CEO Named
BERLIN – The Coastal Association of REALTORS® (CAR) announced that Bernie Flax, CRS, WHC, RSPS, has joined its staff as the new chief executive officer to lead the association’s staff and serve its over 1,000 local REALTOR® and affiliate members.
Bernie Flax
Flax brings 17 years of local Maryland and Delaware real estate brokerage experience as well as many years of volunteer leadership within the community. As a member of CAR, she has served on committees as member and chairperson, as director on the board, and through the executive board serving as president in the 2018-2019 term while serving as a director on the Maryland REALTORS® Board of Directors.
Flax has also served on CAR’s strategic planning, search and opportunity and nominating committees and has been chairperson of the Coastal Realtors Charitable Foundation since it was created in 2018. Flax was a 12-year member of Coastal Delmarva Women’s Council of REALTORS® with two years as president and served Maryland State Women’s Council of REALTORS® as a state director and state secretary.
“I am humbled and very excited to have been selected by the National Association of REALTORS® to be interviewed and then selected by my peers for this position,” Flax said. “I look forward to working with the board, membership and Coastal staff as a team by providing exceptional service and valuable resources to our membership to continue assisting consumers obtain safe affordable housing and homeownership.”
In welcoming Flax, Grace Masten, president of the CAR Board of Directors, said, “Bernie Flax offers the ‘fresh eyes’ we were looking for to help move the Association into the future. Bernie’s expertise and the commitment she brings to our members is a ‘win-win’ for the Association. We are so proud and so very fortunate to have Bernie as our AE and I sincerely hope you will take a moment to welcome Bernie aboard.”
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Aviation Designation
BERLIN – Ocean Aviation Flight Academy, a world-class flight training institution on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, announced it has been rated a top 10 Cessna Pilot Center worldwide, ranking No. 4 in the list released by Textron Aviation.
A total of 100 Cessna Pilot Centers exist, with 89 located in the Unites States.
Top 10 Cessna Pilot Centers include: South Bay Aviation, Inc., Torrance, Calif., Sunstate Aviation, Inc., Kissimmee, Fla., Anson Air LLC, Sugar Land, Texas, Ocean Aviation, Inc., Berlin, Md., Wheelers R Flying LLC, Gainesville, Ga., Fly There LLC, Wheeling, Ill., Palm Beach Flight Training Corp, Lantana, Fla., Horizon Flight Training Center LLC, Chesapeake, Va., Endeavour Flight Training Inc., Opa-Locka, Fla., and Monarch Air, Addison, Texas.
“I honestly thought they were calling the wrong school when they told me Ocean Aviation made the top ten,” said Michael Freed, Ocean Aviation founder and president. “I am grateful to my team for their hard work and commitment to passing along our traditions to every individual who enrolls in our program.”
He continued, “My flight instructors are comprised of people who first came to the center as students and now have instilled the goodwill they experienced into their instruction.”
Freed also credits the high ranking to the academy’s Discovery Flight offering.
“When people come in and are interested in learning how to fly, we don’t waste any time,” said Freed. “We take them on a discovery flight so they can experience with their eyes wide open and their adrenaline going, what it feels like to fly. When we land and they want more, we have them enroll in the program.”
Ocean Aviation Flight Academy is in its 15th year of operation at the Ocean City Municipal Airport. With nine training aircraft in their fleet as well as a Redbird AATD full motion flight simulator, nine flight instructors, and fourteen on staff, they are well positioned to meet the needs of more than 70 enrolled students. For more information about Ocean Aviation, visit flyoceanaviation.com or call 410.213.8400.
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Artist Awarded
BERLIN – Beach Memories® Glass Gallery owner and artist in residence, Michele Krempa, has been awarded Judge’s Choice at the prestigious ArtX art festival in Ocean City, Md.
Her winning entry, glass octopus tentacles on steel, was created at Beach Memories® glass studio in Berlin, Md.
“I’m grateful for this award”, Krempa explained. “And as any artist would tell you, a recognition such as this helps to validate lots of hard work.”
The piece is titled “Tenti-Cool” (sounds like tentacle). The beautiful glass one-of-a-kind piece is in triptych form, meaning there are three separate panels that frame the art.
“Berlin, Maryland, has been the perfect spot for my apprentice artists working with me to create the glass jewelry lines I’ve designed,” Krempa added. “I continue to explore all forms of art glass making including lamp-work, fusing, slumping and blown glass techniques.”
Krempa has built a reputation for producing fine quality art glass on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Her glass jewelry, bowls, dishes, sun catchers and unique art pieces are presented in her gallery at 106 N Main St. in Berlin, Md. Her work is carried by over 200 retailers across the Caribbean and U.S. Visitors to the retail shop can observe Krempa’s trained artists performing the glass making process in the studio area.
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University Recognized
SALISBURY – Salisbury University (SU) has a “stellar reputation … [of] challenging courses” and provides “everything a student needs to succeed.”
These are some of the student comments about Salisbury University in The Princeton Review’s new 2023 edition of The Best 388 Colleges. The university is among the nation’s top 15% of four-year colleges, according to the Review’s flagship guide.
Spotlighted in the university’s review are the academic experience, the diversity of the student body, faculty commitment to students and scholarship, SU’s dedication to student success, and the variety of student life activities available. Students applauded the campus as a place where their peers are “academically driven and focused,” cultivating a cooperative environment.
SU also provides many multicultural resources, contributing to an atmosphere in which diverse students “feel very comfortable and involved,” the guide added.
For the second time, SU’s Patricia R. Guerrieri Academic Commons was rated among the best collegiate libraries in the U.S. (No. 23) in the new edition. In addition, The Princeton Review again named SU one of its “Best Northeastern Colleges” and among the nation’s “Green Colleges.” The sustainable accolade is an honor SU has earned each year since The Princeton Review first offered it in 2010.
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Planner Accreditation
SALISBURY – Becker Morgan Group Associate Emily Purdum, AIA, recently received the Accredited Learning Environments Planner (ALEP) designation, a mark of excellence developed to reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of an educational facility planner.
The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), the creator of the ALEP credential, observes, “An individual
Emily Purdum
who has been certified by A4LE has achieved the highest qualification in our profession. Clients can appoint ALEPs with confidence that they have been examined for competence by our association.”
Purdum joined Becker Morgan Group in 2014 and has worked on several of the firm’s most significant education projects over the last eight years. Currently, she serves as a project manager on numerous K-12 schools, including the New Capital School District Consolidated Middle Schools project and Wicomico High School HVAC renovations.
Purdum joined the A4LE Chesapeake Bay/Delaware Valley Chapter in 2018 and currently serves as president-elect after serving as a board member at large since 2021. Purdum is driven by the opportunity to design educational spaces that support student success and looks forward to implementing lessons learned from her recent courses.