You know it’s spring because it isn’t consistently warm, cold weather still sneaks in and weather is a constant conversation starter. Simply, spring and unpredictability seem synonymous, once snow becomes a memory.
If I’ve set the scene, I must pay homage to a universally disliked date on the calendar. Yup. That’s April 15, dreaded tax day. It is now nine days away once this column appears.
I breathed a sigh of relief a few weeks ago when I completed my accountant’s tax organizer, a nifty document that accountants created to compel clients to prepare and unearth their plentiful tax forms. My comfort level lasted a week or so until I started worrying about the final verdict: will I owe Uncle Sam and Annapolis (shorthand for the Comptroller’s office) an unpleasant amount of money? Will I relinquish my meager savings on behalf of my citizenship in our wonderful country and great state?
As of this writing, I have no answers. I question whether no news is good news.
While thinking about a difficult subject, I have to pause to mourn the death of Helen Van Fleet. In my January 12 column, I marked her retirement from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) and praised her for her remarkable, unheralded achievements as an invaluable asset working behind the scenes.
Helen died quickly of renal cancer. Her family, friends and the St. Michaels community have lost a terrific person. Her obituary cited her as a ‘” go-to”’ volunteer “known and loved by many for her hardworking, no-nonsense but gregarious nature” exhibited in a slew of community activities.
Helen was a doer of the highest quality. She sought results, not credit.
A former member of the maritime museum’s board of governors wrote me, saying “Helen indeed was a great person. In 29 years at CBMM, she saw a lot of changes, weathered them all, and kept her enthusiasm for CBMM right up to the last day. I hope she knew how much we loved her.”
The unsung heroes of our world are not unseen, not unappreciated, not unloved Their accomplishments are crystal-clear if you look deeply enough.
Helen Van Fleet will be missed by CBMM and the St. Michaels community. She was a true giver.
One final observation as April draws people to a season filled with events.
As a different but still tasty way to celebrate a small animal that draws outsized attention on the Eastern Shore, Horn Point Lab (HPL) in Cambridge joined forces with the city’s RaR microbrewery on Poplar Street to produce and promote Oyster Stout, unveiled Saturday afternoon to a large and appreciative crowd of patrons. As a non-drinker, I could only marvel at the popularity of a new local beer. One person told me he liked the new beer but couldn’t taste the oyster.
For sake of clarity, HPL is not in the beer-making business.
Like more and more people, I have admired the revival of Cambridge’s downtown, particularly the emergence of several news restaurants. While this city on the Choptank River, long stained by the race riots in 1967, still has a way to go, it’s already come a long way. The stigma is eroding. Town officials and civil leaders are determined to give new life to a city once distinguished by Phillips Packing Company. This company was a bustling cannery for the greater part of the 20th century.
I will save for another column plans by the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy to rehabilitate one of the packing plants. It’s an undertaking with long-range benefits to Cambridge.
As I await warm weather and a dreaded tax verdict, I thank God for people like Helen Van Fleet –replaceable but surely not forgotten.
While I cannot vouch for Oyster Stout, I appreciate the iconic oyster and its many attributes. And, yes, the resurgence of Cambridge continues.
Spring—the stage is yours.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
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