambridge’s downtown area. (Note: Her answers have been edited for length.)

What town or city in Dorchester County did you grow up in?

Madison. So, very rural Dorchester County. My parents have lived on the same street their entire lives. … Their moms were very best friends. They grew up together, ended up getting married, and built a house on the same street. Ironically, my husband, son, and I moved from Talbot County. We lived there for a few years. We moved back about five years ago and live right across from my parents. It’s a very family-oriented environment, and even though, growing up in rural Dorchester County, Cambridge was really the hub for everything that we had to do. So, grocery shopping. I’m a Cambridge-South Dorchester graduate, so really, living in a rural area, this was still our town, just because this is where we came to shop and eat and everything.

What college did you go to?

Washington College in Chestertown.

So, you’re definitely a local kind of girl.

Ironically, I have never lived anywhere other than the Eastern Shore.

What’s your professional background?

So, I was a political science major in college. I did an internship with the Maryland General Assembly. After graduation, I took a job with a nonprofit, Upper Shore Aging, Incorporated, which is the area agency on aging for Talbot, Kent, and Caroline Counties. And I was a programs manager for them. … And, from there, I kind of took a turn into healthcare sales and marketing. … I worked for a skilled nursing facility. I’ve worked for assisted living, home care agency, inpatient acute rehab, and the hospital system. I was with them for about five years. So, really, the past 20 years, I spent marketing and using PR skills, but in a completely different area, and just decided to kind of make a change and do something different where I could utilize those skills, but not in a healthcare environment.

Why did you choose marketing and sales as a career?

To be quite honest with you, I think it found me. And it just became something, I think being a political science major and having to, again, do the internship with the General Assembly, you learn very quickly to think on your feet and be able to speak to people appropriately and sort of be a presence. I mean, that’s sort of what my initial plan was, to go to law school, and I decided not to do that. But, once I started getting into more public-facing jobs, and I’ve always been a people person, I just sort of developed a niche for it and realized that it’s sort of fun to create a brand, to entice someone to use your product or service or just create a situation where you are able to better engage with people. … It was just something that I became good at. And, being in healthcare for as long as I was, I think, one job just kind of lended itself to another job. You almost kind of find that niche. … I think whatever it is that you’re “selling,” if it’s something that you believe in, I just think it comes naturally because you want to tell people about it.

What are your plans and ambitions for Cambridge Main Street?

Visibility of our organization to the businesses and the merchants, really providing them with the support that they need to be more successful, to get more people to want to visit Cambridge, whether that’s local, obviously we want locals to support our small businesses, but making this almost sort of a destination for people as well. That’s why we’re having some of our larger events. … There’s the water, there’s so much history. Again, we have amazing eateries and shops, we have museums, art galleries. … My vision, I think the organization’s vision, is to just create a robust environment where we are engaging with the businesses, the community, the visitors, and really just being present, giving people a reason to want to support the downtown businesses and creating opportunities for them to come down here and do so.

How do you feel about the current state of Cambridge Main Street?

I feel like we’re in a really great place. We have a 12-person volunteer board of directors, and a very engaged board of directors. I think that one of the reasons why I was the choice for this role is because I am a Dorchester County girl through and through. … So, having someone that’s very familiar with the people and the background of the city, the town, and also with my skill set of marketing and communications, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback in the two months that I’ve been in this role. … They’re seeing more engagement of Cambridge Main Street out in the community and with the planning of events that we’re doing: Taste of Cambridge, Trick or Treat, Mistletoe on Main. … You know, we want more opportunities for people to come see what we have to offer. So, it’s my job to create that.

Where does your passion for the county and your work come from?

Oh, I really think that my background in rural Dorchester County, I mean, having parents that have been from here, that have worked in this county for their entire lives, really instilled in me a sense of work ethic and volunteerism. So, when I was very young, even at five and six years old, I was volunteering in nursing homes and helping with bingos. And, I mean, they instilled in me at a very young age the importance of belonging to something and helping something greater than you, really. So, that’s part of the passion that I have for, in general, just seeing something that is great, that you want to continue to help grow, and you believe in it. … And I like to tell this story. Back when I was growing up, Downtown Cambridge, it was sort of at that period where there was really not much down here. A lot of the businesses that were of my parents’ generation, that were here when I was a small child, they closed. … And over time, I went away to college, came back. … And I think that, coming back here and seeing the difference in what it was when I was growing up and the opportunities that we have now, and just seeing that growth, it excites me, because now I get to be a part of it.

Cambridge Main Street has had some trouble holding on to executive directors. How long do you plan to stay?

After more than 20 years of working for large corporations, a lot of people, I think even people that I know, questioned why I would want to leave, you know, sort of an executive-level position in healthcare, to be an executive director of a nonprofit. And, for me, I was so excited for the opportunity to, again, utilize my skills in a town that I love, to help watch that grow. I am enjoying this completely, and I can’t really, at this point, envision a time when I’m not going to enjoy it. … I am really enjoying doing something that I feel good about, and I’m enjoying every day, and I feel like I’m already making an impact and a difference. And, if that excitement in two months has already started to kind of flow out into the streets, I’m excited to see where that is in a year, two years, three years. I’m a huge believer in, you have to find the right fit for you. And, for me right now, there could not be a better fit for me at this stage in my career.

Some say that Cambridge Harbor would take business away from the downtown. How do you feel about the project?

So, our organization’s mission and vision is, again, to build a robust downtown area for us. Whatever creates that traffic, that momentum, we want to support that. … As far as the in’s and outs of that project, we don’t really have a stance on it, to be quite honest with you. We are the Cambridge Main Street district, so we pretty much stay within the confines of what’s happening in our district. And that’s another thing that I kind of want to address as well. A lot of people think that Cambridge Main Street is like Race Street, right? … And, if you look at our map, we’re Pine Street, we’re Washington Street, we’re part of Cedar Street, we’re Academy Street. We are a district. And one of the things that I am really trying to do is to support all of those businesses and to really just demonstrate that we are not just a couple of blocks. … So, my focus is what’s happening in those borders. My focus is not, to be quite honest with you, it’s not what’s happening across that bridge, because that’s not where we are. Our focus is really this district and having it thrive to the best of our ability.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 1 Homepage Slider, Cambridge

Spy Review: The Film SENTENCED takes on illiteracy

October 4, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

On September 29, North Dorchester High School in Hurlock hosted a pre-release screening of the new documentary Sentenced, whose tagline is “Children who don’t learn to read are sentenced to a lifetime of struggle.” The sponsors of the event used the opportunity to discuss the local Campaign for Grade-Level Reading during a post-screening Q & A.

Produced by Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media and directed by Connor Martin and Mark Allen Johnson, Sentenced highlights the lifelong and daily struggles of four ethnically diverse adults who never learned to read.

Fugi is a 53-year-old Latino man who repairs classic cars in Los Angeles. In fact, he has always loved cars so much that he spent nine years in prison for boosting them. He can write his name but can’t read the text messages on his phone. He isn’t able to afford healthcare for one of his sons, who needs medication for his seizures. His youngest son was a slow reader in school and is forced to do manual labor.

Hailey is a young, unemployed woman living in Elkin, NC, with her spouse. Their tiny house is a converted shed in someone’s backyard, and Hailey has to pull her own rotten teeth because she can’t afford a dentist. She knows her ABCs, but even work in the fast food industry is out of her reach because she can’t decipher words.

New York native Ana cannot read her bills. All but one of her five sons was taken from her. Young Reuben, whose father has been in prison his whole life, struggles with reading but dreams of being an architect.

Bianca is a 31-year-old Black woman raising her four young children in poverty by herself because the fathers are unavailable or dead. One of the children repeated first grade twice. Bianca struggles with spelling and reading.

Between each of these segments are statistics narrated by Stephen Curry, such as that the 43 million Americans who score low in literacy can’t get basic employment, and that 60% of young men entering prison cannot read above the third-grade level.

He also says that literacy problems often begin with childhood trauma, which is attested to by the film’s subjects. Fugi’s brother was killed in a drive-by shooting. Ana’s dad was an alcoholic, and she struggled with drug addiction. Bianca’s stepfather drowned her mother in a pool right in front of her. Additionally, Curry mentions that illiteracy can lead to health problems and early death; this is followed by the startling revelation that Fugi died during the making of the documentary.

But the film does offer hope and solutions. Kids first learn to read in one-on-one time with committed adults who offer stable relationships. These include volunteer mentors, many of whom have had their own struggles and trauma.

 

Sentenced is riveting, shocking, heartbreaking, and inspiring. The audience wants the film’s subjects to succeed, and some viewers will undoubtedly answer the call to help people like them.

Following the screening, several education experts took the auditorium stage to discuss the film’s themes and place them in a local context.

The speakers included James Redman of Polaris Village Academy in Easton; Cristy Morrell, founder of Talbot County’s Imagination Library; Talbot County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sharon Pepukayi; Dorchester County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jymil Thompson; and John Wyatt, head of the John & Janice Wyatt Foundation, who brought the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to the Eastern Shore. The CGLR is a network of more than 400 communities across the U.S. that target children from preschool through Grade 3 to increase their reading proficiency.

“The film drives home the need for early interventions to ensure success for our youngest learners,” Kevin Beverly of Moving Dorchester Forward told the Spy. “The introduction of Campaign for Grade Level Reading in Dorchester County is a big step to helping these learners reach grade-level standards by 3rd grade. We are also engaging parents through the Parent Encouragement Program (PEP) to support them with new tools to improve communication in the family structures. We have created out-of-school reading programs to support our young scholars as well.”

“The school system under new leadership is inviting volunteers back into the system to help as well,” he added. “We will continue to advocate at the state and local government levels and with our business community for more resources to help us with these initiatives.”

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 1A Arts Lead

Cambridge Mayor Steve Rideout on Proposed County Charter Amendments

September 26, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

Under the current Charter for Dorchester County, the County Council is required to appoint a Charter Review Commission every ten years to review the Charter and recommend alterations. At the February 7, 2023, meeting, the Council agreed to reconvene the Review Commission before the 2024 election in order to consider eliminating the residency requirement for the county manager and the finance director.

The Review Commission returned with six recommendations besides the two residency questions. One of the eight, proposing term limits for the Council members, was vehemently opposed by Commissioner William Nichols, who has been on the Council since 1994. Two of the proposed amendments were combined into one, and six total were approved for the upcoming general election ballot.

The six questions are:

Question A
Administrative Review
Amendment to specify that the review of administrative structure that is required at least every four years be conducted within the first fiscal year of each County Council term.

Question B
County Budget Preparation and Adoption Dates
Amendment to change the date by which the County Council shall prepare the annual budget from May 1 to May 15 each year, and to change the date by which the Council shall adopt the annual budget from May 31 to June 15 each year.

Question C
County Manager Residency
Amendment to remove the requirement that the County Manager be a resident of Dorchester County.

Question D
County Manager Responsibilities
Amendment to clarify certain responsibilities of the County Manager, including the day-to-day operation of the County government, and establish procedures for certain vacancies.

Question E
Director of Finance Residency
Amendment to remove the requirement that the Director of Finance be a resident of Dorchester County.

Question F
Governmental Transparency
Amendment to ensure transparency of governmental functions, access to open meetings (in person or remotely), and access to public records.

Mayor Steve Rideout on Question A (Administrative Review)

“When the Dorchester Citizens for Better Government was starting, we looked at all of this before the last election,” Rideout said of the group that was formed in 2022. “One of the things was, they hadn’t met the Charter requirement that the Council appoint this board or to do this administrative review every four years or something.”

“And the decision was, well, let’s recommend that it be done at the beginning of the term of the new Council so that they can then do something with it,” he continued. “I mean, having the changes made at the end of the term for the new Council to then implement doesn’t make much sense.”

On Questions C and E (Residency Requirement)

“If you limit that the person has to live in the county, you limit who the best person might be,” said Rideout about the County Manager and Finance Director positions. “For instance, you could have somebody who lives up in Kent County or Caroline County who is terrific, but his or her spouse is a schoolteacher there, or he’s got children that are in their last year of high school and they’re going to be the valedictorian or something. And you’re going to make them move to Dorchester County. That’s going to cut off potentially the best person from being able to come.”

Rideout said there is no real reason to require either official to live in the county. “If you’re going to find the best person and you’re going to trust your elected officials to make the best decision for the citizens in the county, let them make that decision, not restrict them on what they can and can’t do there.”

On Question D (County Manager’s Responsibilities)

“Historically, what was happening was, they had the County Manager form of government, but the County Manager was really more of an administrator,” explained Rideout. “And, as such, the County Council members were making hiring and firing decisions.”

“What this now does is say that the County Manager is in charge of the day-to-day operations, and the County Council, the members, cannot tell employees what to do. That’s the job of the County Manager. Now, they can come to the County Manager and tell the County Manager, ‘Go tell Joe to do this.’ He then gets to say, ‘Yes, I will’ or ‘No, I won’t.'”

“So, it gets the employees out from under this political concern. They’re still at-will employees, but it’s the County Manager that makes that decision.”

Rideout also said that, following a County Manager’s departure, the Council was waiting a year or more to hire a new one and instead gave the job to a staff person. That part-time employee had to run the whole county, and confusion resulted. Audits and administrative reviews were not getting done.

“So, requiring that they get a new County Manager within a period of time is important, allowing for there to be an Assistant County Manager who can be assigned that task rather than a staff person, if they’ll fund that position,” said Rideout. “It’s all about efficiency and effectiveness of government.”

On Question F (Government Transparency)

Before the 2022 election, the Dorchester Citizens for Better Government group took up transparency in the county government as an issue and raised it in the community, even collecting signatures toward getting it on the ballot as a charter amendment proposal.

“And we asked the Council to put the meetings on Town Hall Streams,” Rideout said. “They wouldn’t do it. We asked, I think, at least twice, and then finally they did it under pressure.”

“Now, why do this charter amendment? Well, the next Council could go, ‘Yeah, I liked it the way they did it before.’ So, they could go back to not putting it on Town Hall Streams. This would require that it always be on Town Hall.”

Rideout also mentioned that the charter amendment would include language about documentation. If citizens should ask for particular documents, the County Manager would need to be responsive to that in a timely manner.

Ultimately, it will be up to the voters of Dorchester County to decide how important all of this is to the operation of their government.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage, Cambridge

Free Spirit Threads Owner gets Candid about Business in Cambridge

August 19, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

“This was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make over the last four years but I know deep down it is time for us to grow and move forward.” That was part of the surprising message 20-year-old Victoria “Tori” Swann posted for her thousands of social media followers on July 29. She was announcing that Free Spirit Threads, her clothing store on Poplar Street in Downtown Cambridge, would be closing on August 25. The business will go online-only in September.

She tried to sound upbeat and optimistic about the future, stating that she is “excited to grow beyond Cambridge.” And she will be concentrating on changes in her personal life over the next year. But there are also other reasons for the closing of the business she started as a 16-year-old high-school senior, and they’re not all positive.

Swann began selling high-quality thrifted clothes online when she was 14. She was successful at it but decided she wanted to get into the new-clothing line. Her inspiration to open her own store was the perceived lack of local shopping options for teenagers. Using her savings, an inheritance from her late father, and money that would have paid for college, she opened her “modern boutique with vintage charm,” Free Spirit Threads, on October 17, 2020. Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting on the 20th.

“The ribbon cutting, that was amazing,” said Swann. “That was great to meet a bunch of people.” She remembered that the store was busy all that day, selling more than 200 pieces of clothing.

The young owner has always handpicked every clothing item or accessory offered, many of which are significant brands such as Free People and Sun Bum. She credits her high-quality brands for the clientele she’s attracted from Talbot County. Free Spirit Threads has won area awards for Best Women’s Clothing Store.

Part of Swann’s success can be attributed to her marketing savvy, including her online ads featuring young women modeling the clothes. She called on her friends from school and dancing for help but also conducted social media outreach to bring in more models from places like Easton and St. Michael’s. Additionally she organized and participated in local events such as the Holiday Market that was cosponsored by Blue Ruin.

“We had several people, vendors last year at our event and the year before, and multiple of them made so much money,” said Swann.

In fact, 2023 was the best year of business for Free Spirit Threads. But 2024 has seen foot traffic decrease so much that sales are about half of what they were last year. Swann cites the economy, local crime, and the fact that it’s an election year for her store’s downturn. She also blames the negativity of Cambridge citizens and business owners on social media.

“I have multiple tourists that come in here and say things like, ‘Oh, I read about this on Facebook, and it’s really not as bad as it seems,’” she recalled. “But I mean, yeah, we have some issues and they could be fixed, but instead, like, everybody was worrying about arguing with each other on Facebook. So, that’s part of our issue. I really believe social media has really killed a lot of business down here.”

Swann also bemoans the lack of support from the community and the Cambridge Main Street group, which used to be very helpful. Beyond that, she has tried several times to organize community events like the Holiday Market.

“Just imagine what that would have been like if we could have gotten a street closure with vendors filling the streets,” said Swann. “But we could never do that because they just don’t want it.”

So, she is transitioning to an online-only business. It’s not that great a change, because many of her sales are online now anyway. She’ll be able to work out of the new house in Hurlock she’s moving into with her fiancé, Nathan, next month. And she won’t have to keep the racks full or pay a lot of overhead.

Will Swann every open another brick-and-mortar shop? “Maybe one day. I don’t know about here again, unless something seriously changed. We need a lot of help down here, and that’s not by building new stuff. It’s by fixing what’s already broken.”

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 1C Commerce

Baywater Animal Rescue: A Lifeline for Eastern Shore’s Homeless Pets

July 31, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

Just off Bucktown Road in Cambridge, there is a quiet sanctuary with a couple of walking paths beside the driveway and a clearing with several unassuming buildings. It’s the location of one of the oldest charitable organizations on the Eastern Shore.

Founded in 1947 as the Humane Society of Dorchester County by three locals with big hearts, it separated from Dorchester County Animal Control in 2012 and became Baywater Animal Rescue, a nonprofit, no-kill organization whose mission is to provide homeless furry creatures with shelter and care. As their brochure states, Baywater is “a safe place between lost and found.”

They care for approximately 100 to 120 animals at any time, 75 percent of which are cats. The rest are dogs, ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rabbits. Most of their yearly intake is strays, surrenders, and transfers from Dorchester County Dog Control. As of this writing, though, they even have a small turtle that was brought in by one of their canines and which they will keep until it is big enough to go to a turtle sanctuary. All told, they rehome about 500 animals each year.

It’s not always easy to do so, however. Some of the residents of Baywater have health or behavioral issues. For example, they’ve had animals who required limb amputation, which meant they would ever after need a different level of activity as well as patience from their human parents.

“We have a special-needs cat right now who basically needs, like, a diaper for the rest of his life,” said Executive Director Carly Stockus of the cat called Humphrey, who was badly injured by a vehicle.

As for behavioral problems, Baywater has some dogs that are selective about their canine companions. So, they are paired with particular dogs for playgroups where they can get enrichment.

“And, if they are not dog-friendly and they need to be the only dog, then that leads to other additional limitations, as well,” Stockus explained. “So, those can be things that make it a little bit more difficult to get them into homes. But we definitely never give up on them.”

Even if they don’t have inherent behavior issues, dogs get stressed out in a shelter setting, something they’re unused to if they’ve come from a home or even outside. They’re forced to be in a kennel and hear and smell many other dogs. The cats are in a similar situation, though they have more freedom of movement in an environment with bunkbeds and other furniture. So, the setting affects their behavior and thus how they appear to prospective parents.

“When animals are in our care, they need consistent interaction,” said Stockus. “So, that involves enrichment when we have volunteers here, and then fostering, which helps get them out of a shelter and used to a home until someone comes to look at them for adoption, and then connecting them with the adopter. We do try to set it up in a way that the animals can be their best selves when the adopter comes to see them.”

Besides getting animals into homes, Baywater tries to keep others in the homes they already have. A major reason people surrender their pets is the cost of feeding or medical care. So, Baywater works closely with local veterinarians to provide them with needed treatment. They offer a weekly, at-cost spay/neuter program for local animal parents. The facility also has a free community pet pantry that feeds about 400 Dorchester County animals of low-income households. Twice weekly, people can go in and collect food that is donated.

In fact, Baywater relies entirely on donations, fundraisers, bequests, and grants to operate, as it receives no state or federal funding. Stockus said they can never get enough supplies from the community. “And it’s always great to have more than we need, because then we can replenish everything that we use, like bedding. That goes quickly. People can never bring us enough bedding.”

There are other ways to help. As their brochure puts it, “continuing to resolve homeless animal situations in Dorchester County and across the mid-shore takes generations.” So, they are always encouraging people to include Baywater in their will or estate plan as a Living Legacy gift.

They also organize and participate in fundraising events throughout the year. Their largest event is the annual gala, a catered dinner with live and silent auctions intended to raise between sixty and eighty thousand dollars. In June, they held their first Run For Their Lives 5K Fun Run, which they plan to make an annual affair. And there are minor partnerships with local restaurants and shops that donate a portion of a day’s proceeds to the shelter.

For those events, Baywater needs volunteers, who also work with the animals through enrichment programs or just help get them their three walks per day. Volunteers are especially important when the shelter gets an unexpected influx of animals, and a call will be put out for these organizations on Instagram and Facebook.

One such influx happened in early July when a cat hoarding situation was discovered in the county. Diana Rathell of Kitty Kat Kottage, her daughter, a sheriff’s deputy, and two men from Dog Control entered a particular house and exited with 35 felines. Rathell believed the cats were taken from, or even trapped on, roads between Hurlock and Federalsburg. Baywater took in ten of the cats to be fully vetted and made available for adoption if previous owners could not be located.

“Donor support enables us to continue this lifesaving work,” Stockus said in a statement. “Their generosity will help cover the costs of medical treatment, food, and shelter for these cats until they find their forever homes.”

Always optimistic about ultimately placing the animals in their care, Baywater soldiers on, aided by their community.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 1 Homepage Slider

Cambridge Mayor Steve Rideout on Search for City Manager

July 17, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

The Cambridge City Council conducted interviews on July 15 for the vacant city manager position. The closed session was held at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay and was, in the words of Mayor Steve Rideout, “an interesting meeting.” This was necessitated by the departure in May of City Manager Tom Carroll, whose position has been held on a temporary basis by David Deutsch. 

Per the charter established in 2015, the Cambridge city manager will be appointed by a majority vote of the city commissioners based on the recommendation of a search committee, whose five members are chosen by the council.

“We set up a committee structure for the citizens to be involved with,” explained Rideout, who chairs the search committee as a voting member. “Doing interviews, looking at the potential candidates, deciding who qualifies or doesn’t qualify to be moved on to interviews with the city. So, that was the first step in the process.”

The city manager serves as Cambridge’s CEO, CFO, chief personnel officer, and public information official. So, the candidate’s qualifications are important. He or she must hold a Master’s Degree in Public Administration or Business Administration or a post-baccalaureate degree in a related field, plus have at least five years of experience as a city or county manager or assistant manager.

“So, that then requires, as part of a search for us, really, to reach out into the city manager world, county manager world, to find people that have those kinds of skills,” said Rideout. “It’s not just like Chick-fil-A, and you’re there to make chicken sandwiches and chicken nuggets and all of that. I mean, there’s building roads and sewers and water and electricity, paving roads, and making sure the community is safe.”

Along with the responsibilities of the search committee, Rideout believes it is helpful to have a professional person assist in finding the right candidates, as they have the skills and connections to locate potential managers and convince them to apply.

“When [former City Manager] Patrick Comiskey was named [in 2018], some of our commissioners would not spend the money for that professional help, and so we wound up with three candidates, and the candidates were not recommended,” said Rideout, who emphasized that Comiskey was a good choice at the time. “But my hope is that whoever we hire will be with us for a good, long time, that [he or she will] have the qualities that we all want in a city manager and will work well with the commissioners and the mayor moving forward.”

In searching for the right city manager candidate, the committee and the council are looking for someone who can not only fulfill the goals of the city but also pivot to deal with new ones. So, they talk with the applicant about the vision for the city and what the challenges are so everything is fair and transparent, and the applicant can decide whether he or she has the needed skill sets. Even if the candidate has all the skills necessary at that time, community needs can change.

“But what we have found is that the people who have been our city managers really have been very knowledgeable, experienced in running cities and in being flexible,” said Rideout. “When a new issue comes up or a new challenge comes up, they’re prepared to adjust to it.”

Part of the interview process is due diligence: checking references, performing a background check, making use of services that provide information on people, and asking important questions. The search committee will look at the internet and social media for the person’s activities and what he or she has said on various issues. But things will inevitably be missed or out of reach, including legal records, and that is unavoidable.

“If the person comes in for interviews, can you avoid all the problems?” asked Rideout rhetorically. “No.”

Cambridge’s city manager position offers a salary of $135,000 – $150,000, which is based on what the community can afford. The pay scale is also dependent on what the market provides in the way of applicant quality.

“Certainly, the higher your salary, the more likely it is that you’re going to have a more highly qualified person,” said Rideout, who also mentioned he believes the city has made significant progress since the creation of the city manager form of government. “And it’s because of the city becoming more and more engaged with and working with the city managers that we’ve had.”

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Maryland News

City Council Highlights: A New Fishing Pier for Cambridge? And Taking Down Traffic Lights

July 10, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

Former State Senator Richard F. Colburn spoke at the July 8 Cambridge City Council meeting about a potential new fishing pier. Colburn was speaking on behalf of American Legion Post 91, of which he will be sworn in as commander on August 6. The Legion had sent a letter to Governor Wes Moore in March about the pier project, but, according to Colburn, Moore has not been shown the letter.

The Legion letter states that there are three potential sites in on the Cambridge side of the Choptank River where a fishing pier could be built to replace the old Bill Burton Pier.

“We think the current one, where the old fishing pier was, is probably the worst possible site of the three,” said Colburn, who stated that the best site, in the Legion’s opinion, would be by the Sailwinds Visitor Center.

Colburn said the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has not been communicating with the American Legion, but he has been assured that there is enough money in the budget to build piers on both the Dorchester and Talbot sides of the river. Also, DNR told Bill Christopher of the Chamber of Commerce that there would be support for a new pier if the City of Cambridge and Dorchester County were “on the same page.”

Permanent Removal of Downtown Traffic Lights

Another piece of business discussed at the July 8 Council session concerned the downtown traffic signal pilot project. Acting City Manager David Deutsch announced that the project, which involved putting up stop signs at certain intersections that have had traffic lights, was considered a success. As a result, he called for the permanent removal of the lights at the tested intersections. The Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of this motion.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Maryland News

YMCA Discusses Results of Market Study on Cambridge Facility

June 21, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

Robbie Gill

On the evening of June 18th, a crowd gathered in the gymnasium of the Pauline F. and W. David Robbins Family YMCA in Cambridge for a meeting on a controversial subject. People sweated in the sauna-like conditions of the echoey gym as Robbie Gill, CEO of YMCA of the Chesapeake, presented the results of a market study on the possible future of the Cambridge Y.

“We were working on a plan, as some of you may have heard, to renovate this facility prior to the pandemic and trying to figure out how to build a bigger wellness center,” said Gill, who added that they had wanted to “really try” to make the current facility the best they could.

But then the pandemic hit in 2020, and all the services of the Y were shut down. However, at the same time, they began building a new 52,000-square-foot facility in Chestertown, which opened in January 2022. With a double gymnasium, walking track, warm water pool, and other state-of-the-art offerings, it became very popular and currently has 6,100 members.

“And it was at that point we really paused, and we said, maybe we need to get a better understanding of what Dorchester County needs from a facilities, amenities, and programs standpoint before we try to navigate a building that was built in 1929 to teach kids,” said Gill.

So, they contracted Triangle 2 Solutions for a market study of the Cambridge community to find out what potential Y members would want and need in a facility and which of three locations they would most likely wish to visit. The sites tested were the current facility on Talbot Avenue, a property on the corner of Maple Dam Road and Route 16, and the waterfront area that is intended to become the Cambridge Harbor complex. Gill made sure to reach out to Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc., which is responsible for the Harbor project, and CWDI was interested in the partnership.

Gill turned the presentation over to Lori Swann and Tom Massey, Triangle2’s CEO and president, respectively. Massey explained that their company, which was founded in 2000, works only with nonprofit organizations, churches, hospitals, boys and girls clubs, and YMCAs, the last of which they’ve conducted more than 250 studies for. Then Swann went through some data slides and explained the results of their Cambridge investigation.

Triangle2 interviewed 814 households that were not already members of the YMCA. While they did conduct a small email survey, the results Swann presented at this meeting were those of only the phone interviews. The majority of the people who participated in the survey, 68%, had lived in the county more than ten years.

Before mentioning anything about the sites, prices, or amenities, Triangle2 asked if the respondents would be interested in joining the Y, and 44% said they were likely to join, while 25% said they were “somewhat likely.” Some said they wouldn’t join because “they were too old.”

“The Y’s a lot more than exercise,” countered Swann. “But this was just community perceptions.”

People who were interested said they would want to use the cardio or strength-training equipment, participate in group exercise, or meet new people. But the most popular facility named was a warm-water pool “with fun features” (61% of respondents).

“Water exercise, exercise classes come in real close behind that,” said Swann, “but everybody wants it all when it comes to aquatics.”

It should be noted that the current Cambridge Y does not have a warm-water pool.

Swann ended her talk by stating that a building at Cambridge Harbor would double the number of people who could be served at the other two sites tested. “I’m not saying they weren’t good sites, but they’re not as good a site as the waterfront site.”

When Gill took over again, he picked up on the theme of the pool, which currently is a lap swimming pool that has no shallow entry and so cannot accommodate children who haven’t yet learned to swim. Also, people with limited movement ability have challenges in accessing the pool.

“These new pools that we build have one or two steps in a very shallow area,” Gill said.

He added that a new, larger facility would allow for a double gymnasium that could have multiple programs and features, including a track where members could walk in the air conditioning on a hot day.

“And so, in essence,” said Gill, “what we want to do is address community need, and there’s no community that’s more deserving of a newer YMCA than this one.”

A sample of the slides shown.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Maryland News

Mid-Shore History: The Tale of Handsell

June 17, 2024 by P. Ryan Anthony

The historic House at Handsell, near Vienna, sits on land inhabited by the Nanticoke tribe of Native Americans for at least 2,500 years. In the mid-1600s, the Englishman Thomas Taylor claimed ownership of the territory, and the natives ended up collected on reservations. Eventually, they were forced by the British government to move north, away from their ancestral home. At that point, the land became the property of Henry Steele, who built the first real house at Handsell.

Steele was a revolutionary patriot, and British privateers burned his house, leaving only part of the structure. In the 1830s, the land, with the remains of the house, came into the hands of John Shehee. It was he who rebuilt the structure into its smaller, present form. All during this time, Black slaves and freemen worked the land.

The Webb family won Handsell in a card game in 1892, and they continue to farm most of the land to this day. By the 1930s, no one lived in the boarded-up house, but the descendants of freemen and enslaved people continued to live on and near the property into the fifties.

In 2004, David and Carol Lewis bought the house at Handsell, along with two acres around it, with the intention of preserving it. Toward that end, they sold it to the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance in 2009, and that group began the great task of fixing up the place. The NHPA emphasizes the three cultures who called Handsell home—the Native Americans, English, and Black people—and they plan to expand the tourism and educational opportunities on the property with a Three Cultures Center.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

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