MENU

Sections

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Editors and Writers
    • Join our Mailing List
    • Letters to Editor Policy
    • Advertising & Underwriting
    • Code of Ethics
    • Privacy
    • Talbot Spy Terms of Use
  • Art and Design
  • Culture and Local Life
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
    • Senior Life
  • Community Opinion
  • Sign up for Free Subscription
  • Donate to the Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy

More

  • Support the Spy
  • About Spy Community Media
  • Advertising with the Spy
  • Subscribe
May 20, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Editors and Writers
    • Join our Mailing List
    • Letters to Editor Policy
    • Advertising & Underwriting
    • Code of Ethics
    • Privacy
    • Talbot Spy Terms of Use
  • Art and Design
  • Culture and Local Life
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
    • Senior Life
  • Community Opinion
  • Sign up for Free Subscription
  • Donate to the Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy
1 Homepage Slider Spy Chats

On Being a Eagle Scout: A Chat with Jack Gonzalez and Pete Lesher

August 28, 2024 by The Spy

Those earning an Eagle Scout badge belong to one of the most exclusive clubs in the United States. Currently, only 6% of young people involved in Boy Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle, and only 2 million have reached that level since 1910. It is a unique achievement and an honor for those who complete the rigorous requirements.

So when the Spy heard that Talbot County’s Jack Gonzalez, whom we had interviewed a few years ago after he received a Carson scholarship)  had just been presented with his Eagle badge by Troop 190 this summer, he asked him and Talbot County scout leader Pete Lesher (also an Eagle Scout) to stop by the Spy Studio to discuss this rare distinction.

This video is approximately minutes in length. For more information about Troop 190 please go here .

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, Spy Chats

Easton’s Housing Task Force: A Chat with EEDC’s Holly DeKarske and TOE’s Miguel Salinas

August 5, 2024 by Dave Wheelan

To support the Spy’s continued coverage of the Town of Easton’s affordable housing challenge, we have started a new series that plans to have quarterly check-in sessions with some of the community’s most active leaders involved in that effort.

In part one, the Spy is joined by Easton Economic Development Corporation director Holly DeKarske and the Town of Easton Planning and Zoning director Miguel Salinas on the mission and anticipated results of the newly appointed Unattainable Housing Task Force. Comprising 18 diverse members, the task force aims to craft a comprehensive housing strategy. This includes exploring land use policies, regulatory changes, and potential funding sources to boost affordable housing production.

We also touch on the broader implications of affordable housing, emphasizing the need for community education and engagement. Both underscore the importance of informing developers and the public about housing needs while pointing out the challenges faced by the local workforce in finding affordable homes.

This video is approximately 15 minutes in length. For more information about Easton’s Planning and Zoning programs please go here.  For more information about the Town of Easton’s consultants discussed in the video please go here. A date for the consultant presentation mentioned has not been set, and the Spy will update this article when we have that information.

 

 

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, Spy Chats

Spy Exit Interview: Betty Huang and the Working Artists Forum

July 29, 2024 by Dave Wheelan

For the record, artist, and Easton gallery owner, Betty Huang is not giving up on her art or Studio B on Goldsbrough Street, but she’s actually retiring from being the president and board member of the Working Artists Forum after 12 years of leading this Mid-Shore arts organization. Given this remarkable tenure, the Spy thought it appropriate to ask Betty to participate in our ongoing chats with community leaders in all fields about their contributions and impressions about the organizations they have served and their future.

With an active membership that has grown from 30 artists to now over 100, there is good reason to celebrate WAF’s unique success. A grass-roots group with no paid staff, Working Artists Forum has a mission to support local artists and showcase their work in statewide exhibitions, as well as provide workshops and educational programs for those artists to develop their skills and advance their careers. Under Betty’s leadership and her supportive volunteers and board members, WAF has increasingly used art as a way to raise funds to support art programs in Mid-Shore public schools and, more recently, using WAF art shows to raise money for breast cancer research and patient care.

Betty stopped by the Spy Studio a few weeks ago to reflect on the growth of the organization and how it has helped her personally with her art, a passion she finally was able to return to after a successful professional career with the International Monetary Fund.  She also talks about her arrival in Easton in 2006 and her immediate love affair with the Eastern Shore.

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

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, Spy Chats

Remembering Spy Columnist Howard Freedlander

June 26, 2024 by Dave Wheelan

It is with profound sadness that the Spy was notified yesterday of the unexpected passing of Spy columnist Howard Freedlander. It is a stunning loss for his family, friends, and colleagues here at this small online newspaper. The loss of this very special person in this publisher’s life makes me speechless as I reflect on how much he meant to his beloved town of Easton and to the causes he cared so much about.

There will be another time and moment to reflect on Howard, but in the meantime, I wanted to share with our readers an exit interview Howard did with the Spy after he and his wife, Liz, made the painful decision to leave Easton after decades to be closer to family.

 

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, Spy Chats

The American Male Health Crisis: A Chat with UM Shore Health’s Dr. Chris Runz

June 25, 2024 by The Spy

Dr. Chris Runz, a urologic surgeon at the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, recently spoke with the Spy about the alarming decline in American men’s health. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Runz emphasized that men’s health is a broad term covering various issues, including blood vessel health, access to primary care, and the impact of metabolic syndrome on their quality of life and longevity.

Dr. Runz highlighted the importance of early screening and prevention, noting that many men delay primary care visits until their 30s or later. He stressed the significance of maintaining healthy blood vessels to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and erectile dysfunction, which can be early indicators of cardiovascular issues.

In our interview, he also covered metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, which significantly affect men’s health. Dr. Runz emphasized the need for awareness and proactive healthcare, urging men to get regular check-ups and address health issues early. He concluded by advocating for increased awareness during Men’s Health Month in June, encouraging men to prioritize their health and well-being.

This video is approximately 12 minutes in length. For more information about UM Shore Health’s men’s health programs, please click here.

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

Filed Under: Spy Highlights, Health Portal Lead, Spy Chats

On Pride, Visibility and Celebration: A Chat with Delmarva Pride Board Members Arielle Catron and Lauren Fierman

June 14, 2024 by Dave Wheelan

This year will mark the 3rd year of the now annual Delmarva Pride celebration in Easton and Cambridge this weekend. And to give you a sense of scale, organizers expect at least 4,000 to participate in this new Mid-Shore tradition.

The Spy thought it might be interesting to interview two of those organizers to talk about the goal of the Delmarva Pride Center as well as their own journey to the Eastern Shore. Arielle Catron (along with family member Louise) and Lauren Fierman based their insights on their impressions when they arrived from other, less conservative towns.  They also talk about the ongoing challenges and the LGBTQ+ community, including the fear of violence and discrimination, and finally, the need and importance of celebration, as well as what visitors can expect over the next few days.

This video is approximately seven minutes in length. For more information about Delmarva Pride please go here. 

 

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

Filed Under: Spy Highlights, Spy Chats

A Changing of the Guard: A Chat with Washington College Outgoing Board Chair Steve Golding and Incoming Rick Wheeler

June 5, 2024 by Dave Wheelan

Six years ago, Steve Golding took up the mantle of chair of the Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors. With impeccable credentials as a chief financial officer of some of the country’s most prestigious schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, the University of Colorado, and Ohio University, he stepped into a leadership role at Washington at a time when liberal arts colleges in the country faced unprecedented financial challenges. The school’s leadership saw the significant benefit of having someone with Golding’s skills and temperament to serve as a mature and steady hand supporting a college president. And it didn’t hurt that he was proud member of the class of 1972.

During his tenure as Chair, the College has survived not only those financial minefields but also the unprecedented economic impact of a health pandemic. And under the leadership of new college president Mike Sosulski, student enrollment has increased, faculty co-governance relations have improved, and the school’s endowment has moved from $200 million to approximately $325 million. More recently, the College received a $15 million donation this spring from a young alum to seed a new undergraduate business school.

Not bad.

However, after two decades of service to Washington College, Steve Golding is stepping down to make room for a new generation to take over the critical role of stewardship of this 242-year-old Eastern Shore institution. Now, the torch will be passed to Rick Wheeler, class of 1986, the CFO of Oakland Consulting Group based in Lanham, MD.

In their Spy interview from a few weeks ago, Steve and Rick traded thoughts on where Washington College has been and where the country’s 10th oldest liberal arts college is going in the 21st century.

This video is approximately 12 minutes in length. For more information about Washington College please go here.

 

 

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, Ed Homepage, Spy Chats, WC

Spy Exit Interview: Outgoing Cambridge City Manager Tom Carroll

April 22, 2024 by Dave Wheelan

The Spy continues our informal series of long-form exit interviews with some of the Mid-Shore’s most well-known leaders in public affairs, the arts, and regional culture at the end of that individual’s tenure of employment. Many of those profiles tend to focus on sometimes decades of work and deeds, but in other cases, like with Cambridge City Manager Tom Carroll, these can be short-lived experiences.

Hired two years ago after successful roles as city manager in Loveland, Ohio, and village manager in Silverton, Ohio, Carroll quickly won the praise of many Cambridge stakeholders with his professional manner and effective management style. He also created a positive working relationship with current City Council members, including Mayor Steve Rideout, as the city worked through several serious municipality challenges.

And yet, despite this early record of success, Tom Carroll gave notice last month, and he is not subtle about the reasons why.

Over the last nine months, Carroll grew increasingly concerned about the strategic vision, transparency, and financial funding of Cambridge Waterfront Development Inc.’s (CWDI) plan to develop over 30 acres of the city’s waterfront. After making efforts to resolve those concerns, the city manager decided to resign rather than support a scheme that he thought had the potential of catastrophic financial consequences for Cambridge and its residents.

In his Spy interview, Carroll specifically details those concerns, but also the progress that Cambridge has made even during his short tenure, and more importantly, his confidence in the city’s future.

Carroll will become the new town manager of Lexington, Virginia, later this summer.

This video is approximately 17 minutes in length.

 

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, Spy Chats

Wading into The Wading Place History in Queen Anne’s County

April 17, 2024 by Brent Lewis

Modern Life is challenging in ways our ancestors never imagined.

It’s nice to have a place to get away from it all once in a while.

“A place to unplug and watch the day go by” is the way Bayly Buck, president of the Wading Place Hunting Club in Queen Anne’s County, describes that kind of sanctuary. “A world apart. A step back in time.”

The Wading Place, 1631: Back when English colonists established their earliest communities in America, the shores of the Chesapeake Bay were among some of the first places they settled. In 1631, a pioneer named William Claiborne built a trading post on the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay. Claiming the island for Virginia, Claiborne named his Jamestown outpost after his British hometown of Kent.

Sometime soon after, nobody knows exactly when inhabitants of the region started calling the area where one could pass between The Isle of Kent and the eastern mainland without using a boat, “The Wading Place.”

And not only don’t we know for sure when Kent Island’s Wading Place came into being, nobody really knows where it was either.

An obvious assumption is that it was most likely located near what we now call Kent Narrows, the strait separating the island from the rest of the Eastern Shore while connecting the Chester River to Prospect Bay. According to J. Coursey Willis, president of the non-profit Historic Kent Island (https://historickentisland.org/), the earliest evidence of The Wading Place’s location, patented in 1649, has been lost to the tides of history, but there is an existing survey issued in 1658 identifying a 300 acre parcel on the east side of Kent Island as Wading Place Neck.

In Willis’s opinion, the northwestern landmark of what was the Kent Island side of “The Wading Place” would be located in the vicinity of Queen Anne’s County’s present-day Ferry Point Park and run south to the area around the county boat slips and the Kent Island Yacht Club near Goodhands and Kirwans Creeks. There are also references from this time to Wading Place Swamp and Wading Place Bay. Willis thinks Wading Place Swamp was probably what we call Piney Creek, and Wading Place Bay is what’s been known since at least the mid-19th century as Prospect Bay.

Bayly Buck 1st Duck Fall 1962

The Wading Place Hunting Club, 1945: Locals and travelers alike have always needed to cross back and forth between Kent Island and Delmarva proper. According to Willis’s research, the first official mention of a ferry at The Wading Place was in 1711. A series of causeways and bridges have subsequently been built at Kent Narrows over the years, including a 1902 railroad bridge and the still-existing drawbridge that opened mere months before the Bay Bridge was dedicated in 1952.

When that drawbridge was built, Kent Narrows was nearing the end of its fifty-year run as one of the hubs of a seafood packing industry that supported a big portion of the regional economy. 

In the mid-to-late 1940s and early 1950s, The Eastern Shore was undergoing significant changes. A way of life that generations grew up experiencing was nearing an unprecedented cultural transition.

In 1945, John C. Legg Jr., a Baltimore investment banker, purchased thirty acres of the Horsehead Peninsula on the eastern Grasonville side of Prospect Bay and called the hunting retreat he built for family and friends The Wading Place. Legg created a corporation, issued stock that was issued completely to his two daughters-in-law, and sat a board of directors that consisted of himself and his sons, John the Third and William. John died in 1952 at the age of 41. A year later, William was fatally shot in a hunting accident at The Wading Place. He was 33. His 9-year-old son was in the duck blind with his dad when it happened. Afterward, the Wading Place Hunting Club was sold to eight friends, including Dr. Walter ‘Dick’ Buck, whose cousin’s son Bayly is The Wading Place Club’s current point man.

Bayly Buck first visited the club when he was 12 years old, and though he was not originally a fan of the cold hunting season weather, he learned to love the place and the bonding opportunities he experienced there, as well as the area’s wild beauty and the feeling of being apart from the surrounding modern world. He says that to look at it, the clubhouse doesn’t present much of an image, facilities are rudimentary at best, but members past and present have loved it that way. “Wading Place has remained a boys club,” says Buck. “Cast-off furniture, no doilies, no curtains, and no big chores to do.” It’s a great spot, he says, “to just relax in resplendent squalor.”

The Wading Place, 2024: Between 1981 and 1998, The Wildfowl Trust of North America, with the intent to protect endangered wetlands through education and stewardship, purchased the entire Horsehead Peninsula with the exception of the 30 acres owned by The Wading Place group.  On a mission to create a bond between people and the world around us, the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center (https://bayrestoration.org/) offers both recreational and educational opportunities for visitors of all ages.

An educator, coach, and conservationist, Matt LaMotte, a member of the Wading Place club for more than fifty years, says his group has been longtime advocates of their environmental center neighbors. “We’ve had members who have sat on the CBEC board, we provide financial support whenever we’re needed, and we maintain a portion of the center’s trails.”

Bayly Buck & Matt LaMotte

LaMotte no longer hunts but still visits the club’s property whenever he can to take walks, birdwatches, and soak in either the solitude or camaraderie with other members.  “Sitting on the porch and watching the sunset here is a unique and special privilege,” he says. “For me, it’s been a haven from the hustle and bustle of daily life as well as fellowship among a life-long group of close friends.”

Bayly Buck concurs. He says the Wading Place club is “a tradition handed down to us by the generation before us, which we now hand down to our kids, and recently to our grandchildren.

“Unrepentantly” borrowing the unofficial motto of Montana, Buck calls the club’s waterfront slice of the Eastern Shore “The Last Best Place.”   

“Because we like to sit here (at the clubhouse) and watch the sunset sink into the water, I usually finish notes to the membership with “See ya on the porch.””

It’s a reminder and an invitation to enjoy life’s quieter moments.

See ya on the porch.

Brent Lewis is a native Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shoreman. He has published two nonfiction books about the region, “Remembering Kent Island: Stories from the Chesapeake” and a “History of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department.” His most recent book, “Stardust By The Bushel: Hollywood On The Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore”won a 2023 Independent Publishers award. His first novel, Bloody Point 1976, won an Honorable Mention Award at the 2015 Hollywood Book Festival. He and his wife Peggy live in Centreville, Maryland.

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, Spy Chats

UM Shore Health’s Khalid Kurtom and Wendy Towers on Brain Injuries and Advances in Neurosurgery

April 15, 2024 by The Spy

Anyone who has ever had a chat with neurosurgeon Khalid Kurtom, MD, at UM Shore Health knows firsthand his extraordinary grasp of knowledge of his chosen field but may not realize his in-depth understanding of both the profound complexity and rapid advances in neuroscience and neurosurgery. And that’s why the Spy always welcomes the opportunity to spend time with him.

This time around, we sat down with him and his longtime colleague, nurse practitioner Wendy Towers, to discuss the differences in brain injuries, detailing how they are classified into mild, moderate, and severe categories based on their severity. Mild injuries, usually from minor incidents like falls, require short-term observation and scanning before patients are released with follow-up instructions. Moderate injuries necessitate overnight hospitalization and possibly interventions if there is bleeding in the brain. Severe injuries involve comatose patients who often need to be flown to specialized centers for extensive neurocritical care.

Symptoms of brain injuries can vary but commonly include headaches, confusion, slurred speech, and often a lack of self-awareness that anything is wrong. These indicators often prompt family members to seek medical attention for the patient. More severe cases can progress to more concerning neurological symptoms such as weakness, numbness, vision troubles, and memory issues, typically leading to hospital admission and repeated scanning.

Both Kurtom and Towers highlight two particularly vulnerable groups: the elderly, who may underestimate minor head traumas, and athletes, who are prone to concussions with lingering effects like trouble sleeping and focusing.

Finally, the two discuss advancements in neurosurgery, emphasizing the shift from traditional methods to cutting-edge techniques like robotic surgery and navigational imaging tools that allow precise interventions, significantly reducing hospital stays and improving recovery outcomes.

This video is approximately ten minutes in length. For more information about Neurosurgery at UM Shore Health please go here.

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, Spy Chats

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Copyright © 2025

Affiliated News

  • The Chestertown Spy
  • The Talbot Spy

Sections

  • Arts
  • Culture
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Mid-Shore Health
  • Culture and Local Life
  • Shore Recovery
  • Spy Senior Nation

Spy Community Media

  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising & Underwriting

Copyright © 2025 · Spy Community Media Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in