Fact: The Ocean City Dog Playground off 94th Street is nearly ready to open.
Opinion: It will be interesting to track this facility’s popularity through the seasons. It will likely be used often when the dogs are not allowed on the beaches between May and late September, but only time will tell if it will be popular during the other months. It’s also going to be interesting to see how the resident wildlife handles the new playground’s opening. Folks familiar with the 94th Street area know all about the foxes and raccoons that call the area behind the old 94th Street mall site home. They have been there for years and are routinely spotted roaming around the parking lot, particularly at daybreak.
Fact: The proposed expansion and facelift of the 4th Street park in Ocean City has been placed on hold because the county and city can’t come to terms on a long-term lease needed to secure financing for the project.
Opinion: This is confusing. The county offered the city a 15-year lease on the property, which is located between the bay and Philadelphia Ave. and 3rd and 4th streets and currently home to softball fields, a skate park, a basketball court, a fishing dock and playground area. The city needs a 20-year lease for the property to lock in the financing necessary for the $3.75 million recreational complex. That’s a shame because this park would have been a great addition to Ocean City and it’s now uncertain whether that project will ever take place.
Fact: The deadline to change your party affiliation for the presidential primary election, set for Feb. 12, 2008, is Monday, Nov. 19 at 9 p.m.
Opinion: With the election now only three months away, I think it’s time to start taking notice of the presidential candidates. Right or wrong, I have not paid much attention to the campaign to date because it’s become such a long process. It seems like the candidates have been campaigning for about two years already. What I most look forward to finding out is why Senator John McCain, my early favorite back in 2000, has struggled mightily in the early polls.
Fact: Some presidential candidates have unveiled their theme songs. While some have entrance and exit songs, here’s some of candidates’ entrance music. For the Democrats, Chris Dodd, “Get Ready” by The Temptations; Wesley Clark, “Won’t Back Down”, Johnny Cash rendition of the Petty original; John Edwards, “Our Country”, John Mellencamp; Dennis Kucinich, “America the Beautiful”; Hilary Clinton, “Right Here Right Now”, Jesus Jones; Joe Biden, “Centerfield” by John Fogerty; Tom Vilsack, “Let the Day Begin,” The Call; and Barack Obama, none. As for the Republicans, it does not appear to be that important because most have not declared any kind of song, but McCain has been reportedly playing the Beach Boys song “Barbara Ann” quite a lot of late.
Opinion: Good tunes for most here, especially Biden’s pick of a Fogerty classic and Clark’s choice of Cash covering Petty, but perhaps McCain’s inclination to play a Beach Boys song has answered my earlier question about his campaign. What’s the connection there to being president? It’s not his wife’s name. At a recent public event, it’s worth pointing out the veteran senator changed the wording in a verse to “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.”
Fact: Thanksgiving is next week, so, of course, I “googled” turkey.
Opinion: After getting lost in statistics over turkey, such as the average American consumes 13.7 pounds of the meat annually, I came across something that did interest me. There are three towns in U.S. named “Turkey” and the only thing they all have in common is they are extremely small. The most populous, at 496, according to the 2004 Census, is Turkey, Texas, followed by Turkey Creek, La. (357) and Turkey, N.C. (267).
