Generosity Appreciated
Editor:
I work full time at a north Ocean City hotel. We always have an employee Christmas party. I had one gift card to a restaurant that I had never been to. It’s more upscale than I am used to. I figured that Thanksgiving would be a perfect opportunity to use it.
I was working the night before and after Thanksgiving my boss was nice enough to let me stay at the hotel so I would have this opportunity. I made a reservation a few weeks in advance. When I made the reservation, I advised the lady at the restaurant that I worked in town and have no immediate family. I went to the restaurant and enjoyed a great Thanksgiving meal. When I was about to leave, my waitress advised me that another guest had paid for my meal and I was good. When I went up front, I wanted to thank them for that. I also checked on the expiration date of my gift card. The manager of the restaurant advised me that it does expire, but I would be able to come back another time and would honor the gift card.
Whoever was in the Bonfire on 71st Street between noon-1:30 p.m. and paid for my, I am very grateful to you. I work full-time, pay my bills and try to get by. To whoever you are, thank you for making my Thanksgiving special.
Brian Bedsworth
Seaford, Del.
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631 Thanksgiving Meals Served By Baptist Church
Editor:
As the pastor of Ocean City Baptist Church, I want to thank the community and my church for all their hard work in serving another great Thanksgiving meal.
On Thanksgiving Day, Ocean City Baptist Church opened its doors and hearts to feed the community. We started this tradition 41 years ago because we felt that nobody should go hungry or be alone for the holiday. This year’s dinner would not have been possible without the generous donations of the following businesses: American Legion Post 166, Bank of Ocean City, Benchmark Property Services, DiCarlo Printing in Salisbury, Elks Lodge #2645, Humphrey’s Foundation Inc., Taylor Bank, the Wednesday Night Ladies’ Bowling League and, of course, the members and visitors of OCBC.
“Love God, Love Others, Serve at the Beach” is the motto of Ocean City Baptist Church. And it was truly lived out in the 110 volunteers that showed up to help out. This year we served 218 guests that ate it, 238 take outs and 175 deliveries for a total of 631 meals served. A few people need to be thanked for their individual efforts and they are Anne Russo, Paul DeHuarte. Sr, Robin Derrickson, Melanie Corbin, Anna Smith, and Lucy Sydnor for their leadership.
All the glory goes to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am privileged to be part of this annual tradition and we look forward to being part of your next Thanksgiving!
Sean Davis
Ocean City
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Good Outcome From Accident
Editor:
There is no such thing as a good accident but, as happened to me recently, there can be good outcomes, a lot having to do with assistance from others. Recently I was entering the four-way stop intersection at Walmart from Route 50 when another driver coming down the service road blew right through at a high speed and removed the front end of my vehicle, causing my airbags to inflate and disabling my vehicle in the middle of the intersection. Both cars were eventually totaled by the insurance company.
The good part is that no one was hurt including, from my inquiry, the other driver. The fortunate part of this accident for both drivers was that Steve Grunewald, the Ocean Pines fire chief, was following within a short distance behind the other driver and called in the accident immediately. He also checked to see if we both were okay. Within minutes Deputy Sheriff Michael Newcomb arrived on the scene whose calm manner and professionalism were comforting. The Berlin Fire Department was also on scene in minutes and fire police handled traffic control at a difficult and busy intersection.
The fire crew had to first assist the other driver who was trapped in the car. While I was waiting, another driver who had witnessed the accident stopped and came over to my car and offered her name and number if needed. Her name was Donna Cornwell, a Walmart employee. I was eventually able to drive my vehicle slowly, with the front fascia hanging, after failing to remove it myself, into the adjacent parking lot. While there, a young man I only know as Harvey, who worked at the water quality facility in the center, drove over and offered to help me remove the front fascia so I might be able to drive the vehicle but by then I had called the tow truck. Both Donna and Harvey did not have to stop, take time out of their day and offer assistance but it says a lot about who they are and I certainly appreciate their willingness to do so. The professionals on the scene were impressive in the handling of their duties which, considering the circumstances, made things go smoothly and safely. A good outcome thanks to a lot of good people.
I have since learned that drivers speeding through the stop sign are not an unusual occurrence at that intersection. As my insurance adjustor stated, “I can’t believe there is a four-way stop at an intersection with five lanes.” Having a red flashing light attached to each stop sign especially on the Samuel Bowen Blvd. service road would be a good start in improving safety. If something is not done to address the problem next time the outcome might not be so good.
Jack Barnes
Ocean Pines
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Offshore Wind Would Bring Economic Growth
Editor:
Ocean City’s conversation on offshore wind energy misses important facts.
First, to oppose offshore wind in Maryland is to oppose General Electric bringing operations and maintenance jobs to the Lower Shore. That’s because GE Renewables has been selected to provide the turbines for Ørsted’s Skipjack Wind Farm. Ørsted has already committed to locating those operations and maintenance jobs in the Ocean City region. Ocean City shouldn’t be keeping Lower Shore workers from a good-paying jobs with an iconic American employer.
Second, to oppose offshore wind is to oppose new, steady paychecks in our community. That’s because offshore wind development in Maryland is estimated to support more than $1.5 billion in business and worker income in the state of Maryland, according to the Blue-Green Alliance.
To oppose offshore wind is to oppose $140 million local and state tax revenue that could fund better schools, road improvements, and police and fire services.
Lastly, to understand how offshore and tourism co-exist, look north to Block Island, Rhode Island. An independent study found that tourism has increased 18 percent since the Block Island Wind Farm went into operation in 2017.
In order to bring good paying jobs and economic growth back to the Lower Eastern Shore, we must support offshore wind.
Jared Schablein
Pittsville
(The writer is the chair of the Lower Shore Progressive Caucus.)
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Trump Take Surprising
Editor:
I was surprised by the letter from Richard Ruzicka, which appeared in the Nov. 8 edition. Our intelligence agencies were able to track the source of the hack back to Russia. In fact, Mueller indicted several of the Russian intelligence agents who committed the actual hack. Somehow the fact that the Meuller investigation was initiated by a Republican Acting Director of the FBI and that Robert Mueller himself is a lifelong Republican, this is somehow distorted into a plot by Democrats or Never Trumpers, I assume, to take Donald Trump down. And what are the alternative facts as Kellyanne Conway likes to say.
As I understand it, Clinton and/or the Democrats were involved in a conspiracy with folks in Ukraine to hack the Democrat Campaign Committee and distribute the material through Wikileaks. Why would Clinton and/or the Democrats want the Ukrainians to steal their secrets and them broadcast them to the world through Wikileaks? And how would this be harmful to Donald Trump regardless of who did the hacking?
Donald Trump seems to have a talent to get some people to believe really crazy things and to get them to act against their interests. I hate to say this, but our president is nothing but a con man who has been lying and cheating his entire life. Look at the record. Caught by the Justice Department refusing to allow minorities to rent in his buildings; participating in money laundering with the Russians following his bankruptcies; he was caught and fined doing this at one of his casinos; accused by 21 women of sexual assault; cheated on each of his three wives and paid hush money to a playmate and a porn star to keep this quiet before the 2016 election; created a scam called Trump University to cheat people with a claim they could learn Trump’s magic in real estate and paid $25 million to avoid a larger fine from the Court; and recently got caught dipping his fingers into his charity and using the money for personal use resulting in a $2 million dollar fine and a bar in New York State from serving on the board of any charity.
I have no idea why anyone would think he is an honest man who can be trusted with anything. But unfortunately, he is our president for now and we can only hope he does not damage the country and our relationships in the world more than he already has.
Jim Thomas
Silver Spring