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June 23, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

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Compass Adds New Hospice Wing to Honor Mildred Barnette and Keep Mission Going

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For any Kent or Queen Anne’s County family who has lost a loved one, but was fortunate to have Compass hospice support at the end of that person’s life, there should be a certain degree of gratitude for Mildred Barnette.

While most of those who use Compass’s hospice care may not have a clue who Mildred is, they owe her a lot for her vision as the founding director of Compass Hospice for the loving, compassionate care of grandparents, parents, spouses, or children at their end of life.

Fortunately, one anonymous donor did know of Mildred Barnette’s remarkable contributions to the Mid-Shore community and quietly worked with current director Heather Guerieri to provide the leadership gift for the new wing of the Compass Centreville facility. And while the Compass board respects the privacy of this generous philanthropist, the staff and volunteers can’t hide how thrilled they are with the major $5 million addition.

The addition of five new patient bedrooms, family rooms, children’s space, and a commercial kitchen, are indeed major improvements but they are also essential to Compass’s commitment to Kent and Queen Anne’s community. While most of the Compass patients can use the organization’s services at home, Shore Regional Health Chestertown hospital, or in the soon-to-be-built facility in Caroline County, the Centreville home base is now able to take on far more of the region’s most serious of cases.

The Spy sat down with Heather a few weeks ago for a quick tour of the new wing and how the Barnette Center is a perfect way to honor Mildred’s important legacy of hospice care for the entire Mid-Shore.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about Compass please go here.

Mid-Shore Commerce: Ford Risks Their Brand on New Mustang and Wins this Time

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In the annals of American business, nothing is more dangerous than fooling around with a company’s hard-earned brand. And over the past fifty years, there are ample examples of boardroom decisions leading to disastrous results along those lines.

From Coca-Cola’s “New Coke” to Cadillac’s subcompact Cimarron, the history of marketing failures is a painful lesson for even the most successful enterprises, and none more than Ford Motor Company with its epic case of the Edsel in 1958.

So when we heard that Ford was rolling out an SUV-style electric vehicle using the Mustang badge, it was hard not to wonder why the car company would be willing to risk the Mustang’s hard-won prestige on something entirely different from the Pony class they had invented when the first Mustang was rolled out at the 1964 World’s Fair.

As with all things related to Ford, we drove down to Preston to talk with Michael Mitchell at Preston Auto. Michael, a professional actor on the Eastern Shore when not selling automobiles, couldn’t wait to start promoting the new line of Mustangs. A student of the classic Mustangs, he made a compelling argument that the new Mustang Mach-E was the perfect successor to the iconic heritage of the gas-fueled models. And it didn’t hurt that he started with the fact that even the entry-level Mach was capable of 0-60 in 5.9 seconds.

In our chat with Michael, we talk about the differences and similarities of the new Mustang and this bold move by Ford to be the first of the legacy car manufacturers to led the consumers into a new era of transportation.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about the new Mustang, please visit Preston Ford’s website here.

One of the Good Ones: Gunston’s Sydney Nittle Finds her Way to the Naval Academy

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Not so long ago, the idea that a woman would be attending the United States Naval Academy would have struck many of a certain age as unimaginable, but when Gunston School senior Sydney Nittle was asked how she felt about attending this historically male institution, she had a look of surprise in her eyes that suggested how silly that question was in 2021.

So it is so refreshing to note that for this generation of high school seniors, that antiquated debate regarding single-sex education in our military academies is ancient history.

But what is even more refreshing is the exceptional quality of candidates that places like West Point and Annapolis are attracting even at a time when the United States remains engaged in combat operations.

A case in point is Gunston School’s Sydney Nittle. Motivated by a family history of military service, the active support of the Mid-Shore’s Bob Degour, the volunteer USNA Blue and Gold officer who helps future midshipmen with Academy admissions, and Gunston’s focus on developing leadership in their graduates, the stage was set for Sydney to navigate the extremely difficult application process and successfully become this summer an official member of the Class of 2025.

We asked Sydney the other day to stop by the Spy studio to talk about that process as she prepares her summer enrollment in Annapolis in a few weeks.

This video is approximately four minutes in length.

Talbot Hospice: Turning 40 After COVID with Sheila Monahan

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It may take months, if not years, to truly understand the impact of the COVID pandemic on Talbot County but there is little doubt that Talbot Hospice has been on the front line of this crisis since it started in March of last year.

With now forty years of experience in end-of-life management, Talbot Hospice took on a massive undertaking on not only supporting those directly impacted by the deadly virus but had to quickly pivot to safely provide for those in its care and continue its grief services.

Very few people would be surprised that Talbot Hospice met this challenge, least of all Sheila Monahan, its current board president. Nonetheless, as the organization begins celebrating four decades of service to the community, it seemed like a very good time to talk to Sheila about how Hospice has fared during this difficult time.

The Spy sat down with Sheila a few weeks ago about the current work of Hospice as well as early preparations for its 40th birthday party planned for October.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about Talbot Hospice and how to volunteer please go here.

Rabbi Peter Hyman Awarded the International Bronze Wolf; Scouting’s Highest Honor

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For those in Talbot County who are fans of Rabbi Peter Hyman (and the Talbot Spy counts itself as one), it is no surprise that he is consistently trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent as both the leader of Temple B’Nai Israel and everything else he does in our community.

As someone who earned the Eagle Scout as a boy growing up in Connecticut, those components of the “Scout Law” are now second nature to him. They also frame his lifelong commitment to Scouting and promoting its values internationally.

But what was a surprize to him, and to the Mid-Shore he serves, was receiving a call from Indonesia a few weeks ago notifying him that he he had been awarded the highest honor that can be given to a volunteer Scout Leader; the Bronze Wolf medal.

The Bronze Wolf Award is bestowed by the World Scout Committee and over the years some of its recipients have truly been world leaders. Those include Hamengkubuwono IX, Vice President of Indonesia, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Bhumibol Adulyadej and Philippine president Fidel Ramos. Since its creation in 1935, fewer than 400 of the millions of Scouts throughout the world have received the award. In short, it’s a really big deal.

Given this remarkable honor, the Spy asked Rabbi Hyman to swing by the Spy Studio last week to talk about the award, his life in scouting, and how the scout movement, which now includes girls and is active in over 180 countries, remains one of the world’s most powerful tools in developing individual character and shared values for young people, regardless of their race or religious beliefs.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about the Scouting please go here.

 

 

Three Cheers: The Working Artists Forum with Betty Huang

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The Mid-Shore has been blessed with several organizations and instructors over the years who have provided a countless number of promising artists the skills they need to pursue their passion for painting. But the Working Artists Forum must be considered one of the earliest pioneers.

Founded in 1979 by a handful of devoted artists as a way to mentor painters of all ages, the Working Artists Forum now has over 100 members from all over the Eastern Shore, who take advantage of the organization’s workshops but also participates in its unique network of galleries where members work is on display throughout the year.

The Spy recently sat down with Betty Huang, the WAF’s current president, to understand this great organization’s mission, history, and services as well as its ongoing philanthropic support in supporting art and art teachers in elementary schools in six counties on the Shore.

This video is approximately minutes in length. For more information about the Working Arts Forum please go here.

Mid-Shore Commerce: Preston Lets a Bronco Out of the Gate

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When the Spy started talking to Preston Ford a year or so ago, our interest in the company had very little to do with cars. What was more intriguing for us was that this very rural car business had grown into one of the top twenty Ford dealerships in the entire country.

One way a company can make that remarkable climb is good marketing, and that was the second reason we found the Preston story so compelling. Over the course of a few decades, Preston has mastered the art of selling their cars through the creative use of the internet, social media, and clever and unique branding, which included their award-winning “iFrog” campaign.

A second way is to build a loyal customer base, and for Preston, there was a simple strategy for that; give back to the community. From the moment Preston started as a business, its mission was to tie its car sales to the support of local charities.

But the third factor was something that initially escaped the Spy’s overview; a car dealership needed good and exciting cars. And in the case of Ford Motor Company, it seems like almost every quarter, they are releasing some of the most advanced, technically rich automobiles in the industry.

A case in point is the return of the classic Bronco. A legend long before O.J. Simpson was spotted escaping justice on a Lost Angeles freeway; the compact sports utility car was an immediate hit when it was first released in 1966 to compete with Jeep and International Harvester models. But oddly, the Bronco was pulled from Ford’s lineup in 1999, presumably outliving its intended market.

Nonetheless, due to Ford’s bold decision to end the production of sedans last year, the Bronco badge is back. And to the glee of many, it has maintained the same characteristics that made the original so popular, including the same boxy shape, an interior design that could withstand the foulest of weather, and a reasonable price tag.

The Spy drove out to Preston last week as the new Broncos were arriving and spend some time with Preston’s Greg Rohman to understand the SUV’s evolution, rebirth, and the exceptional demand the new Bronco has already created with over 200,000 customers who have already made reservations to get their own.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about Preston Ford please go here.

The Show Goes On: Cambridge South Dorchester Seniors to Perform “1984” with Masks

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Usually, the annual senior theater production at Cambridge South Dorchester is a pretty upbeat affair. Students and their theatre teachers are quick to select musicals or comedies that match the general mood of soon-to-be high school graduates. But that was before COVID.

These days, everything has changed for both students and teachers. And while the Cambridge South Dorchester High senior show will indeed “go on,” its newly appointed theater instructor, Talley Wilford, had to program around the challenging requirement that his performers would need to wear masks the entire time.

For Wilford, who has created a significant reputation for himself on the Mid-Shore for directing musicals of all types for the last ten years, the mask requirement was a first for him. Not only was singing out of the question, which ruled out Broadway crowd-pleasers but even delivering and understanding regular dialogue would require an entirely new strategy for Talley and his student performers.

Wilford made two significant decisions to respond to these problematic restrictions. The first was to ask his students to perform 1984, the George Orwell classic, which seemed so relevant as young people start to comprehend the level of surveillance that co-exists with their social media accounts and the dangers of social conformity.

The other decision was to have his actors pre-record their lines rather than risk dialogue being muffled out by the required masks.

Both experiments will be tested next month when 1984 is performed in the high school’s auditorium, built to seat approximately 1,200 but will be limited to 250 theater-goers for this production.

In his Spy interview, Talley talks candidly about these remarkable circumstances and how his students have grown to appreciate Orwell’s important warning while also enjoying how cast members can use their masks to reinforce the author’s themes.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. 

1984

Cambridge South Dorchester High School Auditorium
April 29, 30, May 1 @ 7pm
May 2nd @ 3pm
All tix $10.00
Advance Tickets: 410.228.9224 ext 1707

 

At the Academy: Miró and Printmaking in New York

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Leave it to the Academy Art Museum to kick off the Mid-Shore’s post-pandemic art world with a bang. In this case, the AAM has pulled together two galleries of printmaking work of Joan Miró when he was working with influential British printmaker Stanley William Hayter in 1947.

This collaboration would be a seminal moment as Miró and Hayter pushed the boundaries the boundaries of screenprinting to the ‘absolute limit” during their time in New York, in what one art critic called “a loving dialogue.”

The Spy sat down yesterday with Mehves Lelic, the curator at the Academy Art Museum, to set this stage for this remarkable exhibition and on this remarkable collaboration.

Miró in New York, 1947 Miró, Hayter and Atelier 17
April 16, 2021 – July 8, 2021

This video is approximately two minutes in length. For more information about Miró in New York, 1947 please go here.

A “Critical” New Title for Chestertown’s Hospital with Shore Health’s Ken Kozel

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Perhaps one of the more significant events in Chestertown’s long history is expected to take place in a few weeks. While there is no official celebration planned to mark this important moment, this is when it is anticipated that the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) will give the final approval of the town’s hospital becoming designated as a critical access facility in the eyes of the State of Maryland.

That might sound a bit bureaucratic, but it’s a huge deal.

This label determines that the UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown is so rural, so remote, that it can operate as a full-service hospital even if the costs of running the facility could be above current standards for similar medical facilities in Maryland.

The Spy spoke to Shore Regional Health’s CEO Ken Kozel last week about this remarkable moment. As someone who has played a leading role for more than a decade with Chestertown’s hospital and the debate on its future, Ken notes that this historic phase for health care that Chestertown, and more broadly, Kent County and northern Queen Anne’s County, will be entering. He also talks about the five-year process that this new designation kicks off, including intensive community engagement. All to help determine precisely what a critical access hospital does, since Chestertown will be the first of its kind in the State.

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