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April 1, 2023

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

Arts Arts Lead Arts Arts Portal Lead

Mid-Shore Arts: Oxford Community Center Plans with Liza Ledford

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With a fresh coat of paint, a new sound system, and the Covid pandemic finally behind them, the Oxford Community Center is back in the game this spring.

Beyond the OCC’s traditional events, Liza Ledford, the center’s CEO, says that 2023 will be an exceptional year for the highly beloved community center. The OCC will be firing on all cylinders, starting with a new travel excursion program, adding a spring lecture series, and preparations for their annual Fine Arts Fair.

The Spy sat down with Liza this week to learn more.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information the Oxford Community Center please go here.

 

LWV Harris-Mizeur Forum Highlights: Immigration

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For the next few days, the Spy will share with our readers the video highlights of the recent League of Women Forum with MD-1 Congressman Andy Harris and his Democratic opponent Heather Mizeur. Last week, the event was held at Kent Island High School in Queen Anne’s County.

The video segments will include opening statements, LWV questions, s representative number of questions submitted by the audience, and closing statements.

We continue with their discussion of what each candidate would do to increase the orderly flow of immigrants to this country as workers and citizens.

This video is approximately four minutes in length.

Celebrating Women & Girls Fund’s Two Decades of Action: Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence

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For Jeanne Yeager, one of the original leaders of the Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence, 40 years of service to women and their children suffering domestic violence seems like yesterday. The brainchild of a few brave women in Caroline County who were growing concerned about the increase of violence in area homes, the Mid-Shore began offering services to victims that no federal, state or local government could provide at the time.

Over the last four decades, the Mid-Shore’s portfolio grew from finding safe shelters for families in need but began to diversity by dramatically increasing its mental health care and support groups and, more recently, bringing in volunteer lawyers to help with divorce and child custody matters, the creation of food pantries in all five the counties, and improving internet-based programs to reach more families in need.

In the Spy’s ongoing series celebrating 20 years of grantmaking by the Women & Girls Fund, we talk to Jeanne about this unique program. We also ask WGF board member and attorney Karen Kaludis, one of those early pioneers in the field of domestic violence, to talk about her long-term relationship Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence.

This video is approximately 6 minutes in length. For information about the Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence please go here.  For the Women & Girls Fund please go here.

Making the Case for Benedictine with Claudia Cunningham

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Perhaps the most important tool an organization can have when entering a serious phase of fundraising is an document called the case for support. In as few words as possible, the school or museum will clearly articulate what the institution needs to carry on their public mission.

Sometimes these come in the form of a physical document, and more than often than not these days, they are starting to turn up as videos, podcasts, and other multimedia tools, but they all have the challenge of winning a sometimes skeptical audience on why the causes need significant philanthropic  investment.

The task of building that argument falls on staff to develop this narrative, and for Benedictine  in Ridgely, Claudia Cunningham, their new chief advancement officer, is on point for this $20 million plus service provider of non-sectarian caring for individuals with special needs.

The Spy sat down the Claudia to talk about making the case for Benedictine.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about Benedictine please go here.

Spy Cambridge Mayor Profiles: Addie Eckardt and Steve Rideout

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Over the last few months, the Spy has attempted to offer an alternative way to get to know candidates on the Mid-Shore in this election year.  About a month ago, the  Spy and the Avalon Foundation agreed to partner in providing the community with candidate profiles for those running for the Talbot County Council in the July 19th Democratic and Republican primary elections.

We did so in the belief that beyond the excellent work of the League of Women Voters, the Chamber of Commerce,  and other civic organizations in providing issue-based forums before election day, voters would be greatly assisted in assessing each candidate using a long-form interview format.

We have continued this with our profiles of the two remaining candidates running for Cambridge Mayor office. Interviewed by the Spy editor Dave Wheelan, these profiles center on three primary subjects; a candidate’s background, qualifications, and priorities if elected to office.

We think that our viewers will walk away much better informed on those critical themes, but will also recognize, as did the Spy, that the Cambridge community is all the more enriched by having such a unique collection of dedicated citizens among us. Cambridge is is very lucky indeed.

Addie Eckardt

Steve Rideout

At the Avalon: Hannah Gill Comes Home with The Hot Toddies Jazz Band

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As many of our readers know, one of the Spy’s favorite vocalists has been Hannah Gill ever since we saw her at the Avalon in 2014. She was 16 years old back then, and one of our great pleasures is watching her grow over the years.

Hannah comes back to Easton This Thursday evening at the Avalon Stolz Room. And she comes back singing swing music with The Hot Toddies Jazz Band. The Spy talked to her and colleagues Gabe Terracciano and Patrick Soluri about what they are planning for the evening. 

A word of advice, bring your dancing shoes.

This video is approximately three minutes in length.

The Hot Toddies with Hannah Gill
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Doors: 7:30 p.m.; Show: 8 p.m.
The Avalon Theatre 40 E. Dover Street Easton, MD
Tickets: $25

Izaak Walton on the Mid-Shore: A Chat with Chapter President Calvin Yowell

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While the famous saying goes that success has many fathers, it’s a matter of record that the Izaak Walton League had precisely 50 of them when it was formed in Chicago in 1922. Created by a unique group of lawyers, doctors, and advertising executives, one of the country’s oldest conservation organizations grew from a small number of hunters and fishermen into a significant force in land and water protection.

And yet one prominent figure was not among the founders. Izaak Walton, whose name is honored as the organization’s masthead, had been dead for almost 250 years before its forming, but those 50 original members had good reasons to recognize and pay tribute to the man considered to be the father of flyfishing.

Walton, whose book The Compleat Angler gave birth to recreational fishing, was a unique visionary. As one writer noted, he was a man “‘knowing how’ before ‘knowing that'” in the unheard-of field of water protection. His legacy led his followers to protect fishing opportunities for future generations.

While the Izaak Walton League has intentionally been low profile since its founding, the impact of the organization’s work on the Mid-Shore has been impressive. With a Talbot County chapter created in 1949, the IWL has not only protected and maintained its 50-acre Bolingbroke Park in Trappe, where it holds its meetings and provides opportunities for hiking, kayaking, and fishing but took a leadership role in recycling in the region and now provides over $13,000 in scholarships, much of which is dedicated to students at UM’s Horn Point Lab.

The Spy sat down with Chapter president Calvin Yowell the other day to learn more.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about the Izaak Walton League please go here.

It Takes a Village to Build a Community Center: A Chat with SMCC’s Langley Shook

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Thirty-two years ago, a small nonprofit seeing the absence of after-school programs for young people began life in a small closet at the local elementary school as the St. Michael Community Center. And from those humble beginnings, the SMCC has grown substantially in both the programs they offer and the number of families they serve throughout the entire Bay Hundred region of Talbot County.

In fact, after a few temporary homes, the St. Michaels Community Center took the bold step to lease an old warehouse in the historic district in 2009 to meet the growing demand for children programming, teen outreach efforts, and senior citizen support. And in 2015, the organization’s board made another courageous decision to purchase the 5,000 sq foot facility to create a permanent home for these vital services.

And while its location on Railroad Avenue was ideal, given its proximity to many of the families needing those programs, an old warehouse was still an old warehouse. In addition to the crude lighting and the lack of heat for many rooms, most of the facility was simply no match for the community’s growing needs for educational and nutrition programs.

Almost from the day the building was purchased, the SMCC board of directors knew that they either had to renovate what they had or once again start a search for a more appropriate facility. And after a careful evaluation of options, the leaders concluded that the Railroad location would be ideal if only funds could be raised to redesign the structure and expand its operational use.

So, with fingers crossed and with the help of old pros like the SCMM president and campaign chair, Langley Shook (who had led the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s fundraising efforts while serving as President), the board voted to launch the organization’s first capital campaign to fulfill that mission.

With a stated goal of $3.5 million, Langley and his volunteer campaign leaders thought there was a reasonable chance that the community would generously respond to the initiative. They were correct in their assumption. Almost $3 million has been raised in cash or government grants to date.

But what Shook and his team could not have imagined when the goal was set was the unprecedented disruption that the COVID pandemic has caused in the worldwide supply chain. Already hard costs have risen by over $400,000 since they began the quiet phase of their fundraising effort, and, as Langley notes in his interview with the Spy from last week, he and his colleagues are finding themselves in a race to finish the campaign before the second wave of price increases forces even more costs to the project.

The Spy talked to Langley about those challenges and his team’s determination to break ground as soon as possible on the innovative plan that architect Mark McInturff designed.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information or to make a donation to the St. Michaels Community Center campaign please go here.

 

 

 

Publisher Notes: The Spy Welcomes Laura J. Oliver

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One way the Spy thought it could best honor the late (and very great) George Merrill, our Sunday morning columnist for the past eight years, was to check in with Wilson Wyatt a few weeks ago to discuss a suitable successor. Wilson is the publisher and driving force behind one the region’s great literary gems, the Delmarva Review, and it was his kind recommendation that led us to George in 2014. 

Laura Oliver

Back then, I was looking for a unique voice to anchor our Sunday edition. Eager to depart from our weekday pieces on politics and local matters, George’s spiritual, almost transcendental, subject matter was a perfect way for the Sunday edition of the Spy to challenge its readers with the unexpected musings from a creative writer rather than an opinion maker.

The Spy’s goal after George’ passing, which was shared by Wilson, was not to find someone who could replicate his themes or voice but to use this slower Sunday morning space to explore and celebrate writing itself. And on the top of his list was the author and writing teacher, Laura Oliver.

With that as background, the Spy is delighted to announce that Laura Oliver will be our Sunday columnist starting today.

Laura is an award-winning book editor and writing coach who has taught writing at the University of Maryland and St. John’s College. She is the author of The Story Within (Penguin Random House), named by “Poets and Writers Magazine” as one of the best writing books ever published. Oliver’s own fiction and essays are published in national newspapers, magazines, and top-tier literary reviews such as The Washington Post, Country Living Magazine, The Writer Magazine, The Sun Magazine, Baltimore Review and Glimmer Train.

A graduate of Washington College and with an MFA from Bennington College’s highly regarded writing program, Laura has called Annapolis her home for most of her adult life. I hope that the Spy’s readers will join me in welcoming her to her new virtual home every Sunday and enjoy her deeply engaging essays for many years to come.

Dave Wheelan
Publisher and Executive Editor 

Spy Recall: Remembering George Merrill

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Editor’s note: Like many of our readers, The Spy is finding Sundays a lot less fulfilling and a lot less fun with the absence of George Merrill’s columns. George passed away on Easter Sunday at the age of 87, just hours after his last column for the Spy, in the loving care of his family. It will take time for the Spy newspapers to fill this huge gap in our publications and our lives. Still, in the meantime, we wanted to share again an interview with George we did in 2018 to remind ourselves and our readers what a real gift he was to all of us.

From November 6, 2018

The Spy Columnists: George Merrill

It seems somehow fitting that the Spy will be ending our series on our public affairs columnists with George Merrill on Election Day. Perhaps the most apolitical of the five writers that volunteer each week to offer their unique point of view with our readers, George, an ordained Episcopal minister, has been the most inclined to bring public debates down to questions of spirituality and the workings of the soul.

While George does not skirt the issues of the day, his Sunday essays have been more about his only reaction to the challenges of life than focusing on the foibles of a particular politician or policy. His intense interest in his own makeup encourages the reader to explore their own sense of soul as they work through the news of the day.

Now eighty-four years old, Merrill has also reached a point where he can, he laughingly notes, “say anything I want,” knowing full well that this sense of liberation has allowed him the freedom to explore and take delight in what he doesn’t know as much as the wisdom that comes with living over eight decades.

In his Spy interview, George talks about his writing style, spirituality and politics, and the pure enjoyment he has in taking pen to paper.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length