Yes, it is OUR town
That is exactly why OUR town board voted unanimously—4 to 0— to cancel the Washington Street promenade. OUR town board, not Mr. Prager.
My name is Harley Peet and I am the Executive Chef for Bluepoint Hospitality Group. I have called the Eastern Shore my home for the past eighteen years, and have known Mr. Prager nearly as long. I have been a team member at Bluepoint since the company’s founding. I write to introduce myself and to express my deep concern regarding the threats, accusations, and attacks levied against Bluepoint Hospitality Group and, most harshly, against our Principal Paul Prager.
Mr. Prager and his team are dedicated to the preservation and improvement of downtown Easton. The goals of the group have always been to complement and elevate what our small town already has to offer, and to assist in making Easton a destination. Since the inception of the group in 2014, Mr. Prager has never once invoked malicious actions towards any new or existing business in the town of Easton. Towards this end, since pandemic struck, Mr. Prager has amended many lease agreements for a number of his local tenants, and in some cases has not collected a dollar in rent. His goal primary is not one of personal gain. Instead, Mr. Prager and those at Bluepoint seek to improve the town and to create new jobs and opportunities. In order to achieve these goals, Mr. Prager continuously seeks out exceptional employees. Many of Mr. Prager’s highest-ranking employees are women, members of the LGBTQ community, and people of color, all of whom constitute a thriving and diverse portion of our town’s workforce .
Mr. Prager’s personal commitment to EVERY Bluepoint employee is unsurpassed. Mr. Prager has always treated me and the team members with whom I work with the utmost respect, care and professionalism. He has supported individual team members in a number of ways, assisting with medical bills, securing housing, and offering personal guidance. When COVID-19 mandated the temporary closure of indoor dining in Maryland, Mr. Prager made a companywide commitment to compensate each and every employee fully—regardless of rank or position— throughout the pandemic. To clarify, every single employee—regardless of how long the pandemic lasted—received full pay during this time.
During the time of uncertainty, Mr. P not only looked out for his employees, but also gave back to some of the heroic medical personnel fighting COVID from the front lines. An article in the Food and Beverage Magazine—which quotes Mr. Prager as stating “there is no intention of changing the most vital component of the group—its employees” — discusses how Bluepoint delivered fresh meals, loaves of bread and freshly baked desserts to local doctors, nurses and hospital workers working the Saturday night shift at the hospital. Mr. Prager also donating 2,000 masks to the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton.
I am not an active member of social media and I don’t follow posts or tweets. I have become so frustrated with the recent false claims that I feel I should voice my thoughts and share what I know as fact. The misconceptions and slander of Mr. Prager’s business, ethics and most importantly his family and staff are unquestionably inappropriate and simply not accurate. It’s easy to put a target on the local wealthy businessman and philanthropist. But be sure you know both sides of the story. Hopefully I have shed some light on that.
In conclusion, I would like to urge the local populous to please reach out to me personally with any questions or concerns. I can be found on campus any time – stop in and ask questions and learn a little about what we do, stand for. and believe in. Bluepoint Hospitality Group is always open and willing to help create and execute well-thought out, inclusive and economically stimulating ideas. As a well-capitalized, group we thrive to participate in hyper-local solutions to promote a healthy local economy.
As Executive Chef I am directly responsible for the businesses that are being repeatedly attacked in all the local noise, again if anyone has any issue with anything one of our team members or business is doing, please stop by and let’s figure it out together.
Harley Peet
Executive Chef, Bluepoint Hospitality Group
Easton
Jan Bohn says
Chef Peet, Thank you for given us the ‘other side of the story’. When all we see and hear are the rumors and insinuations it’s hard to know what to believe. When buildings are renamed and new establishments that seem more for visitors than locals come to town, it’s hard to divine the motives. I appreciate hearing about Mr. Prager’s support of his employees and help for the hospital employees. Let’s hope everyone will strive to get accurate information before putting opinions out.
Catherine Asche says
Will you have any businesses tailored to the locals? Something we can afford and not so upscale? We love our local atmosphere and feel we are losing the area to people that made their fortunes elsewhere and now choose to live here. If you want to move here, embrace our way of living.
Alan Boisvert says
Easton should be so lucky as to have Bluepoint Hospitality Group invest in a dying/stagnant downtown. Thank you Mr. Peet for the professional manner in which your handled this and for the “rest of the story”.
Kathleen Carroll says
Lately I feel bombarded by letters from employees of Bluepoint Hospitality Group praising Paul Prager. Maybe he is a good boss and maybe he has donated a lot to charity. But I feel this must be some sort of coordinated campaign. I wonder if some of these employees have felt pressured to write. I notice that these letters have been from high-level employees, not the dishwashers and other lower-paid employees.
Mr. Prager has bought up much of downtown and forced some shops I used to like to visit to close. Those building now sit empty. How is this contributing to a good atmosphere to attract visitors?
Mr. Prager is opening a number of restaurants, most of which my friends and I cannot afford to visit when downtown already had a number of places to eat at more reasonable prices.
In the 1980’s my family liked to come to Easton from the Western Shore to do our Black Friday shopping. We loved the small stores that were along Harrison and Washington Streets. Most of those stores are now gone I know many of them left, not because of Mr. Prager, but because of the arrival in town of Wal-Mart and some other big box stores.
What I don’t like about Mr. Prager owning so much of downtown is that he is trying to create a town along what he thinks it should be and not what local residents feel it should be.
Sylvia Carroll says
OUR Town
Well, what a bunch of long winded vitriol by Mr. Harris. I boast a lifetime of 63 years in Easton. I have seen the growth of big box stores with decline of Downtown Easton. Easton is a tourist destination and while Mr. Pregar’s establishments are a little pricey for me , tourist look for special, out of the ordinary food treats. The improvements made, have enhanced Easton’s beauty and uniqueness. Iv’e grown up with the reputation of the Eastern Shore’s snobbery – “If you ain’t local, go home”. Local stores sell bumper stickers with this sentiment. It’s 2020, learn to embrace change, not tamp it down. Sylvia Carroll