Respect For Others
Editor:
We want to publicly express our disgust with the Letter to the Editor published in the Maryland Coast Dispatch dated Sept.26, 2014 written by Greg De Marco titled “Relieved to See Pillas Not Running”.
In our opinion, most people will agree that expressing a difference of opinion, debating issues and supporting or not supporting a council member is healthy and a sign of good government. However, in the article, Mr. De Marco goes far beyond the issues and blatantly chastises and ridicules a council member’s character.
In our opinion, that was totally wrong, unkind, unthoughtful and certainly uncalled for. Let’s expect that the Ocean City government will not only seek varied opinions, but will respect them. And in the future we hope that issues can be discussed, not personalities.
John and Ann McDermott
Ocean City
Supporters Thanked
Editor:
Coastal Hospice wishes to thank the many people and organizations who made Blues on the Bay a rousing success. About 200 supporters attended the party at Macky’s on Sept. 24 that raised $25,500 for the campaign to build Coastal Hospice at the Ocean in Berlin.
Blues on the Bay 2014 put us over the halfway mark toward our goal of building Coastal Hospice at the Ocean, a hospice residence and community outreach center. In addition to the medical, spiritual and emotional support provided resident hospice patients and their families, Coastal Hospice at the Ocean will offer community-based palliative care, counseling, grief support and wellness programs.
We would also like to personally thank Macky and Pam Stansell who opened the doors of their restaurant as hosts of this important event. The Stansells continue to show their commitment to Coastal Hospice and the future vision of Coastal Hospice at the Ocean.
Alane K. Capen
Salisbury
(The writer is the president of Coastal Hospice.)
Home Tour Success
Due To Community
Editor:
On behalf of the Art League of Ocean City (ALOC), thank you to everyone who made this year’s Sand Castle Home Tour a huge success.
This event is a major fundraiser for the non-profit Art League of Ocean City and provides funds to support our non-profit mission of promoting the visual arts in the Ocean City area through education, exhibits scholarship, programs and community art events. A wide group of people have come together to show their support for the arts with this event.
Our gratitude to our gracious homeowners: the Picone, Franzettii, Miller, Karl, Glover, Spendley, Gillis, Clark, Meyers, Ayres-Wimbrow and Hudson families who opened their doors to their homes. Our hardworking committee members: Jennifer Albright, Jamie Albright, Marian Bickerstaff, Lyn Burr, Phaedra Endre Brown, Jenny Carven, Rebecca Galyon, Mallory Hanback, Vicki Harmon, Merilee Horvat, Linda Kessinger, Barbara Melone, Christina Pohland,, Jan Perdue, Nancy Rider, Rina Thaler, Judy Tremellen, Marcy Thiele, Kim Wagner, Tina Walas, Jacquie Warden and Gayle Widdowson. We offer them our utmost thanks for making this a premier event in Ocean City.
The tour kicked off with a fabulous party at the home of Jay and Cheryl Taustin and we thank them for welcoming everyone in their home. We appreciate the support of the party sponsors: The Gateway Grand, Team Productions, Blu Crabhouse & Raw Bar, Pepsi Cola, Touch of Italy, Evolution Beers, Michelle & Kathy from Full Circle, Little Miss Lovely, Pohanka of Salisbury, Coastal Tented Events and Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore,
To the florists who provided spectacular arrangements for the homes: City Florist, Flowers by Alison, Encore Events by Angie Gillis, Little Miss Lovely Vintage, Rainbow Florists, Kitty’s Flowers, Ocean Greenery, Ocean City Florist, Ocean Pines Garden Club and Worcester County Garden Club, we are grateful. Thanks to the artists who painted the fabulous home portraits: Elizabeth Collard, Gerilyn Gaskill, Fay Kempton, Barbara Doyle Schmid, Rina Thaler, Stasia Heubeck, Dale Sheldon, Tinsel Hughes, Becky Simonds, Cheryl Wisbrock and Barbara Stitcher. Thank you also to Atlantic General Hospital for providing booties for the tour goers to wear in the homes, and Sunsations for the tote bags.
Thank you to our media partners Maryland Coast Dispatch, Ocean City Today, Coastal Style Magazine, Metropolitan Magazine, Comcast Spotlight, Delmarva Public Radio and WAMU. To the many tour book advertisers and restaurants that provided gift certificates, we thank you and appreciate your support.
We could not run this event without the almost 300 volunteers who worked as docents during the tour. Finally, thank you to the almost 1,000 people who took the tour. We hope you enjoyed the beautiful residences of our area and mark your calendars for the 10th Annual Sand Castle Home Tour September 17 & 18, 2015.
Katy Durham
(The writer is the chairperson of the ALOC’s Sand Castle Home Tour.)
Voter Fraud Concerns
Editor:
With election time drawing near and voter fraud always a major concern, I would like to make a suggestion. Don’t you think it would be a good idea for our president to write an Executive Order and send it to governors of each state and the Mayors of each local township requiring that each person, when appearing to vote, show a photo ID and a valid registration card before signing in to vote.
This requirement would be easy to implement by having polling captains on election day require this procedure before anyone can vote. Having a valid registration card is proof of the individuals’ citizenship an important requirement in the voting procedure.
Regarding absentee ballots, those for military personnel would only be accepted when signed by their Commanding Officer. For personnel working in the Government Foreign Service, their application can only be accepted when signed by their department head. As for anyone working for a company out of their district, an application by them must be signed by the CEO of the company. No other absentee application should be permitted.
At the end of the voting day, all voter registration books should be checked and any name that does not have a signature should be removed from the records. This would help clean out the names of those who have passed away or have moved out of a district. Anyone who still lives in the district but didn’t vote can easily re-register again at their local government office.
Any person working for the government in any capacity not willing to authorize the implementation of this requirement their patriotism should be questioned. These are critical times for our country and a corrective action such as this should be required. In order to keep our present Republic form of government, an honest voting system must be maintained.
Paul St. Andre
Ocean City
Research Candidates
Before Election
Editor:
Recently we’ve been seeing lots of political advertising on television and in the newspapers touting all the wonderful things politicians have been able to bring home to the shore.
It appears said politicians think their constituents believe money does actually “grow on trees”.
The money that pays for all of these wonderful things is our money. The government has none of its own. It only has what it takes from the citizens through taxes and fees. And most of these wonderful things are also financed by bonds, which is a debt we are laying on our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The interest on the bonds also greatly increases the actual costs of these wonderful things.
There are also “trade-offs” involved, i.e., politician “A” agrees to support a wonderful thing in politician “B’s” district in exchange for politician “B’s” support for a wonderful thing in politician “A’s” district. I believe if the citizens of the Lower Shore understood some of these “trade-offs” they would be more than a little concerned.
I encourage my fellow citizens to please check on the voting records of the incumbents running for office.
Carol Frazier
Ocean Pines