2012-03-15 Calvert Gazette

GazetteEverything Calvert County

CalvertMarch 15, 2012

Priceless

‘Nowhere To Go But Up’Benton Goes From Dodging

Repo Man to Life Change CoachPage 8

Thursday, March 15, 2012 2The Calvert Gazette

Also Inside

3 County News

6 Community

6 Business

8 Feature Story

9 Newsmakers

10 Obits

12 Education

13 Letters

14 Entertainment

15 Sports

local newsThe efforts of thousands of locals who voted online paid off this week as End Hunger Chair-man Rev. Robert Hahn was recognized as a Compassionate Marylander winner.

On The Cover

“I was losing everything. My house was in foreclo-sure. I was hiding my car from repo. I sold a refrig-erator to buy food. I hit rock bottom for me.” Now he’s the owner of Mike Benton Enterprises and is a successful life change coach.

A year and a half of planning is coming to fruition with the Girl Scouts of Calvert County celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts, which culminates with performances at Calvert High School on March 31.

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Photo by Sarah MillerFrom Brownies to Ambassadors, Girl Scouts of all ages showed up to the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, where Commissioner Susan Shaw read a proclamation recognizing the Girl Scouts and the benefits young women in the group get. She mentioned her own time in the Girl Scouts, and the leadership skills she got out of it. In addition to being recognized, the girls brought each commissioner a box of their famous cookies.

By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

Members of the Calvert Investigative Team (CIT) say they are continuing to in-vestigate the circumstances surrounding the death of an infant found in the trunk of a car on Hallowing Point Road on March 8.

But CIT commander, Lt. Steve Jones, said the body was in such a condition that they will not get a cause of death report from the Chief Medical Examiner’s office until mid-April.

Investigators know who the mother of the child is, Jones said, but are not releasing any names.

“We don’t even know if we have a crime yet,” Jones said, adding that investi-gators are still trying to ascertain whether the infant was stillborn or was alive when the mother gave birth.

“The condition of the body was not the best, it had been there for an undeter-mined amount of time,” Jones said. “It was either a fetus or a newborn, that’s what we’re trying to determine.”

Jones said that if the baby was still-

born, then there would not be any felony charges involved.

The baby was found near the home of the mother, Jones said, but the mother had not lived there for about 30 days.

The mother’s boyfriend also lived near the area where the baby was found but police are not sure if he is the infant’s father. Jones said the mother’s boyfriend is not a person of interest in the case.

Jones said the mother’s parents found the deceased infant when they were clean-ing out the car.

Jones said investigators have found that the mother did not call for any type of medical assistance during or after the birth.

State’s Attorney Laura Martin said her office is working closely with police to investigate the case.

She said to find a infant in the trunk of a car, regardless of the circumstances of its death, is appalling.

“It’s horrific,” Martin told The Calvert Gazette.

[email protected]

By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

About a month after first being in-stalled next to Beach Elementary School in Chesapeake Beach, speed cameras on Route 261 went fully operational, ready to record fines for motorists who traveled at least 12 miles over the speed limit.

James Parent, town administrator, said any pictures taken by the cameras would have to first be sent to police to ascertain just who gets a ticket and who will not.

But the cameras have already had a positive affect, Parent said.

Before their installation the town had a problem with speeders coming off the hill just before the school at a high

rate of speed and pushed to get the cam-eras in place after community concerns.

“People have slowed down,” Parent said. “The people who live there agreed, it really slowed things down … We’re happy with that.”

For the past month, the cameras weren’t even active, he said, but they made motorists worry about getting a fine just the same.

The cameras have been effective enough that Parent predicted that there would not be many tickets, at least for now

“I suspect we won’t have too many tickets, not until the tourist season,” Par-ent said.

[email protected]

Speed Cameras Now Issuing Tickets

Infant Corpse Found,Detectives Investigating

Commissioners Mark 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts

Thursday, March 15, 2012 4The Calvert GazetteCOUNTYNEWS

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Bridge Getting a FaceliftBy Sarah MillerStaff Writer

Drivers going up and down Route 4 may have noticed signs up announcing bridgework to start March 18. The work is expected to last through the year, and includes cleaning and repainting the steel, working on the concrete under the deck and rehabilitating other areas.

State Highway Administration (SHA) spokesperson David Buck said the first project, costing $3.2 million, will be-gin next week with containment being set up to keep contaminants out of the beach and the river. He said containment is “the most crucial part of any cleaning and painting job.”

Once containment is set up, workers will be cleaning and painting steel on the ends of the bridge, where the span is over land. Buck said it will be “methodical

work” that could take until Spring 2013, though the contractor will be trying to fin-ish by the end of the year.

In addition to the cleaning and paint-ing, work will be done to the concrete and drainage system.

“This is proactive maintenance that we do on all our bridge structures,” Buck said.

The work means one lane of the bridge will be closed Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. through 5 a.m. No work is done Friday and Saturday nights because of safety concerns due to the in-creased traffic on the bridge, in addition to the higher possibility of drivers under the influence.

The second project, costing $2.3 million, will begin in a month, and will mostly take place out of view from driv-ers. Workers will be repairing concrete under the deck of the bridge, as well as

the columns in the water. Buck said the preventative maintenance will prevent potholes from forming, which would be a bad sign on a bridge. The second project should be completed in the fall, Buck said, though it is largely dependent on weather. The concrete can only be worked on if the temperature is above 50 degrees and hu-midity levels less than 75 percent.

Buck said 90 percent of SHA’s work is done at night to decrease the impact to motorists, and in a project like the one on the bridge, the two contractors have to coordinate so only one lane is shut down at any given time. Buck said at no point will the bridge be completely closed to through traffic. Workers will also be working around local events, like PRAD and the Tiki Bar opening weekend, to lessen the impact.

[email protected]

By Sarah MillerStaff Writer

In an effort to make a complex process simpler, the Department of Planning and Zoning is working to streamline the course from submittal of a project to the final signing off on the site plan.

Planning Commission Administrator and Zon-ing Officer Yolanda Hipski said the department worked on the project in two parts – primary sub-mittal to planning commission, and planning com-mission to final site plan approval.

After some final fine-tuning, Hipski said the new processes will be adopted fully in April.

Hipski said the streamlining will be “for ev-erybody – consultants, owners and us [the planning and zoning department].” She said the process was sparked when different groups, such as consultants and developers, identified the process as being an area to be worked on. The department agreed, Hip-

ski said.“Looking at the process, I felt the same,” she said.Currently, Hipski said she is working to make minor changes to take comments into

account. A major change is in the submittal of the final site plan. The Final Mylar, a master

planning document that has to be physically signed by different groups involved in the approval process in order to gain final site plan approval, was submitted in the past when the planning commission indicated they were willing to sign off on it. Now, owners and consultants must get everyone to the point where they are willing to sign off on the project and indicate their willingness to the department of planning and zoning.

Different departments are connected through a computer system where they can indi-cate a “ready for signature” status, and owners and consultants are responsible for making sure agencies make the change in the computer status.

Hipski said the new process will keep Mylar copies from getting lost as they go from agency from agency for signature because all the signatures will be done at once.

With the streamlining split into two parts – the first document dealing with the pro-cess from submittal to the planning commission was sent out Dec. 30 for comment. The second, dealing with the planning commission to the final site plan approval, was submit-ted for comment Jan. 23.

[email protected]

Permitting Process to

Become Simpler

The efforts of thousands of locals who voted online paid off this week as End Hunger Chairman Rev. Robert Hahn, pastor of Chesapeake Church, was recognized as a Compassionate Marylander winner on Monday. Hahn was presented with a Governors Citation and $5000 check from CareFirst to End Hunger In Calvert County.

Rev. Hahn Wins Compassionate

Marylander Award

Thursday, March 15, 20125 The Calvert Gazette COUNTYNEWS

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By Susan ShawCalvert County Commissioner, District 2

Spring is coming after the mildest winter I can remember. I know that I will be relieved if we don’t get a late snow or two that wipes out some of the savings on heating bills, espe-cially at this time of rising gasoline prices. I am hearing rumors that the MD General Assem-bly (Legislature) in Annapolis may be backing away from their ill-advised plan to raise gaso-line taxes. Perhaps they did not think we would notice when our budgets became impossible to balance due to their unwise plans. Perhaps they do not realize that those of us who live in the real world know that with rising gasoline prices, the price of all commodities goes up, and the overall cost of living and doing business becomes untenable.

If I sound annoyed, it is because I am. Who on earth do they think they are fooling?

Either seven or nine (depending on who’s counting and how they are counting) counties in MD were not able to make Maintenance of Effort (MOE), which is to say that they were unable to fund their schools at the same level as the previous year. Of course not!! Counties get their income primarily from real estate taxes, and secondarily, from the piggy back tax (a portion of the income tax). The Legislature must not have noticed that we have been in a deep recession and that house prices have fallen (nationwide) more than they did in the Great Depression, greatly reducing the real estate taxes to Counties. So what kinds of help is the Legislature pro-posing to provide? Their proposal is to penalize the Coun-ties who couldn’t make MOE and make ALL the Counties pay more with the threat of siphoning off the income tax revenues if the Counties fail to magically conjure this extra

money out of thin air. (This proposal was authored by Del. John Bohanan of St. Mary’s County.) Better yet, why not reduce the exemption on interest paid on real estate for those

individuals and businesses still getting by?I did not make this up!Or even better yet, in addition to making the

Counties commit to additional education spend-ing that they do not have, why not also make them pay for Teacher’s Pensions? Especially since the Legislature has refused to move to a modern pen-sion plan, and instead, has gouged the teachers, who must pay an additional 2% of their income toward a decreased pension benefit. Oh, but you haven’t heard the best part yet. The 2% extra went into the General Fund, not the Teachers’ Pension fund, which is short by $19 Billion dollars! That’s the beauty of shifting the Teachers’ Pensions to

the Counties: the Counties will also get the underfund-ing on their books, which they will then get to explain to Wall Street when they go for bond ratings. AND, in case your head is not spinning yet, this brilliant plan will force the Counties to pay more in interest on all their borrowing, making the Counties even more desperate for income. The final blow is that the Counties won’t be able to “fix” these cooked books from the state, because the pension liability is rising so fast, at just under 8% per year, that they will never be able to catch up. Just as the state wasn’t, which is why the Legislature wanted to shift the Teacher’s Pensions in the first place. (More info. is available at www.StopTheShift-MD.com)

Oh, dear, I don’t have enough space to share the good news about tax increases on internet purchases, internet downloads, automobile repairs, tobacco products, boat reg-istrations, hunting licenses, death certificates, and more! Stay tuned for next time for all the amazing details …


PEPCO’s Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP) project has been pushed back to a 2019-2021 timeframe.

MAPP Project Manager Bob Jubic said PJM Intercon-nection LLC, a major power transmitter in the area, is in charge of scheduling for the project. Early on, projections showed there would be a need for additional transmission re-liability in the 2012-2014 time frame to handle the additional load demands.

“It’s really PJM that sets the date for the project,” Jubic said.

When the economy hit a downturn, so did the projected demands for power, and the MAPP project got pushed back, he said.

MAPP is a planned 152 mile transmission line that will stretch from the Possum Point Power Station in Virginia to Indian River, Md. Completing the project requires line be laid under the Chesapeake Bay.

Once PJM green lights the project, Jubic said it will take a minimum of three years to start. There are still per-mits PEPCO has to obtain, and the studies that have already been completed will need updating. In addition, to get the line that needs to go under the bay, an order has to be placed two years out from the start date. PEPCO also has to make a reservation for the specialized equipment that will lay the underwater line. Jubic said a rig like that goes from place to place working on similar projects, and can’t be brought in on a whim.

“It wouldn’t happen over night,” Jubic said.He said an update on the project, whether it will be post-

poned another couple of years or moved up, will be released by PJM in the August to September timeframe. He said some old-er generators will be retired due to the Clean Air Act, but it is unknown right now how many generators will be shut down.

Jubic said that number could directly affect the time-frame for the MAPP project.

[email protected]

Power Project On Hold

More Shell Games in AnnapolisCommissioner’s Corner


By Corrin M. HoweStaff Writer

The largest first class mailing company in the United States, Send Out Cards, has a two-fold mission: “To help millions of people act on their promptings and provide a vehicle for financial success.”

Send Out Cards allows a person to go online and pick out a card from over 17,000 stock cards or create one of their own. The card is printed, stuffed, addressed, stamped and delivered out of the company’s headquarters in Salt Lake City. Other than the time to select the card, the entire process takes about 60 seconds and costs one third the price of a store bought greeting card, which still needs to be addressed and sent, according to local Distributor Raleigh Weckbaugh.

Weckbaugh gets teary-eyed as she retells the story which prompted Send Out Cards CEO Kody Bateman to start the company.

“He had graduated from college and was loading up his family to move to his first marketing job in New York City from Utah. He saw his brother in a distant field and felt a prompting to go give him a hug and say ‘goodbye’ however, he was in a hurry. Three weeks later his mother called at three o’clock in the morning to tell that his brother died in a freak accident.”

At that moment, Bateman made a vow to God and his brother that he would never fail to act on a “prompting” again. He spent almost 14 years developing a business plan, waiting on technology, and gathering all the right people to launch Send Out Card on the Internet in 2005.

Weckbaugh’s brother turned her on to Send Out Cards in December 2008. “When I had a chance to get onto a com-puter and send a card, I needed no further convincing.”

“It’s one of those things everyone loves. No one has ever said, ‘Please don’t send me another card or gift.’ Sure there are other companies out there which help clients keep in con-

tact with customers, but do you see an email hanging on the refrigerator?”

Being able to create her own cards, take her business anywhere in the United States as well as the values embraced by the company are reasons Weckbaugh loves working with Send Out Cards.

The conventional wisdom in the business world is that it costs five times as much to gain a new client than to keep an old one, according to Weckbaugh. Sending out cards to clients to remember birthdays, anniversaries, thanking them for their patronage, etc. are all ways to develop and keep a relationship going with loyal customers.

She talks about one of the top Send Out Card distribu-tors who said that he recently needed a plumber. If he had a plumber who sent him two cards during the year, he would’ve called that plumber. Instead, he used the phonebook to find one.

Weckbaugh said she has insurance agents as clients. She recommends they use Send Out Cards prior to the insurance policy renewal as a unique way to building relationships.

Send Out Cards provides a mechanism to enter address-es, important dates, notes about clients, and send a reminder to choose and send cards. The company has partnered with several online gifts and service companies so that customers can attach baked goods, a gift card or inspirational book with the card.

For more information contact Weckbaugh at (410) 610-2953, or visit www.sendoutcards.com/simply/

[email protected]

Maintaining Business Relationships One Card at a Time

Cat of the Week

Library Marks Seuss’ Birthday

North Beach Mayor Mark Frazer kicked off Calvert Library, Twin Beaches Branch’s Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration on March 1 with his enter-taining reading of The Cat in the Hat. Over 60 at-tendees celebrated this annual event with readings, skits, and activities based on Dr. Seuss’s much-loved books. Regan Cashman, Twin Beach Players Youth Troupe Committee Chairperson, brought young ac-tors in costume who contributed to the “Seussical” fun. The Cat in the Hat himself even showed up to enjoy a rousing rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song, and of course, birthday cake!

Maria came to us with much energy. She was happy and playful and very athletic. She was adopted in late 2009 with one of our male cats, Bugsy. Everything seemed so perfect but both cats were returned because the adoptive family had to move. Maria resides in our main cat condo room and we consider her the class clown. When other cats are just existing, Maria is amusing herself. She loves to open the cabinet door and we will come in and find each and every towel on the counter or floor. Her other favorite game is to get hold of a roll of paper towels. She will unravel the roll and sometimes will wrap some of it around her. We think she is looking for a new ball gown. She never ceases to amaze us with her antics. She is very affectionate but sometimes in her play will reach out with her foot to bat you. She has never really scratched anyone but we do not think it would be a good idea to put her in a home with small children.

You can see Maria at the Calvert Animal Welfare League Center Prince Frederick Md. Fri - Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or call 410-535-9300.

Raleigh Weckbaugh is an active distributor of Send Out Cards

Thursday, March 15, 20127 The Calvert Gazette

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NewsmakersLocal Inducted into

Maryland Woman’s Hall of FameBy Corrin M. HoweStaff Writer

Local resident Margaret Dunkle re-ceived high honors from the state when she became one of six Maryland women in-ducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame for 2012. She is being recognized for her work on the federal law that made it illegal to dis-criminate on the basis of sex in government assisted educational programs.

Dunkle said she is excited about be-ing included in the Hall of Fame, meaning “Title IX” will once again receive some spotlight.

Forty years ago, on June 23, 1972, U.S. Congress passed legislation commonly known as Title IX without much hoopla, ac-cording to Margaret Dunkle.

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from par-ticipation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any edu-cation program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…” reads Title 20 Unit-ed States Code Section 1681-1688.

Two days after the law passed, Dunkle started her job at the Association of Ameri-can Colleges. One of her first tasks was to study “What would equality in college ath-letic programs look like?”

“We didn’t have Google, Internet or computers back then. I had an electronic typewriter and a mimeograph machine which sometimes worked,” Dunkle said.

Her team collected any pieces of paper from college newsletters and other sources

they could find or others would send to them. They also brainstormed any inequi-ties between boys’ and girls’ sports that they could think of or heard about.

For example they discovered there was a prohibition against giving athletic scholar-ships to girls. “A girl from a lower income family with some athletic ability couldn’t get a scholarship, but her brother could,” said Dunkle.

The analysis found at the time the University of Michigan had $1 million in the budget for men’s sports, but zero for women. The University of Texas had $1.5 million in the budget for men and $43,000 for women.

Men’s programs received full or sig-nificant funding while in women’s college athletics the women coaches were volunteer and not paid, the girls had bake sales to raise money for uniforms, equipment and travel expenses, according to Dunkle.

“It was the normal and legal prior to Title IX. Now it is illegal,” she said.

Further discrepancies came out. While women’s participation in sports at the high school and college level has improved ten-fold over the last 40 years, their numbers are still lower than men’s participation levels in 1972.

Over the years, Dunkle has found that some of the biggest Title IX supporters are fathers of girls. Although she didn’t specifi-cally reference the opponents of the imple-mentation and court decisions regarding the law, she did say. “The law doesn’t say what you have to do, just that you can’t discrimi-

nate in how you do it.”She used the example of how when she

was in high school, boys could not sign up for home economics classes.

After her work in the 1970s, she later did a study on how high schools were dis-criminating against pregnant students, making them take classes at different times or in different rooms while not requiring the same of the males who fathered the child. In today’s environment, discrimination against males could look like schools set-ting up daycare for children of moms trying to finish school, but not allowing children of fathers in the same situation.

The Maryland Commission for Wom-en and the Women Legislators of Maryland established the Woman’s Hall of Fame in 1985. Since that time more than 138 women have been inducted. Names of previous honorees include: Harriet Ross Tubman, Clara Barton, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Nancy Grasmick, Ph.D. (former Superin-tendent of Maryland State Department of Education).

The only other Calvert County resi-dent in the hall is Harriet Elizabeth Brown, a school teacher who took the county Board

of Education to court over inequitable pay. Thurgood Marshall represented Brown in the 1937 case. Fifteen years later he would stand before the U.S. Supreme Court for the landmark Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka.

“I’m honored to be in the company of the previous Hall of Fame members,” said Dunkle.

Calvert County Board of Commission-er Susan Shaw rode up on the chartered bus to Annapolis.

“It is a very big deal. Only five or six women from all over the state are inducted each year. And usually there are very spir-ited discussions when going through the se-lection process,” said Shaw.

Margaret Dunkle is the second Calvert County resident to be inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame. She is shown here with Gov. Martin O’Malley.



Mike Benton figures he couldn’t get much lower than the day he sold his refrig-erator for money to buy groceries. During the lean times, he had the support of friends. One let him live in a 10-foot by 10-foot extra room. Male ego kept him from getting any other help.

“I was losing everything. My house was in foreclosure. I was hiding my car from repo. I sold a refrigerator to buy food. I hit rock bottom for me. The only thing I had left was the six inches between my ears.”

On the Mike Benton Enterprises web-site he writes how he realized that the same thing that made him a successful entrepre-neur in the past would help him out of his situation.

“Thinking.”He began to read every book he could

about changing the way he thought.Then he made the decision to change.“I know it is cliché. But it was a life

changing decision.”The experience not only

changed his life, it changed his career. In September 2008 he started Mike Benton Enter-prises which provides life change coaching and moti-vational speaking.

“However you define success, you know that it has little to do with luck, and practically every-thing to do with learning a set of principles and fol-lowing them.”

This is some-

thing he learned from Bob Burg, author and speaker behind the international bestsellers The Go-Giver, Go-Givers Sell More, End-less Referrals and It's Not About You.

Now Benton is a certified Bob Burg and Bob Proctor consultant.

He loves “helping people go from where they are to where they want to go” – especially in the “current economy and current state of mind. It’s needed more than ever.”

One of the things he really enjoys is to give back to people like him – “individu-als who never saw it coming – with all their training, degrees and experience, they never imagined they would wind up unemployed at this stage of their life. It’s devastating and it’s my job to help them realize we are not in Kansas anymore.”

He works with a community outreach program in Southern Maryland called the Job Match Re-Employment Program. Ben-ton has been a change coach with the pro-gram since June 2010 and hosts a two-hour discussion called “Monday’s with Mike.”

In these types of sessions it is im-portant for him to help people

understand that “what you know and what you do doesn’t define who you are.”

Benton is acces-sible. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, at Panera Bread, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and he’ll return emails within hours.

Practicing what he coaches, he credits the

growth of his business Home Towne Real Estate to what he learned and practices from Bob Burg’s Endless Referrals. He puts up visuals to make his visions concrete. For example, he said he cut out a picture of himself and taped it on a flyer for motiva-tional speaker Zig Ziglar announcing a con-ference and speakers. He spends one hour per day learning something new about his profession.

Everyone has 168 hours in a week. The key is managing the time, according to Benton. He said he often has people who say they don’t have the time. He counters their argument with proof that they will make time for something they see as valu-able by offering them Redskin tickets. Most of the time, people suddenly find time to see

a Redskin’s game.“I’ve had a number of people ‘quit me’

based on using this model,” said Benton, who said everyone should be able to find an extra 20-30 hours a week to spend on meet-ing their goals – doing simple things like listening to an educational CD rather than watching TV.

“A plan helps ordinary people achieve extraordinary results,” he said.

In his coaching business he works with attorneys, doctors, clerks, stay-at-home moms and more.

“I’m a blessing or a curse to those who come to me for coaching. It is a process. It takes time to germinate. It doesn’t matter – the steps you have to take are different but still have short, mid and long term [goals].

Everything has a start and a finish. Start getting excited.”

He cautions people that believe falsely they can do everything they need to reach their goals and to just stop. Just like dieting, it doesn’t work, he said. “Coaching is daily.”

Benton is a gradu-ate of Northern High School and University of Maryland College Park. He is current member of the North Beach Town Council.

He and his wife, Tina Patriarca Benton, are agents with Home Towne Real Estate. He is a father of four with a daughter in college down to a one-year-old son. He bought and renovated the North Beach home he grew up in.

“This is my life. I didn’t learn it in college or last week. It is a very simple process but not easy.”

STORY

Life Change Coach Practices What He Preaches

What some of Mike Benton’s clients and acquaintances say about him:

• “I know Mike through posts on Facebook really. He had always been inspiring when our school went through its struggle. He gave me a pep talk online and motivated me to keep doing what I was doing as the co chair of the Marketing Task Force, to move forward and to keep up the positive energy. I'll bet he has many followers and friends!” Suzanne Pucciarella, with Our Lady Star of the Sea school.

• “He did run for Mardi Gras King and he has been a good friend to us. He is also my life coach. I think very highly of Mike.” Kelly Chambers, CEO of United Way of Calvert County.

• “I’ve known Mike for almost 10 years. We both joined the Economical Development Commission at the same time. I’ve done some things with him through his real estate. He sold my sister her home. And he’s an avid Dunkin Donuts customer,” said Nance Pretto Simmons, owner of Dunkin Donuts in Lusby, and president of the Lusby Business Association.

• “When you hire a coach you want a game changer. Someone who will tell you the truth and make you want to change … Mike is that game changer to anyone willing to listen and take the needed steps,” Brian Mayer, owner of Online 4 A Dime.

• “Mike Benton is one of the career counselors I met through the Job Match Re-Employment Program. He's one of the most inspirational figures I've had the pleasure of meeting, and I'm proud to call him my friend. He is an example what's possible when one combines the power of positive thinking with decisive goal setting and dedication. We can all take charge of our lives and move in a new, positive direction. Mike Benton shows us how it's done.” Preston Ford, writer.


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Jack Brazell, 76 Francis John

“Jack” Brazell, 76 , formerly of H u n t i n g t o w n , MD passed away March 6, 2012 at the Annapolitan Assisted Living in Annapolis, MD.

He was born Sept. 10, 1935 in Syracuse, NY to William F. and Anna (Lanty) Brazell.

Jack was raised and educated in Syra-cuse, NY. He served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1957, serving in Korea. After his service Jack relocated to the Wash-ington, D.C. area where he met and married Monica E. Burgoyne. He was employed as a cable splicer for C & P Telephone Company retiring in 1986.

He was preceded in death by his wife and two brothers and two sisters.

He is survived by four daughters Kathleen Morrone and her husband Pat of Chesapeake Beach, MD, Ann Myers and her husband Jim of Nashville, TN, Maggie Webb and her husband Ed of Dunkirk, MD and Cindy Warren and her husband Mike of Fredericksburg, VA; three sons Joseph LaPlaca and his wife Tina of Fredericks-burg, VA, Mark LaPlaca and his wife Billie of Frederick, MD and John Brazell and his wife Debbie of Stevensville, MD; 18 grand-children and 15 great grandchildren.

Friends were received March 10 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, North Beach, MD, where a Mass and celebration of his life was held at 11:00 A.M. Interment fol-lowed at Resurrection Cemetery, Clinton, MD

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake, 445 Defense Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401.

Robert Bruette, 55Robert Henry Bruette, 55, of Lusby,

MD passed away on Feb. 25, 2012 at his residence.

He was born on October 8, 1956 in St. Petersburg, Fla., to Marian Knox Bruette and the late Duane M. Bruette.

Mr. Bruette enlisted in the United States Navy in 1975 and served his country

for 21 years until his retirement in 1996. He received the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Joint Meritori-ous Service Ribbon, Meritorious Unit Cita-tion, (2) Battle “E” Ribbons, (5) Navy Good Conduct Medals, (2) Sea Service Deploy-ment Ribbons and the National Defense Service Medal. After serving his country Robert worked for the Department of De-fense in Computer Logistics.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Theresa Bruette of Lusby, MD; loving daughters, Kimberly Watson and Kristie Frost both of Jacksonville, FL; his mother Marian Bruette of St. Petersburg, FL and a grandson.

All services will be private.Should friends desire contributions

may be made in his memory to Calvert Hospice, P. O. Box 838, Prince Frederick, MD 20678 "Donations are encourage on-line at www.calverthospice.org" or to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 7000, El Segundo, CA 90245 www.pancan.org.

Arrangements provided by Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., Lusby, MD –rauschfu-neralhomes.com.

Rosalee Freeland, 87Rosalee Free-

land, 87, of Forest-ville, MD passed away on Feb. 19, 2012 at her resi-dence. She was the youngest child of 12 children of the late Rev. Charlie H. Range and Hat-tie M. Range, was born on April 30, 1924 in Macon, Ga.

After the death of her parents, Detroit, Michigan became her home which was also the residence of many of her relatives.

Rosalee was a first lieutenant in the United States Army. She was inducted into the Army Nurse Corps on July 30, 1953. During her career in the U.S. Army, she met the love of her life, Carl E. Freeland, her late husband of 36 years, who was also in the United States Army. This union was blessed with four children: two sons, Carl (Chuckie) who preceded his mom in death and Andre, and twin daughters, Carlene

and Charlene.Rosalee was an active and faithful

member of the Third Street Church of God located in Washington, D.C. until her health declined. Her love for God and her faith in Him was always prevalent in her life includ-ing her last moments when she called for Je-sus and said; "Jesus, help me please." (Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the re-ward of faith is to see what we believe.)

Spending time with her family and friends along with singing and playing the organ brought Rosalee much joy and fulfill-ment. She was an avid writer (whiz with the pen) and enjoyed writing poems. She also had a wonderful sense of humor.

Siblings preceding her in death were brothers, Charlie, Dennis, Phillip, Thomas, Harris, William, Johnny and Edward and sisters, Cora Range, Fannie Range Smith and Mary Range Boyd Clinkscales.

She leaves to cherish fond memories her daughters, Carlene L. Hernandez (Dan-ny) and Charlene F. Coello (Tony); her son, Andre Freeland; one granddaughter, Marit-za C. Barbot (Henry); four grandsons, De-metrius Hernandez, Christopher Hernan-dez, Carl Hernandez and Dalton Freeland; one great-granddaughter, Jadyn M. Barbot: and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral service was held on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 at Third Street Church of God, Washington, DC with Rev. Dr. Cheryl Sanders officiating. The interment was at Plum Point United Methodist Church Cem-etery, Huntingtown, MD.

Funeral arrangements provided by Sewell Funeral Home, Prince Frederick, MD.

Celie King, 87

Mary Lucille “Celie” King, 87, of Ft. White, Fla., and a longtime resi-dent of Chesapeake Beach, MD passed away Feb. 15, 2012 at the Haven Hos-pice E.T. York Care Center in Gaines-ville, Fla.

Celie was a homemaker and wife of the late Zane Ken-nard King, Sr. She was born Nov. 9, 2012 in Friendship, MD to Frank and Ethel Re-becca (Sears) Wells.

She is survived by her son Zane Ken-nard “Kenny” King, Jr. and daughter-in-law Lyne of Ft. White, FL. She is also survived by six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and a sister Lynette Burger of Baltimore, MD.

Celie was preceded in death by her son Franklin M. Humphries, and is sur-vived by his wife Nancy.

Services for Celie are being held in Florida. She was buried privately beside her husband at Mt. Harmony United Meth-odist Church Cemetery in Owings, MD.

Arrangements were handled by Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., Owings, MD.

Memorial Contributions in Celie’s name may be made to the Haven Hospice E.T. York Care Center, 4200 NW 90th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32606-3809.

Ethel Mauck, 90

Ethel Virginia (Simpson) Mauck, 90, passed away March 5, 2012 at the Country Home assisted living in Har-wood, MD where she had resided since 2008.

Ethel was born Oct. 21, 1921 in Dayton, MD to Roland L. and Emma E. (Hill) Simpson. She was raised in Dayton and attended Howard County public schools. She married Herman E. Mauck December 5, 1941 and they lived and raised their family in Mt. Rainier, MD until moving to Deale Beach, MD in 1961. Ethel was a homemaker and enjoyed various needlecrafts including quilting, crocheting, and tatting. When living in Deale she had attended Cedar Grove U.M. Church in Deale where she participated in the Homemakers group. She was an avid reader and also loved spending time with family, especially her grandchildren.

Ethel was preceded in death by her husband Herman and by a son Paul E. Mauck.

She is survived by three children, John W. Mauck and wife Joanna of Churchton, MD, Patricia M. Riley and husband Joseph of Deale Beach, MD and Michael H. Mauck and wife Donna of Tracy’s Landing, MD. She is also sur-vived by seven grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and by a brother, Willard Simpson of Dayton.

Friends and family were received on March 8 at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, MD, where funeral services and a celebration of Ethel’s life was held March 9. Interment followed at Southern Memorial Gardens in Dunkirk, MD.

Memorial contributions in Ethel’s name may be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake, 445 Defense Highway, An-napolis, MD 21401.

Carla Patricia Sipe, 38

Carla Patricia Sipe, 38, of Lo-thian, MD passed away suddenly March 7, 2012 at her home.

She was born Dec. 19, 1973 in Silver Spring, MD to Benjamin An-drew and Carla Patricia (Chite) Ort.

Carla was raised in Churchton, MD and graduated from Southern High School in 1991. She later attended Anne Arundel Community College. Carla married Glenn A. Sipe, II on April 11, 1998 in Deale, MD. The couple made their home in Lothian. She was involved with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and dance, as well as other activities that her children participated in.

Carla was preceded in death by her parents, a daughter Destiny Sipe and her husband Glenn A. Sipe, II.

She is survived by her four chil-

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dren: Angel, Glenn III, Dakota and Skylar Sipe; sisters Marianne Stiles and her husband Jeff of Churchton, MD and Pam Walker and her husband Robert of Goldsboro, MD; and a brother Andy Ort of Ruckersville, VA. Carla is also sur-vived by her mother and father in law Darla’Ray and Glenn A. Sipe, I of Lo-thian and brothers in law Frank Sipe and his wife Christie of Lothian and Brian Sipe, Jr. of New Jersey and a nephew William Sipe of Lothian.

Friends were received March 11 at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, MD where services were held March 12. In-terment followed at Southern Memorial Gardens.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Kathryn Sorrels, 60

Kathryn Di-ane Sorrels, 60, of Prince Freder-ick, MD passed away on March 7, 2012 in Washing-ton D.C.

She was born on April 13, 1951 in Virginia to Jes-se D. Harmon and Elsie G. Pruitt Harmon. Kathryn had large passion for lighthouses which she loved to collect and visit. She also loved to spend all her time with family and friends.

She is survived by her husband Richard B. Cameron, her son Richard Sorrels and his wife Pamela. She is also survived by her granddaughters Crystal and Jessi McLaughlin, and Victoria Sor-rels. She also leaves behind a brother Donald Harmon.

The family will receive friends on a later date at the Rausch Funeral Home, Port Republic, MD.

Edith Joyce Vermillion, 85

Edith Joyce Vermillion, 85 of Fairfax, VA and formerly of Prince Frederick, MD passed away March 10, 2012 at Capital Hospice in Arlington, VA.. She was born on Jan. 4, 1927 in Washington, DC to Julian Winfield and Ruby Virginia (Clatterbuck) Duty.

She received her education in Wash-ington, DC public schools. Edith moved to Mt. Rainer as a young woman where she met and later married Arthur E. Ver-million. She was employed as resident manager for JGB Properties in apart-ments in Suitland and Beltsville. Upon her retirement she moved to Calvert Pines in Prince Frederick and to Fairfax, VA in 2005.

Edith was preceded in death by a sister Juliette Hangliter, a brother Robert Edwards and her husband Arthur E. Ver-million on July 6, 1984.

Surviving are one daughter Lana Lee Corrado of Broomes Island, MD; five sons Arthur H. Vermillion of Aquia, VA, David M. Vermillion of Waldorf, MD, Christopher E. Vermillion and his wife Maureen of Chesapeake Beach, MD, John W. Vermillion and his wife Marlene of Dunkirk, MD and Gerald Vermillion and his wife Amy of Fairfax, VA; eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

Friends may call on Friday, March 16, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, MD. A Memorial Service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, March 17, at First Lutheran Church of Bowie, 12710 Duckettown Road, Laurel, MD 20708.

Memorial contributions may be made to Capital Hospice, 4715 15th Street, Ar-lington, VA 22205 or the ASPCA, P.O. Box 96929, Washington, DC 20090-6929

Twanna Wilkerson, 55

Twanna Me-liss Wilkerson, 55, of Huntingtown, MD passed away on Feb. 24, 2012 at her residence. She was the daughter of the late Wil-liam Robert Wilk-erson, Sr. and Gladys Eleanor Hicks Wilkerson and was born on June 23, 1956 in Wash-ington, D.C. She attended Calvert County Public Schools.

Twanna had a strong love for her family and friends. She enjoyed the time she spent with her family at cookouts and holiday gatherings. She adored and cherished her grandchildren Kaylon and Allana.

Twanna also known as “T” had a way of making everyone laugh that came in contact with her. If you were ever feeling down or just needed a good laugh, you could be sure that “T” had the remedy. “T” would make you laugh until you nearly cried. “T” just loved to have a good time and was often the life of the party. “T” knew how to dance and would often say “if I don’t dance another day, I’ve danced and clicked my fingers enough in my time”. “T” liked to go to baseball games, watch her favorite foot-ball team the Dallas Cowboys.

She also had a love for flowers and always had a beautiful flower garden blooming outside of her residence. She loved to crochet and made many beauti-ful scarves, hats, ponchos and blankets for family and friends.

Twanna was employed by Hechinger in Glenarden, MD, Oxford Knolls, in Suitland, MD, the former Capital Center, in Landover, MD, and prior to her illness, she was employed at Calvert Memorial Hospital.

Twanna accepted the Lord as her personal Savior and was baptized and attended a Baptist Church located in

Landover, MD and later joined Plum Point United Methodist Church, in Hun-tingtown, MD, where she attended until her illness.

Twanna leaves to cherish her memo-ry, daughter Shaiwian Mackall (Clinton) of Prince Frederick, MD, and Alan Guth-rie II (Kenya) of Oxon Hill, MD; sisters Vashti Burch (Frank) of Sunderland, MD, Carolyn Green (Carlon) of Huntingtown, MD; and Francien Morsell (Craig Sr.) of Sunderland, MD; two brothers: William Wilkerson, Jr. (Barbara) of Annapolis, MD and Sheerod Wilkerson, Sr. of Sun-derland, MD; and five step-sisters: Sylvia Furr (Harlon) of Baltimore, MD, Tiffany Wilkerson of Chesapeake Beach, MD and LaKeshia Wilkerson Thomas (James) of Chesapeake Beach, MD, Patricia Chew of Raleigh, NC, Jackie Neal (Dennis) of Temple Hills, MD, and Christine Barnes of Temple Hills, MD and one step-broth-er: Anthony Barnes of Sunderland, MD; three aunts Marion Howell of Annapolis, MD; Eveline Hicks of Annapolis, MD, and Elnore Hicks of St. Leonard, MD; two uncles: John Irving Harris of Deale, MD and William Young of Sunderland, MD; two grandchildren: Kaylon Guthrie and Allana Guthrie and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. Special and devoted friend Russell Jones, of Hun-tingtown, MD.

Preceding her in death her parents: William Robert Wilkerson, Sr. and Glad-ys Eleanor Hicks Wilkerson, and son Harim Wilkerson.

Funeral service was held on Friday, March 2, 2012 at Mt. Olive UM Church, Prince Frederick, MD with Rev. Tunde E.O. Davies officiating. The interment was at Young's Church Cemetery, Hun-tingtown, MD.

The pallbearers were Benjamin Cheyenne Harris, Thomas HIcks, Jr., Ronnie Jones, Tyrone Riggs, Carlos Young and Eric Young, Sr. The honorary pallbearers were Daryll "Duke" Creek and Carl Hicks.

Funeral arrangements provided by Sewell Funeral Home, Prince Frederick, MD.

From The Family of

who passed away on Feb. 8, 2012Louis Edward Pulliam, Sr.

We want to thank the many people who stood by the family during these most difficult 5 years. If you visited, sent a card or e-mail, made a phone call, brought food, attended his service or made a donation in his honor we want to thank you. A special thanks to; A Community That Cares (ACTS), Hospice, Brinsfield Funeral Home, R H Design (Ruby) for Prayer cards, C &C Photography (Cheron & Sam) for the video, American Legion Post 255 in Ridge,

Senator Roy Dyson, Larry Hills, Charlie’s Deli who prepared and served the food at his service.

Also to the ladies that brought him comfort and support through this time, Cindy Wolf and Lynda Purdy.

Many thanks to the people who came to his bedside during his last week, to spend time, he knew you cared and loved him and he felt the same about you, as we cried together and laughed together. He knew then that his time was getting closer but he still did not want to leave us. Although we know his journey is over on this earth, we know he is looking down upon all of us at amazement of how many lives he had touched in his 72 years. Each and every one who had the pleasure of meeting him will never forget his great humor and quick wit. He will live on forever through each and every one of you. So as days and weeks pass remember the laughter that he brought to all and as Spring and Summer approach us, take time to visit his most favorite place “The Creek Shore” and enjoy the monument that was built and placed there in his honor. Many thanks to all that had a part in making this happen, what a beautiful job.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers during this most difficult time in our lives.

- Eleanor Pulliam and Family March 16th, 1939 – Feb. 8th, 2012

Thursday, March 15, 2012 12The Calvert GazetteSpotlight On

Local Girls Scouts Modeling Founder By Leading The Way

Making Sure Children are in School

Plum Point PTA Needs People


Juliette Low, founder of the United State’s Girl Scouts, was progressive for her time, according to Linda Buckley, member of the Girl Scouts of Calvert County 100th Anniversary Committee.

“Back then sports weren’t something they could do. She set up a bas-ketball hoop in her backyard and put up curtains so no one could see the girls play-ing in their bloomers,” said Buckley.

The Girl Scouts were the first to integrate African-American girls and girls with disabilities. Low want-ed all girls to participate.

The Calvert Commit-tee started planning the 100th Anniversary Cel-ebration activities in December 2010.

“We called around to see what other Girl Scouts were doing and discovered we were among the first to start planning. In fact, we started re-ceiving calls to find out what we were doing,” said Buckley.

The committee, representing each of the four service units in the county and the Girl Scout field representative, had a mission in mind during the entire planning phase.

“The goal was making sure the Calvert County Girl Scouts remembered the 100th Anni-versary as one of their experiences in Girl Scouts.”

Buckley, a librarian at the Prince Frederick branch, created a display case at the front of the library with items from local Girl Scouts. She said she had enough material to fill five display cases. The items include old books, photos, letters from the U.S. presidents congratulating girls for earn-ing the top Girl Scouting award – now called the Gold Award.

The actually anniversary, March 12, the committee encouraged all Girl Scouts past and present to “wear their pin with pride.” Buckley wore a green sweater, green earrings and her pin that day.

At the end of the month, on March 31, at Calvert High School they will have two perfor-mances with three parts to celebrate a century of Girl Scouts. The first part will be a songfest

of the songs the girls sang throughout the years. Next will be a drama called “Pearls” in reference to Juliette Low’s necklace that she received on her wedding and later sold to raise funds. The final section will be a fashion show to show all the vari-ous styles of uniforms. The performances are at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 and call be pur-chased at www.calvertgs100.org.

This spring all the service units will have a “round up” where the girls will be “making, do-ing and taking home different things from each decade in Girl Scouts.”

In June, Girl Scouts from nationwide will gather on the Mall of Washington, D.C. for a sing-a-long. They are estimating 200,000. Calvert Girl Scouts are hoping to help host some of the other service units which traveled great distances.

“It’s still in the planning stages, but we are hoping to work with churches and having sister troop sleep-overs and provide meals.”

Grace Mary Brady of Bayside History Mu-seum in North Beach will also have a Girl Scout display during her 2012 season.

The county committee members Linda Buckley, Carol Harrison, Dayna Jacobs, Kathy Sears and Nadine Happell planned to get together and celebrate after spending the nearly a year and a half working together. Buckley said the celebra-tion wouldn’t be possible without all the other vol-unteers who have put in so many hours on each of the activities they headed up.


In a county wide alliance, the public schools and the State’s At-torney’s Office have joined forces to form the Calvert County Tru-ancy Court.

State’s Attorney Laura Martin said they held the first of the truan-cy court meetings in January, and have held them monthly ever since. She called the court a “last ditch effort to get kids in school” aimed at middle and high school students who have missed a large amount of school. She said the parents of the students are asked to come in and discuss why their student has missed so much school, some in ex-cess of 60 days.

Martin said truancy court is the final step, if parents have not been responsive to school commu-nications trying to find out why stu-dents have not been in school.

Kim Roof, Executive Direc-tor of Administration for county schools, said truancy court has been in the making for a couple of years, and during last summer they finally got it in place and identified and brought in the first families that need it.

Normally, between two and five cases are taken every month. The goal is not to incarcerate par-ents, Martin said, but to work with them to find the reason kids have been missing school and get the

students in the classroom. In some cases, the issue is health related and all a parent has to do is submit a doctor’s note.

Martin said such cases used to go through district court, but they needed the personal touch the cir-cuit court and Martin’s office can offer. During a hearing, parents sit down with either Martin or a junior attorney and Pupil Personnel Work-er Walter Williams to talk about the child’s absence from school.

Martin said there has been a complete turnaround in the atten-dance for the students.

Williams agreed with Martin, saying truancy court has “definite-ly made a difference on a major-ity of the families that have come through.”

In the original 13 families that were identified for truancy court, students missed a combined 339 days during a 10 month school year. So far this year, the 13 stu-dents have missed a combined 96 days, averaging one day per student per month. Some students have gone months without missing a day, while others have only missed one or two.

Williams said he expects the final number to be a combined 120 days missed, which he said is a huge improvement during a single calendar year.

[email protected]


The Plum Point Elementary PTA is putting out a plea for all the families in the school to get involved in the organization.

Plum Point PTA President Kim Kotess said PTA’s big fundraiser for the year is a Family Fun Night, which brings in approximately $18,000. The October event has been held for the past 10 years, and is always a suc-cess. The money is raised through a silent auction, carnival and other ac-tivities during the night.

The money is the biggest chunk of the yearly operating budget for the PTA. A chunk of it goes to each grade level to support programming and activities that enhance class-room learning but may not possible with the constraints of the school’s normal budget.

She said the PTA also supports “extracurricular activities that are fun but teachers couldn’t afford,” as well as academic nights and school

dances.Kotess said the school com-

munity has seen an upswing in the number of families with two parents holding full time jobs, but if each family in the school donated just four hours of time to the PTA, she said there would be more than enough volunteers to organize and run the PTA, as well as the yearly fall fun-draiser without needing smaller ones through the year, such as the Christ-mas gift wrapping that other PTAs do.

She said the planning for the fundraiser begins in the spring, with meetings during the summer and the beginning of the school year. She said it is the perfect time to join up and get involved with the planning of the Family Fun Night. She said the PTA needs everyone they can get, and there are jobs for any abilities.

For more information, call Kot-ess at 410-414-2185.

[email protected]


L

ETTERSto the Editor

Publisher Thomas McKayAssociate Publisher Eric McKayEditor Sean RiceGraphic Artist Angie StalcupOffice Manager Tobie PulliamAdvertising [email protected] [email protected] 301-373-4125Staff WritersGuy Leonard Law EnforcementSarah Miller Government, EducationCorrin Howe Community, Business

Contributing WritersJoyce BakiKeith McGuireSusan ShawSherrod Sturrock

The Calvert Gazette is a weekly newspaper providing news and information for the residents of Cal-vert County. The Calvert Gazette will be available on newsstands every Thursday. The paper is published by Southern Maryland Publishing Company, which is responsible for the form, content, and policies of the newspaper. The Calvert Gazette does not espouse any political belief or endorse any product or service in its news coverage. Articles and letters submitted for publication must be signed and may be edited for length or content. The Calvert Gazette is not responsible for any claims made by its advertisers.

Calvert GazetteP. O. Box 250 . Hollywood, MD 20636

What the public doesn’t know about the “shell game” that our legislators are playing by turning over the Maryland State Teachers Retirement/Pension Fund to counties. The assumption would be that the State would be turning over a healthy fund for counties to manage. That is not the case.

PEW Center on the States and Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research, two non-profit and independent research organizations are recognized as having expertise in analyzing all 50 states liabilities compared to actual state funding. Both organizations have some interesting history and projections on the Maryland Retirement/Pension Fund for Teachers. In 2010, The Pew Center had “serious concerns” over the declining assets to liability ratio for the retirement fund.

In 2000, the Retirement/Pension Fund for Teachers was funded at 101%. That means for every dollar of money prom-ised in payment, $1.01 was actually funded. That makes for a very healthy fund to meet the promises made to employees. The Federal General Accounting Office (GAO) has a guideline that any retirement fund, either private or public, at 80% is a healthy retirement fund. This is standard.

In 2008, the Maryland Retirement/Pension for Teachers fund was rated at 78%. No alarm bells were going off at that time since it was just below the 80% mark. The drop was attributed to the collapse of the financial markets. But something else was go-ing on that wasn’t being reported. The State of Maryland, before 2003, had been making only partial or no payments to the fund. These payments are an obligated expense that lawmakers chose to overlook and this trend has continued. If that were not bad enough, the State of Maryland has been using the Retirement/Pension Fund for Teachers as its own personal piggy bank. The latest withdraw was $120 million made last spring and trans-ferred to the transportation budget. No state payment to the fund was made. Instead, they increased the percentage of contribu-tions an individual teacher makes to their retirement fund.

By March of 2011, the funding was at 64%. Funding at 60% is considered “a serious concern or in need of improvement” by the Pew and Boston College Research Centers. In a recent article in the Washington Post, the projection is that the fund will fall to 59% funding by the end of 2012. Still the state is on track to remove another $60 million and another missed fund payment in 2013. Some of this drop can be attributed to continued fluctua-tions in the financial markets and the overall economy. Most of it can be attributed to our State leadership, regardless of party affiliation and the “shell game” being played for years.

So, what exactly are the individual counties inheriting from the state? They will be inheriting a fund that is under funded (us-ing the 80% GAO standard) and may be approaching an unsus-tainable future. They will be inheriting a fund that may impact county credit ratings and ability to borrow money. There are no laws on the books that prevented the state from raiding the Re-tirement Fund. Nor are there any laws that prevent counties from doing the same. If this had happened in the private sector, with a private company raiding employee’s retirement fund, somebody would be jailed. Since the “king can do no wrong” (no laws bro-ken), the state is not accountable to the public sector. The coun-ties need to find a way to delay this transfer of the Retirement /Pension for Teachers until the State restores the funds to the 80% funding standard. Without that happening, each county will be on the “hook” for restoring this fund.

Restoring the fund can happen two ways: Raising county taxes in the event of the fund being transferred from the state or a penalizing reform for teachers. I am betting on the latter option or a combination. Teachers did not create the problem; the state bears the greater responsibility. The state reneged on payments, withdrew money to fund unrelated projects and balanced the budget, all on the backs of teachers. Teachers continue to uphold their end with their increased contributions to the fund. Neither future reform nor higher county taxes would be necessary if the state had kept its promised contribution and left the fund alone, allowing it to do what its original structure to accomplish. A les-son learned too late.

Joan RitchieLeonardtown, MD

It is hard to imagine a community more support-ive than Calvert County. Thank you to everyone who supports SMILE either by volunteering their time, do-nating goods or shopping in our Thrift Shop. Without this continuing support, SMILE could not exist.

SMILE has been enriching lives in southern Cal-vert County for just over 20 years. The Food Pantry and Thrift Shop are run by a staff of over 175 dedicated volunteers; there is no paid staff. Community dona-tions of clothing, household items, toys and other mar-ketable goods stock the Thrift Shop shelves. Proceeds from Thrift Shop sales are used to purchase food for the Pantry and to provide emergency financial assis-tance throughout the year.

In 2011, SMILE handed out over 12,000 bags of food serving over 36,000 people, distributed 225 Eas-ter dinner food baskets and 441 bags of groceries for Thanksgiving dinners. We served over 200 dinners on Christmas Day and helped to serve over 200 Thanks-giving dinners at Catamaran’s in Solomons. SMILE is also a distribution point for the Federal Commodities Program with several distributions per year.

SMILE’s Thrift Shop provided clothing in four seasonal allotments for 1,440 children. We also helped with clothing for people reentering the workforce, with furniture and household items for burnt-out families, and clothing and necessities for people in transition. We distributed Christmas gifts to 66 families for 191 children.

SMILE offered emergency financial assistance to 350 guests for utilities, medical needs, rent, and other one-time emergency needs. We offer monthly blood

pressure tests. SMILE provided 10 camp scholarships for youngsters to attend the 6-week summer session at East St. John Youth Center and made start-of-year school supplies available for those in need.

In addition to Food Pantry and Thrift Shop activi-ties, SMILE organizes and participates in a number of community activities. SMILE is an Energy Assistance site for Calvert County. In cooperation with our nine member churches, SMILE hosts ecumenical worship services for the full community at Thanksgiving and on Good Friday. We also assist in the preparation of the Baccalaureate Service for the Patuxent High School Graduates.

Enrich your life by supporting SMILE (Service Makes Individual Lives Exciting).We are always in need of volunteers. We encourage all members of our community to shop in our Thrift Shop to discover “Lusby’s best-kept secret.” As a 501c(3) non-profit, we also accept tax-deductible monetary donations. We welcome any help you can give SMILE so we can con-tinue to assist those who need our help.

SMILE serves southern Calvert County from Broome’s Island Road to Solomons and is located at 10290 H.G. Trueman Road, Lusby, MD.

Hours of operation: Food Pantry – Wednesday and Thursday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Saturday 9a.m. to noon. Thrift Shop – Wednesday-Friday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.

Debi Jagodzinski, presidentSMILE Ecumenical Ministries, Inc.

I feel like I’ve known Pat all my life and that’s not so. The day I met Bob and Pat Carpenter, I instantly fell in love with them – they are like a ray of sunshine. They made my day every time I saw them. Pat was always so very positive in every endeavor she did, al-ways thinking ahead for what’s good for Chesapeake Beach and North Beach.

As the topic for MML last year was: “Working Together for a Successful Tomorrow”, that was Pat, and I loved working with her because we are on the same page.

From the beginning of Chesapeake Beach to the end of North Beach there is no better place to be in America. We are the best and Pat helped make it that way.

The best way to honor Pat, I think, would be to remember every day the greatness she had in her heart and apply it to our dai-ly routine. Say a prayer, give someone a big hug, tell someone you love them, smile and make them laugh. Pat would love this because that is who she was.

We all miss her everyday, but just remember, she has her clipboard and is already planning a big parade with the angels. Theme title: “Pat’s Parade.”

God Bless you all!

Sally Donaldson, presidentNorth Beach House and Garden Club

Tribute to Pat Carpenter

Giving a Reason to SMILE

Don’t Buy Teacher Pension Shell Game


The Calvert Gazette is always looking for more local talent to feature! To submit art or band information for our entertainment section,

e-mail [email protected].

Adding Bells to Brecht; The Caucasian Chalk Circle Opens Friday

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By Carrie MunnStaff Writer

Looming in the pages of theater and literature anthologies is German-born Ber-tolt Brecht, with his post WWII-era “epic” theatre, brimming with political and social commentary. His work is challenging to read and to perform, but The Newtowne Players’ offering of his play, The Cauca-sian Chalk Circle, will treat theatergoers to a thoroughly entertaining show.

Missy Bell directs an 18 member cast who play almost 70 different roles, as well as sing and play instruments.

Bell’s husband, Michael, plays The Singer, and along with fellow actor and musician Krys Baker, wrote an all original score. He also served as the lighting de-signer and constructed an elaborate, tran-sitional stage which functions to transport the audience into the world of a war-torn village and the minstrel’s story of the chalk circle.

“The music is one of the driving forces in the piece,” Bell said. Through a barrage of guitars, mandolins, banjos, ac-cordions, drums, whistles and one comical trumpet, the tones are set for the scenes and the audience is continually entertained as the actors, in plain sight, move swiftly through costume changes and from one scene to the next.

With the characters ever-present on the stage, the musical delivery and a tale that dives into social class and justice, war and love, it’s a lot of theatre to take in. “It’s epic theatre, in every sense of the word. It has everything,” Bell said.

Every character is critical in the tell-ing of this story and Bell explained the cast consists of both veteran actors and

new ones, making their debuts in this production.

The director explained there have been some challenges in working with a novice cast, but at the same time it allows her an opportunity to teach, her first love, she said. “It’s been a log and intense pro-cess. It’s the hardest show I’ve ever done, bar none and by far,” she said.

The actors, as well as stage manager Sara Meador, who Bell called “outstand-ing,” have had to really stretch themselves for this piece.

Leni Weisl as the Governor’s self-centered, self-righteous wife and Kaitlyn Bauer in the role of Grusha, the young servant girl with a big heart showcase the dichotomy of the human and maternal con-dition with rousing performances.

Bob Ellwood, thanks to what Bell says is an intense understanding of the work, pulls off the role of Azdak, the drunken

judge with a skewed sense of justice, with wit and conviction. “He’s uncanny, really,” Bell told the Calvert Gazette.

Jeffrey Robbins plays several char-acters, but makes the stomach turn a bit as the lewd Corporal, and young actress Alyssa Fox also plays multiple characters but displays impeccable comic timing and emotional outpouring on stage.

Bell said there is an abundance of raw talent in the cast, which has been working on the intricate play since December. The entire cast move from scene to scene, role to role, giving it their convincing all.

While some of the subject matter is a bit high-brow, the delivery makes it di-gestable. However, due to some more sug-gestive situations and a couple of severed heads, some sections of the play aren’t ap-propriate for young children, Bell said.

It’s an exciting piece that moves quickly, the director explained. “There are a lot of pieces to the story, but once you’re in it, you’ll be hooked.”

As an actor as well, Bell said she’s able to better under-stand what’s being asked of an actor, “how far people are truly able to go.” She said she likes to “dive deep” and “get to the meat of the scene.”

“I like to tell the story- that’s what it’s all about anyway,” she said, adding it’s exciting to see the ac-tors reach a new level in their performance. “That’s what keeps me going.”

The cast has certainly pushed them-selves and worked hard to provide a palat-able interpretation of The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

When asked about her experiences in working with Three Notch Theater and The Newtowne Players, Bell had nothing but positive things to say.

“Live, local theatre is so necessary. Art is so necessary. You shouldn’t have to travel to the big city to see something that will move you,” Bell said.

The intimate set-up lends itself well to the play, pulling the viewer in and keeping them engaged in the entangled web The Singer spins.

Bell said she submitted the work to the play selection committee and applied with her vision proposal to direct it after reading the Brecht masterpiece last sum-mer. “Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down,” she said. She and the cast and crew of the play are hoping the audience has a similarly engaging experience.

“I think if you love theatre, you’ll love this show,” Bell said.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Three Notch Theater opens Fri-day, March 16 at 8 p.m., with shows on Friday and Saturdays nights and matinees on Sunday throughout March. For ticket information, visit www.newtowne players.org or call 301-737-5447.

[email protected]

Michael Bell, performing as The Singer, co-wrote an original score for the

production and built the set.

Photos by Carrie MunnLeni Weisl, as the Governor’s wife holding the newborn child which becomes central in the play, is joined on stage by Mike Snider, left, and John Giusti as overbearing, bickering doctors.

Ryan Krause, Alison Dodges and Kaite-lyn Bauer, as Grusha, struggle with the injustices bestowed upon them.

Thursday, March 15, 201215 The Calvert Gazette Sp rts

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By Keith McGuireContributing Writer

March is a teasing month. Some days are still bitter cold, while others will have you heading to the water on a moment’s notice. What I’m noticing this year is that more is ris-ing than the temperature – most notably – the price of gas! Corners need to be cut and deals need to be found to offset these high prices. The last thing you need is to waste a lot of time and energy running from place to place or fish-ing with the wrong equipment. Networking with fellow anglers is the answer.

The local Southern Maryland Chapter of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Associa-tion will meet today (3/15) at the Solomons Fire Hall at 7:00 PM. The topic at this meeting will be a discussion of the best methods for catch-

ing pre-season and early season rockfish. The local Patuxent River Chapter of the

Coastal Conservation Association – Mary-land will meet next Monday evening (3/19) at 7:00 PM at Stoney’s Kingfisher Restaurant in Solomons. The guest speaker at the meeting will be Shawn Kimbro, author of a new book Chesapeake Light Tackle – An Introduction to Light Tackle Fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. Shawn Kimbro gives a great presentation, and his book is a great read. He is also the lead coordinator for the Careful Catch program, which targets the best strategies for catching and releasing stripers unharmed.

These are the opportunities we need to get some of the best how to/where to local knowl-

edge available. These meetings are free and open to the public. You can bet that I will attend both!

If you didn’t fish for the yellow perch during their spawning run, you missed out on a great opportunity. It was one of the better yellow perch seasons in recent memory. The second great fishing opportunity so far this season was the white perch spawning run. That too, is pretty much over. Now we are dab-bling in freshwater for crappie and bass, or dousing chicken livers and stink baits for cat-fish while we wait for the spring striper and croaker runs.

I ran into a fellow angler today who told me that he had heard that the croakers weren’t expected to be here in such great numbers this year because of the return of the sea trout. I was surprised by the comment so I asked for clarification. He went on to explain the abun-dance of trout at Eastern Shore locations last fall and the prediction that this would keep the big croakers away. Actually, I had not drawn the correlation between trout and croakers and found the discussion interesting. If croakers truly are held off by an abundance of sea trout, I’ll be happy with the sea trout any day! Time

will tell as the early spring ar-rivals make their way up the Bay.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be ready when the fish get here. If you have a boat, check out all of your safety gear when you up-grade your fish-ing tackle. Now would be a great time to explore a Vessel Safety Check through the Coast Guard Auxiliary to be sure that all the safety features of your boat are up to date. Check this website:

http://www.safetyseal.net/GetVSC/. If you go fishing and catch something

slightly more worthwhile than a cold, be sure to take a picture and send it to me at [email protected].

Keith has been a recreational angler on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for over 50 years; he fishes weekly from his small boat during the season, and spends his free time supporting local conservation organizations.

Anxiety Season

Angler AnglerThe Ordinary

Too valuable to catch only once!


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2012-03-15 Calvert Gazette

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