Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community
As reported in yesterday’s Spy, Chestertown kicked off its regular town meeting Monday night with an hour-long discussion about racism as the town and Washington College addressed recent incidents of harassment of minority students.
In part two of this report, we share the comments and remarks from those in the audience who wished to speak that evening.
This video is approximately thirty-eight minutes in length.
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Call it fate, call it inevitable.
Why would someone, used to living in cities such as New York or Chicago, working in IT management for an international corporate law firm, leave it all behind, move to a little town and open up a Bed and Breakfast? Well, if you’re Eric Levinson, the owner of The Hummingbird Inn, it was kind of meant to be.
After all, everything appeared to be leading in that direction, from wanting to be a chef and taking classes at the New York Culinary Institute, to lots of traveling, meeting interesting people, and experiencing new cultures. It also helped that he was blessed with an intense love for entertaining and, more importantly, a partner who shared his dream. Then in 2013, it all changed. While on vacation, a drunk driver ran a light. His partner didn’t survive the accident. It was then that Levinson started to question whether he wanted or even could continue to pursue their vision.
This is where fate stepped in. Levinson noted that the sympathy cards he was receiving seemed to have a theme—hummingbirds. Which was odd, because he had no connection to the bird. “So, I was like, what’s the deal with the hummingbirds? I looked it up and it turns out there’s this lore which says that hummingbirds are thought to take on the spirit of people who move on. People who are very full of life and energy and positive. That really described who he was. And so, I just adopted the hummingbird as a remembrance.”
Eventually, Levinson returned to searching for the perfect location. His sister suggested Easton. “As a kid we used to go to the beach all the time, and we’d go through Easton. I’d never been back here. So, in my mind, Easton was, you know, motels, fast food, and 50.” Despite that, he agreed to look.
Of the homes, he had scheduled to see, the John S. McDaniel house was one Levinson wasn’t interested in. “But, I figured, if I’m going to fly out and spend all this time, I might as well walk two blocks and check this one out.” The stately Queen Anne Victorian with a striking wrap-around porch, and six en suite rooms turned out to be perfect. If there were any remaining doubts two signs assured him he was making the right choice. The first happened during the home inspection, when on the back chimney, he found a terracotta plaque of a hummingbird. After closing on the house, and the former owners had moved all of their furniture, Levinson found the second sign. “In the dining room, on the mantel, the only thing that was left there (and is still there) was a pewter candle snuffer. The snuffer has a hummingbird on it.” Was there any doubt that in 2017, the John S. McDaniel House, was renamed the Hummingbird Inn?
“What’s interesting,” says Levinson, “is the number of people that have come here who have similar hummingbird stories, and they say, ‘I knew when I saw the name that it wasn’t just somebody who enjoyed hummingbirds, but there was something else behind that. People come here because of the name.” As evidence, Levinson points to a wall by the registration desk. It’s named ‘the hummingbird wall.’ “It’s all custom and handmade or commissioned artwork that my guests have sent me. They tell me, ‘I saw this piece’ or ‘I had this done,’ or ‘I made this because it was such an amazing experience.’ and they send it to me.”
Making sure that his guests have an amazing experience is what drives Levinson. “I like meeting people and doing the cooking and the hospitality part, but the connections that I make, and I have so many repeat guests. They send me cards, we text, and we talk all the time. So, when they come back, it’s not like guests. It’s just like having old friends, come over. We hang out and go to dinners and do stuff.”
There are many good reasons that guests feel valued. One is that Levinson puts up a state or country flag denoting where each of them has come from. “When they leave and checkout, I’ll have them stand on the porch under their flag, and I take a picture, and it goes in this little video [digital photo frame]. I call this my family album.”
Other ways that Levinson takes care of his visitors is modeled from all that he learned from the extensive traveling he has done in his life. “So, everything that I’ve done here is really, I guess from my own selfish perspective. Is that something I would like, or how would that work? Because then, if it works for me, and I’m not guaranteeing it’s going to work for everybody, but it seems most people appreciate the same type of thing.” Most critical, he feels, is that each room has its own bathroom. “I’ve stayed in places where you share a bathroom, and I’ve stayed in places where you may have bathrooms that are not in your room. And both of those experiences were not positive for me.”
Something else he’s enjoyed in his travels is a good breakfast. “So, here you get a choice of two entrees and a choice of three sides.” And if you’ve got restrictions, i.e., gluten-free, vegan, etc., he has options for you as well. “My goal is always to try to make sure that somebody who’s got restrictions doesn’t feel like they’re getting less of a food experience.”
But there’s more. If it’s winter, there’s ‘Parlor Time,’ where guests can hang out by the fire and play games. If it’s warm, the festivities move outside where ‘Porch Time’ means a built-in sound system blasts out great music, cool drinks are served, and warm conversations are had, assuring that you’ve made new friends during your stay.
Before leaving this list of amenities, an important one needs to be mentioned. Dogs. Yes, dogs are allowed, thanks in part to Troubadour, aka, Tru, a 15-year-old Rat Terrier, full-time resident of the Inn, who will not only warmly greet you, but also keep you company in the parlor. As the notice by the front door says: “All guests must be approved by the dog.”
In case you’re wondering who you will meet if you book a stay, Levinson tells us that it will be people who come to Easton for special events, such as happenings at the Avalon, weddings, waterfowl festival, etc. Some no further away than Kent Island, Salisbury or Denton. Oh, and unlike other B&Bs, Hummingbird doesn’t have a multiple stay minimum (for most occasions).
By now, you may be trying to figure out how you can justify staying at the Inn, even though you’re a townie. Maybe consider the annual Murder Mystery Weekend? But the good news is that you don’t have to be a guest to take part in all the fun. Think you’d enjoy the breakfast? Give him 24 hours advance reservation, and if he has room, you’re invited. How about the summer monthly all you can eat crab feast? Or you can join the celebration at the New Year’s Eve or Halloween parties. Looking for a place with a great outdoors for a wedding, reunion, or party? You might have found it. “It’s much more fun than just checking people in and out and making breakfast,” says Levinson. “I mean, I love that, but I like that this is a great space and a great house, and I’m going to make the most out of it.”
Call it kismet.
For more information on Hummingbird Inn and upcoming events, check out their website or follow them on Facebook.
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Phillips Wharf Environmental Center on Tilghman Island, Md. is offering its second course on growing oysters from your own dock on Sun., March 22 from 10 to 3 p.m. Oyster farmer Lawrence Rudner of St. Michaels, Md. will lead the workshop, which includes a shuck-your-own lunch of a dozen oysters. Participation limited, with advance registration required.
“We’re offering this workshop again, after our March 21 session filled quickly,” said PWEC Executive Director Kelley Cox. “This workshop will help you learn to grow oysters for your own use, off your dock, and with minimal effort, all while helping to clean the Chesapeake Bay. Plus, Maryland is offering a tax credit of up to $500 per person for the purchase of new floating oyster cages. This course will help folks use that credit, while teaching the practical aspects of oyster gardening.”
The oyster gardening workshop will cover information on oyster history, biology, and regulations; gardening and equipment options and sources; seed types; processing and harvesting techniques; ways to safely shuck an oyster; and more.
Lawrence Rudner has been growing oysters dockside for more than 10 years, and has recently applied for two aquaculture leases to raise and commercially sell oysters under the Oyster Girl Oysters brand.
All participants must pre-register, with the cost of the workshop at $99, which includes lunch. To reserve, please send a check made out to ‘PWEC,’ along with your phone number, email address, and postal address to: PWEC Oyster Gardening Class, 6129 Tilghman Island Rd, Tilghman, MD 21671.
Phillips Wharf Environmental Center’s mission is to encourage, educate, and engage Chesapeake Bay stewards of all ages through interactive experiences highlighting the Bay’s ecosystem and its inhabitants. For more information, visit phillipswharf.org.
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At 4-foot-10, Harriet Tubman was a giant in spirit, courage, and heroism in the eyes of a little girl in Canada, where so many slaves Tubman rescued found north-of-the-border freedom.
Leslie McCurdy, a native of Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit, didn’t have many historic-figure role models—certainly not many who looked like her. Not until fifth-grade when she first read about Tubman, a runaway slave from Dorchester County who returned south repeatedly to rescue dozens—eventually hundreds—from bondage.
Comparisons to Moses are not clichés. Tubman was the real deal.
“It made such an impression on me—my school was mostly white—that I found reasons on every grade level to do something about Harriet Tubman: Draw a picture, give an oral report, write a term paper,” McCurdy recalls. Following college, she turned to acting after an injury derailed her first artistic ambition—dance. McCurdy wrote a one-woman play, “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman,” which she performs live at Chesapeake College’s Todd Performing Arts Center Saturday evening, Feb. 21.
Taller in physical stature, McCurdy has portrayed Tubman on stage for 23 years, including about four years ago on the Wye Mills campus. “I guess they liked me well enough to invite me back,” she says modestly.
With a little prodding, McCurdy admits she’s often been “overwhelmed by the way people find it such a powerful and inspirational example of one person’s spirit and heroism.”
McCurdy’s source material—she owns the title role, of course—wasn’t easy to come by. “My play is based on words that are said to be her own,” McCurdy says. As a child field slave, Tubman never had the opportunity to learn reading or writing, unlike fellow slave Frederick Douglass, who, transferred from Talbot County to Baltimore as a youngster, became an abolitionist author, orator, and spokesman for enslaved and freed African-Americans.
Life-sized statues of Tubman and Douglass were unveiled at the State House in Annapolis at the start of the 2020 General Assembly session this month.
The statues were news to McCurdy when interviewed by phone on the road before her Chesapeake College show this weekend. But she has explored other local sites from Tubman’s life as a slave as well as others in Underground Railroad “depots” in Canada. At first, Tubman and those she rescued just needed to make it north of the Mason-Dixon Line. But renewed enforcement of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act, rewarding the return of runaway slaves, lengthened the final Underground Railroad destination all the way to St. Catherine’s, Ontario, and other Canadian border towns.
“In some ways, Harriet was better known in Canada than in the States,” McCurdy says, citing Tubman’s image on the Canada $10 bill. Her picture was to replace President Andrew Jackson’s this year on the U.S. $20 bill. However, President Trump nixed that idea. Sooner or later, his unilateral decision likely will be overturned. But that’s another story.
In addition to “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman,” McCurdy also performs an abridged version for younger audiences—grades K-through-2.
Tubman isn’t the only black heroine McCurdy celebrates in live performance. She also does a one-woman show about another Maryland native, Billie Holiday, who she describes as a “race woman and artist.”
“People focus on her drug addiction,” says McCurdy. “But she was also a woman of conviction for just causes.” Or opposition to terribly unjust causes, such as lynching. Holiday ignored those who discouraged her from performing the song, “Strange Fruit,” which refers to black bodies hanging from trees that also produce apples, for instance, or, particularly in the South, peaches.
McCurdy personally met Rosa Parks, the Alabama woman who refused to surrender her seat on a municipal bus to a white passenger. Parks (no known relation to this writer) is among those McCurdy honors in her show, “Things My Fore-Sisters Said.” She once accompanied Parks to Underground Railroad sites in Canada. Now, other stops along the “railroad” are traced in Dorchester and Caroline counties, plus parts of Delaware.
McCurdy recalls visiting the country store in Bucktown, near Cambridge, where slave-girl Tubman was assaulted by a white man who cracked her skull with a hurled stone. The recent movie release “Harriet,” to which McCurdy takes some exception, depicts her injury as a source of clairvoyance. “That diminishes her intelligence and smarts,” McCurdy says, in eluding those who’d capture her and fellow refugees.
It may be easier to dismiss Billie Holiday’s anti-Jim Crow politics, owing to drug/alcohol abuse, or even Rosa Parks’ impertinence in the eyes of unrepentant segregationists. But Tubman, who lived to 90 or 91—slaves were robbed even of recorded birthdates—led Union soldiers to free slaves in Confederate states and, later, helped the aged and advocated women’s suffrage.
Tubman was and remained an unapproachable savior on the right side of history.
Take it from Leslie McCurdy: “Harriet’s been my hero since I was ten years old.”
Happy Black History Month. McCurdy does two shows a week each February. The dedicated month could hardly be better celebrated.
The Spirit of Harriet Tubman
Todd Performing Arts Center, Chesapeake College, Wye Mills Friday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. Tickets: $20, $10 for children 10 and younger 410-827-5867
Steve Parks is a retired journalist and theater critic now living in Easton.
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A few days ago, Community for Life-Talbot volunteer handyman Jack Donahue, and Stacey Woodworth, the organization’s service navigator, sat down for a brief discussion about a unique service it provides to help seniors living in place with home repair.
Downsizing and simplifying our homes as we age is certainly a trend gaining momentum across the country. In addition to needing help with transportation, seniors are also facing the daunting task of home repairs in order to live safely in their own homes. These issues can be overwhelming tasks and can even fall to the children of seniors or to their caregivers to complete. And, finding affordable, reliable and quality home repair services today can be a challenge.
Pictured left to right are Mert and Maggie Jarboe of Sherwood who recently engaged Maynard, a vetted contractor with Maryland Community for Life – Talbot
Maryland Community for Life – Talbot delivers key services in a cost-effective and supportive manner through a cadre of volunteers. Specifically, for a monthly fee, members receive basic home repair and maintenance by a volunteer handyman, a list of vetted contractors and contract review, transportation trips, as well as regular contact with a “Service Navigator” to help coordinate access to services and to assist with any needs that may arise.
“Just taking the worry away for some of the recurring nagging issues in their homes, can make all the difference in a senior’s anxiety about remaining independent and active,” stated Stacey Woodworth, Maryland Community for Life – Talbot’s Service Navigator.
The most popular home repair and maintenance requests that she receives as the Service Navigator are the installation of grab bars, changing light bulbs, assistance in moving boxes (like Christmas decorations), replacing batteries in smoke detectors and CO₂ monitors, and minor landscaping and gardening cleanup. When Maryland Community for Life℠ – Talbot volunteers can’t accomplish the tasks, licensed vetted contractors specializing in construction, electrical wiring, plumbing, and safety assessments are used.
Home Maintenance Assessments are offered to all new members of Maryland Community for Life℠ – Talbot. Members also receive project quote reviews for any construction-related projects for which they are seeking estimates. Items reviewed in the home assessment include looking for safety hazards, including placement of grab bars in bathrooms and at entrances to the home; stability of stair railings, security of throw rugs, function of doorknobs, and cabinet heights – all items which may contribute to a fall.
“Some of the members are surprised at the risks we uncover. Stacey presents the assessments to the members with suggestions for improvements the members can decide which items they want to address first. The tasks are then assigned to a volunteer or a contractor to complete,” stated Maynard one of the vetted contractors with Maryland Community for Life– Talbot. All contractors are MHIC licensed and we do background checks on their businesses.”
Maggie and Mert Jarboe of Sherwood, new members of Maryland Community for Life – Talbot, who have been using the membership’s transportation services, recently had Maynard take down a Christmas wreath on their garage and do a home assessment. Maggie commented, “This time of year it is easy to get the winter blues. I credit the upbeat attitude of the volunteers to keeping a more positive vibe in our household.”
Maryland Community for Life – Talbot, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization operating as a component fund of the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, is located at 10 S. Hanson Street, Ste 18, in Easton, Maryland. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The organization is currently looking for volunteers throughout the county. To become a member or volunteer, email [email protected] or call 410-443-0760. For further information, please go here.
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With record-breaking warmth, signs of Spring are everywhere from buds on shade trees to flowering quince and camellias. Since Talbot County’s average final frost date is the end of April, here are some ways to guard against the inevitable return of the extreme cold of February/March.
In my yard, I have two such areas that have varying climatic conditions: An exposed north-facing garden bed blasted by cold winter wind and an alcove nook with no wind and only morning sun. These two microclimates can vary by ten ambient degrees. Selecting the correct plants for both scenarios is essential.
While the soil is damp and not frozen, there are a couple of things you can do to help prepare for a successful garden. First, dig out those pesky weeds. There is no reason to wait since they will only get bigger and more difficult to remove. Second, prune, prune, prune. Yes, you can do some pruning at this time of year!
Here are some pruning do’s and don’ts:
Refer to the following plant lists for the monthly recommended pruning schedule:
Pruning shrubs
Pruning deciduous trees
Pruning evergreen trees
You can also watch the proper way to prune shrubs here.
Meredith Watters, Watterscape Designs, received her Masters in Landscape Architecture in 1985. In her consulting and design of residential landscapes, she maintains a strong focus on ecologically sensitive and creative outdoor solutions.
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For most natives of the Mid-Shore, the Trippe name has countless connections. From Trippe Creek in Talbot County, Trippe Bay off the Chesapeake Bay, or even Nanny Trippe’s art gallery in Easton, the Trippe name surrounds the region with historical prominence as the direct result of Lt. Col. Henry Trippe’s arrival in Dorchester County in the mid-17th Century.
But one of Henry Trippe’s numerous impacts took place almost three centuries after he died in Cambridge in 1698. That was when one of his descendants, Juan, created the world’s first international airways, Pan American Airlines in the 1930s.
This local connection to the Eastern Shore is one of the countless and mostly unknown facts uncovered by Dorchester County resident Jamie Baldwin in his new book entitled “Pan American World Airways: Images of A Great Airline.”
His his long-form Spy interview, Jamie touches on many of the highlights of Juan Trippe’s legacy with Pan Am. Trippe is widely regarded as the last of the greatest aviation pioneers that led the company to be the premier international airline in the world for much of the 20th Century.
This video is approximately ten minutes in length. Copies of “Pan American World Airways: Images of A Great Airline” can be purchased at the Trippe Gallery in Easton.
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A bipartisan bill sponsored by Senate Minority Whip Steve Hershey and Prince George’s Sen. Doug Peters, a Democrat, could make Maryland more competitive with surrounding states that have successfully used tax incentives to lure data center companies.
“This is a tax exemption bill that we feel is necessary to begin attracting multi-million dollar data center facilities to Maryland,” Hershey, R-Queen Anne’s, said before the Senate Budget and Tax Committee on Wednesday. “We are not asking to dig into the Maryland coffers to give anything away, we’re simply asking the committee to make a thoughtful economic decision.”
The bill would offer data centers exemptions to Maryland’s personal property and sales and use tax, provided they invest $5 million within three years of filing for the exemption — and hire at least five personnel earning 1.5 times the state’s minimum wage.
The investment requirement drops to $2 million in the Tier I counties of Allegany, Baltimore City Caroline, Dorchester, Garrett, Kent, Somerset, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester–because these counties have unemployment rates the exceed 150 percent of the state average.
“Other states have recognized the valuable economic impact these facilities bring to local economies and have changed their tax policies to incentivize these companies to come to their states,” Hershey said. “Maryland is not leading, we’re not even in the game.”
He said the demand for new data centers is increasing and that other states have seen economic rewards from providing tax incentives to data center firms. The bill would also allow a local jurisdiction to reduce the percentage of its own personal property tax to attract data centers.
Former U.S Congresswoman Barbara Comstock of Virginia also testified before the committee and spoke of her state’s tax revenue windfall from data centers.
She said in 2012 Virginia updated its incentives for data centers and tax revenue in Loudon County alone soared from $50 million in 2012 to $350 million in 2020.
She said there has not been a year where the taxpayers lost any money.
Hershey commended the efforts of the Kent County Economic Development Office for requesting the bill, which will have a statewide benefit.
Kent Economic Development Director Jamie Williams said the tax incentives would be the first step in attracting data centers.
“The need for data storage and processing increases daily,” she told the committee. “It’s not a matter of if these data centers will be built, it is a matter of where.”
Kent County Commissioner Bob Jacob said that new data centers would greatly benefit from the county’s recent $7 million investment in an open fiber-optic network. He said the 150-mile network was recently completed without state funds.
He told the committee that Loudon County, VA had increased its commercial tax base 15 percent while increasing funding for education.
“They did it with the attraction of data centers and it was possible in part from the sales and use tax exemption,” he said. “Maryland would like an opportunity to share in a small portion of that industry.”
Dee Anna Sobczak, CEO of Kent FIBER Optic Systems, said the need for data centers is growing 40 percent a year–and will continue at the current pace for the next decade.
She said data centers draw other tech companies that want to be near them.
“There are many areas in the state that are prime for data centers, but without the incentives, they will never come,” she said. She said it was hard for Maryland to be competitive with tax-free Delaware and Virginia, “the data center capital of the world.”
There are currently 35 other states offering tax incentives to attract data centers, she said.
Hershey’s co-sponsor, Sen. Doug Peters, said Prince George’s County is also well suited to host data centers.
“This bill is important because we need to be competitive like neighboring states in order to attract data center clients to Maryland,” he said in an email to the Spy. “Prince George’s County is perfectly positioned to house these data centers in its numerous industrial complexes.”
Del. Jay Jacobs, R-Kent, has a cross-filed bill in the House of Delegates that has also won bipartisan support. A hearing is scheduled for March 6.
“Our Legislators should act on this bill quickly to ensure companies can invest in Maryland communities on an equal footing with competing states,” said Chestertown Ward 2 Councilman Tom Herz, who campaigned on the benefits of data centers tapping into Kent’s fiber network. “Doing so will spur economic growth in both our rural counties and urban centers.”
There was no testimony in opposition to the bill.
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The first thing you’ll probably notice about the class is the laughter. There is a lot of it, and it’s coming from perfectly ordinary looking adults of various ages. Secondly, they appear to be playing a variety of games. Speak to them, and you’ll hear frequent mention of ‘Yes-And.’ You may even catch an exchange where each person taps the other on their back saying, ‘Got your back.’
Welcome to Improv 101.
Led by Dan Brown, owner of Reflex Improv, the two-hour six-week course held at the Waterfowl Building in Easton, is probably unlike anything you’ve experienced before. As most of the students we spoke to said: it’s kind of transformative.
Improvisation, for those unfamiliar with it, is typically a form of comedic theater that is unscripted and created spontaneously by the players involved. “I think most people come into an improv class being intimidated by it,” says Brown. “But really all you need is an open mind. That’s the biggest thing. The actual process of ‘Yes-And-ing’ makes it effortless in a way.”
There it was again: The ‘Yes-And’ mantra.
Brown explained that it’s one of the essential components in improvisational comedy where you agree with what’s been given to you by a teammate (‘Yes’), regardless of where you wanted it to go, and then add your piece to it (‘And’). After the agreement, the second part is letting your teammate know you support them (‘I’ve got your back’). It follows that when you make them look good, it makes you look good, and creates a successful scene.
This feels reassuring, but what if I’m not sure I’m funny?
“Honestly, the best students I’ve had are the ones that say ‘I’m not funny,'” says Brown. “And then it turns out, yes, you are. You just have to try it. The funny comes out on its own. The best way to describe it is if you just agree and respond, agree and respond, funny walks by you, and then you pounce on it without actively trying to be funny.”
Effortless comedy. Sounds intriguing.
It also sounds impossible. But Brown believes that everyone can learn improv skills. He would be an excellent judge of that conviction, having worked as a teacher for the past seven years. Improv classes in college led Brown to take workshops with Washington Improv, which led to teaching for them and eventually opening up his school.
Reflex holds classes at various locations in Northern Virginia, Annapolis, and now in Easton. “That’s my number one goal,” says Brown. “I want to take improv to places that don’t have easy access to it. My other goal is to create an inclusive environment where everybody feels welcome regardless of their background or their skills.” Or their age. Brown said his students have ranged from 18 through 86.
Some of the Easton group consist of people who first learned about improv through an introductory session Brown held at Shore Leadership. Others heard about it from friends. About half of the class did a six-session course last fall. The rest are newcomers. Although most described the class as being outside their comfort zone, all agreed that it was a lot of fun.
This does not surprise Brown. “The people who attend include those who have boring day jobs and want to try to do something fun at night. People who want to meet new people. People seeking out a community. People who just want to laugh for a couple of hours. Some of the best friends I’ve had, I’ve met through improv classes.”
We wanted to know and asked the students: Does the creativity of improv comedy translate to everyday life?
Nancy Andrew, former Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Choptank, currently working on her masters, is one of the inaugural members of the group. “My first classes with Dan were in Annapolis. I was thrilled that he was willing to come to the Shore to try and getting something going on this side of the Bay. For me, improv is a fun challenge. I have so much to learn. I’m motivated to keep working on the skills and love the side-splitting laughter along the way!”
Heather Hall is a beginner. “My job as a Life/Executive Coach, and Spiritual Director, is being a professional listener, and improv is all about listening. Taking these classes is helping me become a better listener.”
For Jeremy Hillyard, this is his second improv class. Hillyard, a Spanish teacher at Easton High School, uses what he’s learned and applies them to his classes. “So much about speaking a second language is communication and spontaneity in situations. By using strategies learned in improv class, I was able to provide another pathway for students to express themselves while also improving their ‘thinking in Spanish’ skills for both academic and conversational situations.”
An Employee Benefits Account Executive with Avon-Dixon Insurance Agency, Tania Chen, first heard about improv when a family member was taking a workshop as part of his Executive MBA curriculum. What she’s learned through the class is this: “There are no mistakes, and you don’t need to prepare anything in advance of each class. You simply need to be present and react to what you are seeing and hearing. Learning the basics has been a great tool in both my personal and professional development.”
“I have absolutely seen how the principles we are learning can be applied to other aspects of my life,” says Dan Van Skiver, a plumbing/HVAC wholesaler, “so it’s a win-win. I get to have fun making people laugh, and I get some new tools in my social toolbox,”.
Margaret Enloe, Executive Director of Waterfowl Chesapeake, utilizes the principles in her workplace. “I knew the concept of Yes-And, and have tried to use it at work, but have never seen it implemented in this way where you’re consciously supporting whatever the other person says. I learned that it’s OK to make mistakes, and that’s what’s fun about the class, you actually get to laugh about your mistakes.”
Marine biologist Howard Townsend also sees the benefit: “Improv is all about agreement. Moving into an “agreement space” and seeing what ideas develop. I want to move people to an agreement space for my work and open up our thinking and responsiveness. Improv exercises help me learn techniques to do this.”
“For most of my professional life, I was a rule writer and enforcer,” says Spiritual Director/ Retreat Leader and Writer, Linda Mastro. “Dan Brown helped me see that within the few and important rules of improv, there is lots of room for spontaneity and fun to happen. I am getting much more comfortable stepping into new situations without worrying about if I know enough and wondering how I can control the outcome.”
Besides the personal benefits, the main principles of improv can also apply to groups in a workplace environment, and Brown has workshops for organizations, as well. His philosophy? The best way to get people to work together is to get them to play together first. “We joke that it’s cheaper than therapy. When you’re laughing and you’re interacting with people, you can also act out things that you can’t do in real life, such as yell at an improv boss. When we get people that are serious all the time, in a room where they’re laughing for two hours instead, it changes the dynamic of things. People know each other better.”
It seems to all come down to a shift in focus.
Anne Marie Altvater, the owner of Campbells Lane Farm, sums up why she’s on her second round of improv classes: “What I like are the three principles of improv: 1. Say ‘Yes-And’ to everything. 2. Remember, ‘I got your back.’ 3. Make everyone else look good. If we all lived by these three things alone, think how much better the world would be!”
Curious? Try an intro session on March 17.
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Val Cavalheri is a recent transplant to the Eastern Shore, having lived in Northern Virginia for the past 20 years. She’s been a writer, editor and professional photographer for various publications, including the Washington Post.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
Editor note: The Spy is pleased to announce the launch of a new video interview series called Home Grown Entrepreneurs: Spy Profiles. Small business start-ups are a key driver for any local economy. Our series will focus on the entrepreneurs who start new businesses and begin a journey with an uncertain future. We will talk to a diverse group of entrepreneurs from different sectors.
We begin our journey focusing on the food sector. Our hope is these interviews will shed light on the journeys these entrepreneurs have taken and even inspire others to set off on their own. It’s never a straight line to business success but rather a series of zigs and zags as the entrepreneur navigates the challenges that inevitably present themselves. Our entrepreneurs will tell you about them as well.
It is only fitting that we begin our interview series talking to Tim Cureton, the founder of Rise Up. He appeared at our door with his nine-year-old son Koa in tow. He was sporting a blue baseball cap with lettering that said: “Rude Burger” (more about that later). He sat down to talk with us on camera in the Spy studios.
Cureton is from the eastern shore and graduated from Salisbury University. After school, he joined the Peace Corps serving on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean. It was here that he first began thinking about starting a coffee business. Cureton was a self-described “reluctant business man” but once back home was looking for a way to make a living. While running an outdoor educational summer camp, he visited the west coast and noticed lots of small drive-thru coffee trailers and thought, “why wouldn’t that work back east?” Thus began his business journey.
He eventually met a bank manager whose kids attended Camp Wright on Kent Island, where Cureton had worked and, after describing his business idea, loaned him $16,000. He used the loan to buy a small trailer but now had to find a place to park it. Cureton decided to tap into another Camp Wright connection. Glenn Higgins, a local businessman who owned property on St. Michaels Road, who also sent his kids to the camp. Who needed LinkedIn when you went to a camp that could produce such great business connections? Cureton wrote Higgins a letter asking if he could use his parking lot.
Higgins eventually agreed but warned Cureton that the county wouldn’t approve – and it didn’t at first. Cureton’s first zig came when he received a cease and desist letter from the county. Luckily, he got a temporary permit to open and over the next year worked to develop legislation for roadside vendors. It came down to a County Council 3-2 vote in Rise Up’s favor. Cureton’s zag worked.
Cureton says he will always remember Tuesday, March 15, 2005, the day he opened Rise Up for business and met his first customer. According to Cureton, “his name was Bob, and it was a big order. He ordered a large cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese. And off we went.”
On camera, Cureton discussed the companies’ outsized growth from 2005 to 2019. It has been 15 years since he sold that first cup of coffee to Bob at that little shack in the parking lot. Now, he has nine retail locations, a national wholesale business, and a new planned headquarters and much more on the horizon. Many of his early customers have shared with him their thoughts about those early days, which Cureton summed up as “wow, what nice people but too bad they are never going to make it.”
Cureton knew he had something special looking out at his customers. “Of course, we connected with our teachers, lawyers, and local representatives. But it was when I saw the heavy water-carriers of our society, the contractors, laborers, the crabbers, and they felt a connection to Rise Up too, that the word had gotten out that this was a safe place. And that’s really what we are all about.”
Well, Rise Up has made it. It has become a hip, regional specialty coffee brand with a youthful millennial vibe that wakes you up as much as the coffee. The company’s’ mantra is “grown by friends, roasted by friends, enjoyed by friends,” which is proudly displayed on signs and murals in their stores.
Cureton is now a seasoned businessman but still talks like a Peace Corps volunteer when describing the company, which is dedicated to roasting only sustainable coffees Certified Organic + Certified Fair Trade. According to the website, “Coffee has always been the crop of the poor. Through Fair Trade practices, we help to provide our farmers with a dignified existence. In simple terms, the extra money spent on the coffee can be invested back into the farm, family, and community.”
As for Easton, he says, “Easton will be our home for the rest of our time in business”. He adds, “the level of support that we have gotten in Easton is mind-blowing on a per moment basis.” The company has grown from 2 to 172 employees with nine locations. In 2005, Rise Up used 5-10 lbs of roasted coffee per week and now roasts 4000-6000 lbs per week to supply its growing retail and wholesale business.
He credits much of his success to his employees and especially his partner, Noah Kegley, who joined the company ten years ago. He also credits the Rise of Rise Up on his ability to listen and stay humble. Cureton said someone once told him that when your self-employed, you wake up unemployed every day and have to earn your paycheck. He said, “that’s the approach of Rise Up.”
Noah Kegle
Cureton is now dedicated to going beyond just coffee and modest food choices and envisions a full day of offerings to satisfy his customers. This concept includes a kitchen, café, and bar (called Bar 502). To that end, he will expand his Mad Egg food menu, introduce a new line of tea products as well as offering alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages were first introduced in their Rehoboth, DE store, which Tim describes as “a gigantic smash.”
In our video interview, hear Rise Up’s Tim Cureton discuss other big 2020 Rise Up news:
A New Rise Up tea product line called Water and Leaf
The dramatic growth of Rise Up’s wholesale business, which now includes distribution in Giants, Whole Food, and Mom’s Organic Market stores.
The early Spring launch of a new, hip, burger joint called Rude Burger, in partnership with his older brother Brett Cureton, featuring craft burgers and beer, among other healthy food and beverage options.
The creation of the Rude Food Company, an entirely new business.
The March groundbreaking for the Rise Up headquarters at 217 Dover will feature a café, kitchen, and the 502 bar concept.
Hear about his expansion plans, including a new store in Arnold, MD, and potentially more Rise Up locations across the Bay Bridge and around the Delaware beaches.
The video and this article were written and produced by Hugh Panero and his wife Mary Beth Durkin. Both are good friends of the Spy. Hugh is the founder and former CEO of XM Radio and no stranger to entrepreneurship and Mary Beth is a documentary filmmaker and award-winning journalist who focuses on food reporting for the PBS NewsHour.
This video is approximately fourteen minutes in length. Music provided by Mela from their album “Mela two”
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
