2012-02-16 Calvert Gazette

FireFighter Picked For ‘Biggest Loser’ resort

GazetteEverything Calvert County

Calvert

Page 8

February 16, 2012

Priceless

Thursday, February 16, 2012 2The Calvert Gazette

Also Inside

3 County News7 Business7 Community8 Feature Story9 Newsmakers10 Obits11 Education12 Games13 Letters14 Entertainment15 Fishing

entertainmentLast comic standing veterans Tammy Pescatelli and Jeff Maurer will be coming to Calvert County for a one-night stand during the fourth annual Comedy Invasion for Project Gradation this Saturday.

On The CoverMonk Wells with his son, Mason. Wells coached his son in flag football last year despite his concern over not being able to do the things he asked of his players. “I needed to stop hiding.”

Louie, the Bowie Baysox mascot, greets Our Lady Star of the Sea School students after per-forming a skit on why he chose baseball as his favorite sport.

education

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Thursday, February 16, 20123 The Calvert Gazette COUNTYNEWSHigh-Speed Chase

Ends in Calvert

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By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

A high-speed chase that went up to 100 miles an hour involving a suspect from Hollywood traversed three counties before state troopers and Calvert County sheriff’s deputies ended it in the northern portion of the county last week.

The suspect, Ronald Edward Wood, 52, netted a total of 28 charges, including driving under the influence of drugs, nu-merous speeding violations, negligent and reckless driving and running a red light, according to the arresting trooper.

Trooper First Class Joseph Wilson, stationed in Upper Marlboro, began the chase in Prince George’s County when Wood passed him at a high rate of speed.

“I caught up with him and he was do-ing 95 miles an hour,” Wilson said, adding that Wood refused to pull over despite the troopers emergency lights ordering him to.

“He just continued to do 95,” the trooper told the Calvert Gazette.

The chase stopped initially at Town Center Boulevard in Dunkirk, Wilson said, when Wood stopped at the traffic sig-nal; but when Wilson tried to block Wood in the suspect allegedly sped off, ignoring his orders to come out of the vehicle.

The chase continued until additional units from the Calvert sheriff’s office in-tercepted Wood and used what is called a

PIT (pursuit interven-tion technique) maneu-ver to stop the fleeing vehicle.

In a PIT maneu-ver, police ram the rear end of a vehicle in pur-suit in a certain manner that causes the vehicle to spin around 180 de-grees, causing the driver to stop.

“They pitted the car for the safety of others on the road,” Lt. Steve Jones, commander of the Calvert Investigative Team said.

Wilson said when officers finally brought an end to the chase, Wood gave up without much of a struggle but seemed confused and incoherent. A Calvert Ga-zette reporter was on the scene, and wit-nessed numerous officers ordering Wood out of the vehicle with their guns drawn.

Field tests showed he had no alcohol in his system but a drug recognition ex-pert called to the scene suspected that he was under the influence of drugs, Wilson said.

The chase went through Prince George’s Anne Arundel and finally Cal-vert, police said, with 12 of the 28 charges against Wood coming from Calvert.

[email protected]

O’Donnell Calls Hoyer’s Comment ‘Imbecilic’By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

The Republican chal-lenger running to unseat House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer slammed the veteran representative for comments made in the press that passing a federal budget is unnecessary to continue running the country.

In a recent article on the conservative website CNSNews.com, Hoyer was quoted as saying: “The fact is you don’t need a budget. We can adopt appro-priations bills. We can adopt authorization policies without a budget. We already have an agreed-upon cap on spending.”

Del. Anthony O’Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) called Hoyer’s comments “imbecilic” in a statement from his campaign.

“It is no wonder our debt is now over $16 tril-lion dollars. Our congressman failed to pass a bud-get when he was House Majority Leader with a Democratic senate and president and now we know why,” O’Donnell stated, accusing Hoyer of wanting a “blank check” for favored programs.

Hoyer was quoted in the original story as say-ing that Republicans failed to pass budgets in 2005 and 2006 but O’Donnell fired back by saying GOP members did pass bills in those years.

Todd Eberly, a professor of political science at

St. Mary’s College of Mary-land, said that Hoyer is cor-rect but not passing a budget is a poor way to do business.

“He is technically cor-rect, they can continue to op-erate without a budget,” said Eberly. “It’s not a good way to do it.”

Passing continuing resolutions is a way for both parties to criticize the bud-gets of any president without

actually putting out their own budgets for equally tough scrutiny, Eberly said.

It is a political reality at the federal level, he said, because any budget that deals with the deficit and crippling national debt would be unpopular.

“Our finances are so bad that it would be im-possible to put forward a responsible budget without angering people,” Eberly said.

Congress passed the Budget Impoundment and Control Act in 1974 to take back power from the executive branch when it came to the budgeting pro-cess, Eberly said, but failing to pass a budget dimin-ished confidence in Congress’s ability to govern.

“It doesn’t encourage long term planning or discipline and it doesn’t encourage confidence with foreign investors or credit ratings agencies,” Eberly said.

Maureen Beach, spokesperson for Hoyer, said that congress has already acted to control spending.

“Congress passed the Budget Control Act in August, which set our budget for this fiscal year,” she said.

Del. Anthony O’Donnell

Photo by Sean RiceIn this image, damage can be seen on the front end of a Calvert Sheriff’s vehicle and at the rear of Wood’s pickup truck caused by a PIT maneuver.



Speed enforcement cameras made their debut in Chesapeake Beach on Feb. 10 after months of planning, said Town Administra-tor James Parent, in an effort to curb speed-ers as they come upon Beach Elementary School.

Parent said that the hill just before the entrance into town often forces people to increase their speed to crest it, but that can cause them to break the 30-mile-per-hour limit there.

“They go over that hill speeding … and all of a sudden you’re in a school zone,” Par-ent said.

Calvert County sheriff’s deputies were on station with the speed cameras last week testing them against their radar sensors and, Parent said, they functioned properly.

Though the cameras were installed on the side of the road in a very visible position, motorists will still have 30-days before the

cameras will take pictures of speeders that can be used to dole out citations.

“It’s a 30-day get-used-to-it period,” Parent said, adding that the pictures taken by the cameras go to a police review before any tickets are mailed to speeders.

“If you are 12 miles over the speed limit … they can send you a ticket,” Parent said. “They [defendants] have the right to go to court and the police will go to court, too.”

Parent said he has received only one call in opposition to the cameras but that they have re-ceived broad support otherwise.

“This has been going on since last summer … it’s just that it took this long to get it started because of the permits we had to get,” Parent said. “The overall reaction of the town council and the people was it was a good thing.

“It’s not been a secret,” he said.

[email protected]

Speed Cameras Go Up in Chesapeake Beach


Allstate Insurance Company won its bid in the Court of Ap-peals to continue the practice of not selling homeowners’ insur-ance in Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore because those areas lay in potential paths of ex-treme magnitude hurricanes.

The court reported recently its opinion in the case brought against Allstate by the state’s Peo-ple’s Insurance Counsel Division. One of the judges wrote a separate opinion that both concurs with court’s ruling but also dissents on several key points.

The plaintiff argued that All-state’s practice of exclusion of the counties was discriminatory.

The majority opinion of the Court of Appeals affirmed an earlier decision by the Maryland Insurance Commissioner that All-state was reasonable in its decision to deny new insurance policies, because it produced probability

models to show it could not economically sustain the risk of the new policies.

Allstate argued that it used probability models, instead of actual evidence, when deciding to reject new policies because hurricanes in Maryland are a rare event and actual statistics are not in abundance, according to the latest court reports.

Judge Glenn T. Harrell, in his dissenting opin-ion, likened Allstate’s worries about devastating hurricanes in the Chesapeake Bay area, and the lack of evidence thereof, to fearing the damage Godzilla would wreck upon Japan.

“Although my opening analogy is silly, it is so intentionally to illustrate my view that the [Insur-ance] Commissioner’s and this court’s approval of Allstate’s discriminatory decision is wrongheaded,” Harrell wrote. “Recorded history on the subject shows, again and again, that a catastrophic hurricane … has not made landfall in Maryland yet.”

Harrell pointed out that Allstate’s computer model predicted such a hurricane would “make land-fall in Maryland every 25,000 years,” yet the court still affirmed their business decision.

“The basis for this decision is folly,” Harrell wrote. “The decision contravenes precedent, which requires insurers to justify the withdrawal of a line of insurance in less then the entire state with a statisti-cal basis grounded in probability, not hypotheticals.”

[email protected]

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Thursday, February 16, 20125 The Calvert Gazette

Our Lady Star of the Sea School

A private, co-educational Catholic

school located in historic southern Maryland.

Now enrolling Pre-K through grade 8.

Ph 410-326-3171

Our Lady Star of the SeaP.O. Box 560, 90 Alexander LaneSolomons, MD 20688www.olsss.org

From points north:Take Route 2/4 south toward Solomons. Take the last exit before crossing the Patuxent River on the Thomas Johnson Bridge (it is a right exit) following the signs to Rt. 2 South/Solomons Island. At the stop sign, turn left onto the access road. Take the first right onto Rt. 2 Solomons Island Road. Turn left on Alexander Lane from Rt 2/Solomons Island Road and the church and school will be on the right.

From points south:Take Route 2/4 north toward Solomons. Cross the Thomas Johnson Bridge. Take the first exit after crossing the bridge toward Rt. 2 South/Solomons Island. Turn right at the stop sign onto Rt. 2 Solomons Island Road. Turn left on Alexander Lane from Rt 2/Solomons Island Road and the church and school will be on the right.

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Join us on Tuesday, Feb. 21OPEN HOUSE & Pancake Supper5pm to 7pmand find out how we can help prepare your child for a successful future.Individual Tours by AppointmentTours Available Call for details: PH 410-326-3171

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Open House Join us on Wednesday, Feb.1 and find out how we can help prepare your child for a successful future.

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9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. Classroom Tours


Drug Card Program May Provide County Extra Cash

School Funding Starts With Maintenance of Effort

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By Sarah MillerStaff Writer

Along with the possibility of counties becoming responsible for funding teacher pensions, there is an effort in Annapolis to clarify the state’s Maintenance of Effort re-quirement on counties.

Maintenance of Effort (MOE) is the bottom-line funding counties are required to supply to local schools. It is a per-pupil funding level, with an adjustment made for the number of students.

Unlike other counties, Calvert uses its own funding formula to determine the school’s budget instead of starting with MOE and building from there. Calvert’s lo-cal formula has consistently worked out to be greater than the state MOE, though the formula expired this year, according to the county’s Department of Finance and Bud-get Director Tim Hayden.

The Board of Education is currently working with the county to create a new formula, though there is still work to be done before a new formula can be agreed upon.

“I would always think that would be our starting point,” Hayden said of the state’s MOE formula.

Under MOE, each student accounts for a specific percentage of the money given to

the schools, and when the student leaves the district, that percent is subtracted from the next year’s MOE number.

Counties that fail to fund the school district at MOE once had the threat of los-ing some state funding, but with state fund-ing dropping with the economy, Hayden said there is less incentive for counties to fund schools at MOE. Last year, he said seven counties did not meet MOE funding.

Hayden said there is a waiver counties can seek if they will not meet MOE although not all counties that failed to meet MOE re-quested a waiver.

Superintendent Jack Smith said schools are also penalized when not funded at MOE by the counties, and he hopes legislation can provide a fix, so schools will not be penal-ized when counties fail to meet the formula.

A flyer from Maryland Association of Boards of Education and other organiza-tions details the goals for fixing MOE. They include: helping school districts with find-ing and applying for new revenue sources; reviewing the waiver process counties can go through if they can not meet MOE; mak-ing sure school funding calculations do not include retirement and pension costs; and, reviewing the process counties go through to obtain a waiver.

[email protected]


Customers won’t be losing any ben-efits, but changes and even additional sav-ings could be on the horizon for Calvert’s Prescription Drug Discount Program.

Calvert County has been offered two options moving forward with the program offered by the National Association of Coun-ties (NACo) – either keep the program as it is, or sign on with a change that would give the county money every time a prescription is filled through the program.

NACo Director of Membership Mar-keting Andrew Goldschmidt said custom-ers using the cards will see no change if the county chooses to go with the revenue shar-ing program, giving the county money each time a prescription is filled. The savings they get will not decrease. For customers in counties choosing to stay with their current plan, customers may see a slight increase in the savings they get.

Calvert County Department of Com-munity Resources Director Maureen Hoff-man said the county has not decided what option they will take; they are still weighing the costs and the benefits. Ultimately, they will take the decision to the Board of County Commissioners.

“We’ve been very happy with it,” she said.

Calvert County has been involved in the program since July 2009. Goldschmidt said between 300 and 400 prescriptions are filled per month through the program for the county.

According to the county’s website, sav-ings average 22 percent per prescription and more than 59,000 pharmacies nationwide ac-cept the card, including Wal-Mart and other chain and independent pharmacies. The cards are available to all county residents and there is no enrollment form, membership fee, age requirement and or limit of the card’s use.

If the county chooses the revenue shar-ing option, officials can use the money how-ever they see fit.

Hoffman said she hopes the money would go toward benefiting Calvert County residents and health initiatives.

She said she believes NACo is offering the new option as a way to remain competi-tive in the face of the “uptick” in companies and entrepreneurs offering similar programs. Goldschmidt confirmed her theory, saying there are other companies offering similar programs, and NACo waited until they had an option that would not negatively impact the customers using the program before they rolled it out.

For more information, visit www.co.cal.md.us/prescriptiondrugcard.asp.

[email protected]


By Corrin M. HoweStaff Writer

Electronic Recycling Days can sound like a mixed blessing to Calvert County Res-idents concerned with protecting personal information stored on devices; however, there is a way residents can take advantage of these days without giving up peace of mind, according to Jim Frost, from R-Tech Consulting, LLC.

“The safest thing to do is to take out the hard drive,” said Frost. “Hard drives don’t take up a lot of space. Drill a hole through the hard drive. That’s the standard for destroying.”

Some companies have programs which can wipe off a hard drive. Frost admits that most people are probably not as careful as they should be to protect themselves before recycling electronics.

R-Tech Consulting is been in the busi-ness of helping small busi-nesses of 10 or less employees with their computer needs. They serve Calvert and Prince George’s counties along with Virginia and Washington,

D.C. by building new networks and main-taining current networks.

“Rich (the owner) says that you have to maintain your networks just like your car,” said Frost. “Similar to changing oil and checking the engine, our service monthly service contracts make sure the computers have their Microsoft and anti-virus updates and can back up and replace all the com-pany’s data.”

Frost said he takes advantage of the county recycling location at Mt. Hope. But he’s sure to remove his cli-ents’ hard drives first.

Electronics Recycling Day SetThe Calvert County Department of Public Works, Division of Solid Waste, is hosting

an electronics recycling collection day on Saturday, Feb. 18, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at two county locations – the Appeal Landfill at 401 Sweetwater Road in Lusby and Huntingtown High School at 4125 Solomons Island Road in Huntingtown.

The event will give Calvert County residents and businesses the opportunity to safely dispose of consumer electronics items free of charge, a county press release states.

Common electronics items accepted include computers and printers, cable and satel-lite receivers, stereos, televisions and monitors, battery backups, fax machines, DVD play-ers, cash registers and point-of-sale systems, scanners, game systems, cell phones, printer cartridges and rechargeable batteries. Collection is limited to Calvert County residents and businesses only.

For more information, call the Calvert County Department of Public Works, Division of Solid Waste, at 410-326-0210 or visit the Calvert County website at www.co.cal.md.us.

Buffalo Wild Wings Donates to Habitat

Community

Alan Shirley, General Manager for the new Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Lexington Park, along with his staff, presented Pamela Shubert, Execu-tive Director of Patuxent Habitat for Humanity, with a check for $1,602. Buffalo Wild Wings chose Habitat for Hu-manity as their charity to donate a portion of the proceeds of sales from their opening weekend to assist Habitat in their mission of providing safe, decent, affordable housing in Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties.

Protect Personal Info Before Recycling Electronics


STORY

Support Made Local a Winner in ‘Biggest Loser’By Corrin M. HoweStaff Writer

When Merrill “Monk” Wells, 34, had knee surgery 14 months ago the nurse asked how much he weighed. He thought he was over 400 pounds.

“The nurse said, ‘I have news for you, the bed scale goes up to 550 pounds. You are over that.’ … I knew then I needed to change,” Wells told the Calvert Gazette.

In the past year he’s lost at least 100 pounds, getting down to his current weight of 450. He’s been using Body by Vi and walking at least an hour every day. When the Biggest Loser Resort in Malibu, Calif., announced its “A Year of You” video con-test on Facebook, he decided to give it a shot.

The resort accepted150 videos through December 2011. Online voting whittled the videos down to the top 30 and the judges picked the final 10 winners to spend four weeks at the resort.

“Why is The Biggest Loser Resort giving away four weeks free to 10 people? Well, it's simple, because we CARE! So many people struggle with weight-related issues for the primary reason that they have been unable to put themselves first. Whether because of financial, physical or emotional challenges, a major stumbling block for overweight individuals tends to be the same - an unbalanced lifestyle,” the announcement on The Biggest Loser Resort blog reads.

Wells said he shot his video 15 times before he had the one he wanted to submit. Prior to the contest, no one in his family knew how much he weighed. He wouldn’t allow his fiancée, Jessie Jones, or 5-year-old son, Mason, to be in the room while he did his video.

“They would start the camera for me and then run out of the room,” Wells said.

He waited until the final days of the contest to submit his video and he tried to keep it “private” on Facebook because he didn’t want his family and friends to see it. However, he received a call from the contest saying he’d have to open his video up for everyone to see.

“I got two comments right away,” Wells chuckled.

He was surprised by how the commu-nity embraced him. He started receiving positive comments on his Facebook page telling him how he had become a role mod-el to others who were struggling with their weight.

“It’s been great. Finally I can give back. It’s nice to talk to others,” Wells said.

The online voting started Jan. 1, 2012 and ended on Jan. 15. About halfway through the voting period the resort started posting the voting results. The first set of results came back and Wells was in second place. Then both his local commu-nity and digital community be-gan spreading the word about Wells’ participation in the contest.

“They could vote once ev-ery 24 hours. I’m overwhelmed by the amount of support from

the community,” he said.In his qualifying video, Wells spoke

about how he was a firefighter and had al-ways put everyone’s health and safety above his own. He asked those who watched the video to “help a firefighter save himself.”

A similar message spread through dig-ital communities. “Firefighter needs help.”

The results of the voting were posted daily and Wells took over the top spot for the rest of the voting portion of the contest.

“My goal was to be number one. In my mind being number one meant they (judg-es) had to pick me as one of the 10 winners.”

When the contest posted the top 30 vote recipients, they listed them in alpha-

betical order, so Monk didn’t know where he fell at the end of the voting period. He hoped since he held the top spot for all but one day, that he was still number one at the end.

“January 15 through the 30 was a wait-ing game,” he said.

The day the winners were announced was difficult. One of the girls had “put her-self out there” by being in the media. She was on a morning news show and was told that she was one of the 10 winners. Wells said it was afternoon and he still hadn’t re-ceived a call, so he was trying not to lose hope. He was on the way to the county dump at 2 p.m. when he got the call that he

was also a winner.Out of respect for his

new friends he met as a re-sult of the contest, he didn’t announce his selection to the public. By 4 p.m. “My phone was blowing up,” Wells said. The official announcement was made and he was listed as number one.

He will be the first of ten winners who will spend four weeks at The Biggest Loser Resort. He leaves March 4 and returns sometime in April. The return day hasn’t been finalized.

“I feel more pressure.

Nine other people have four or five months to get themselves in better shape before they get their butts kicked. But then that’s the reason why we are all going out there because we aren’t there yet.”

Although he’s looking forward to go-ing to the resort and learning about what he can do better, he’s also dreading leaving his son for a month.

“He’s everything to me. But it is the right thing to do,” he said.

The resort sent him a schedule indi-cating that he would not be free until 7 p.m. during the weeknights, and with the three-hour time difference it will mean he won’t have a chance to talk to his son as often as he would like. Wells said he’s already made some videos and written letters for those nights when he can’t call.

Wells said one of the things he’s most proud of is that he came away from the contest in the number one spot with the help of his local community and on his own. He tried not to be discouraged when the other contestants went on television, gave interviews and received celebrity endorsements.

It was “100 percent community sup-ported. Every time I went on Facebook I have a message from people I don’t know. The Red Octopus sent me a message ask-ing when I leave,” he said, adding he was surprise by the “amount of people I don’t know who said ‘You’re the one.’”

“Pay It Forward”Wells is a Captain at Fort Detrick

Fire Department at Forest Glen Station 54 (formerly known as Walter Reed). He moved to Calvert during high school and graduated from Northern and has served in Calvert’s volunteer fire departments for 14 years. Last year he coached the Hunting-town Hornets flag football team and he’s

considering coaching T-ball this year.“As a captain at work, I try to lead by

example. I don’t ask them to do what I’m not willing to do. I’ve played sports all my life. I realized I needed to stop hiding.”

He said that the scale was the enemy for a long time. He didn’t want to know the truth. He’s battled with his weight all his life. Six years ago he got down to 230 pounds, which is still considered overweight for a male 6’3”. He wants to be a good role model for his son.

Before he even leaves for the resort he’s already trying to “pay it forward.” He started his own support group using Body by Vi. He has 25 people who have their own Facebook group and they have “challenge parties” once a month. He’s working with the local community center to have a space to meet once a month with others.

He feels that he’s starting a new chap-ter in his life. He wants the happy ending that includes bringing back to the commu-nity that supported him what he learned from the resort “to keep others supported and healthy.”

He said anyone wanting support and encouragement in their weight loss jour-ney can feel free to contact him through his website http://monkwells.bodybyvi.com.

[email protected]

Monk Wells with his son, Mason.


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Prince Frederick’s Carol M. Porto Treatment Center is a short and long term residential and outpatient program for adult men and women with alcohol and drug treatment problems. The program’s docu-mented success has drawn the attention of Peter Jennings of ABC News and 10 other states wanting to set up similar centers, ac-cording to Porto.

Porto, a nationally recognized ex-pert on substance abuse treatment, said she started off in Prince George’s County. Judges in Calvert County sent many of their DWI offenders to her for treatment. At one point, the Calvert government studied Porto’s center, planning to open its own fa-cility. Instead, they put the program out for

bid. Porto incorporated herself and bid on the project.

From 1992 to 2006, the program oper-ated out of what is now the Calvert Deten-tion Center which houses the work release inmates.

“It evolved to other drugs besides al-cohol and other charges. Basically for those needing minimum security and custodial care,” said Porto.

During this period the jails were over-crowded and those with addictions were serving unproductive time incarcerated and still coming out addicted.

Many studies from graduate students up through the state found that Porto’s pro-grams had an 80 percent success rate. Peo-ple having gone through her treatment cen-ter did not have another arrest or any illegal involvement for five years after leaving.

Porto contributes the success of the treatment to researched based and tested ap-proaches, continuing care and probation. As far as the continuing care, the center hooks

patients up with NA and AA programs to help them stay with their new habits. The center also offers a bookstore with books for recovery. The probation piece is another form of accountability outside the treat-ment program. The patients know that they can be tested at the center or through their probation officer.

In 2006, the Calvert County Board of Commissioners decided not to continue paying for the program. At that time Porto had to make the transition to a private treat-ment facility. It was a challenge, but the center survived, according to Porto who said, “It was a little miracle after miracle.”

In order to stay open, the center expanded its services to include short-term, long-term residential and outpatient programs.

“We are really blessed to recruit high level staff with Master’s degrees. At this level of care you need a higher level of ex-perience. We have a low turnover and cross trained our staff to work in other areas.”

Porto also credits help from previous board members, community members, churches and volunteers.

Located in the Prince Frederick Town Center, the building has 48 beds, is within walking distance of Main Street and has a weight room, recreation room for men and women, rooms for handicapped and a chapel.

Carol Porto is a Master of Addictions Counselor with 24 years experience in implementing short and long term residential treatment.


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Darlene Bowen, 66, Darlene Mary Bowen, 66,

of Huntingtown, MD passed away Feb. 9, 2012 at Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick, MD with her family by her side.

She was born July 26, 1945, in Washington, D.C. to James Edward and Mary Frances (Mockabee) Jones, was raised in Calvert County and attended Calvert High School.

She had known Lawrence S. Bowen since 1963 and they had been companions since 1980, and were married January 26, 1991. In her leisure time Darlene enjoyed crafts, and found her greatest pride and joy in her family.

Darlene was preceded in death by her parents and by a son Kevin Bowen, formerly of Pennington Gap, VA.

She is survived by her husband Lawrence S. Bowen, sisters Dorothy Ramsey (late husband Milton “Buck” Ramsey, Jr.) and Denise Mardock (Marvin) of Austin, TX; a brother Johnny Buscher (Della) of Berkeley Springs, WV; daughters Tammy Comber and husband Darrold of Glen Burnie, MD and Terry McKeaver and husband Gerald of Huntingtown; son Ronald Bowen and wife Trina of Kingsport, TN; grandchildren Thomas (Boots) Rickett Jr. and wife Lori of St. Leonard, MD, Roy Rickett of Hunting-town, Greg Rickett of Prince Frederick, and Kristina (Nina) McKeaver of Huntingtown; a niece Debbie Sutton and husband Joe of Huntingtown and nephews Jim Ramsey of Prince Frederick and Milton (Bucky) Ramsey, III and wife Nancy of Prince Frederick.

Friends and family were received on Feb. 15 at Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., 8325 Mt. Harmony Lane, Owings, MD, where a memorial service and celebra-tion of Darlene’s life followed. Interment Southern Memorial Gardens in Dunkirk will be private.

Expressions of sympathy in Darlene’s name may be made to Calvert Hospice at www.calverthospice.org.

Billie Cox, 75Billie J. Cox, 75, of Hun-

tingtown, MD passed away Feb. 7, 2012 at Calvert Memorial Hospital.

She was born Jan. 8, 1937 in Radford, VA to James Clinton and Virginia (Radcliff) Myers.

She received her education in Radford and graduated from Radford High School in 1953. Billie married E. Clinton Cox December 24, 1954 in Indian Valley, VA., and they moved to Calvert County in 1955. Billie was a wedding planner for a while but was primarily a homemaker. In her leisure time she enjoyed gardening, traveling and camping. Her passions were her children, grandchil-dren and her numerous pets. Billie was a charter mem-ber of Huntingtown VFD Ladies Auxiliary and a for-mer member of the Huntingtown Homemakers Club.

Billie was preceded in death by her parents and a brother Jack Myers.

Surviving are her husband Clinton Cox, Sr. of Huntingtown; six children, Clinton Cox, Jr. and his wife Millie of Huntingtown, Patricia White and her husband Steve of Dayton, MD, Sandy Sams and her husband Joey of Prince Frederick, Karen Dickersheid and her husband Bob of Lititz, PA, Terry Cox and his wife Susan of Prince Frederick and Dawn Cox of Dunkirk; 11 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; three sisters, Melba Jenkins of Leonardtown, Margaret Poston and her husband Harry of Richmond, VA and Sue Wood and her husband Billy Joe of Leonardtown; and a brother Wayne Myers and his wife Tammy of Mechanicsville.

Friends were received on Feb. 10, 2012, at Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., 8325 Mt. Harmony Lane, Owings, MD where services and a celebration of Billie’s life was held Saturday February 11, 2012. Interment followed at Southern Memorial Gardens, Dunkirk, MD.

Memorial contributions may be made to Lilly Pond Foal Rescue, 3655 Ferry Landing Road, Dunkirk, MD 20754.

Henrietta Ellis, 85

Henrietta “Aunt Henri” T. Ellis of Port Republic, Maryland, died on Feb. 10, 2012, at the age of 85.

She was born on Sept. 7, 1926 in Rostraver Township, Penn., to Louis and Wilma (McClintock) Thompson.

Henrietta loved being outdoors and was a big baseball fan of the Baltimore Orioles. She loved to cook and bake for her family.

She is the loving mother of Gary Ellis and his wife, Sally and the late Mark A. Ellis. She is the de-voted grandmother of Gary “Clif” Ellis and his wife, Jeannie and sister of Dorothy Moraco and Mary Oblex.

The family received friends at Lee Funeral Home, Calvert in Owings on Feb. 15, where Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 10 am. Interment will follow at Chesapeake Highlands Memorial Gar-dens, Port Republic, MD.

Memorial contributions in Ms. Ellis’ memory may be made to the: Solomons Nursing Center, Attn: Activities Department, P O Box 1509, Solomons, MD 20688.

Salvatore Genovese, 77

Salvatore “Sam” John Genovese, 77, of Lothian passed away on Feb. 11, 2012 at his home.

He was born September 14, 1934 in Baltimore, MD to Joseph and Anna Frances (Bor-dine) Genovese.

He was raised in Baltimore and attended Baltimore Pub-lic Schools. Sam married Faye Marie Kronawetter in Baltimore September 24, 1952 and they resided in Glen Burnie, moving to Huntingtown in the early 1980’s, then Lusby. Fay passed away July 26, 2002. He has resided in Lothian for the past several years. Sam married Evelyn Marie Saunders on Dec. 23, 2003 and they separated in 2011. Sam was employed as carpenter with Bay Mills Construction Company. In his leisure Sam enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was a member of All Season Rod & Gun Club.

Surviving are his daughters Denise M. Weber, Debra (Debbie) A. Connell both of Lothian and San-dra D. Baunler of Macon, GA; three grandchildren; six great grandchildren and a sister Clara Jones of Rose-dale, MD.

Friends were received on Feb. 14, at Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., 8325 Mt. harmony Lane, Ow-ings, MD where services followed. Interment will be private.

Cora Nation, 73

Cora Lee Nation, 73, of North Beach, MD passed away on Feb. 9, 2012 at her home. She was born May 8, 1938 in Geary, Oklahoma to Ben and Vida (Ro-man Nose) RedBuffalo.

She received her early education in Geary Schools and attended the University of Maryland at College Park. Cora served in the United States Navy from Sept. 30, 1957 until being discharged in May 5, 1961 and has lived in Maryland since. She was mar-ried to James Nation in June of 1979 and they made North Beach their home. She was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish in Prince Frederick.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a son Parrish Ricci and brothers Ronnie and Benny RedBuffalo.

Surviving are her husband James Nation; children Donna Nicholson and her husband Jeff of Gambrills. MD, Luke B. Nation of Washington, DC and Jacqueline R. Platt and her husband David of Pittsburg, PA; grandchildren Jennifer and Christine Nicholson of Gambrills, MD and John, Claudia, Theodore and Julia Platt of Pittsburg, PA and sisters Maxine Condulle and her husband Claude of Okla-homa City, OK, Betty White of Arapaho, OK and Mona Montassam of Albuquerque, NM.

Friends were received on Feb. 13, at Rausch Funeral Home, Owings, MD. Funeral service and a celebration of Cora’s life was held Feb. 14, 2012 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Parish, 231 Church Street, Prince Frederick, MD.

Interment will be in Geary Cemetery, Geary, Oklahoma.

Memorials contributions may be made to St. Labre Indian School, P.O. Box 216, Ashland, Mon-tana 59004.

Barbara Zanelotti, 71

Barbara Ann Zanelotti, 71, of Prince Frederick, MD formerly of District Heights, MD passed away on Feb. 9, 2012 in St. Mary’s Hospital, Leonard-town, MD.

She was born on May 26, 1940 in Washing-ton, DC to the late Jerome L. and Margaret Maud Zanelotti.

Barbara attended Suitland High School and moved from Prince George’s Co. in 1977 to Calvert Co. where she was a homemaker. She loved reading, working puzzles, and playing bingo.

Barbara is survived by her children, Cathy Keyes of Florida, David Jimney and wife Lori of Lusby, MD, and Carl Jimney of Upper Marlboro, MD; siblings, Jerry Zanelotti and wife Nancy of White Plains, MD, Dee Hoofnagle and husband Kenny of Lusby, MD, Gerald and Paul Kala of Greenbackville, VA, and Lucy Walsh and husband John of Berlin, MD; seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

The family will receive friends on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 from 10:30 – 11 AM in Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Solomons, MD where a Me-morial Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 AM. Interment will be private.

Arrangements provided by Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., Lusby, MD.



Superintendent Jack Smith is calling for Calvert County to in-crease school funding by at least $1 million next year.

Smith gave a presentation to the board of education last week, explaining the need to hire and retain staff, in addition to the funding needed for a support person for a new system throughout the schools that “talks” to other systems and self-regulates to a degree.

“The fact is, school funding is very perilous right now,” Smith said.

He said he will be officially presenting a proposed school bud-get within a couple weeks to allow both the Board of Education and the Board of County Commissioners the opportunity to comment on it. He said between the draft budget being presented and the final budget being adopted, it will change “a lot.”

The district also hired a new Registered Nurse last year, and funds are needed to keep her on staff. There is also a need for more special education teachers, Smith said.

State funding is formula-driven by state wealth and student population. With state wealth holding steady, if not rising, and the Calvert student population decreasing “it will fall on county govern-ment,” to help the district, Smith said.

Also during the meeting, district spokeswoman Gail Bennett briefed the board on upcoming legislation to keep an eye on.

One proposed bill, House Bill 370, would require a child’s Body Mass Index to be measured, along with currently required immu-nizations, before entering school. There is also potential legislation that could open high school athletic programs to teens in parochial schools or those that are home schooled. Other legislation proposes to increase school bus length of operation from 12 to 15 years.

The next Board of Education meeting will be Feb. 23. For more information, visit www.calvertnet.k12.md.us.

[email protected]


Bowie Baysox Mascot Louie skipped into the meeting room of Our Lady Star of the Sea and planted a kiss on the top of a teacher’s head before heading up to the stage to re-enact his poem about why he chose baseball.

The event was to kick-off OLSS “Read and Hit A Home-run” reading challenge which nets students a free ticket to a Baysox’s baseball game on coun-ty reading night later in the year.

Dressed in an orange base-ball uniform shirt, the Commu-nity Program Manager Kate Mil-stead greeted preschool through eighth grade students as they filed into the room.

“He has big shoes!” one pre-schooler said.

Milstead asked how big he thought the shoes were and re-ceived the response, “Size 145.” The adults in the room laughed as she promised to go back to the office and check. The unsolic-ited comment from the little one ironically predicted one of the

Spotlight On

Superintendent Says Another Million Needed for Schools


The Calvert County Board of Education honored teachers with 20 years of service or more under their belts during the 37th Annual Service Awards on Feb. 9.

The honorees reached 20, 30 and even 40 years of service with Calvert County Public Schools. The 40-year honorees were Andrea “Chris’ Banks, Larry Barker, Sha-ron Godfrey and Iris Harris.

Barker spent 19 years in the classroom, and spent the rest of his tenure in administrative positions. He said his most rewarding years were spent working with students in the classroom because as a vice principal or a principal he sees a lot of discipline cases and “undesir-able” types of students.

Maureen Cassidy, a 20-year veteran with the school district, said the best part about teaching is seeing the kids change and learn, and said the evolution during high school, from freshman to senior, is “amazing.”

“I’ve done everything,” she said. “I’ve taught elementary, middle and high school and I love them all.”

In keeping of this year’s theme of “time”, each honoree received a clock in thanks for their years of service.

Board of Education President Rose Crunkle-ton detailed the parallel evolution of Calvert Coun-ty and the school district.

Forty years ago, she said, Northern High School opened as the second high school in the

county, hand held calculators became available and “Title Nine” decreed that schools could not discriminate based on gender. Thirty years ago, there were two grocery stores in the county and books with offensive or inappropriate material could not be found in the library. Twenty-five years ago, Patuxent High School opened and 20 years ago, there was no e-mail, no No Child Left Behind and Patuxent Elementary and Plum Point Middle School just opened.

Crunkleton and other officials in attendance congratulated the honorees for integrating a num-ber of game-changing initiatives from the national and state level while lasting as long as they have.

[email protected]

Teachers With 20-Plus Years Honored

Baysox Mascot Visits OLSS

Photos By Corrin M. HoweLouie greets all the OLSS students after performing his skit on why he chose baseball as his favorite sport.

reasons why Louie didn’t chose soccer as his favorite sport.

Milstead read a poem, whose authorship she credited to Louie, about all the differ-ent sports Louie tried. “His feet were too big and the ball would roll past,” she said about soccer as Louie demonstrated.

After the skit, Milstead told the students that if they read four books, they would receive a free ticket to the game. She informed them Louie started this program over 16 years ago because he loves reading and thinks it is very important.

Then she asked the students how many books they thought were read in the first 15 years. She received guess from three to 300 million. In the end the cor-

rect answer was 4 million books.This year 10 counties

throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia have 225 schools participating in the read-ing incentive program.

Louie tells all the schools he is willing to come kick-off their reading program, but Maryland state assessments prevents many of the schools from accepting his offer.

The OLSS students were also treated to seeing their new mascot, Solomon, a seahawk. He came out to greet Louie and have a few hip checks before the larger than life critters spent time shak-ing hands and giving hugs.

[email protected]

Photo by Sarah Miller40-year employees Iris Harris, Sharon Godfrey, Larry Barker and Andrea “Chris” Banks celebrate their time with Calvert County Public Schools.


CLUES ACROSS 1. Undergarments for women 5. Periods of time 9. Dramatist Henrik14. Any thick messy substance15. Examination16. Japanese city17. Daze with a blow18. With fireplace residue19. Synthetic acrylic fabric fiber20. Pittsburgh University23. Scorched24. Potato state (abbr.)25. Anger26. Suitable for use as food31. To wipe out, obliterate35. Used of unskilled work, esp. domestic36. Loose earth, soil37. Petrol container38. Great (60’s slang)41. Conditions of balance43. Foes45. Sec. of Energy Steven46. 6th day (abbr.)47. Without qualification or exception51. Sarah’s title

56. Leisurely stroll57. Austr. Army History Unit58. Bowfin genus59. S.A. mountain chain60. ____ Scott Case 185761. Mound62. Springfield, IL candy founder Martin63. Frambesia64. Reduced price event

CLUES DOWN 1. Pear variety 2. The Sator-_____ Square 3. Light purplish-blue 4. Plants of the genus Cassia 5. Shelf unit for ornaments 6. Live in 7. Arthur ___, Wimbledon champion 8. A thwarting and distress-ing obstruction 9. Cut off from others10. Tree trunk outgrowth11. Tower used for storing silage12. Br. public boys school

13. ___ Ling mountain range21. __ Clapton, musician22. Mild yellow Dutch cheese27. Peruvian province28. Diagonal cut of cloth29. A narrow path or road30. Fraternal Order of ____31. The boundary of a surface32. Granular old snow33. Rt. angle cleaving tool34. Irreducible material39. Oldest man-made rayon fiber 40. Affirmative! (slang)41. Burial cloths42. Surface layer of grass & roots44. Not shaky45. Kidney-shaped nut48. Nursemaids in India49. Alkali bee genus50. Warble51. A citizen of Denmark52. Approves food53. Golf ball supports54. Pearl Harbor actress Rue55. Coarse curly-leafed greens56. Cancer detecting smear

Last Week’s Puzzle Solutions

erKiddieKor n


funding when highways facilitate 96 percent of the passenger move-ment and all of the freight move-ment represents a misallocation of public funding," as Cox and Utt write.

Higher prices will also push the tens of thousands of commut-ers who travel to D.C. and Vir-ginia each day from Maryland to buy gas out of state, hurting state gas stations, particularly those near the border, and reducing the estimated amount that can be col-

lected by the treasury.

For all these reasons, the gas tax should be tabled. I'll tackle the other taxes in another column.

M a r t a Hummel Moss-burg is a se-nior fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute.

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

c

c

ommissioners

or

nerState Shell Game

Created Pension ProblemBy Susan ShawCalvert County Commissioner, 2nd District

Why should you care if the State of Maryland pushes the Teachers’ Pensions down to the Counties? What difference does it make? It’s all tax money, right?

Here’s why you should care. County budgets are a zero sum game. In other words, there is a fi-nite amount of revenue. If we take that tax revenue and give more to one area, we have to give less to an-other area. So, if we have to spend millions of dollars on Teachers’ Pensions that have always been a state responsibility, accounted for in the state’s budget, we will have less money to spend on all other funding priorities like public safe-ty, educational operating expenses,

parks and recreation, road paving, museums, and EVERYTHING else. Since many of these budgetary areas are comprised mostly of personnel, jobs will have to be eliminated. Public safety is comprised of deputies, 911 operators, animal control officers, and others. Most of the Board of Education operating budget goes toward personnel costs, especially teachers.

Tax revenue is comprised mostly of property tax revenue and in-come tax revenue. Property tax assessments have decreased 16% in the first election district. Income taxes are rising slightly as more residents find jobs.

The only way to pay for Teachers’ Pensions on a County level with-out cutting personnel and services drastically is to raise taxes signifi-cantly. Can you afford that?

Many of our residents cannot.Additionally, this whole concept of passing responsibilities to a

lower level of government is WRONG. It is a huge unfunded mandate. The state’s reason for proposing this abdication of responsibility is that the Teachers’ Pensions are unsustainable. Guess who promulgated the rules that made them unsustainable? Yes, the state legislature—in 2006. Last year, the Governor claimed he was fixing the unsustainability, but raised the teachers’ contributions by 2%, lowered the level of benefits to 45% of pay (plus social security) and then directed the 2% increased teacher contribution to the state General Fund to help balance last year’s structural deficit. However, rising at 7.5% per year compounded, the costs will double in a few years.

Please let all your state legislators know that you want to keep the quality of life in Calvert County that we have so carefully attained with-out raising the property tax rate since 1987. Tell them to stop balancing the state budget on the backs of County budgets. Tell them that you can not afford higher local taxes. The bills are HB 087 and SB 152 called the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2012. Hearings will be scheduled soon. You can go to www.mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/billfile to look up the bills and see when the hearings will be. Your help is needed NOW!

By Marta Hummel Mossburg

Avoiding a tax increase this year from Annapolis will be like trying to stay dry while swimming.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has bombarded Marylanders with so many tax and fee hikes at least a few are bound to pass this legis-lative session. No doubt

the laundry list of proposals that includes imposing a sales tax on gasoline, adding a sales tax for online purchases, at least dou-bling the "flush tax" and halving the personal exemption for some filers and eliminating it for oth-ers, are meant to shock and awe so that when only some proposals pass, it will seem like a victory for taxpayers.

As burden-

some as these new taxes will be, they are just a taste of what is to come. They will not fix the struc-tural deficit and will hinder the state's recovery at a critical time, ensuring that more taxes will be needed to cover the state's ever-growing budget.

And contrary to O'Malley's claim in his State of the State address, they do not offer a "bal-anced approach" to fixing the bud-get. Take the proposed hike in the gas tax, for example, the worst of the bunch. O'Malley's proposal would phase in a 6 percent sales tax on gasoline over three years on top of a combined federal and state tax of 41.9 cents per gallon that already exists.

It will hurt the state's poor-est residents much harder than wealthier Marylanders.

As Wendell Cox and Ron-ald Utt write in a new report ( h t t p: //w w w.mdpol icy.org /docLib/20120201_Rethinking-MDProposedGasTax.pdf) for the Maryland Public Policy Institute, (where I am a senior fellow) "Spe-cifically, this report estimates that after the proposed tax increase,

the lowest-income brackets would pay a share of their incomes more than seven times greater than the share paid by the wealthier households. As a result, the low-er-income households likely will choose to decrease their driving to a much greater extent than would higher-income households, an out-come that has important implica-tions for job access at a time when gas prices are also very high."

The gas tax also promises to grow government without mitigat-ing the state's transportation fund-ing problems, because the new money could be transferred to the general fund just as it has been historically to cover the expenses of any number of unrelat-ed programs. Neither will raising the gas tax ease road congestion in one of the worst states for clogged highways, because more than half of the state's trans-portation dollars go to transit. This makes no sense.

--"Such 'even'

Movie With a Message Bring the family and invite your friends to Trinity’s free movie night on Saturday, Feb. 25. This

month’s Movie with a Message features the latest film from the creators of Fireproof - Courageous.Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, they are confident and

focused, standing up to the worst the streets can offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge they’re ill prepared to tackle: fatherhood. When tragedy strikes home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Protecting the streets is second nature to these law enforcement officers. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That takes courage.

Come see this free screening of this powerful film at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25 on the big screens in the sanctuary. Discussion and refreshments to follow. Free childcare is also available. Rated PG. Trinity is located at 90 Church Street in Prince Frederick. For more information, call 410-535-1782 or visit www.trinityumchurch.org.

You can also join Trinity United Methodist Church for fellowship and pancakes at the annual Pan-cake Supper this Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 5-7 pm in the fellowship hall.

The menu features blueberry and regular pancakes, sausage, bacon, cheesy-egg casserole, coffee, tea, juice & water. Hosted by Trinity's youth, all proceeds benefit their summer mission trips.

No to Gas TaxGuest Editorial


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].


Last comic standing veterans Tammy Pescatelli and Jeff Maurer will be coming to Calvert County for a one-night stand during the fourth annual Comedy Invasion for Project Gradation this Saturday.

The Calvert Alliance Against Substance Abuse (CAASA) works with D.C. Improv Talent Management Agency to book the comedians for the evening. CAASA Coordinator Candice D’Agostino said the agency sends them approximately 10 videos of various comedians, and CAASA ranks the performers by preference. D’Agostino said some of the comedians are based on the west coast, which makes it logistically difficult to go see the acts in person.

D’Agostino said they look for acts that are clean and family friendly, in keep-ing the tradition of the Com-edy Invasion.

Pescatelli will be head-lining the evening, with Maurer as the opening act.

According to her web-site, Pescatelli “is the kind of woman you wish was your sister or your best friend.” She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and was one of the final five on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing 2.” She also stars in “A Stand Up Mother” since Jan. 2011 on WEtv, which “documented her life as she balanced her family and her growing ca-reer with a lot of laughs.” She was also the winner of Comedy Centrals “2010

Stand-Up Showdown” and has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

Maurer currently lives in Washington, D.C., accord-ing to the biography on his website. His “sharp wit and af-fable demeanor, as well as his quick insights and friendly personality, plus his affable insights, quick personality, sharp friendly, and other variations thereof, are sure to be a hit.”

The Comedy Invasion is one of the two yearly fund-raisers for Project Graduation, the first being a Night Golf Tournament at Chesapeake Hills Golf Course. The next tournament, benefiting Project Graduation 2013, will be held May 18.

Project Graduation is a drug and alcohol free night-long party for seniors on graduation night. Each high

school has a Project Graduation coordina-tor to work with the venues and get ev-erything set for the students to have a place to be bussed to after their graduation ceremony.

Locations for Project Graduation have included Dave & Busters at Arun-del Mills Mall, the Navy Drill Hall at NAS Patuxent River and the recreation center at St. Mary’s College. Local law enforcement officers volunteer their time to chaperone Project Graduation nights.

Tickets for Com-edy Invasion are $15

for students between the ages of 13 and 18 and $25 for all others. D’Agostino said seating is limited to 850 seats, and the program has sold out for the last couple years, and she anticipates doing the same again this year. Tickets not sold before the show will be sold at the door, D’Agostino said.

Comedy Invasion is held in the Huntingtown High School Auditorium at 4125 North Solomons Island Road in Huntingtown.

For more information about the performers, visit www.pescatelli.com or www.jeffcomedy.com. For more information on ticket sales call 410-535-3733.

[email protected]

Top Line Comedians Coming to Calvert

For more Info, Call 410-535-3733

Comedy Invasionfor Project Graduation

Doors open at 7:00 p.m. - Show begins at 8:00 p.m.

Tickets are $25 per person for advance sales only and $30 at the door.$15 in advance for students ages 13-18.

Seating is limited.

Saturday, February 18, 2012Huntingtown High School Auditorium

4125 North Solomons Island Rd., Huntingtown, MD

Tickets can be purchased at Educate and Celebrate (Prince Frederick), Floral Expressions (Owings), CAASA Office in Prince Frederick, and Lotus Kitchen in Solomons Island

Jeff Maurer

Tammy Pescatelli

Show Rating: PG13

410-FYI-DUCK • www.RuddyDuckBrewery.comSOLOMONS, MARYLAND • Dowell Rd and Route 4

This Thursday, 2/16: Put on your cowboy hat and line dance your way to the Duck for upbeat

country music with RENEGADE COUNTRY!! Show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Next Thursday, 2/23: JukeBox Theives LIVE at the Duck! No Cover Charge! Show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Thirsty Thursday EVERY Thursday

in the Bar from 3-7pm!!

$2 OFF Ruddy Duck

Award Winning Craft Brewed

Beers!!

$2 OFF domestic bottles,

rail cocktails, and house wines.

$3 OFF Jumbo wings &

legendary Chip nachos!

Tammy Pescatelli

Jeff Maurer


By Keith McGuireContributing Writer

At this time last year, my small group of three anglers was striking out at every turn. We fished the deep holes for pre-spawn yellow perch and caught one or two little neds, a cat-fish, and a white perch or two. Other obviously more proficient yellow perchers caught the target fish leav-ing us with little to do but admire their catch. After a couple of weeks and several more half-hearted local attempts, we headed to North East, Maryland. It was a long ride, but it was purported to be the Mecca for yellow perch. According to reports, the bite was “On like donkey kong!” We caught 22 yellow perch. But, while we were fishing in North East on February 27th, the spawning run started in Allen’s Fresh Run and was over before we could back to it.

Our most difficult part of these ven-tures (apart from timing the bite and the cold weather) is procuring minnows for bait. Some of the local tackle shops up the road have minnows, but they are all very small

and expensive when you consider that we can catch our own at most times of the year.

Our first yellow perch excursion this year was last Friday, just two days earlier than our first venture last year. The result was considerably different.

We managed to obtain about 3 dozen minnows, which was not enough for the bite that we encountered. Fortunately, the yellow perch will also hit small jig heads with twist-er tails, shad darts, and other small jigs and spoons. (When the bite is on, they’re easy to catch and they’ll bite a variety of offerings!)

We fished the northern (Prince George’s County) area of the Patuxent River, targeting depths of 30 feet or more. Not counting the

dozens of little ones that we released at boat-side, we caught our 3-person limit of 30 big fat pre-spawn yellow perch in just under 4 hours. The minimum size allowed by law is 9 inches. We set our own minimum at 10 inches and had some that pushed the tape at 13 ½ inches. What a day!

This type of fishing is not for the meek, indoor types, or the people whose idea of fishing is sitting in the sun on a sandy beach with a surf rod in hand on a hot summer’s day. No. This fishing is done in long johns and foul weather gear, with ear muffs and neoprene gloves. Even so, the tug of a fish on the business end of a rigged fishing line is quite warming; enough to keep at it for a while!

Yellow Perch are active in the cold wa-ter. Where conditions are more brutal than they are locally, they can be caught through the ice with considerable regularity. Still,

their bite is feeble. They won’t slam a baited hook and head for the next county. Instead, it is a subtle nibble as they take a minnow and suck on it before moving on. They’re only slightly more aggressive for small unbaited jigs and spoons. Once you set the hook they are serious fighters for their size and some-times manage to throw the hook before you can get them into the boat.

Last year was a good fishing year for me, despite the disappointing start. By all measures [so far], this year should be awesome!

[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.

Sp rtsBig Fat Perch

Angler AnglerThe Ordinary

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30 pre-spawn yellow perch caught by Richard Everson, left, Keith McGuire and Scott McGuire.


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2012-02-16 Calvert Gazette

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