The Talbot Spy

I’d like to express some sincere thoughts concerning the up-coming Mayoral and Town Council elections. I may live in rural PA these days, but my heart and love for the community remain in Easton. That is what prompts this message (as well as the very helpful Talbot Spy interviews and Avalon’s MCTV coverage).

Just last Saturday, the East-End Neighborhood Association held its annual Clean-up and Beautification Day, and the improvements in general in our part of town, and the new signs of major rehabilitation underway, were very apparent. This attention to our needs has been a long time coming, but it says we’re finally on the map! 

This brings up several issues for me: revitalization and thoughtful in-fill for the downtown center and older neighborhoods of Easton are vital to assure our town’s unique identity. Most of the attention and effort of late seems to be on coping with development pressures of housing projects on the outskirts. Vast farm and forest areas become market-priced islands of housing not related to our historical core. Yet we’ll certainly be obliged to provide full services to all of their residents! (I’m not sure Easton can handle more.) I sense that the Town has been in reactionary mode, mostly over-powered rather than standing up for what we want/need. And the need for affordable (workforce) housing must be a priority for the sake of Easton’s health. These are important problems and issues for Easton right now!

I happen to have many years of acquaintance and friendship with two ladies whom I believe have sincere understanding of my concerns: Megan Cook became my Ward 4 Council person may years ago, and has always been attuned to the very unique East-End/The Hill neighborhood … she mentioned it several times during the Avalon broadcast. (I also knew of her distinctive community problem-solving activities prior to her taking office.) Then, stepping up to be Council President has given her the opportunity to exercise and show her skills: purposeful listening, managing confrontational discussions in meetings, planning for growth/budgeting/policing (and even Covid management!) issues. 

My acquaintance with Maureen Curry goes back before the 300th Town Anniversary in 2010 – Yes! I was part of that community spaghetti dinner on long tables set up right on N. Harrison in the street! Her vast work experience gives me confidence that there is nothing new for her … she’s seen and handled it all!

I firmly believe this is the most dynamic (female!) duo possible to take on the problems and questions facing Easton now and pending in our future. They both have long-term, sincere, heart-felt care and concern for our town. They both recognize the importance of the “sense of place” dynamic and how fragile that can be. They appreciate the wealth of valuable volunteerism that is a strong tradition here, and how quickly that can dissipate if community pride falters.

I strongly urge everyone in Easton to VOTE, and if you share my views (and optimism!), vote for Megan … and for Maureen too if you live in Ward 1. (Then find some opportunity to volunteer to a worthy cause.)

Carolyn Jaffe
Delta, PA

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is running for president. Having read about his conspiracy-laden book attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci, I shook my head. What America does not need is another president who embraces bizarre theories in support of questionable ideas. In the case of RFK, Jr., he authored a book suggesting Anthony Fauci promoted vaccination as a response to the COVID pandemic in pursuit of riches. He also suggests that Fauci’s career has included inhumane testing of vaccines on children and other abuses.

Sound bizarre? Pick up a copy of The Real Anthony Fauci:  Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.  Catchy title, don’t you think? 

After learning the news of RFK’s presidential bid, I was disgusted. I do not like family political dynasties of either party, and I like conspiracy theorists even less. The impudence of Kennedy, who has never won elective office previously, running for president also rubbed me the wrong way. I thought:  Maybe Joe Biden should not be the 2024 Democratic nominee, but RFK, Jr. could get me to vote Republican, unless, of course, Trump or Trump-wanna-be DeSantis, gets that troubled party’s nod.

I started to write a column that I envisioned would include three or four quotes from Kennedy’s despicable book. I also thought I would review the rest of his personal history and highlight a few negatives, things like his heroin use as a youth or the fact that Steve Bannon, Trump’s political strategist, encouraged him to run. 

My research led me to change my mind. I still do not want RFK, Jr. anywhere near the White House, but I found myself regretting that somehow, he had bought into ludicrous anti-vaxxer theories which he documented in a book. I wonder about the sanity of Mr. Kennedy. What if he were elected president, bought into more conspiracy theories on a multitude of subjects and took the country into left field? 

My regrets about Kennedy’s disqualifying attempt to become the nation’s leading anti-vaxxer came after I read about his work on the environment. He served as a senior environmental attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He founded the Waterkeeper Alliance. He has championed environmental justice and human rights. In short, there is a lot to like in Kennedy’s background, especially if you live in an environmentally fragile area like the Eastern Shore.

It is not likely that Mr. Kennedy’s presidential aspirations will go far. He has too much baggage. The Kennedy political dynasty is dead. Whatever benefit RFK Jr. will get from his famous name and looking a lot like his tragically assassinated father will be offset by the public reading about his attack on Dr. Fauci. (I say reading about his attacks on Fauci rather than reading the book because the fewer copies of The Real Dr. Fauci that make it into circulation, the better.)

I dream of a young, honest, Democrat emerging to take the baton from Joe Biden and carrying out his work on the environment, social justice, and a lot more. Ideally, someone will emerge who has had a career in environmental law similar to RFK, Jr’s. With that background, the new leader of the party may be able to put the fight against climate change where it should be—at the top of our national priorities.

I despair of such a candidate coming forward. Remember the presidential campaign of Washington State Governor Jay Inslee? He thought he could build a campaign on a foundation of fighting climate change. Even progressive Democrats walked away, preferring candidates highlighting “more immediate” policy proposals, like free college or just getting Donald Trump out of the White House.

I will follow Kennedy’s campaign once he formally announces he is in the race later this month. I hope he will highlight his work on the environment rather than his work in attacking a man who, by promoting vaccines, may have saved my life.  Maybe he can get other 2024 candidates to start taking climate change more seriously.

J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and other subjects.

 

It is time to spread awareness and understanding of Parkinson’s Disease. This is a chronic condition affecting approximately one million people in the U.S. This is more than multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig’s disease combined. Every year in our country 60,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

The importance of National Parkinson’s Awareness Month is that it helps people to learn more about the symptoms, causes and treatments of this disease. Knowing more about Parkinson’s can help to work towards more research discoveries and treatments.

A few facts:

Men are more likely to have Parkinson’s than women. 

Symptoms include tremors, balance issues, rigidity, freezing, microphagia (writing that gets smaller in size), mask-like expression (due to a reduction in involuntary facial movement) and problems with motor control.

The causes of Parkinson’s are still unknown, but researchers believe it is a combination of genetics and environmental factors. Though only 15-25% of people with Parkinson’s have a relative with the disease, those with first degree relatives have a slightly elevated risk of developing the disease. Environmental toxins may be a greater risk than any other factor. Rural living, well water, manganese and pesticides have been associated with an elevated risk of Parkinson’s. Scientists are quick to emphasize that although certain neurotoxins may be a risk factor, no single exposure to a particular chemical has been directly pinpointed as a cause.

Treating Parkinson’s disease is more about managing symptoms and slowing the progression than it is about “curing” this disease.

One thing we know for sure is that exercise is medicine for people living with Parkinson’s. Exercise is a physiological tool that protects neurons at risk or compromised, and guides brain health, protection, repair, and adaptation after a neurodegenerative process occurs…otherwise known as neuroplasticity. Once triggered by exercise, these physiological mechanisms have the potential to slow disease progression!

If you or someone you know lives with Parkinson’s Disease and have not yet investigated an exercise program, I encourage you/them to check out our local YMCA Rock Steady Boxing for Parkinson’s Disease. This program was developed specifically for Parkinson’s disease, by someone who lives with it. The premise being that forced intense movement, like those of a boxer, will in fact slow the progression of many of the symptoms including bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Boxers train hand-eye coordination, speed of movement, flexibility, balance, core strength, agility, and rapid muscle fire. All these training skills are effective in slowing disease progression.

This program is highly effective and promotes social interaction and improved mood.

And it is just plain fun!

Susan Covey is the  Acts Bayleigh Chase Fitness Director and Rock Steady Boxing Coach

Seventy seven years ago, George Kennan, then US ambassador to Moscow and America’s premier authority on Russia and the USSR, sent the Secretary of State what is now known as the Long Telegram. Its 5000 words contained deep analyses supporting his recommendation for a US strategy of Soviet containment. It became the foundation of American policy towards USSR/Russia for decades. Today, Kennan, who died in 2005 at the age of 101, is considered one of America’s foremost diplomats. 

At the time, the Soviets were occupying Central and Eastern Europe, including half of Germany and its prewar capital, Berlin. Western Europe was in ruins, its economies wrecked and America was the sole intact global superpower left standing. But, then the Soviets got nukes.

A confounding question has puzzled minds in Washington and other world capitals since February 24, 2022: why did Putin, absent any provocation, invade Ukraine?  And closely related,  why did he believe victory would be his in 5-6 days? The next 12 months dramatically demonstrated, at great human, political and economic cost, how wrong he was. 

However, despite the battlefield failures and the very public and nationally embarrassing performance of Russian forces, he presses on. The West, under US leadership, has galvanized NATO and the EU to oppose the invasion and to provide very substantial military and financial support to Kiev and its  impressive President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Putin’s reversion to 18th Century empire building, has also energized two long-time European neutrals, Finland and Sweden, to apply for NATO membership.  

Kennan’s deeply informed comments on Russia, Stalin and their attitudes towards themselves and the West could help us understand, what in hell Putin is doing and why.

The most important date during these intervening 33 years is 12/26/1991: the day the Soviet Union collapsed from endemic corruption and institutional disintegration. It had a profound and lasting impact on Putin and others of his generation and contributed to his 2/24/22 decision. He has also repeatedly shared his opinion that: “The collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th Century.”

And for him, it probably was.  Within months, he went from being a feared KGB Lt. Col., in Soviet occupied East Germany, to driving a taxi in St. Petersburg.  But, not for long. 

He has served as Russia’s prime minister or president since 1999. And since assuming power, he has set about pursuing one goal openly and another not so much. 

Early on, Putin toured western European capitals assuring his hosts he was a practical man, who simply wanted to rebuild his country and maintain the post WWII peace. He was quite successful to the point that while addressing the German Bundestag (parliament), he was interrupted frequently with standing ovations. 

His second, quieter, but more honest goal, was to reassemble the Soviet Union, by force if necessary: Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea and now Ukraine. If successful in the latter, likely future re-conquest targets could include some former Soviet Satellites. However, a number have become NATO members, which might dissuade him from military aggression, but not from the traditional Soviet practice of political meddling and active subversion. 

Various US and European “modernizing” impulses pursued different visions of the 145 million Russians: (1) paying customers and (2) future voters in a democratic Russia. Dozens of American Government representatives and others from mega corporations, international organizations, think-tanks, major law firms, high-end retailers, consultants of all sorts, eagerly took up residence in Russia to begin their work. 

But, capitalism only truly arrived when thousands of young Russians lined up in Moscow for their first Big Mac. 

By 2009, urban Russians could buy in local stores, virtually any item available in the West. The advent of digital communication and advertising spread this global market beyond the large Russian cities, and acquired millions of new users/buyers, particularly those who were 18 and under on 12/26/91.  Snapchat and Telegram and Facebook and Twitter spread global lives across all 11 time zones.

Despite all the apparent westernization, optimism and excited Western assumptions about the new Russia, Putin and friends were privately taking care of business. Many of his old KGB colleagues and others, all well equipped with useful contacts, knowledge, great confidence and forceful ambitions, pursued wealth and luxury by “acquiring” control over previously state owned natural resources and major industries.  Among all these oligarchs and newly rich sycophants, Putin has emerged as the wealthiest of them all. A model kleptocratic government.  

Putin’s razor sharp KGB instincts continued to function efficiently and he soon perceived that the new glitterati could threaten his rule. Believing they needed to be sternly reminded who the new czar was, he found the perfect exemplar-target: the richest man in the new Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Unfortunately, the latter’s $15 Billion fortune had dulled his sensitivities to current reality: the old top-down Soviet power architecture may have new labels, but hadn’t changed. Then, he made a fatal error: he founded a reform minded civil society organization. 

Khodorkovsky’s enormous petroleum firm suddenly lost  its value and then he himself was arrested, as he exited his private jet. He remained in prison until German intervention convinced Putin to pardon him in 2013. He and his family now live in exile in London (on only $500 million). 

Political opponents or potentials are dead or in jail. Others have been poisoned, died or survived and are serving long terms in prison (Alexei Navalny). Senior business leaders whose loyalty Putin doubts, have fallen out of hospital windows. These tactics resemble Stalin’s,  although he and earlier czars, preferred the feared , but more convenient, Lubyanka Prison and its torture chambers.   

Excerpts from the Long Telegram:

Inbred fear of the West: 

• “USSR (Russia) still lives in antagonistic capitalist encirclement with which in the long run there can be no permanent peaceful coexistence.

• Everything must be done to advance relative strength of USSR (Russia) as factor in international society. Conversely, no opportunity most be missed to reduce strength and influence, collectively as well as individually, of capitalist powers.

• At bottom of Kremlin’s neurotic view of world affairs is traditional and instinctive Russian sense of insecurity. Originally, this was insecurity of a peaceful agricultural people trying to live on vast exposed plains in a neighborhood of fierce nomadic peoples.

• To this was added, as Russia came into contact with economically advanced West, fear of more competent, more powerful, more highly organized societies in that area. But this latter type of insecurity was one which afflicted Russian rulers rather than Russian people.”

• “And they have learned to seek security only in patient but deadly struggle for total destruction of rival power, never in compacts and compromises with it.

Tactics/Strategy towards the West 

• Undermine general political and strategic potential of major western powers. Efforts will be made in such countries to disrupt national self confidence, to hamstring measures of national defense, to increase social and industrial unrest, to stimulate all forms of disunity. 

• All persons with grievances, whether economic or racial, will be urged to seek redress not in mediation and compromise, but in defiant violent struggle for destruction of other elements of society. Here poor will be set against rich, black against white, young against old, newcomers against established residents, etc.

Tactics/Strategy towards the US

• Soviets (Russians) are a political force committed fanatically to the belief that with the US there can be no permanent modus vivendi.
  
• It is desirable and necessary that the internal harmony of US society be disrupted, and their traditional way of life destroyed, the international authority of the US be broken, if Soviet power is to be secure. “

To grasp Kennan’s current relevance in 2023, 77 years after enormous changes in Russia and the world, two facts are essential: Putin’s mindset never left the USSR or the KGB and is still affected by Russia’s imperial past. (2) Nor did his 65+ generation of males move on after the demise of the Soviet Union, particularly those who had served in its military and intelligence services.  

And those younger Kremlin acolytes learned the Khodorkovsky Lesson well.  They owe their powerful positions and wealth (and lives) to him, as did their predecessors to Stalin and Nicholas II. 

Kennan’s total Immersion in Russia is Unique

Kennan’s credibility on Russia, Russians and the Soviet Union was enormous in 1946 and still is, because  he had submerged himself  for many years in all things Russian to gain a very deep grasp of the Russian people, their history, their rulers and the impact of the Bolshevik Revolution and Communism. For Kennan, Stalin represented a less elegant continuation of the absolute, harsh rule of the czars.  And Putin must have seemed a similar, familiar figure to Kennan.    

Kennan spoke bilingual Russian and could pass as a native.  He traveled throughout the Soviet Union, early on, not as a foreign diplomat, but as another Russian. In short, he was intensely fascinated  with Russia and acquired a depth of knowledge few non-Russians had or have.  

What Kennan’s Long Telegram does for us, is to remove the necessity of trying to make sense of Putin’s actions, because we can’t. Kennan, however, drew on his amazing database,  formed from decades of Russian experiences and Soviet interactions and provides us the motivations and underlying emotions that make sense to Putin and more broadly, to the older Russian men who share his nostalgia for an imaginary past. 

The potential existential challenge Putin faces lies with those Russian men under 50, who liked 21st Century Russia and don’t want to be dragooned to die in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of these men and women have left Russia and are now living and working from Bali to Bratislava.  They formed the foundation for a future modern Russia. They are entrepreneurs, highly educated, doctors, nurses, business owners and high tech specialist, particularly in AI. And few have any intention of returning to a reactionary, repressive Homeland.  

Tom Timberman is an Army vet, lawyer, former senior Foreign Service officer, adjunct professor at GWU, and economic development team leader or foreign government advisor in war zones. He is the author of four books, lectures locally and at US and European universities. He and his wife are 24 year residents of Kent County.

I am writing to express my concern and opposition to the planned closure of the Ward Museum and the transfer of its contents to an as yet to be prepared space on West Main Street in downtown Salisbury.  I do so as someone who has worked at Salisbury University and has been a supporter of the Ward Museum.  I also do so as a local Salisbury native, having graduated from Wicomico Senior High School and am now a local resident.

As you may have learned, I began a petition to Save the Ward Museum at Schumaker Pond, Salisbury, Maryland. Within several days of its launching, it now has surpassed 3,700 signatures. It is a measure of how much the current course of action is misplaced.

Much has been made regarding the outbreak of a mold infestation at the Museum last July when the HVAC system failed.  That failure was quickly repaired within several days. The system has since been operating at normal levels.  A factor that has caused the University to announce the move is the expense of replacing the boiler and related maintenance.  The boiler is now some 30 years old and needs replacement to avoid future HVAC failure.

Following the failure of the HVAC system, Ward Museum officials hired an outside consulting firm to estimate the cost of fixing the system and to replace the boiler. That estimate is approximately $275,000. This figure is considerably less than reports of three to five million dollars associated with public communications at Salisbury University regarding repairs of the Ward Museum.  What makes this problematic is that the cost of renovating a downtown storage and display space has been estimated at upwards of $900,000.  Together with only the Museum’s internal estimate of $275,000, the total cost of a move could easily approach $1,000,000 or more.

Expenses aside, the Ward Museum’s 38,000 square feet includes some 14,000 square feet of display space in a uniquely designed building.  In contrast, the proposed downtown space does not reflect the unique environmental setting of the Ward Museum and its associated nature walk on Schumaker Pond. The downtown location would have only some 5,000 square feet of which only some 1,500 square feet would be available for display of the wildfowl art collection.  Spending over three and a half times the money for ten percent of the space just does not make any economic sense.

I know that Salisbury State College, as it was then known, was instrumental in housing the original Ward Brothers decoy collection.  Over time, as the collection grew, space became an issue. That led to a public-private partnership resulting in the construction of the current multi-million dollar museum now on Schumaker Pond.  For years, this partnership worked well until the Museum was unable to underwrite both its operating costs and the debt service incurred in its construction.  In 1990, an agreement signed between the State of Maryland and the Ward Museum transferred ownership to Salisbury State University as an agent of the University System of Maryland.  In exchange for the transfer, Salisbury State University would assume the $1.6 million in outstanding debt and major capital expenditures while the Ward Museum would retain responsibility for normal operating costs. Although the University has continued to make financial contributions to the Ward Museum, it has not renewed in writing its commitment for the past three years, to which it now has announced its decision to close the Museum at Schumaker Pond.

The Ward Museum is an iconic institution with a reputation that extends well beyond the Delmarva peninsula. It draws visitors from all 50 states and several countries abroad.  It is featured regularly on tourism promotions, including what has been up to now a website sponsored by Salisbury University.  To close the Museum and disperse its contents for a limited space downtown undermines the mission of both the Ward Foundation and the reputation of Salisbury University.  I urge you to work toward a viable solution that can enable to Ward Museum to continue its mission at its present site on Schumaker Pond and in which the reputation of Salisbury University with a community commitment to the Museum is justly affirmed.

Phillip LeBel, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Economics, Montclair State University
Delmar

Having heard the needs and requests of county departments and agencies, negotiated options when practicable and determined revenue gaps for FY 2024, Talbot County Manager Clay Stamp and Budget Director Martha Sparks presented an overview of the county’s FY 2024 budget on March 16. The council is now in the process of budget deliberation.

Talbot County budgets conservatively. Expenses are overestimated, and revenues are underestimated, resulting in revenues that surpass budgeted expenses. A two percent revenue cap passed several years ago had been a point of contention at times; but providing a cushion addressed that issue, and Talbot County been awarded the highest ratings of both Moody’s and Fitch.

Talbot’s property tax rate is the lowest among Maryland’s counties, and its income tax is the second lowest; but a small share of large incomes can be quite a lot. We were reminded that just 1.5 percent of taxpayers are providing approximately 30 percent of the county’s revenue – in a county whose residents may also have a considerable amount of valuable waterfront property.

Expenditures have been slightly less than budgeted. Those numbers are up, but with a “rainy day fund” in reserve, the county is on target to spend less than in FY 2023. The general fund balance, including American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds and other funds, is approximately $100 million now. (FY 2023 was approximately $112 million.)

Tax rates are certified for constant yield by the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. Talbot has a revenue cap, but the state has provided the possibility of raising funds through its education supplement. Those funds must go to the schools, though.

The general fund balance has been up over the past several years. Revenues are also expected to be up for FY 2024. With education funding, “we’re in the ballpark.” And as Council President Callahan noted, “We have a great team.”

Concerns have surfaced regarding the State of Maryland’s FY 2024 budget, as to whether or not it will provide funding for Eastern Shore projects promised during the past administration. Talbot received funding from the state for broadband in 2022.

The council is looking forward to yet another “budget wrap-up” on March 28. A public hearing for the FY 2024 is scheduled for May 4, and this mission is expected to be accomplished by May 28. The State of Maryland could have news by then, too.

Carol Voyles is a graphic designer/illustrator who retired to the Eastern Shore and became interested in politics. She serves as communications chair for the Talbot County Democratic Forum and lives in Easton.

County council videos: talbotcountymd.gov

We as a community, and as individuals each with our own unique and special personal relationship, deeply mourn the recent loss of our dear friend, neighbor, and local superstar Delia Rose Bridges Denny.  

Delia touched and improved the lives of so many in our county past and present.  So, please let us together take a moment to celebrate the fortunate gift we enjoyed in Delia’s almost eighty-nine years of “truly living” here in Talbot County.  

Delia was a beautiful, elegant, intelligent, and inspiring human being.  Publicly she was a trailblazer for professional women, serving as a cherished mentor to many women entering the banking business.  Delia was a highly respected, groundbreaking community leader in good company with many other superstars like Mrs. Alton Jones, Maggie Ferree, Shirley Gooch, Bette Kenzie, Blenda Armistead, Alice Ryan and so many others. 

Personally, for me, and I am sure for many of you, she was a dedicated friend and neighbor who radiated love, humor, support and tolerance for me as an individual and a special zest for living life to its fullest.  I always wanted to be around and as full of life as Delia.  She was a joy.

Hello Delia Denny, we could write a book! In fact, many of us – her loving family members and friends — often encouraged Delia to do just that. Delia’s firsthand and expert (sometimes embarrassing) knowledge of local history, people, and connections was unparalleled.  More than anything Delia dearly loved her family, her friends, and cherished her home off the Miles River here on the Eastern Shore. 

To follow please enjoy a few quotes from several community leaders, friends and finally, at the end, a more comprehensive history of Delia’s leadership roles, awards and distinctions here in Talbot County.  I might add that one of her favorite triumphs, not covered below, was the title of “Miss Miles River” at age sixteen.  What a vibrant human being…we were truly blessed to have her in our lives.

“I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time with Delia over the years. She was kind, loving and always greeted everyone with warmth. Under all that sweetness was a woman who deeply loved her community and worked tirelessly nearly her entire life to enhance our way life in Talbot County. We’re all beneficiaries of her efforts and her spirit lives on through the work of the YMCA and the 15 other charities she worked closely with as a volunteer. “   Robbie Gill

” Delia made things happen. In the non-profit world, if she was on your board or committee, you had immediate credibility and were likely to be very successful. A positive influence on all who met her a knew her. “ John Valliant

 “Delia was empathetic and compassionate.  You could mention a need to her and she was immediately looking for a way to help.  She was intelligent and able to grasp and tackle the many jobs that banking presented to her.  She was quite obviously a trailblazer and leader as witness the many first leadership roles she had as a woman in our county.  She was the first women president of the United Fund, and the first woman president of the Talbot County YMCA as well as the first woman recipient of the J. Howard Anthony Community Service Award.” Tom Hill

“Delia Denny always had a twinkle in her eyes, a bright smile for everyone and always inquired about one’s well-being.  She was a volunteer/community leader par excellence in many areas and a good competitor inculcating humor, harmony and good will along the way.  Life in Delia’s world, including golf, was a “bowl of cherries, not a vale of tears.”  She made it that way in her multiple involvements throughout Talbot County.  Well done, good and humble servant.  May she RIP.”  Kay Perkins  

“Delia Denny was one of the most brilliant protectors of our Easton and of Talbot County, in banking and beyond.  Her expertise, her proven commitment to community endeavors—we admired her perfection. She was humble and a friend to all. And she could tell a mean joke!”  Patty and Clayton Fisher

“Delia loved her family, adored her friends, and embraced the entire community.” Gail and John Obrien

“Delia was a community leader. She volunteered her time to many organizations. Among her favorite organizations were the YMCA and Easton Memorial Hospital. She gave many hours of her time and her expertise to the Easton hospital foundation board. She also served on the capital campaign committee for the YMCA in the early 1990s to raise the money for a new addition including a second swimming pool. One of my favorite memories of Delia was a publicity photograph by a photographer from the Star Democrat when the capital campaign kicked off. As an attention grabbing stunt, the members of the campaign committee jumped into the old pool at the Y, fully clothed, including suits, ties and shoes. When everyone jumped in the pool in unison, David Hill inadvertently kicked Delia in the ankle causing swelling and decolorization that would last for some time. Delia never let me forget that stunt!  When a volunteer was needed for a community event or organization Delia was always eager to help. The community will miss her, as I will.”  Charlie Capute

Work History: Executive Vice President of Easton Bank and Trust; Part of the Executive Management team, was at different stages Business Development Officer, Marketing Manager, Compliance Officer, Human Resources Manager, Branch Manager, Loan Officer at EBT; Began her banking career in 1952 with Easton National Bank which merged with Maryland National Bank in 1962; Executive Secretary in the Trust Department, Senior Trust Officer responsible for 19 branches at MNB; In 1985 made Assistant Vice President of Private Banking in Easton, manage private banking for the entire Eastern Shore; In 1990 elected Vice President and Manager of MNB’s Easton Branch.  As a wedding planner, with the help of her daughter Beth, Delia also helped dozens of local brides, grooms and their families navigate through planning their special event then, with Delia’s guidance, relax and enjoy their very special day.

Banking Awards and Distinctions: National Association of Bank Women, Regional Scholarship Award in recognition of outstanding merit based on her scholastic record and professional achievement (one of 15 in U.S.); Attended the National Trust School at Northwestern University; First recipient of the Council of Professional Women in Banking and Finance Lifetime Achievement Award 2013.

Other Awards and Distinctions: 1975 St. Michaels High Distinguished Alumna Award; 1982 Soroptimist International of Talbot County Woman of the Year; 1985 Talbot County Chamber of Commerce Business Woman of the Year Award; 1995 first recipient of the Woman of the Year Award; Daughters of American Revolution Excellence in Community Service Award; first woman President of the Untied Fund of Talbot County; first woman president of the Talbot County YMCA; first woman recipient of the J. Howard Anthony Community Service Award; Paul Harris Fellow (Rotary Foundation); 2012 BSA Distinguished Citizen Award; 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Delia has served on the board of 16 area organizations including the Memorial Hospital Foundation, Memorial Hospital Association, Chesapeake College Foundation, Wesley College Board of Trustees, Untied Fund of Talbot County, St. Mark’s Ministry to Aged, American Red Cross, The Country School, The Academy of Arts, The American Cancer Society, and her beloved Talbot County YMCA.  She was appointed to the MD Commission for Women; MD Financial Disclosure Advisory Board; and Talbot County Board of Education. Delia was also a member of The Talbot Country Club, The Soroptimists, the Royal Oak Garden Club and The Festival of Trees Committee.