Bayside Gazette http://www.baysideoc.com Bayside OC For all your local news and events en http://www.baysideoc.com/images/logo.jpg Bayside Gazette http://www.baysideoc.com 7191337203814 BFC asks for level funding http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-news/News/BFC-asks-for-level-funding BERLIN — With the presentation of the proposed Berlin Fire Company budget by David Fitzgerald, President of the Berlin Fire Company, the Town of Berlin is prepared to adopt its $13.5 million fiscal 2013 budget after a public hearing May 29.
Fitzgerald told the Mayor and Council that, at their request, the Company was able to keep their expenses in line with fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2011 budget numbers for both the fire and EMS sides of the operation but he pointed out some of the difficulties with continuing to maintain low operating costs.
“We’d like to compliment Mr. [Michael] Day, he’s bringing a lot of things into Town,” he said. “But it is a stretch on services.”
Day is the Director of Community and Economic Development and generally considered one of those primarily responsible for the Town’s economic growth over the last few years.
Providing the services to support that growth is something about which the BFC prides itself as they work to rely as much as they can on volunteers, although the BFC retains a paid staff.
Balancing the need to provide the kinds of services necessary to a busy rural Town with the volunteerism that has kept the BFC as one of the more active volunteer companies in the region was difficult in the recent past as membership flagged a bit.
This year, however, Fitzgerald told the Mayor and Council that the company had succeeded in recruiting several new members. While new volunteers are obviously less expensive than hiring full-time responders and paying for their benefit and training, volunteers don’t come without some start-up costs.
Fitzgerald said it cost about $3,500 per new volunteer to make sure they are properly equipped.
It is a cost that could very well continue to rise as the technology and the requirements available and needed to run a fire company continue to increase.
 These expenses go beyond personnel equipment and training. One of the additional expenses the company expects in 2013 has to do with communications as they prepare to upgrade some of the radios that are becoming obsolete and the emergency pagers, which require upgrades because of regulations.
“The Federal Communications Commission has a change coming in 2013, so the [Worcester County Director of Emergency Management Teresa Owens] is recommending we change some of our models,” he said.
Fitzgerald told the Mayor and Council that the BFC would likely continue to experience increased calls as the various senior living complexes around town near completion and begin accepting residents. 
He also noted that the pressures of responding to calls at the Casino at Ocean Downs appear to increase annually.
The BFC should be able to receive additional funding from the Casino fund as their calls increase.
The proposed $13.5 million budget represents a one percent cut across Town staff-run departments and a slight reduction in property taxes.
]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7201337203858 Berlin goes higher tech http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-news/News/Berlin-goes-higher-tech BERLIN — Generally last-minute, un-budgeted expenditures don’t get very good popular reviews, but the Town Council’s decision to tap into a small portion this year’s funds to bring Wi-Fi to the Downtown will likely do little to raise public ire.
At the end of last year’s budget debate, Councilwoman Lisa Hall suggested adding funding for Downtown Wi-Fi as part of the fiscal 2013 budget, but the recommendation slipped through the cracks and remained all but forgotten about until this month.
As the Town moved to finalize the budget, Mayor Gee Williams recalled Hall’s suggestion and asked Town staff to look into the cost and logistics of getting the work done. 
“We forgot about it the whole time we went through the budget process,” said Williams.
Tim Lawrence, Town Electric Utility Director, who headed up a similar project in his last job running the electric utility in Manassas, Va. took charge of the inquiry and discovered that the cost was $2,596, well below the amount the Town had feared. 
Rather than try and squeeze and additional $2,500 into the fiscal 2013 budget, the Council voted unanimously to use money from the electric contingency fund to get
Town Administrator Tony carson told the Council that the administration has explored add broadband in the past but the estimates have ranged from $25,000-$50,000 plus annual maintenance.
The primary reason it will be so much less expensive creating a system, the company will amplify the Wi-Fi signal from Town Hall throughout the Downtown by placing transmitters atop three buildings.
“I actually worked with the guys when they installed it,” Lawrence said. “I was involved with it the whole time that it was being installed.”
Lawrence called his former employer last week to make sure that the system was running as expected.
“He said they very rarely have a problem with it,” Lawrence said.
Carson told the Mayor and Council that the final piece of the puzzle will be to find businesses willing to participate in the Wi-Fi program by allowing the town to plug the transmitters in at their establishments. 
One transmitter will be placed upon Town Hall but the others ill have to be on privately owned buildings, something Carson said he was certain the business community would accept.
“It’s about the same cost as having a light bulb on to plug [the system] in,” he said.
Lawrence said that once the final plan had been established he would work with Town Director of Community and Economic Development Michel Day to coordinate with willing property owners in discovering the best place to have the infrastructure. 
Lawrence said that the Wi-Fi would cover Main Street from West Street north to about Powellton Avenue and run a little more than a block deep.
]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7211337203921 O'Hare seeks board position http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-news/News/OHare-seeks-board-position OCEAN PINES — Sharyn O’Hare has been tempted to run for the OPA board of directors more than a few times since the association was founded. Generally she’s shied away for either business or personal reasons but as the board and the association generally enter what could be a very critical period, O’Hare decided that her time to attempt to serve had come and entered the race. Over the last several years, the recurring issue of what to do with the association’s ailing buildings and infrastructure has been at the forefront of the boards’ and the members’ concerns over the next three years the groundwork will likely be laid for the buildings’ second 40 years. It will mark a critical time in the association’s history and O’Hare believes she can be a useful part of it.
The primary difficulty, as she sees it, is to balance the vast amount of work that will need to be done with the members’ wishes to keep the assessments from getting out of control.
“I don’t think anybody wants to see an increase,” she said. 
That said, she does support the continuation of the five-year funding plan for one more year — as the board originally planned — although she’s reserving judgement about what to do should those build-in increases be diverted to pay off the IRS if the OPA ends up losing the current appeal. O’Hare has been a real estate agent in and around Ocean Pines for more than three decades and she said it has given her a particular perspective on the importance of the amenities, especially the facilities.
“People choose Ocean Pines over West Ocean City and Bishopville [for example] because of the amenities,” she said. “They are a critical part of what people like about living in Ocean Pines.”
To that end she believes the board should work to save them in a manner consistent with the responsibility to make things go a little less contentiously. Her historical experience, she feels, will be useful in this.
“I think I can bring something to the board that maybe other people haven’t,” she said. 
O’Hare has been a member of Ocean Pines since the first. Her oldest son was the first baby born in the subdivision and she has the kind of fondness and pride in the community borne of having watched it grow from around 100 full-time residents to its current state as a residential resort community.
From her perspective the Yacht Club ought to be replaced but she said that it unlikely a decision of which she will have much control. O’Hare said that the current board will probably get all of the decisions regarding the Yacht Club made before their tenure ends in August.
Whatever the decision is regarding the rebuilding or replacement of the Yacht Club — O’Hare endorses the latter — it will almost certainly inaugurate a new culture in Ocean Pines wherein the proper care will have to be taken of the various facility buildings and other infrastructure.
Better care is something O’Hare said she strongly believes in but she wants to make sure that this directive is balanced with sound financial decisions.
To that end she said she’s already begun doing her homework, meeting with various board members and getting up to speed on the details of the Yacht Club plan and the association finances generally.
“You don’t spend money you don’t have. Period,” she said, adding that she believed it was an important part of keeping the assessments reasonable and retaining and attracting residents. “I want to continue living here for a long time.”
]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7231337204079 Ocean Pines joins the ‘Buy Local’ revolution http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-business/Business/Ocean-Pines-joins-the-Buy-Local-revolution

OCEAN PINES — Mariners’ Country Down carries with it a bit of local legend and a significant amount of local history. And this summer it will be one of the places from which the produce comes for the Ocean Pines Farmers Market, which opens next weekend in White Horse Park.
Christine McDowell, who will be the market manager, is also proprietor of The Good Farm, a local CSA and organic produce concern. As her reach in the community grew, she sought out more land on which to raise the vegetables and livestock that her regular customers have come to expect.
It was almost by chance that she crossed paths with the people who own Mariners’ Country Down and was allowed by them to begin using some of their land.
Mariners’ Country Down used to be a major craft village but now acts as the family homestead. The family members, though, wanted to put the fecund land to use and McDowell wanted land to use. It was a perfect fit.
With the help of Ric Gresia running the operations on the various properties they farm, McDowell was able to assist in setting up the Farmers Market in Ocean Pines, something she felt would significantly benefit the community.
Gresia, who lives in Ocean City became so fascinated by permaculture he took it up as a course of study and is now an avid participant.
“Ocean Pines residents have a real appreciation not only for organic foods but also for niche produce,” McDowell said. “As more producers come on board we hope to be able to give them they kind of access to these foods they deserve.”
Venders’ products will include fresh produce, cut flowers, vegetable plants, herbs, baked goods, Maryland blue crabs, cut flowers and a variety of organic items. OPA hopes to add specialty vendors whose merchandise includes products such as honey, jellies and jams, pet treats, meats, peaches, butter, cheese, ice cream, berries, milk and yogurt.
Participating farmers include Dale Hastings of Berlin, Kevin Riser of Berlin, and Bob Harrison who is popularly known as the Eggman from Whaleyville.
Of special interest will be the milk which, once it becomes available, will come from the last dairy farm in Worcester County. Although in the past Chesapeake Bay Farms has been known mostly for ice cream, this year they are expanding into the milk market and expect to also sell cheese produced in Berlin by the end of the summer.
McDowell said that among her top priorities as manager will be to keep the food as local as possible, so produce from farms will be especially preferred.
According to a statement by the OPA, they hope “the market will give the residents of Ocean Pines the opportunity to stock their fridge with fresh, high quality local food and farm products; without venturing across or onto Route 589 into summer time traffic.”
Additionally, the OPA will grow the market slowly, relying on a small number of reliable vendors. For this year the maximum number of full-season vendors is limited to a dozen, but they will reserve space for up to four “drop in vendors who might be interested in participating but unable, for one reason or another, to commit to a full season.”
McDowell said they are still accepting full season vendors, though, and are especially interested in specialty growers. For information about vending information call McDowell at 410-713-8803. For more information about the Ocean Pines Farmers Market call Teresa Travatello at 410-641-7717 ext. 3006

]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7181336603288 Atlantic Physical Therapy puts recovery first http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-business/Business/Atlantic-Physical-Therapy-puts-recovery-first

BERLIN — There are two essential parts to rehabilitation: having the initial therapy and strengthening the afflicted area to prevent relapse and improve overall health. The difficulty for many patients is that after insurance pays for the therapy, the insured is often left to their own devices for the continued, if necessary work.
The disconnect between therapies covered by insurance and the real healing work that ought to continue afterwards never made a lot of sense to Bobby Hammond, who owns Atlantic Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in the Pines Plaza. But as the owner of Atlantic Health and Fitness, the gym adjoining the therapy office, he was in a unique position to do something about it.
He began adding an additional month of access to the gym at no extra charge once patients finished their therapeutic course. As a result, not only have patients' physical therapy improvements been longer-lasting and more stable, but many have elected to stay on beyond the month to continue improving their health.
“I thought it was a brilliant idea to offer it to our patients,” Hammond said. “They still have the staff here if they have any questions.”
The patient experience is unique at Atlantic Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine because the therapists are able to look beyond the initial recovery and into their patients’ future needs. The professional staff on both sides of the wall — the therapy facility and the gym — are able to do the kinds of treatments with patients that just aren’t possible in a stand-alone therapy facility.
Therapist Charles Curran, PT, explained that he can develop a regimen based on improving a patient's long-term recovery and then have the advantage of being able to see it though as the patient returns for their workouts once their insurance-covered therapy runs out.
As an example he demonstrated a resistance band exercise common to people recovering from joint injuries or replacements. Curran then walked over to the gym side and demonstrated how the exercise could be repeated on the “Functional Trainer” a weight machine with an open plan.
Curran said the machine was designed so that virtually any regimen could be accommodated by it. 
“I know this machine can be set to do well over 100 different exercises,” he said. “I can figure out what’s best in relation to the injury.”
Curran and the rest of the staff work closely with area doctors so they know which doctors prefer which courses of treatments then tailor the follow-up exercise program.
“Certain injuries have certain protocols for what you have to follow,” he said.
Curran works closely with one of the company’s newest employees, Michael Hedlesky, MS, CSCS, USAW, WBB, a strength performance expert, to find the best course of transition for patients as they go from the therapy office to the gym.
As the patients get stronger they are encouraged to begin working out in the gym. Once their therapy is over, they are already comfortable with the regimen, the facility and the personnel. Since the free month in the gym isn’t covered by insurance there is no deductible either. It is just an ounce of prevention that Hammond feels better benefits the patients.
“You still have the staff here if you have questions” Hammond said of the patients in transition. “The insurance companies love me but I don’t do it for them, I do it for the patients.”
While the program is specific to the office, it is not the only thing that sets Atlantic Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine and the Atlantic Health and Fitness Center apart. 
Sally Hawkins, OTR/L,CLT is one of about 5,000 people in the world certified as a hand-specialist for physical therapy. Only about half of the people who attempt to attain the certification pass the test but those who do have a particular insight into helping people deal with the debilitating implications of arthritis or learning to adjust after a stroke.
“It’s about improving range of motion,” she said. “But it’s also about new tactics for energy conservation.”
As an example, she said that a person who has strength issues in their hands might consider sliding a pot along the counter rather than picking it up and taking it across the kitchen. The point of the therapy is for patients to learn to make their own accommodations in order that their recovery is more complete and their lives aren’t too drastically altered during their readjustment period.
Another of the tactics and therapies that sets Atlantic Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine apart is their endless lap pool. For the uninitiated, an endless lap pool is like a treadmill for swimmers. A fabricated current can be turned up or down to allow a person as much or little resistance as needed.
While the pool is an excellent way to do laps in an small space, the pool’s primary use is for physical therapy. Hammond said that it is as effective for people learning to restore their balance as well as for those in injury or surgery recovery.
“It’s much easier for patients to do the exercises in the pool,” Hammond said. 
Atlantic Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine has a strict policy that only one therapy session can take place in the pool at a time so to assure that each patient gets the maximum benefit and attention.
To find out more about Atlantic Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine’s free month plan or about Atlantic Health and Fitness general memberships visit http://www.atlanticptrehab.com/berlin.
 

]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7081336136398 From storage space to The Palette Pantry http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-business/Business/From-storage-space-to-The-Palette-Pantry

SNOW HILL — The success of The Palette, the restaurant owned and run by Phil Cropper over the last three years, has been primarily the result of commitment to local, quality food. Because it is centrally located, the Green Street restaurant has established a reputation with diners in every direction, drawing people from Salisbury as well as the greater Berlin area and Pocomoke.
When he opens The Palette Pantry this week as part of the monthly Snow Hill First Friday event, Cropper will deepen the town’s retail appeal by complementing without competing with the other area area shops.
Although the town has no shortage of restaurants each has its own niche, and Cropper expects to capitalize on his niche by providing what might be best called a take-out DIY experience.
The hard work that was so critical to the restaurant’s success had to do with Cropper's commitment to making as much as was reasonable from scratch using local sources. The result was distinctive spice blends, salad dressings and rubs that defined The Palette food. The Palette Pantry will be an extension of that, offering people who enjoy their meals at the restaurant to bring some aspects of it home for later use.
“It gives us an outlet to get our products out,” Cropper said.
Moreover, it gives him an opportunity to help promote Snow Hill as a culinary destination and, with any luck, help drive traffic and revitalization to the Downtown area.
The idea for a gourmet shop was born of the small number of active storefronts along Green Street. Cropper has had the shop as the restaurant’s office and pantry since it opened. Recently he decided that making The Palette pantry, The Palette Pantry was really just a question of organizing some of his stock more efficiently and adding other items to make the shop more appealing.
His first concern was not to compete with other gift shops and businesses in the area. Ann Coates, who owns Bishop Stock Art Gallery, already provides quality beer and wine as well as some other gourmet items and there are gift shops around town that have much of the gift market covered. From Cropper’s perspective there was no point in duplicating effort, especially given that the idea is to eventually broaden the notion of what is available in Snow Hill.
Tied to that are the tags he’s designed to attach to each of the items for sale — “Gifts from the Kitchen, Historic Snow Hill Maryland” — that are part of branding The Palette Pantry as much as the town.
Cropper has been approached increasingly over the last few weeks as he prepared to open by people wondering if the new place will have a deli or be an alternate food destination. Although he will have pre-packaged ice cream and cheeses from Chesapeake By Farms, there will be nothing representing an additional food store. He doesn’t want to be a grocer, just a purveyor of high-end items that compliment other food.
“We decided to focus more on the gourmet line,” Cropper said.
To that end, he carries some glassware and service sets and expects to deepen that, but the better part of the shop for now focusses on the stock of his own creation. He joked that even though he wasn’t open yet he’s been have trouble keeping his infused olive oil on the shelves. When people hear that the items used to prepare their meal are available for sale, they tended to not want to wait until this weekend’s opening.
As the fall approaches, Cropper said they will begin carrying jams made from local sourced fruits. Local sourcing will remain as important to The Palette Pantry as it has been to The Palette restaurant.
Cropper combated his desire to be able to offer jams as part of his opening stock with his desire to source the ingredients locally. In the end he decided it wasn’t worth it to have fruits shipped in for the project.
In their stead, local slow perishables will be available from the pantry. Items like potatoes, onions and tomatoes that have a long shelf life will be available based on restaurant demand. Cropper envisions a chalkboard telling customers which organic local produce is available each day.
As he was putting together the items he would sell in The Palette Pantry making sure people could buy the tea blend he uses for his iced tea was a no-brainer. As with the rest of The Palette’s menu items, it draws inquires regularly. It’s odd for the iced tea to stand out in a meal so when it does it is something people want to be able to reproduce at home.
For more information about The Palette Pantry including hours and contact information visit their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-palette-Pantry.
 

]]> Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 6151329961110 Rise of the machines for Decatur, Snow Hill High http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-schools/Schools/Rise-of-the-machines-for-Decatur-Snow-Hill-High

BERLIN — Although technically closed for the holiday Monday, the halls of Stephen Decatur High School were by no means empty. 
The robotics team, comprised of students from both SDHS and Snow Hill High School had a deadline to meet and, President’s Day or no, they were going to meet it.
The students are participating in the Rebound Rumble a robot building competition sponsored by First Robotics that pits teams from all across the continent against one another for what amounts to ore than $14 million in college scholarships.
The team is divided into sub-teams ranging the spectrum of what might be called the technical arts. In addition to the physics and mechanics required to put the robot together, there is a planning team and a business team. 
The less science-y team members handle logistics, fundraising and promotion, which is an important lesson — science is as much a business as an academic endeavor.
It takes funding and coordination and is as reliant on the people who do the facilitating as the people who do the calculations.
But at crunch time, with everything else all ready to go, the team members responsible for making the robot shoot baskets were working out the last few bugs. Once they were certain it was as together as it could be, the students will dissemble the robot and ship it off to the Baltimore Convention Center where the state competition will be held.
From there, should the team prevail, they will fly to St. Louis for the national competition. 
The team and competition is sponsored by, among other corporations, JC Penny who provided the $6,500 for the base model kit.
The way the competition works is that the students are assigned a task to complete. 
This year the challenge is to have a functioning basketball robot. Some of the robots were assigned to play defense but the SDHS team was given the task of building a robot that could shoot baskets.
The base model kit is essentially just a large remote-control chassis. The students are then responsible to invent and construct the rest of the moving parts.
The team adult leaders are Michele Kosin, physics teacher from SHHS, Dale Krantz, tech teacher from SDHS and Dad/Mentor Dave Quelland, whose son Skylar designed the machine on his computer.
The competition will be held the weekend of March 8 in Baltimore, after that, the team could very well be St. Louis-bound.
 

]]> Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 3331305683942 Slow and steady... http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-schools/Schools/Slow-and-steady...

BERLIN — As any racing enthusiast will tell you, pacing is as important as speed. There’s no point in being the fastest car in the race if you run out of gas before the finish. But this year’s youngest Wor-Wic Community College graduate, Tory Vaughan IV still has plenty in the tank as he prepares for the next few year’s worth of schooling and racing.

Vaughan’s educational path is as unusual as his prospective career path. Home schooled since he was 17, he budgeted his time between racing — first go carts, then S-10 super trucks — and studying. For him, the key was to prize quality over speed as a way of making sure he got as much from his education as he did out of his pickup.

His prudent planning allowed him plenty of time to use his book knowledge as well as his mechanical knowledge to push himself a little harder each year.

When it came time for Vaughan to transition into college, he welcomed the challenge of the coursework and the even greater responsibilities that came with it. The deadlines were now further apart than they had been during his previous education, which gave him more opportunity to slack off, if he chose to.

He, of course, chose not to. Although he’d taken a course or two at Wor-Wic before finishing high school, Vaughan understood that in order to really succeed and to pursue his next academic goal at Daytona State College, Fla., where he’ll study welding and high performance engine mechanics, he’d have to continue to push himself.

Although he had found his limits on the track — a wrecked Chevy pickup in his yard provides his new truck parts as much as it reinforces a cautionary tale about limits — in school, he never seemed to find his breaking point.

Last week he accepted his diploma in business management the day before he turned 20, making him the youngest graduate in the Wor-Wic Class of 2011. He spent his birthday working on his truck in anticipation of an upcoming race at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va.

“I just buckled down and did all the work,” he said. While the work was all his own, though, Vaughn said that his support group, including his parents, Tory and Julie, his younger sister, Annie, and his friends, Brad Adams and Eric Bucklew, was integral in making the work both bearable and worth it.

He said he chose the business management path at Wor-Wic because it provided him with a baseline knowledge that could be applied both to his immediate goals and to his longer term ones.

Vaughn already has a quasi-successful racing business. He has sponsors to please and manage as well as deals to make with prospective sponsors. He’ll also have to have a significant grounding in managing his financial and corporate affairs.

From his perspective, even if he has trouble making it in racing, between the business acumen he’s gotten from his Wor-Wic education and the further mechanical knowledge he’s certain to get at Daytona, he’s likely to have all the work he can handle in the short term, which is fine with him.

“It was just something I thought would be good for me even if I can’t get into racing,” he said.

But as Vaughn continues to master his skills behind the wheel, under the hood and in the classroom, it looks as if he’ll continue to push his limits until he’s satisfied.

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400 3241305303886 Worcester Tech nurses look to the future http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-schools/Schools/Worcester-Tech-nurses-look-to-the-future

NEWARK — The nursing program at Worcester Technical High School has been producing graduates with practical skills and knowledge long before moving into the state-of-the art facility it now occupies.

The genius of the nursing program is it allows students not only to intern at healthcare facilities all over the county as part of their training but it also is able to confer Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) status upon them as they head into their final year of school.

Ocean Pines resident Kelsey Cooper is among the students who will be eligible to work as CNAs before the end of her junior year. She’s currently interning at Berlin Nursing and Rehabilitation but after securing her certification will be able to work most anywhere in the area, earning money for college while she’s improving her skills, background and experience.

She was attracted to the program after her sister recommended it as a way to get even more from her Worcester County education as well as the opportunity to test drive a career before having to make a decision about it.

After her experience as a CAN, Cooper said she’s interested in continuing to college — she’ll apply to Salisbury University and Howard University next year — to pursue a degree in nursing and to become a chemotherapy nurse.

“I like the idea of helping people who have cancer,” she said.

Similarly, Pocomoke resident Jessica Benoit followed her sister into the program and already has a pretty good idea about what lines of education she’d like to follow and which aspects of nursing interest her most. Benoit hopes to earn her R.N. and eventually work in a hospital emergency room.

“I like the ER,” she said. “It’s always an adventure going to work.”

Jolisa Jackson, another of their fellow students, hopes the nursing program at Worcester Tech will be the springboard into medical school for her.

“I’d like to go past the CNA and become a surgeon,” she said.

Jackson hopes to go to Temple, Johns Hopkins, or Morgan next year and the money she earns working for doctor’s offices now plus the experience should help in that regard.

Putting kids in the position in which they’re most likely to succeed is a job the school takes seriously. Dr. Penny Makuchal, who teaches allied health occupations at the school, said the staff has come up with a new program to better prepare the students for careers in the medical arts.

Beginning next spring, Worcester students who might be interested in pursuing healthcare careers will have the opportunity to participate in the “Academy of Health Professions,” a sample track that will expose them to the three medical professions enterable directly from high school.

In addition to the CNA program, the school offers pharmacy technician and dental assistant programs. The academy will allow students to take several baseline medical classes that apply to all three tracks before selecting a particular course of study.

Makuchal said they were hoping to have at least 30 students show interest but have already had 60 say they would like to participate in the program.

“We expected a lot of kids but the response was even better,” she said. “The program gives them the opportunity to choose between tracks before having to commit to any of the three programs.”

More importantly, it helps students become functionl members of the healthcare community long before they’re livelihood depends upon it. The result already tends to be more interested, enthusiastic employees.

Anyone who is interested in finding out more about the Academy of Health Professions should call 410-641-5050 and ask for Dr. Penny Makuchal.

]]> Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400 7121336137030 Prep dominant in LAX match with Polytech http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-sports/Sports/Prep-dominant-in-LAX-match-with-Polytech

Worcester Preparatory School’s Varsity Girls’ Lacrosse team defeated the Polytech Panthers Monday 20-4. This victory was the eleventh of the season for the talented Lady Mallards.
Polytech gained the upper hand to start, with a rapid shot on goal blocked by freshman goalie Carolyn Dorey. Worcester Prep’s Alex Bruder carried the ball back to the offensive side, where her teammate and fellow junior Ragen Doyle scored the first goal of the game.  
The Lady Panthers responded in kind almost immediately, and the score soon reached a stalemated 2-2. However, after Worcester senior Katelin Talbert stole the ball from her opponent, the Mallards broke free and earned their third point.
Polytech successfully brought the ball to Worcester’s goal a number of times, challenging Dorey, but the Lady Mallards were able to regain the ball after blocked shots and missed passes.
Worcester Prep earned three more points before the Panthers were able to score again, and rapidly afterward sophomore Meg Lingo and junior Meredith Soule brought the count to 8-3. 
Again, the Mallards began to score in quick succession, working together to run and pass the ball up the field. Polytech’s goalie successfully blocked a number of attempts, but this didn’t prevent four more points, by Soule and sophomores Sophie Brennan and Lilly DiNardo, to be added to Worcester’s tally. 
Finally, in the last ten seconds of the first half, Polytech players stole the ball and scored their final goal.
The second half began with an intense struggle for the ball, in which Polytech emerged victorious. The Panthers scored illegitimately, after a foul had been called, and their next shot was blocked by Worcester’s second goalie, Sophomore Maddie Pilchard. 
Before 90 seconds had passed, Bruder scored Worcester’s 13th goal. 
A short back-and-forth followed, as both teams attempted unsuccessfully for a point, but Senior Mary Clare Regan broke the face off with a goal of her own. Several more followed, effectively energizing the Mallards and their fans. 
Polytech players were able to return the ball to the offensive side of the field, but the gap in points only grew wider. The last goal of the match was made by Soule within the final minute, bringing the score to an impressive 21-4.
Both teams have sustained an impressive record this season, with only one loss each. Worcester Coach Page Rogers called last week’s 12-13 defeat against Cape a “blessing in disguise,” hoping that her players would learn valuable strategy to employ during the “biggest game of our season” against Sts. Peter and Paul this week. 
Whatever happens, Worcester’s Lady Mallards are proud of the “great season” they have enjoyed during the past spring months. With the ESIAC championship fast approaching, the hardworking girls are moving forward with fresh determination and lofty goals.
 

]]> Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 6741333580767 Shorebirds are not just playing a game out there http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-sports/Sports/Shorebirds-are-not-just-playing-a-game-out-there
SALISBURY — Les Moore settled into his seat, the last in the first row along the first base line at Arthur W. Purdue Stadium, munching peanuts, watching the Shorbirds exhibition game against the Salisbury University Seagulls, and giving minor league guff to the players who passed him on the way back to the locker room. He’s a season ticket holder so he knows many of the returning players by face and name and they know him by face at least.
Some will even check the situation with him, if they’ve been in the locker room for some reason during the action.
This week outfielder Michael Planeta made several game time trips to the locker room. He’d been given the day off so he popped back into the locker room from time to time, once to grab a warmup jacket. Upon emerging from the tunnel he saw the Seagulls had gone up 1-0.
“What happened?” he asked Moore.
“Single. Up the middle.” Moore answered without taking his eyes from the batter.
This kind of interaction is pretty much exclusive to Single A baseball. In face almost everything that goes on at the Shorebirds game, with the exception of the actual playing of it, is exclusive to minor league baseball.
Although wins and losses are important to the team and to the fans winning is not what this league is about. It is about learning to be professional baseball players, fine tuning not as much one’s skills as a player as the almost preternatural awareness it takes to be a functional major leaguer.
The skills will improve or they won’t. Kids will suffer injuries or just wash out for a hundred different reasons. But if their talent gives them any chance at all of making the big leagues getting their without a professionals understanding of how the game and the organization of it work is very close to impossible.
The man on the Shorebirds most responsible for the nuts and bolts teaching of professional baseball to mainly college-aged kids is Delmarva Shorebirds’ manager Ryan Minor.
Minor has lived on the peninsula for nearly 20 years at this point. Although he was not the first Shorebird to make the Big Leagues, he was the first Orioles 3rd baseman who wasn’t Cal Ripken this century and among the first to fully embrace the Eastern Shore as his new home.
He dug in here, had his career in the majors and finally returned when the opportunity to manage the Shorebirds presented itself. During this week’s “Media Day” Minor spoke about the top draft picks, including infielders Nicky Delmonico and Jason Esposito, with whom the organization had entrusted him. 
He also talked about, especially in the beginning of the season, keeping the pitch count low for pitcher Parker Bridwell, and their presumptive phenom and the Orioles first draft pick this season Dylan Bundy.
But at the end of the day, Minor isn’t judged by his bosses, or the fans really, on the team ability to win games. He’s judges on his ability to help turn the players on the Delmarva Shorebirds into players for the Baltimore Orioles. This is Minor’s fifth year as manager and he has apparently hit his stride in that department.
The Shorebirds’ fan base is split pretty evenly between three groups, kids and families who want a day at the ballpark, purists who enjoy the pleasure of the game, and people who are out to see the stars of the future up close and personal. It is the rare fan who has fixated on some kind of rivalry between the Shorebirds and the Lakewood Blue Claws. No one hates the Savannah Sand Gnats with the passion they hate the Yankees. Most people go to the games to be entertained and to feel the kind of detached leisure that is almost exclusive to sitting in the stands and watching the game.
Last season, both because of logistical issues with the Orioles system and because of the amount of talent, Minor had to deal with one of the most malleable lineups he’s had to since taking the reins. Players were constantly getting called up to Frederick, Bowie or Norfolk — the hi-A, AA and AAA teams in the system respectively — and although he attributes it to a million different reasons that have nothing to do with him, it is a tough sell to see the teams continued production as merely a function of chance.
“Wins are great,” Minor said, “But we’ve got to treat it is if they’re gonna help us in the Big Leagues.”
His attitude toward his role in the Orioles organization gives insight into how seriously he sees himself as a team player. His capacity has changed but his commitment to the team’s success — and here the team is the Orioles — remains as intact as it was when he worked in Baltimore.
Moreover, as a former player he has an acute sense of the things that it is critical to know about the Major League aspect of the game that must be taught. He understands the subtext of the everyday language in the clubhouse and teaches that language as much as he does critique styles of play and positions.
In speaking about the Shorebirds’ chances of winning games, he talked about having more productive at-bats.
“There’s nothing worse for a pitcher than having men on base,” he said.
But the subtler message is that, as coaches have been saying to players for time immemorial, “You’ve got to get the bat off your shoulders.”
Players, especially in the first two or so years of professional ball, are too often too eager to impress. A significant part of Minor’s job is helping to check that. It’s as if they need to be, not retaught, but reminded of the fundamentals that got them their opportunity. They need to get used to putting the pat on the ball all over again, for instance, before they can return to things like situational hitting and placement.
This is why it’s important to have pros teaching potential pros. Batting coach Einar Diaz spent nearly a decade in the Major Leagues and finished as a lifetime .254 hitter. Pitching coach Troy Mattes, spent only a year in the Majors but had a solid career in the Expos farm system and has been a critical part of bring pitchers up through the ranks.
This is the sub-game that the purists and all around fans come to see. While it is always a nice boost when your team wins, for a number of the attendees getting a glimpse of how the players are developing overtime is the real treat at Arthur W. Purdue Stadium.
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 5211318590011 Decatur's Homecoming Blowout http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-sports/Sports/Decaturs-Homecoming-Blowout

Last Friday's Homecoming football game at Stephen Decatur High School resulted in an exciting victory for the Seahawks. The team earned an impressive win, besting the Easton Warriors 41-8.

Stephen Decatur gained the upper hand almost immediately. Following a pass to Decatur junior Tim VanVonno resulting in a first down, senior D.J. Kee, a skilled athlete who has thrice won Bank of Ocean City's Player of the Week, scored on a 25 yard play. Sophomore Jared King nailed the point after making it an early 7-0.

Decatur was unable to score again in the first quarter, but skillfully kept their opponents from scoring. Even though the Warriors intercepted a Seahawk pass near the beginning of the second quarter they were unable able to score.

Kee once again demonstrated his gift for football by scoring a remarkable 75 yard touchdown. The point after was completed by King, and the tally jumped to 14-0.

Before the first half ended, Kee was again able to gain a 25 yard touchdown, bringing the score to 21-0. 

The second half began with another intercepted pass by the Warriors. However, they lost the ball to a fumble and Stephen Decatur rapidly earned a series of first downs with completed passes. After reaching the 10 yard line, senior Jake Rites carried the ball to another Seahawk touchdown. Decatur was now in the lead 28-0.

Later, senior Teron Tyre, who was crowned Homecoming King earlier that evening, sprinted 30 yards with the football to transport his team tantalizingly close to the end zone. Tyre soon scored a touchdown for his team, and the score became 35-0 by the end of the third quarter.

Decatur junior James Mapp started the fourth quarter with several first down runs. The Seahawks' last touchdown was scored, but King missed the extra point and the score remained 41-0.

The Warriors immediately followed with their first and only touchdown followed by a successful two-point conversion bringing the score to 41-8.

Both teams began the match with a record of 3-2, and either could have walked away victorious. However, the Seahawks' persistence and determination allowed them to gain an advantage early in the game and hold it throughout. Stephen Decatur students were certainly enthusiastic to see their football team win such an important game. 

]]> Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400 7041336135131 AGH course helps in fight against chronic pain http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-health/Health/AGH-course-helps-in-fight-against-chronic-pain

BERLIN — The most important change in medical culture in the past decade is likely the notion of patient participation and empowerment. Although this is something that has been encouraged by doctors for much longer, people are beginning to accept that there is often more to dealing with a medical condition, especially a chronic one, than waiting for a doctor to pronounce them cured.
As part of this emerging culture researchers at Stanford University developed a program called “Living Well” aimed at helping those suffering from chronic conditions to better participate not only in their own treatment, but also to take better control of other aspects of their lives that may have been affected by the condition.
Laura Small, who runs the “Living Well” program sponsored by Atlantic General Hospital, can’t say enough about the program’s influence in helping people find a new way to focus their energy.  “Living Well” is all about finding one’s own limits and learning to incorporate them into their lives rather than surrender to whatever limitations they might have.
Chronic conditions can include psychological as well as physical impediments. “Living Well” is, in the main, about goal-setting and accomplishment. It is about finding tactics for success and improvement not only in they way a person can move but also in the way they construct their lives.
“It helps you to be a better self-care manager,” Small said. “It’s amazing what this program does.”
Although the course is free, participants are able to purchase the “Living Well” workbook that helps them to develop action plans that will best enable them to figure out an action plan for daily living.
Participants range from people who feel as if they would like to better learn to deal with stress to those with physical impediments to walking. Although the plan is general, each of the solutions are specific to what a person feels they would like to do in relation to what they are capable of.
One of the centerpieces of the program is learning to break big goals up into smaller parts and accomplish those parts as part of a schedule. A goal that might seem overwhelming at first is just psychologically to deal with if it is broken into steps and stretched out over a longer period of time.
Small and the other facilitators take the class as much as they lead it. Everyone starts the six-week course together by discussing their goals and limitations and composing different tactics for accomplishing them.
The course is not only about goal setting and accomplishment, however. Goals are only a piece of the project aimed primarily at getting people to demonstrate to themselves what they are capable with by planning and recording their progress.
Small said that some people use exercise as  means to improve their condition while others attack their various problems with dietary changes or household reorganization.
While the course is geared toward any problem, one of the emerging diagnosis, fibromyalgia, is a difficulty with which a number of attendees have to deal. Small said it is common for people dealing with fibromyalgia to have real improvements as the result of taking the class.
“For some this is that ‘last chance’ thing that they haven’t tried,” she said.
Fibromyalgia might best be described as acute general malaise. Formerly undiagnosed and often discarded because the symptoms were too general to indicate an origin, in recent years it has been studied and classified. The prevailing medical opinion is that it is caused by the brain overreacting to pain messages sent from the nervous system. Symptoms include pervasive exhaustion, joint and muscle pain, and increased incidences of tension headaches.
While there is no cure, programs like “Living Well” are generally thought to be helpful treatments, especially the stress-reduction techniques. Fibromyalgia can often be triggered by a physical or psychological trauma, surgery or infection but sometimes its onset is totally without definable cause.
Because the range of maladies can be so significant, Small said the weekly course is run in a way that best accommodates the different troubles people may have.
“We have people with back problems who have laid down on the floor, or stood up during the session, people who’ve brought their own chairs,” she said. “We encourage that.”
Since so much of the class is about learning to plan for and make the kinds of adjustments that allow people to better participate in the things they would like to, Small is always clear that people should make sure they are comfortable while participating. If that means bringing a special pillow or sitting on a mat, it is fine with her. The point is to be comfortable enough to learn the tactics for being even more comfortable in relation to one’s affliction.
While the dominant number of participants attend to learn better or at least alternate pain management techniques, Small said that among the most underrepresented demographics are people who suffer from stress or anxiety.
One of the recurring topics in the self-care management program is to remember to take the time to relax. The relaxation techniques, which include but are not limited to guided imagery, are useful for people whose stress level has an affect on their daily lives.
Moreover, there is an intersection of interests for people who are caregivers for their loved ones. In addition to learning to better incorporate stress-reduction techniques into their lives, an emphasis is placed on how to best facilitate communication between physicians and those being treated.
“Everyone, at the end of the six-weeks says the commitment is worth it,” Small said.
The program is two-and-a-half hours one day a week for six weeks. Although the first class began May 4, people may still register for the course until May 11.

]]> Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 6641333310879 The fight against Parkinson’s can be a group effort http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-health/Health/The-fight-against-Parkinsons-can-be-a-group-effort

OCEAN PINES — The phrase “mind over matter” usually suggests making a choice not to be bothered by an event. For people suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, it has a literal meaning — keeping your mind in the right shape to allow your body to manipulate objects in the outside world. 
Attitude, focus and practice are the keys to living with Parkinson’s Disease and attitude is, without question, the most important. Especially in Joan Calabro’s case.
Although she uses a walker or a cane to get around most of the time, Calabro is perfectly able and comfortable driving a car. Research into the various effects Parkinson's Disease has on people improves constantly but how and why the disease affects certain people certain ways is still a little gray. One of the discoveries, though, is that muscle memory can be a key factor.
Walking, for instance, is mostly reflexive for many people but driving a car is a skill that has to be learned and cultivated throughout an adult’s lifetime. To that end, it isn’t completely shocking that Calabro can drive with more agility than she can walk even though she’s been doing the latter longer.
Not long after she was diagnosed with the disease, she sought out support groups. There had been a group in Ocean Pines but it was flagging. Eventually, Calabro found out about and joined the Salisbury-based Parkinson’s support group, the Delmarva Parkinson’s Alliance. Participating with the group as well as working closely with her doctors has kept her surprisingly mobile nearly a decade after her initial diagnosis.
The support Calabro sought and has received from the Delmarva Parkinson’s Alliance is of the most critical kind. The kind that helps Parkinson’s sufferers maintain the correct attitude about their struggle and, by extension, helps them in their fight.
Founded by Art Cooley, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease about five years ago, the Delmarva Parkinson’s Alliance works to educate and support both caregivers and those who have the disease. The group has been growing steadily but, according to Cooley a recent study by Peninsula Regional Medical Center indicated that more than 7,000 people in their service area have Parkinson’s.
When Cooley was diagnosed the Salisbury resident discovered that his local support group no longer met. A little further research revealed that the need hadn’t subsided but that the organizational structure had come apart so he helped inaugurate a more regional reorganization that resulted in the DPA.
For the first few years the group was committed primarily to support and education, bringing in top experts from all over to speak to both those who had Parkinson’s Disease and to their families. Participants were generally as up to date on the research as many of the leading physicians and caregivers had special access to the latest techniques for finding the sweet spot between being supportive and overly protective.
More recently, the group has been able to add access to new therapies, which is something they wish to continue and why they have recently begun an additional push for funding.
“He is just an exceptional man,” said Calabro’s husband Dominick.
Dominick is an integral part of Calabro’s therapy. 
Although the Parkinson’s doesn’t keep her from driving, the drug regimen she is on can make her sleepy on long trips, so if she’s heading farther away that to the grocery store or to get her nails done, he’s in the driver’s seat.
He’s also responsible for making sure Calabro does her exercises regularly — the recumbent bike is her workout of choice during the cold weather — as well as keeping an eye on other aspects of her training, making sure she hits the marks or is at least working toward them for all of her activities. He even keeps an eye on the way she uses her walker.
Calabro’s walker is nearly as hi-tech as you’re likely to see. The most novel of the bells and whistles is an LED light that sets a red line down between the bars. It acts as a reminder against shuffling. Calabro is supposed to make sure that as she walks she steps over the line. This requires not only the kind of effort that helps maintain range of motion but also works to support the muscle memory aspect of walking. It makes a person concentrate on each step.
Meeting with others to discuss the challenges each face, Calabro said, helps make her feel less alone in her trials.
But while being able to meet with other people with the same condition and talk is an important part of the DPA, this is one support group where talking isn’t the major component. Since continuing to be mobile, and learning new ways to deal with any reduced mobility, many of the DPA events center around exercise.
Calabro said she’d recently attended an event wherein a Tai-Chi instructor worked with the group, demonstrating different moves and poses. Although both she and Dominick got a tremendous kick out of the event, the one that really struck home was the dance class.
The PDA hired an instructor who specialized in teaching dance to people with Parkinson’s Disease. The instructor, according to Calabro, worked with each of the attendees according to their ability. For example, those who were no longer able to walk had moves designed to take that fact into account.
Neither of the Calabro’s could heap enough praise on both the program and the attitude that it promoted. 
Dancing is often the symbol of joy and renewing their access to this life-affirming experience was an attitude boost for everyone involved. It was so successful, in fact, that the DPA hopes to begin offering a regular dance class free of charge.
To that end, they will be holding a fundraiser during April, Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month, with the aim of raising $10,000 to support the free classes as well as Parkinson’s Disease research.
Mental and physical successes are the key for helping people to fight the affects of Parkinson’s Disease and Calabro has gotten both in significant quantities by her participation in the DPA.
“I think they just set you up better,” she said of the physical and attitudinal boost she enjoys. “Instead of saying, ‘I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,’ you say, ‘I’ll try, I’ll try, I’ll try.’”
For more information about the Delmarva Parkinson’s Alliance or any of the regional groups contact Art Cooley at pdlowershore@gmail.com
 

]]> Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 4601314888530 Ocean Pines man promotes cancer awareness http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-health/Health/Ocean-Pines-man-promotes-cancer-awareness

OCEAN PINES — The only thing less consistent with traditional notions of manliness than a prostate exam is joining a men’s group to discuss feelings over a cancer diagnosis, especially for men of a certain generation.

Men are made, tradition goes, to work and to die and to not worry or complain about either. That these traits can be prized above another few decades on the planet is generally thought reasonable in cases where self-sacrifice improves the lives of others. There is no telling how it leached its way into self-sacrifice for its own sake. And if John Hannigan has anything to say about it, that kind of foolishness won’t survive him.

Hannigan is the founder of “Man to Man,” the local support group for men with prostate cancer. He created the organization 13 years ago, after he was diagnosed. He did it, as men do things, out of a sense of practicality rather than out of a sense of needing to share.

“My internist gave me a PSA (Prostate-specific antigen test) during my annuals and the numbers kept going up,” Hannigan said.

Eventually the test indicated that Hannigan was a strong candidate for prostate cancer, so he took the next step and went for the exam. Good thing, too, since it revealed that he had prostate cancer.

The facts go like this: an astounding number of men get prostate cancer and, as awareness and treatment options grow faster than the disease ever could, there is a shared story for every case. No matter the combination of factors, if it has happened to you, it has happened to someone else, and that person is as willing to give you whatever heads-up he can.

It’s not very different from running into someone who is from a place you are going. They will tell you, in no uncertain terms, which neighborhoods are sketchy, where the best restaurants and bars are, and other pieces of information they know you will need for your trip. In terms of recognizance, nothing is more valuable than practical information from someone who has been there.

The tragedy of prostate cancer is that, more than almost any other cancer, very early detection is almost the same thing as never having had it.

Hannigan compared prostate cancer to the much better promoted breast cancer. After years of campaigning, public events, and destroying unneeded taboos — imagine the scandal a “Save the Ta-Tas” bumper sticker would have caused even a decade ago — breast cancer has become a well-funded public cause.

Women eventually got over made-up stigmas and real medical discomfort and decided that living was more important than remaining stoic and dying unnecessarily. The model is already there, Hannigan figured, and the point is to follow it.

That is what he’s done since his own diagnosis, boosting awareness as best as one man with limited extra time and resources can. Hannigan said he doesn’t remember anything about the first meeting except his near-total unpreparedness for it.

In the intervening years, Hannigan has become an expert on awareness and on putting support groups together. It is one thing to be a wealth of information, but it is something more to be a wealth of information with access to a wealth of contacts.

One of the biggest improvements over the last few years has been the PSA test. After a simple blood extraction that doesn’t require a fast before having, a patient isn’t so much diagnosed as their risk is. 

A positive on the test doesn’t mean a patient has prostate cancer, only that the risk is heightened enough to warrant additional exploration into the possibility.

Once the diagnosis is made though, that’s when the real decisions begin. One of the most important aspects of becoming part of a support group is fellow members can help someone newly diagnosed take better charge of their treatment.

Another difficulty many men face is a reticence to question a doctor’s orders or treatment plan. In many cases, all they need is to get past concerns about propriety and understand that, especially with the range of possibilities before them, taking control of their care is the best way to take control of their lives.

Hannigan said many of the men have stories about how, having sought a second opinion on a particular treatment plan, they were able to overcome their discomfort about having one line of treatment by choosing another.

“All of the men have survived,” he said. “And all have had different treatments.”

In addition to the information camaraderie at the Man To Man support group, there is almost always a guest speaker. Sometimes the guest talks about prostate cancer, sometimes a different health issue.

Information is a power like any other, in that it must be found and cultivated through the strength and courage that it takes to wield it. And, seriously, there is nothing more manly than that.

]]> Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400 7141336602901 George’s Mixes starts in Berlin and goes regional http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-lifestyle/Lifestyle/Georges-Mixes-starts-in-Berlin-and-goes-regional

BERLIN — In 1996, while working at the Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, Greg David decided he wanted to make a distinctive Bloody Mary and began developing a formula that would set his apart. Although it was almost an immediate success, the concoction David was serving was only very good. He wanted it to be excellent.

By the time he’d satisfied his goal of a singular Bloody Mary, five years had gone by and people began suggesting he bottle it. Unfortunately, making the drinks was one thing, digging in his heels and doing the grunt work involved in design, trademarking and developing a business plan was a little daunting. Bottling his recipe was one of the last things he was interested in.

Instead he was content to get annual recognition for his efforts in various Bloody Mary contests. Within a month of the Globe’s opening, David had won the Best Spicy Bloody Mary award at Seacrets’ annual Bloody Mary event and the Globe was on the map as among the best places to have a Bloody Mary in the area.

In late 2010, David’s girlfriend Theda Bakis added herself to the list of people encouraging him to begin bottling and selling his mix. He explained why he wasn’t interested, adding that if she wanted to go through all of the effort it would take to set up a business, develop a marketing plan, get a label designed and the other million things that have to occur before the first drop could be bottled, she was welcome to.

She recruited her sister Alex and their friend Anastasia Hollis from California and within a month the paperwork was complete and the stage set for what would become “George’s Bloody Mary Mix” to go into production. George was the first name of both David’s and Hollis’ fathers, both deceased, so they felt the name was a proper way of honoring them.

All that was required was for David to provide a recipe and participate in selecting a manufacturer. The only difficulty was that he didn’t have an actual recipe. After making the drink essentially the same way for a decade, the mix was more muscle memory than measurement.

“It took me three months to figure out what I’ve been eyeballing all these years,” he said.

George’s Bloody Mary Mix is as much about texture as it is about flavor. Making it taste right is only the first step. The real trick, and one of the aspects David insists will be the key to its mass-production success, is that the drink holds up to melting ice.

For anyone who appreciates the act of enjoying a Bloody Mary, there is always a small amount of disappointment when the bottom has turned to essentially tomato water. By ensuring that the mix provides the drink a satisfying finish, it improves the entire experience.

While perfecting the mixture, David also had some input with the final label design, which features the Ocean City skyline superimposed on a Colonial-style map of the region including the Chesapeake Bay.

“I think of it as a Maryland-style Bloody Mary,” he said. “It has so much flavor.”

For the last six-or-so months, David, Theda, and Alex have been marketing the mix to local bars and restaurants while the bottles were under production. The plan has been to offer it in large plastic bottles for service industry customers and in wine-style bottles for at-home consumption.

In his experience as a bartender, David said that the mixes bars tend to purchase need doctoring. The strongest part of his sales pitch is that his is likely the only one that is perfect right out of the bottle.

“All you have to do is add celery,” he said. “There’s no need to have four bottles on the bar to improve it.”

Many bartenders, he said, add horseradish and other ingredients to give a Bloody Mary a bit of zing or to make it hold up better on ice. As the summer comes on, the more efficiently a bartender can produce a quality Bloody Mary, the more drinks per hour they can make. In the end, David said, it’s not only a better Bloody Mary but probably not much harder on the bottom line than mixes that require doctoring.

“I don’t even think it needs Old Bay [on the rim of the glass],” Alex said. She said that her boyfriend generally prefers Old Bay but stopped adding it once George’s Bloody Mary Mix was under production.

David said the Ocean Pines Yacht Club has committed to eventually serving his brand, but that the initial demand was so intense he has to wait for the next production run to be able to meet their expectations.

In the meanwhile, drinks made with George’s Bloody Mary Mix are available in the Globe and at selected places in Ocean City and West Ocean City. Bottles are available at Cheers in Berlin, the Green Room in West Ocean City, and other area locations.

For more information and to follow the progress of the region’s newest drink mix provider visit www.georgesmixes.com.

]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7151336603012 Johnny Cash tribute to play West Ocean City http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-lifestyle/Lifestyle/Johnny-Cash-tribute-to-play-West-Ocean-City WEST OCEAN CITY —  Tom Cavanagh and his band threw in the occasional Johnny Cash song as part of their own original shows for years and their renditions were popular with the crowds because they were spot-on. Eventually they began to discuss doing a tribute show and tour.
For his part, Cavanagh already had more than a little experience touring both with original acts as well as having participated in tribute shows. While he endorsed the notion, he let it be known how important it was that the show not be farcical or slap-dash. The group resolved to take the time and make the effort not only to get make sure they were authentic, but also to ensure that the show was worth people’s time.
“It’s a Broadway-level show,” Cavanagh said. “The stage is always changing.”
The first order of business, then, was to go and get some Carters. The group already had one woman singer and recruited two more to round out the team. The rest of the band, which was already familiar with the better part of Cash’s songbook, and Cavanagh got to work and before too long, Walking The Line was booked in small theaters all over the country.
Although Walking The Line pays tribute to The Man in Black’s entire career, the stage show is very much what Cash and the Carters were performing in the late 60s and early 70s when Cash was recording the live albums — Folsom Prison is the most famous — that have made in an American icon. 
While Cavanagh and the rest of the group have the sets pretty well choreographed, the feel is similar to the way the shows were run at that time, with the Carters coming on for some of their own songs while Cash cools it off stage and the more intimate acoustic stuff featuring Cash and his guitar alone.
“I’m familiar with the tribute perfromances,” Cavanagh said.
Cavanagh said that they tried to balance the authenticity of the show with the fact that the better part of the audience now comes to see and hear Johnny Cash. The Carters don’t get as much time as they might have on some of the nights of the tour.
The other liberty Cavanagh said they elected to take is that his Johnny Cash looks much more as he did in the early 60s. This is as much a function of Cavanagh’s age and the hairstyle he chooses to portray as it is the fact that people like to see the young, vital Cash walking the stage again.
]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7161336603055 2nd Friday Art Stroll features wine and music http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-lifestyle/Lifestyle/2nd-Friday-Art-Stroll-features-wine-and-music

BERLIN — Over the next two months Berlin will begin its transformation into the unofficial wine capitol of the Eastern Shore. It is fitting then that on the occasion of the 2nd Friday Art Stroll, the first of several shops offering upscale wines will have its major coming out party.
Robin Tomaselli and her sister Shelly Eppard who own the Baked Dessert Cafe and Gallery on Bay Street had always planned to sell wine and craft beer from their shop. Their original place on North Main Street was too small to accommodate the project, but once they moved to the larger place the shop now occupies, they began planning to do so.
The bakery has been developing a clientele interested in purchases beyond desserts. Over the last year-or-so they’ve created a niche selling artisan bread and local cheeses. Regular customers stop in for these items as part of a nice dinner. The centerpiece of a nice dinner is a good bottle of wine, so the transition made complete sense.
“This just lets us offer our customers something new,” Eppard said. “We’re trying to offer people things that are unique.”
Diversity has always been important, not only to the ladies at Baked but to many of the local merchants. The dominant thing has been to overlap without really competing against one another. It was a notion that was built into the Baked Dessert Cafe and Gallery plan when they began searching for just the right wines to offer.
They settled upon what are known as boutique wines from small production vintners. Their particular niche is that the wines they bring in are sustainable, biodynamic and organic.
“These are wines that are underrepresented in the area,” Tomaselli said. “We’re not trying to be a bar.”
In order to introduce the wines they’ve selected to customers Baked Dessert Cafe and Gallery will host a tasting during each 2nd Friday Art Stroll, complete with food pairings prepared by guest chefs. 
The idea is to help would-be consumers have a better understanding of the wines sold at the bakery because the vintages are uncommon.
“I don’t think any other places are carrying the wines we are carrying,” Tomaselli said. 
In addition to what she called “special occasion wine” there is a significant selection of wines that are quite reasonably priced.
Since they always participate and promote the fact, Baked Dessert Cafe and Gallery tends to have an excellent turnout for the 2nd Friday Art Stroll. Add to that the fact that this weekend will be the 2nd Annual May Day Play Day and they expect quite a turnout for their big opening.
Beyond the event at Baked Dessert Cafe and Gallery this 2nd Friday Art Stroll and May Day Play Day promises to be a huge event with openings and entertainment all up and down Main Street well into the evening.
For the first time, the Waystead Inn will participate in the event and are hosting music as well as having an art show by Ocean Pines resident Don Grafter. For an entire list of the 2nd Friday openings and events see Page 8.
The streets will be closed for the better part of the afternoon as Ocean 98.1 FM sponsors seven bands in the street: The Electric Co., Kaleb Brown, The Bryan Russo band, Saltwater String Band, Parental Guidance, The Hooplas, and Hot Sauce Sandwich.
Additionally there will be a dunking booth and other games and distractions for the entire family.  The event is 5-9 p.m. Friday.

]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 2331300389777 The Mayor isn't at the Heart of the Atlantic Hotel Windows Issue http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-editorial/Editorial/The-Mayor-isnt-at-the-Heart-of-the-Atlantic-Hotel-Windows-Issue

At this week’s Berlin Town Council meeting there was an amount of ire, some of it deserved, directed at Gee Williams for his decision to ignore calls to force the Atlantic Hotel ownership to tear out the windows installed without the permission of the historic district commission. The question isn’t whether Williams overstepped his bounds, he did. He also said as much during the meeting.

Contrary to what Councilwoman Lisa Hall and several other commenters said, the hotel windows, not the mayor are what is at issue; losing focus of this important point is a recipe for continued anger and disaffection.

The controversy settles simply on the fact that the historic commission felt that excusing the unapproved remolding was beyond their authority. To be clear, they didn’t really decide against the improvement so much as they blamed their decision on state rules.

Williams said from the beginning he hoped that this could foster a conversation about the application of historic district rules among the historic district commission, a supposition that was also an error in his calculation. Instead the conversation is about how to make Williams force the hotel to tear out the windows.

Rather than continue to emphasize a sense of outrage and strengthen the impasse, the historic commission should at least begin to investigate whether a slight alteration in policy might better serve the town than continuing to attempt to undo a transgression which, at this point, serves no one.

]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400 1951298567256 OPA Board Should Re-Think Assessment Increase http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-editorial/Editorial/OPA-board-should-Re-Think-Assessment-Increase Although the reason is suspect, it’s a good thing the OPA board of directors caved to the pressure of budget meeting attendees by deciding to re-think the $45 assessment increase. However, rather than focus too intently on reducing the operating costs the directors should consider cutting the contribution to reserves.

While the operational increase is something that may or may not be used if deemed necessary by the general manager, the fact that a group of people can so thoroughly unhinge the board as to make them double back on months worth of work is in itself the best argument against building the reserves beyond necessary maintenance items. 

The most reliable fact about the OPA board of directors over the years, that doesn’t change with personnel, is that they can be induced into anything with the right amount of pressure from a small group of property owners. 

Given the ease with which a vocal minority can historically influence decision making, the board should be excluded from raising excessive reserve amounts for big projects.  Should a facility require the kinds of repair that would require a referendum it should include a financing plan wherein the work is paid for over the long term.

This would not only solve the problem of making sure that the expense is distributed fairly but also ensure that needed work is done while big projects are paid for by those who will most benefit from them.

]]> Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500 1721297355180 New Home for Chamber Will Benefit Local Businesses http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-editorial/Editorial/New-Home-for-Chamber-Will-Benefit-Local-Businesses The Town of Berlin met late Wednesday to consider a proposal by the Chamber of Commerce to help obtain a permanent home for itself and the town’s Visitor Center.

The Chamber has an opportunity to relocate their offices to 14 S. Main Street with the assistance of a $125,000 Community Legacy Grant and $150,000 grant from the Humphrey’s Foundation by securing the purchase of the building through the town. The town faces very little risk, with the chamber paying off the balance of the purchase price at higher than current rates earned by town funds, and will reap untold rewards. 

In addition to securing more public parking at the south end of Main Street, the new Chamber offices will encourage visitor traffic and retail development along the south end of Main Street’s shopping district. 

The purchase will also help foster the arts, benefitting the Chamber and Artists as well as the town. Upon completion of the purchase the Chamber will turn a portion of the building into an artist’s cooperative and gallery. Artists will be able to rent studio space well below the cost of a full studio, while providing a revenue stream for the Chamber. The Artists will also receive the tax benefits of producing their work within the Arts and Entertainment District. 

This is a perfect example of the state and town along with the historic, business and arts communities coming together to the overall benefit of the town. 


]]> Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500 6761333906561 Phyllis Clara East http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-obituary/Obituary/Phyllis-Clara-East

BERLIN — Phyllis Clara East, long time Executive Secretary to the General Manager and Board of Directors of Ocean Pines, passed away at her home on Wednesday, April 4.  She was 72 years old. 

Born in Chateauguay, N.Y., East was the youngest of 12 children born to the late Felix Tavernier and Clara A. Santimore Tavernier. She met her husband, James W. East, in 1962 and they married the same year. In 1980 the couple and their four children moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 

East was a member of the Berlin/Ocean City Moose Lodge and the American Legion Post #123 Women’s Auxiliary.  She enjoyed reading, camping at Sandy Hill Campground and spending time with her family and friends. 

She is survived by her husband of 49 years, James W. East; her children, Theresa (Philip) Marlowe, Kathleen East, Denise (Chad) Schillaci, James “Jay” East, James (Nicole) Blanc and Dan Kerstetter; her grandchildren, Lou Davis, Alyssa Moshili, Bryant East, Rachel Haines, Michael John Shockley, Dylan Shockley, Chelsea Willey, Katherine Reyes, James Reyes, Tyler Blanc; and sister, Rhada Weidemer-Bayer. 

She is also survived by Kimberly Bishop and Chrissy Tilghman, daughters of her heart; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by brothers, Aurthur, Howard, Rupert, Robert, Edward, Daniel and Donald Tavernier and by sisters, Marion Recore, Irma Schneckenberger and Theresa Crawford.  

The family would like to thank the nurses, doctors and staff at Atlantic General Hospital for their exemplary care, concern and love.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in her name to Atlantic General Hospital, 9733 Healthway Dr., Berlin, MD 21811.

]]> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 6771333906673 Edwin Barringer Goodridge http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-obituary/Obituary/Edwin-Barringer-Goodridge

BERLIN — Edwin Barringer Goodridge, age 92, died Tuesday, April 3, at the Berlin Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.  Born in Batavia, N.Y., he was the son of the late Albert Monroe Goodridge and Leona V. Breese Goodridge.

He was preceded in death by his wife Helen Aberle Goodridge. He is survived by his daughters; Janet T. Owens and her husband Bill of Berlin, Cynthia J. Gulledge and her husband Ron of Rockingham, NC, Katherine “Kitty” E. Roma of Mendham, N.J., and sons; Edwin “Barry” Barringer Goodridge and his wife Nanette of Los Angeles, Calif. and Jeffery A. Goodridge of Ashville, N.C. There are 14 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and 4 nieces.

Goodridge was a WWII Army Veteran. He had worked for Prudential Mortgage and Loan Company for 40 years, retiring as Regional Vice President of Real Estate Operations in Washington, DC in 1979. He was a member of; Whatcoat United Methodist Church in Snow Hill, American Legion Post #67 in Snow Hill, VFW Post #15021, Snow Hill Lions Club where he had served as Secretary, and the Ocean City Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Cremation followed his death. Inurnment will be at Arlington National Cemetery.

A celebration of his life will be announced at a future date.  A donation in his memory may be made to: Coastal Hospice, P.O. Box 1733, Salisbury, MD 21802. Arrangements are in the care of the Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin.

]]> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 6781333981186 Courtland “Skip” Townsend http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-obituary/Obituary/Courtland-Skip-Townsend

OCEAN CITY — Courtland “Skip” Townsend, 72, of Ocean City, formerly of Montgomery County, died Saturday, April 7. He was a trial lawyer for 46 years, and practiced for 20 years in Worcester County. He was known for his courtroom skill and sense of humor. 

He attended Randolph Macon Military Academy, was in the Marine Corps Reserves for over 3 years until being medically discharged, got his law degree in 1966 at American University in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1970. He was a Panel member of the Attorney Grievance Commission from 1984 to 2012; won the Chair Award of the Year for the Criminal Law Section of the Montgomery County Bar Association; was Chair of the Maryland State Bar Ethics Committee for the last three years; has over 23 reported Appellate Opinions both State and Federal, and has been listed as a Preeminent Lawyer since 1993 with Martindale-Hubbell.  

He was a lecturer for the Montgomery County Police Academy on “Roles of Functions of the Defense Attorney”, and taught multi-state detective classes on homicide and sex crimes.  He was defense counsel for many famous criminal cases, and locally represented the Court Appointed Receiver of the Carousel Hotel through many years of litigation.

He is lovingly remembered by many friends and family, including his wife Kim; son, Dean and his wife, Jean; son, David, and his wife, Janet; son, Mitchell, and four grandchildren, Alexis, Mitchell, Nicole and Bradley. 

The family will hold a Celebration of Life Memorial Service in Skip’s honor in the near future, which will be announced. Arrangements are being handled by the Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin. 

]]> Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7241337204286 Summer chicken challenge isn’t Reel hard http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-cuisine/Cuisine/Summer-chicken-challenge-isnt-Reel-hard

 The school year is coming to an end for seniors. Others must stick it out until the buses park for the last time, preparing for their own two month hiatus.
The trees are in full force, the flowers are blooming and there is an excitement in the air as people prepare for their dream vacation downy ocean, hon.
The surfers’ wetsuits are getting thinner and shorter as the ocean temperature is warmer than usual and more bikes are present on the Boards and in the Pines.
Yes, summer in Delmarva; it’s almost here. 
If you are like me you are getting ready to jump into yet another summer job, a reality for many educators. Being in the kitchen especially benefits me as it keeps me sharp for the next school year.
I will be running the kitchen at The Reel Inn on 14th Street and the Bay in Ocean City starting this Saturday.
As with many restaurants in the area, we won’t go into full swing until June and after that I will be able to come up for air sometime in September.
In the meantime, though, The Reel will host the White Marlin Open as it always does, an event known for its ‘busting at the seams’ crowds.
I am excited for the season and a few of my new graduates will be working with me.  We are destined for a crazy summer of crab cakes, hot dogs, cheese steak subs and sundry provisions.
You will have to come into see for yourself what I have in store (and please wait a few weeks so we can get up and running). 
I’m thinking fresh pasta, house-smoked bacon, stuffed chicken breast (pictured), Yankee Pot Roast, Cuban Pork and BBQ Brisket– those of you who had had my BBQ know that I love the stuff.
I am looking to play with the vegetables and starches to add some nice variety for the community owners and we are excited about the next three months.
Check us out at The Reel and before you do, make this stuffed chicken breast so that we can compare notes.  
I always love a food challenge and look forward to this new one on my horizon.  Before I know it, summer will be coming to an end and I’ll be writing about that.
Stuffed Chicken Breast
Serves 6
6 ea. Medium chicken breasts
3 c. Spinach leaves
½ c. Ricotta cheese
¼ c. Heavy cream
1 ea. Egg white
Salt & Pepper to taste
Clean chicken breast of all fat and sinew 
If you look at the breast from the top, it will come to a point at one end.  Now go to the other end
Working on the fat end of the breast, use a boning knife to cut a pocket in the breast the length of your protein
Combine the spinach, ricotta, egg whites, cream and seasonings in a bowl ensuring that everything is well combined
Place in a pastry bag and then pipe the stuffing the length of the breast as evenly as possible
Sear them off to get some color and then place them in the refrigerator until service time
If cooking immediately, place in a 375F oven until the internal temperature reads 165F
Pull out of the oven and let them slack for three minutes so that the meat relaxes.  Plus, you will retain more juices if you leave alone for a spell
Slice on the bias (on an angle) and serve with glazed carrots, stewed tomatoes and Rosti (recipe follows)
Rosti
Serves 6
1.5 # russet potatoes skin on and clean
6 oz. white onion
2 ea. Whole eggs
Salt & pepper to taste
Dash nutmeg
Fresh garlic to taste, finely minced
Butter and Olive oil as needed for pan frying
 
Shred the potato and onion through either a box grater or with the help of your friendly neighborhood food processor with the shredding disc
Squeeze the excess moisture from this and place in a bowl
Add the remaining ingredients up to but not including the oil and butter
Mix until well incorporated and then heat up a fry pan large enough to fit the rosti (The rosti should be no more than 1” thick so use that as your yardstick
Melt the butter and add the oil and allow these to become very hot before adding your spuds.  Make sure that you add just enough fat to cook but not so much that you would be putting yourself in danger as you flip it
When the oil is almost at the smoking point add your rosti
Press down firmly and evenly to make a perfect cake
Cook for about 5 minutes or until the bottom is a deep golden brown
To flip it over, set a plate or pot lid (a flat one, of course) on the rosti and quickly invert the pan
Set your frypan back on the burner and slide the rosti in to finish cooking
When I make these, I will cook on both sides for about 10 minutes and then finish in the oven if need be
Yes there are a lot of steps here, but it will only take you one time before you become a master

]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7131336137163 A meatloaf-less life is a life not worth living http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-cuisine/Cuisine/A-meatloaf-less-life-is-a-life-not-worth-living

 People are constantly asking me to write about meatloaf. People love meatloaf. They live for it.
While I may not be one of those fortunate individuals, I can honestly say that meatloaf hits the spot every now and again.
But you know me. It doesn’t serve me or you for me to offer up a Fannie Farmer rendition of the classic loaf known to so many of us in our youth. It just would not be right in any sense of the imagination for me to recite anything reminiscent of The Christmas Story dinners.
No, I believe in challenging your senses; in making you work for your paycheck as it were.
This meatloaf is inspired by the interim principal of our school, but as I could not in a million years give away his secrets, I have to give you a rendition that will leave you satisfied none the less.
In making this wonderful meatloaf, you will undergo one of two scenarios. One, you will carefully smoke your meatloaf, delicately enhancing the nuances that will develop as the food is ‘kissed’ with the smoke, a common description in the business.
Or two, as is probably the case, you will follow the recipe and add some liquid smoke.
Liquid smoke will add a sweeter flavor to the finished dish but as I am no chemist, I can give you no good reason for this. 
But here’s your cool notion du jour; if you eat out in restaurants a fair amount while cooking at home with liquid smoke, you will be able to discern a difference between the two fairly readily.
When we were in Hawaii recently, I ate a good amount of Kailua Pork, a dish based on a traditional masterpiece in which a pig was ground-roasted (subterranean fashion) until the meat was well-permeated with smoke and falling off the bones.
After having more than a few samples, however, I realized that we had fallen victim to the tourism trade.  The smoke came from the bottle in more than a couple of restaurant s in which we had sampled this regional delicacy.  It was delicious but it was canned smoke. That is simply the way of it.
So the use of smoke (canned or au natural) is up to you. I am going to give you a recipe for liquid since I write about ‘real’ smoke enough.
Now, as it is with any article I write, I dig around to see if anyone or anything is concocting stories similar to mine. As luck would have it, one interesting note that came up was on the meat glue of which I wrote a week ago.
Many people are putting meat glue in the same category as pink slime, but I need to pose a question; who knew what pink slime was before two weeks ago? And is it really that bad for you? I don’t know the answer; I’m just merely posing the questions.
To so quickly compare meat glue to pink slime is bizarre. Meat glue is casein, which is the protein found in milk (anyone disgusted yet?). The problem is not with the product itself, but how it is used by manufacturers who glue stuff together. That I think is disturbing, but in this recipe? The glue works wonders.
So once you get past the meat glue dilemma it will be time to make this succulent meatloaf and tweak it out to your liking. 
Not only will your street creds rise with your food knowledge, but your kitchen credits will be without compare as you not only cook a decent meatloaf but can tell stories of islands far away, the importance of food preparation and the ideals of good, fun cooking.  
BBQ Meatloaf
serves 6
1 lb. Ground beef
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 eggs
½ ea. Red onion, finely minced
2 tsp. Liquid smoke
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
½ c. Bread crumbs, or as needed
S&P to taste
Bacon to wrap
Meat glue, if you are a food geek
BBQ Sauce of your choice
Black Cherry Planks
Buy a bunch of wood chips, chunks and planks from Dorie at www.MaineGrillingWoods.com 
Combine everything (except the wood planks and the bacon; that would be superfluous)
Lay out the bacon, which is cut in half lengthwise, on a cutting board.  If you are using the meat glue of which I wrote last week, then more power to you.  Glue it up.  Don’t have it?  Just do a Google search for transglutaminase and you will find it
Place your meatloaf stuffing in the bacon and roll it tight as though you were rolling sushi
Coat the black cherry planks with oil and place the meatloaf on top
Roast the meatloaf in a 400° oven until the internal temperature reaches 145°
Remove from the oven, brush with BBQ sauce, and then return to oven for a final crisp and browning
Serve on  the plank if you want to be ‘BBQ Gucci’ or serve with potatoes (roasted, mashed et al)

]]> Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 7021335440280 Chef Paul combats a barbecue hangover http://www.baysideoc.com/eastern-shore-cuisine/Cuisine/Chef-Paul-combats-a-barbecue-hangover

 My diet this week has not been stellar, or at least from a health standpoint anyway.
Tuesday, I noshed on brisket and brownies. On Wednesday it was pit beef and hot milk cake. On Thursday? Pit Turkey and cupcakes. And on Friday, more meat and chocolate cake.
It’s a good thing that I at the very least committed myself to copious amounts of water.
As we were prepping for a pit beef stand on Saturday as part of our annual fundraiser, I found myself surrounded by my favorites; pit beef, pit turkey, Berk’s hot dogs and BBQ brisket, of course paired well with the goodies from the bakeshop.
Throwing in a few trays of our homemade bacon set the stage for me to act as Pavlov’s dog.  Bacon on hot dogs, bacon on the pit beef and bacon on the cupcake worked wonders. Bacon=drool.
But now all I want is a salad. I feel like I’m playing a cameo in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, as it is now time to eat through one green leaf and take a break, affording my body the ability to recoup from the onslaught of the slaughtered slabs.
There is something mystical about smoking and/or grilling a large chunk of beef. Not wanting to confound anyone with the nuances of Northern v/ Southern barbecue, suffice it to say that both have earned their place in my repertoire and I love both. I just do things my way sometimes.
The favorite item of mine this week has to be the brisket. Barbecuing this fine piece of beef sums up everything that I love; meat, smoke, full flavor and an experience to be remembered.
When you buy your fresh brisket, make sure that you are not buying one that has been marinated for corned beef. This will not be complementary to your finished product.
When it comes to the rolls, please do not skimp to save a buck or two. The roll is one of the most integral and important facets of a sandwich. Besides, you just spent a great deal of time and energy (not to mention money; brisket is expensive) on your BBQ so don’t ruin it will a cheap roll.
I prefer brioche rolls, but knowing that they can be difficult to find, I also like any roll that is rich with butter and eggs. This is easy to identify since the roll will have a yellowish tint to it.
For the BBQ sauce, I have made my own since the 90s but I am not opposed to bottled sauces if they are good. The only one that I can hands-down recommend without any hesitation is Sweet Baby Ray’s. Their line of sauces is great and for the price they cannot be beat.
In this recipe, however, I use my own homemade barbecue sauce with some of SBR’s Sweet Chili Sauce added to it for added sweetness and kick.
Now that the BBQ ready to be served, I ogle the bowl of cole slaw and the big batch of stewed tomatoes that are to accompany.
Set next to the fried chicken and baked chicken, I get excited at this good ole Delmarva buffet. Finished off with mounds of freshly baked chocolate cupcakes, I don’t think I’ll see a frown in the crowd tonight, as everything about this meal says not only summer but summer in the South.
I just need to get through tonight and then it’s back to the green leaf; that one big green leaf.
BBQ Brisket
Brisket
Dry rub (recipe follows)
BBQ Sauce (recipe follows)
Sweet Baby Ray’s Chili Sauce
If the brisket still has both the flat and the deckle (you will be able to tell if there are two pieces of meat with a large amount of fat in between), separate and clean the two of fat
Rub the meat thoroughly with your cocoa rub and allow to stand in the refrigerator for a couple of hours
Place in a smoker set to 220 degrees and smoke for 2-3 hours
If the smoker maintains proper temperature, leave it in there at about 230F until it shreds.  Figure on about an hour per pound to give yourself time
Baste during the last few hours with your BBQ sauce and the Chili Sauce.  The latter is another fantastic product from the Sweet Baby Ray’s lineup and no I am not sponsored by them.  It’s just darn-tootin’ good
 
Cocoa Dry Rub
This could make enough for the summer!
¼ c. Paprika
½ c. Salt
½ c. Brown sugar
¼ c. Granulated garlic
2 tsp. Chili Powder
2 Tbsp. Onion powder
2 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper
¼ c. Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp. Dried Thyme
2 Tbsp. Cumin
Combine all ingredients well, testing it on a small piece of chicken
Adjust the spice mix to your taste and enjoy
Homemade BBQ Sauce
2 c. Ketchup
1 Tbsp. Dry mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
¼ c. Cider Vinegar
½ c. Brown sugar
1 tsp. Ground black pepper
2 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Chili powder
Combine all ingredients and allow to simmer for at least an hour
Adjust the flavor to suit you
Chill properly if not using at once, or set aside until service
 

]]> Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 4161311355159 Commissioners go to bat for scofflaws http://www.baysideoc.com/Opinion/Commissioners-go-to-bat-for-scofflaws

When was the last time you called your county commissioner? If you are not one of the fewer than 40 business owners they moved heaven and earth to protect -- at the expense of the rest of the county’s taxpayers and business owners -- the answer is “Not recently enough.”

Last year, 23 businesses were 10 or more days late renewing their health department permits and another 16 were fewer than 10 days late. Next year, any business that has not renewed its permits more than 15 days before their fees are due will receive a reminder via certified letter and have the $10 processing cost tacked onto their bills. This is even though the bill is not yet past due. In other words, the payment is due 15 days before it’s … well … due.

The commissioners reasoned — especially since it isn’t their $10 — that the small amount is worth it to protect businesses from significant fines. In this reasoning they are correct, or would be if late renewals were rampant. But they aren’t.

While this handful of scofflaws are on the phone with your commissioners, getting them to spend more of your dwindling resources, you will be asked to commit even more of your office resources so scofflaws don’t have to. These are the people the commissioners obviously feel are the most important in the county. 

So next year, when business owners tack that extra $10 onto their payment, they would do well to remember to thank the commissioners for the privilege.

]]> Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400 4091310824037 Don't play 'Wait and See' with roads http://www.baysideoc.com/Opinion/Dont-play-Wait-and-See-with-roads

During Bob Thompson’s town hall meeting this week in Ocean Pines, he touched on a subject the board of directors is going to have to start taking seriously before too long — the association’s use of its share of the slot funding.

Thompson said he was wary of using the funds generated through local impact grants to work on the roads, reasoning that should the state or county ever start funding roadwork again, the OPA would remain unfunded since it was already doing the work themselves.

The fact of the matter is that when the law was written, any semblance of a return to significant state funding of local roads was over. We’ll have hover cars first.

Given that the OPA is limited to improving infrastructure and public safety and those are the two departments that also rely most heavily on pass-through funding, parsing the difference between having the means to do it and actually doing it will likely fall on deaf ears in Snow Hill and Annapolis.

As the fund approaches $120,000, it is difficult to believe the association would prefer to let its roads continue to deteriorate in case government decides, sometime in the future, to live up to responsibilities it has continually shirked.

Should the management and directors elect to ignore the roads rather than repair them, it would be advisable to come up with an actual plan for the slots funds beyond having it sit in the bank deterring government support.


]]> Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400 4101310824165 ALOC dream a reality http://www.baysideoc.com/Opinion/ALOC-dream-a-reality Editor:


On behalf of myself, our President Margaret Spurlock and the entire Board of Directors of the Art League, I would like to thank everyone who came out to City Hall to support the Art League of Ocean City’s efforts to bring a new visual art center to the community.

This is a victory for our children, for our senior citizens and for everyone who lives, works, and visits this area. The Art League is the only non-profit art organization in Ocean City and fills a void in this community. A proper building that can showcase the local talent, provide art instruction, and be a destination for the arts in Ocean City is long overdue. With the vote of support from the council (5-2 Pillas and Ashley opposed) we can offer even more programming to enhance the quality of life in this area.

Our gratitude to our mayor Rick Meehan, for the vision to lead this town into the future. Thank you also to Leighton Moore and Michelle Fager for speaking up for the arts, and to Jon Tremellen, Billy Carder, Todd Ferrante, Dr. Berger, Alfred Harrison, Hal Glick, Cheryl Taustin, Jamie Albright and other business leaders who came, wrote letters, and more importantly sponsor the Art League as corporate sponsors.

I would also like to commend Mark Paddock and the FOP for their support, we know they have had to make sacrifices, and this shows they are committed to the welfare of Ocean City. Thank you also to the OCDC, the Superintendent of schools Jon Andes, Worcester County Tourism director Lisa Challenger, Patti and Peck Miller, Mayor Williams of Berlin, and Prof. Memo Diriker of Salisbury University, and the Little Salisbury Association, for supporting the Art League’s efforts.

Thanks also to the many members of the Art League who packed the house and braved the summer traffic to come to City Hall. Their passion for the arts was evident, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the decision was read. Many of these people have worked for years to keep this organization going, and the 14,500 volunteer hours they put in this past year is evidence of that.

Finally thank you to the taxpayers of Ocean City for realizing that while Ocean City is a resort, it is also a community and the arts can benefit everyone; whether or not you are an artist yourself. If you haven’t been to the Art League, we are located on 94th Street bayside, and are open Tuesday-Sunday year round. To find out more about what we offer visit our website www.artleagueofoceancity.org 

Thank you,

Rina Thaler

Ocean City

]]> Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400