Friday, October 28, 2011

Shore Beef and BBQ ~ Friday Lunch Info

FRIDAY SPECIAL
FROM THE NEW CHURCH LOCATION

Beef Brisket Sandwich w/ side
Drink - $7.50

Shore Beef and BBQ will be closing today around 5:30 to join The Den of  Darkness @New Church Fire Dept.
You can purchase their delicious bbq there....

"The Den of Darkness" Reopens Tonight

Off Route 13 South
Behind the scales - Look for the New Church Firehouse

PA Boy Dies After Smoking Synthetic Marijuana

A Pennsylvania eighth-grader who became ill after smoking synthetic marijuana and had a double lung transplant has died.

The boy's mother said that her 13-year-old son, Brandon, died Thursday morning at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh at UPMC.

The boy smoked the fake marijuana out of a plastic PEZ candy dispenser. The chemicals in the drugs caused extensive damage to his lungs.

Brandon was put on a respirator in June and had a double lung transplant in September. The boy's mother says anti-rejection drugs he'd taken since the transplants weakened his immune system and made him unable to fight a recent infection.

Pennsylvania's Governor signed a law outlawing such substances a few days after the boy smoked it. The ban took effect in August.
 

Middleford Mud Bog - This Weekend

Due to the bad weather expected for tomorrow the mudbog has been CANCELED
******
Mud Bog Action This Weekend !!
MIDDLEFORD MUD BOG
Seaford, Delaware
This event has a flat pit and 'hill and hole'.

Saturday, October 29, 2011
Gates Open - 10:30 AM
Registration - 12:30 PM
Racing Starts - 1:00 PM

"Freak Nasty"
Driver Chuck West

General Admission: $8.00
Children 10 & under: FREE
Pit Admission: $8.00
For more information contact:
Chuck West - 302-258-9085
"Freak Nasty"
Chuck West - Driver

Hope to see you there...........

***This event has no affilation with the Gumboro Mud Bog and it's point system.***

Thursday, October 27, 2011

TIME MACHINE Preview ... Old Time Religion---NOT!

It's 1895 and what might be referred to today as a religious cult leader has been recruiting followers.. described by others as "a gang of free lovers" on Chincoteague Island.

Read more this Sunday on The Pocomoke Public Eye!

 
 
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two or more if you wish. Your name won't be used unless you ask that it be. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

Sheriff Rekindles Neighborhood Watches

"It is my duty to insure the communities of Worcester County remain safe and a great place to raise your family." ~ Sheriff Reggie Mason

SNOW HILL -- Sheriff Reggie Mason is fulfilling a campaign promise by reviving Worcester County's Neighborhood Crime Watch program.

The sheriff and his deputies, along with Worcester County State's Attorney Beau Oglesby, have met with residents of Stockton, Girdletree, Bishopville and Newark about the initiative. Next, the Sheriff's Office will meet with neighbors in Oyster Harbor, Friendship, Germantown, South Point and Whaleyville, according to Detective Dale Trotter, who heads up the crime watch under the department's Community Policing Division.

Mason said he's "tickled" the program will return under his tenure as sheriff.

"I'm very happy. I always liked this program, and I wanted to get it back," he said. "It's all about neighbor looking after neighbor. Hopefully, we'll get some of these smaller parts of the county covered before the year is out. This is one thing I wanted to get back in the communities."

He hopes Crime Watch can help build stronger relationships between the community and the deputies on patrol.

Trotter said people sometimes are afraid to call police and report unusual activity at a neighbor's home or to report a crime in progress, based on a fear of retaliation or having to go to court. It's a mindset he's trying to turn around.

"We're trying to get people to look out, keep their eyes open for suspicious activity, for anything that's out of the ordinary," he said.
"Don't be afraid to call the police -- you can call and be anonymous. Breathe life into your community so you know your neighbor, and you take care of each other."

One of the problems, according to Trotter, is people sometimes believe if nothing is happening in their neighborhood, they don't think they need a Crime Watch.

"However, I think that's when you need a Crime Watch the most," he said. "Generally speaking, if nothing's going on, it's out of your mind. You don't think about it."

The concept of a neighborhood watch emerged in the late 1970s, Mason said. Worcester had an active Neighborhood Crime Watch program that was developed in the early 1990s under Sheriff Chuck Martin.

But the deputy sheriff in charge at that time retired, Trotter said, and the department shifted its manpower to other projects.

Pocomoke City, Berlin and Snow Hill already have their own version of a neighborhood watch, Trotter said. The Ocean City police have established eight individual neighborhood watch groups throughout the resort, from Boardwalk business owners downtown to the north Ocean City residents of the Caine Woods development, according to spokesman Pfc. Mike Levy.

Now that Sheriff Mason is pushing to revitalize the department's community policing efforts, there are other duties deputies will take on. Trotter said he'll personally come out to a person's home for a security evaluation, to see if a person's property is unkempt and a target for thieves.

For kids, he also dresses up as the police mascot character Safety Pup.

"That's been like a big joke, between my friends," Trotter said. "They laugh at me when I dress up like a dog. It's a cartoon character that goes out, talks to the kids, talks about safety. It's a big hit, really."

Ultimately, Trotter said the top priority of the Community Policing Division is to get the word out that "the Sheriff's Office is available for your organization, for your meeting," he said. "We'd like to come out and introduce ourselves, let people know that we put our pants on the same way you do, and we really care about the community."

So far, police efforts already have worked to address one nuisance issue in Stockton.

In meeting with residents, law enforcement found there was a residence that had been vacant for more than a year. Neighbors were reporting the lights were on, and they suspected squatters.

An investigation found that while the home was still empty, and in some disrepair, the owners had left the electricity on because the basement would often flood in a rainstorm and they needed to maintain power to the sump pump. The home has since been cleaned up "and it's not an eyesore anymore to the community," Trotter said.

Reggie Hancock, 81, of Stockton attended the first meeting between neighbors and law enforcement. He said there were about eight people at the meeting, and blamed the low turnout on Hurricane Irene, which passed Delmarva that week.

More Story;  http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20111026/NEWS01/110260368/-1/NLETTER01/Sheriff-rekindles-neighborhood-watches?source=nletter-news

James City County Bank Robber Arrested, Linked to Robberies As Rar Away As Maryland


Joel William Galindo
 WTKR
James City County police have arrested a man for the August 10 bank robbery at the RBC Centura Bank on John Tyler Highway and the Sept. 19 bank robbery at the Citizen’s & Farmer’s Bank on Longhill Road.


Joel William Galindo, 25, of Richmond was charged with two counts of Robbery.


The investigation revealed that Galindo was linked to other bank robberies that occurred between May 10 and Oct. 5, 2011 from Frederick, Maryland to James City County, including a robbery at M & T Bank in Hanover County that occurred on May 19.

Galindo was arrested for the Hanover robbery on Monday, Oct. 24 by the US Marshal’s Office working in conjunction with the Hanover Sheriff’s Office.


Galindo is currently being held at the Pamunkey Regional Jail without bond.

Source;  http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-james-city-county-bank-robber-arrested-linked-to-robberies-as-far-away-as-maryland-20111026,0,2061728.story

Midway's "Trunk Or Treasure"

~At The Mar-Va This Sunday~

I still miss you, Mr. Mayor.

SHORE BEEF and BBQ

SERVING TODAY FROM
NEW CHURCH LOCATION

THURSDAY SPECIAL
All Day
Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich/w side
Drink   $7.50


Accomack Co. Deputies Help Robbery Victim in Newport News


Quanetta Breana Crosby and Deandra Javal Whiting
Credit: Newport News Police Dept
NEWPORT NEWS -- Two people are charged and charges are pending against a third person for attacking a man and trying to take his beer.


Deandra Javal Whiting, 19, Quanetta Breana Crosby, 18, and another woman allegedly robbed the man as he was walking home from a convenience store on Jefferson Avenue on Oct. 16.


Two Accomack County deputies, at a nearby fast food restaurant, were alerted to the crime by a passerby and went to help.  They found the 25-year-old victim on the ground.


He told them three people, one with a knife, demanded money and when he said he didn't have any, they grabbed his bag of beer. Then he started screaming, said police spokesman Lou Thurston.

One of the officers spotted two possible suspects and went after them. Crosby was arrested, but Whiting ran off, according to investigators.

Whiting was arrested Tuesday afternoon and faces charges of abduction, robbery and assault.
Crosby is charged with robbery and malicious wounding.

 
(No word on the names of the two Accomack Deputies)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Pocomoke City building restaurant



By next spring, city officials expect to be cutting the ribbon on a brand-new downtown restaurant, one built right beside the Delmarva Discovery Center and on the banks of the Pocomoke River.
Who the tenant will be, and what the menu will look like, remains to be seen.

Pocomoke is building a restaurant on spec in the hopes that an accomplished Eastern Shore chef can be lured to town and set up a business. The Market Street site has been cleared and pilings are slated to drop next week. Because the land is municipally-owned, the city effectively is the developer of the project.
"I don't know anyone else doing this kind of thing," said City Manager Russ Blake. "Our city council is very forward-thinking, and willing to be entrepreneurial, to see that improvements that need to get done can be completed. They're very pro-business here. Always have been."

Plans call for a 3,025-square-foot restaurant and bar that will seat 100 inside and 45 outside on a deck. Blake said "it's too early" to speculate as to any tenants or their style of food or decor.
The total project cost is about $750,000 and is funded almost entirely by grants, Blake said.
The building takes its shape from its unique triangular site, which has a long, narrow configuration, according to lead architect Jack E. Mumford III of Becker Morgan Group.
He said the aesthetics of the building are meant to be "a bit nautical" while complementing the Discovery Center. A tower at the north end of the site, adjacent the Market Street bridge, is an element that will be lit up at night.

Blake hopes the new establishment will complement non-profit attractions already in downtown Pocomoke City, including the Discovery Center, the historic Sturgis One Room School museum, the Mar-Va Theater and the Isaac Costen House museum.
City officials would have preferred someone in the private sector build a restaurant on the waterfront.
"Lacking that, there was still the need for a nice restaurant in the downtown area, so the city stepped in," Blake said. "The restaurant was the missing piece."

Bringing a restaurant to downtown Pocomoke has been a project more than a decade in the making, under the guidance of the Pocomoke Marketing Partnership, a committee of local residents and businesspeople.

"I guess they're building it, and they think somebody will come -- like the baseball field," said Barbara Tull, the first president of the PMP and a former women's clothing store proprietor.
She said the idea for the restaurant was borne from the concept of the Discovery Center -- it was part of the original plan for the museum but did not make it into the final version. Planners decided to work toward a free-standing restaurant right next door.
"Of course, we don't want to be in the restaurant business. They hopefully will find somebody who's a wonderful restaurant operator," she added.

READ MORE HERE>> @ Delmarvanow.com

Editors note: I think they should build the building to mimic an old Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse maybe like the old Lighthouse that was once in the Pocomoke Sound on the southern end of Watts Island [pictured below]. Then they could name it The Lighthouse.

POCOMOKE: Man busted for crack possession during traffic stop

One man was arrested by members of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office during a traffic stop Oct. 21 for possession of crack cocaine. Another was found to be wanted on an outstanding bench warrant for failure to appear in court.
Dana Lamar Collic, 22, of Pocomoke, was found to be in possession of about 3.5 grams of crack cocaine. Terrence Richard Justice, 28, of Temperanceville, Va., was a passenger in the car found to be wanted for failing to appear in Wicomico County court.
The traffic stop was conducted in the vicinity of Route 13 and Route 756.

Source: Delmarvanow.com

Search for autistic boy seeks more volunteers for Thursday







A total of 940 volunteers helped authorities conduct 74 search missions so far today but 9-year-old Robert Wood Jr. still hasn’t been found.

“We are working under the assumption that he is still alive,” Hanover sheriff’s Capt. Michael Trice said at a 3:30 p.m. news briefing. “We’re looking to give him the aid that he needs.”

Trice said 940 volunteers were deployed today, and between 200 and 250 of those returned from helping Tuesday. The sheriff’s office is asking for more volunteer help on Thursday.

“We want to be prepared to cover as much ground tomorrow as we did today,” Trice said. “We want to get as many returning volunteers as possible.”

Teams searched 30 search zones from early this morning until mid-afternoon in and around the 80-acre North Anna Battlefield Park in Doswell, Trice said.

Some of the volunteers have had to be treated for minor medical issues but no one has been seriously hurt, Trice said.

Trice also disclosed that authorities placed several “survival packs” containing food, water and blankets at various locations in the woods, but none have been touched.

Several searches have produced “articles of interest,” but Trice said none of those items can be directly tied to Robert.

Noon update:
Hanover County authorities are calling for hundreds of additional volunteers to help in the search for a missing 9-year-old autistic boy.

County sheriff's Capt. Mike Trice this morning said about 700 volunteers turned up to help look for Robbie Wood Jr., who disappeared Sunday during a walk with family in the North Anna Battlefield Park.

Trice said another 500 searchers could be used today. Volunteers can report to the parking area at the Kings Dominion theme park.

(This has been a breaking news update. Stay with TimesDispatch.com for the latest developments in this story and other news events.)

11:21 a.m.

Hundreds of volunteers turned out again this morning to search in thick Hanover County woods for a lost autistic boy.
 
Nine-year-old Robbie Wood Jr. of Caroline County disappeared Sunday afternoon during a walk with family in the North Anna Battlefield Park in north-central Hanover.

Authorities hope to put 1,200 volunteers on the search today with 300 professional searchers from localities across the state.

“We are going to continue this until we find him,” said Hanover Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Trice.
Volunteers began showing up before daybreak, and the first team headed into the woods about 8 a.m.
“I don’t know what I can do, but I’ve got two hands and two feet,” said volunteer Garrett Grubbs, 34, of Chesterfield County.

(This has been a breaking news update. Stay with TimesDispatch.com for the latest developments in this story and other news events.)

10:24 a.m.

The search for a 9-year-old autistic boy missing in Hanover County since Sunday continued into this morning without success.

Robbie Wood Jr. vanished while on a walk with family in the 80-acre North Anna Battlefield Park on Sunday afternoon.

Hundreds of volunteers joined the search Tuesday, and authorities will again accept volunteers beginning today at 9 a.m. in the main parking lot of Kings Dominion. They must have photo identification and be capable of walking several miles in thick woods.

(This has been a breaking news update. Stay with TimesDispatch.com for the latest developments in this story and other news events.)

6:06 a.m.

Nearly 900 volunteers walked through the Hanover County woods side-by-side Tuesday, methodically looking for a lost autistic boy.

They stepped over downed trees, pushed back briars and poked piles of brush with sticks in hopes they'd find 9-year-old Robbie Wood Jr.

"It's everybody's worst nightmare," said Waverly Bamman, 35, whose son attends the Faison School for Autism school with Robbie.

But on Tuesday, as the search entered its third day, the volunteers and more than 300 trained professionals didn't come up with anything.

"Right now, we're determined to do it until we find Robbie," Hanover Sheriff David Hines said during an afternoon news briefing on the search.

The Caroline County boy disappeared while on a walk with family in the 80-acre North Anna Battlefield Park on Sunday afternoon. His father, Robert Wood, his brother and a female friend of Wood's had stopped to take a break when the severely autistic boy wandered off.

Hundreds of volunteers turned out Tuesday morning at Kings Dominion, where a line snaked through the parking lot. Some had to be turned away because they couldn't stay all afternoon, while others simply left after standing in line for hours, waiting to be processed.

Hines said 889 volunteers were registered, trained and deployed to join the search that was expanded to more than 2,000 acres in and around the park.

"Like everyone here today, our hearts are burdened with the reality that a 9-year-old boy has been left alone in the woods for the last 48 hours," Hines said.

Taken to the site on buses, the volunteer searchers walked the approximately 1½ miles from Verdon Road to the North Anna River. Coordinators had mapped out grids for volunteers to walk to cover the entire 3-square-mile area around the park.

As the volunteers stood in line, many realized they had something in common. A number of them were connected to someone else autistic — a son, a nephew, a neighbor, a child at school.

"I have two autistic kids at home, so this hit really close to home for me," said Tammy Rogers of Powhatan, who was on the first bus of volunteers sent into the woods to look for Robbie. "As a mother, you ache."

Rogers, whose sons are both non-verbal like Robbie, said she was so upset by Robbie's disappearance that she spent much of Monday crying.

"This is the best medicine, just to get out here," she said as she prepared to board the bus.
But later in the afternoon, as she got on the bus to go back to her car after spending all day in the woods, she was disappointed that they hadn't been able to locate Robbie.

"You feel like you're walking out empty handed," she said.
She said traversing the "thick, thick terrain" was difficult, and her fellow searchers had cuts in their hands and holes in their clothes to prove it, she said, adding that she is convinced a little child could not have covered the same ground.

Jeremy Lawhorn of Mechanicsville said it was his first time participating in a rescue mission, and he was surprised at the density of the forest vegetation. Lawhorn has two sons, one of whom is the same age as Robbie.

"I just figured the more people we have, the better chance we'll find him quicker," he said, stepping over tree branches and brush as he walked through the woods surrounded by other volunteers in blaze orange vests.

The possibility that they might find Robbie dead hung in the air, but most preferred to hold out hope that the boy could survive the cold nighttime conditions without food. "I hope we find him. I hope he's OK," said Chris Southall, 24, of New Kent County.

Hines said authorities will again accept volunteers beginning today at 9 a.m. in the main parking lot of Kings Dominion. They must have photo identification and be capable of walking several miles in thick woods.

"I hope most (of Tuesday's volunteers) will show back up, because they've already been through the training and we can deploy them quicker," he said.

The volunteer search is to resume today after personnel from Virginia Department of Emergency Management conducted ground searches Tuesday night, Hines said.

Battalion Chief William E. Jones with Hanover Fire and EMS said he appreciated the outpouring of support from the community, adding that volunteers came from as far away as Myrtle Beach, S.C.
"It is an opportunity for a regular person to come out here and do something," he said. "It's worth every minute of it," he said.

MORE HERE>>

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-Find-Robbie-Wood/278702872152780?sk=wall

https://www.facebook.com/HanoverSheriff

Fun Quiz


This is a fun quiz. Listed below are 10 direct quotes. You have to
              guess which American politician said it. Your four choices are:

              Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
              Former VP Dan Quayle
              President Barack Obama
              Former President George W. Bush

              Ready? Here we go!

              1) "Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel ’s."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              2) "I've now been in 57 states I think one left to go."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              3) "On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of
                    fallen heroes, and I see many of them in the audience here today."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              4) "What they'll say is, 'Well it costs too much money,' but you know
                  what? It would cost, about. It it it would cost about the same as what
                  we would spend. It. Over the course of 10 years it would cost what it
                  would costs us. (nervous laugh) All right. Okay. We're going to. It. It
                  would cost us about the same as it would cost for about hold on one
                  second. I can't hear myself. But I'm glad you're fired up, though. I'm glad."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              5) "The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice,
                    savings and inefficiencies to our health care system."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              6) "I bowled a 129. It's like - it was like the Special Olympics, or something."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              7) "Of the many responsibilities granted to a president by our
              Constitution, few are more serious or more consequential than selecting
              a Supreme Court justice. The members of our highest court are granted
              life tenure, often serving long after the presidents who appointed
              them. And they are charged with the vital task of applying principles
              put to paper more than 20 centuries ago to some of the most difficult
              questions of our time."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              8) "Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the
              emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking
              up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave
              them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a
              breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. I haven't had much
              sleep in the last 48 hours."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              9) "It was interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is
              not that different from the United States Senate. There's a lot of I
              don’t know what the term is in Austrian, wheeling and dealing."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush

              10) "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments
              in the future."
              A. Barack Obama
              B. Dan Quayle
              C. Sarah Palin
              D. George W. Bush



              Sorry. This was a trick quiz. All of the correct answers are the same
              person. Each of these quotes are directly from President Barack Obama.
              And now you know why he brings his teleprompter with him everywhere he
              goes ...even when talking to a 6th grade class.

              And some members of the media continue to insist he is

              "The smartest man ever elected to the Presidency".

                  Yea  Right.!

Pocomoke Firefighters and Hazmat Team Respond To Fuel Spill

Written by
Matt Owens, WCFMO
On October 20, 2011 at approximately 9 pm the Worcester County Special Hazards Response Team was requested to respond and assist the Pocomoke Volunteer Fire Company with a fuel spill in the parking lot of the Upper Deck Restaurant in Pocomoke, Maryland. 

Upon arrival, a fuel spill was observed in the south parking lot covering a large area.  The vehicle responsible for the spill was not on location. 

 Absorbent was placed on the fuel spill which mitigated the incident.  Members of the Hazmat Team and firefighters remained on the scene for approximately 2 hours. 

 Anyone with additional information on the vehicle responsible for causing the spill is asked to contact Matthew Owens at 410-632-5666 or by email at mowens@wcfmo.org

http://www.wcfmo.org/

GPS Shoes For Alzheimer's Patients Soon To Go On Sale

GPS shoes (Courtesy of GTX)

Q13Fox News
Shoes with built-in GPS devices will soon be on sale to help keep track of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s and other conditions with similar symptoms.  

The manufacturer of the shoes, GTX, said that 3,000 pairs of the shoes have been shipped. They will be sold by Aetrex Worldwide at a price of approximately $300 a pair.

The shoes are expected to help families and care providers locate seniors with dementia who wonder off. Currently, many seniors who suffer from dementia wear bracelets and other such devices outfitted with GPS – but they often reject them.

"It's especially important for people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's who are at the highest risk," Andre Carle, a professor and adviser on the project told AFP. “The primary reason is that paranoia is a manifestation of the disease. If you put something on someone with Alzeheimer's that they don't recognize, they remove it.”

The GPS is implanted into the heel of the shoe. Families and caretakers can monitor the wearer’s location and also set up boundaries so that an alert is triggered if the patient travels outside of the predetermined safe area.

Source;  http://www.wtkr.com/news/kcpq-gps-shoes-for-alzheimers-patients-will-be-on-sale-soon-20111025,0,3328208.story

Worcester County Sheriff's Office Offers "Candy Checkpoint"

October 31, 2011 
From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 
 Worcester County Circuit Courthouse
 Located at 1 West Market Street
 Snow Hill, Maryland

 Worcester County Sheriff's Office Community Policing Division in it's continuing efforts to protect area children and promote "Safe Kids" will conduct a free "Candy Checkpoint" as a added means of protecting our area youth.

 The checkpoint will open promptly at 6 pm for trick or treaters that wish to have their candy "x-rayed."

Children should be accompanied by adults and this is not intended to replace the careful screening of the child's candy by a responsible adult.

"A DELMARVA HAUNTING" - Begins Tonight!

WHO'S GOING TO BE THE FIRST BRAVE PERSON TO ENTER ........

A Little About Halloween Tradition

All Hallow Eve, or Halloween, originated as a pagan celebration dating back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, over 2000 years ago.

Samhain means "summers end" and is celebrated on November 1st as a joyous occasion. Many of the festivities included eating, drinking and dancing and the lighting of bonfires. The ashes from the burned bonfires were spread to protect the land for next years crops.

On the night before the new year the Celts believed the boundaries between the living and the dead became blurred. Ghosts of the dead returned to earth on October 31. The wearing of the masks, as a way to "hide" from the dead, became a tradition.

In the 1800's, with the Irish immigrants coming to America they brought their traditions of Halloween and the Jack-o-Lantern. The immigrants carved potatoes, turnips and beets and place a light inside using pieces of coal or a candle. These ornaments were placed in windows or on porches to welcomed the deceased and to serve as protection against horrible spirits or goblins freed from the dead.

Through the years, as the Irish Immigrants spread out across America, the lack of turnips, beets, and potatoes were replaced by the pumpkin to stand the watch for the "freed dead".

The origin of Trick-or-Treat, it is believed, orginated from the Druids. The Druids were preists and preistesses that served also ashistorians, astronomers, teachers, etc. in their communities.

Because the country folk believed that the dead had to be kept happy they would give the Druids food as they visited their homes. Today it is simply known as trick-or-treat.
 
Halloween has many names. Other names are : All Hallows Eve, The Feast of the Dead, Samhain, All Hallow Tide, All Saints Eve.

10/30/09 - jmmb

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Trick Or Treat Time



POCOMOKE CITY

TRICK OR TREAT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2011

5:00 PM  UNTIL  7:00 PM

For children ages 12 and UNDER
IN COSTUME

Halloween Trunk Or Treat

Bloxom Volunteer Fire Company Moves To Their NEW Station

(Genevieve ross/the virginian-pilot)
I don't suppose any members of the Bloxom  Volunteer Fire Company will forget that night in January 2006 when they received a call while fighting a house fire just a few miles from the firehouse.  They were told their own firehouse was on fire.  Upon their return found the building engulfed in flames.

Everyone,  from miles around,  was heartbroken....the fireman devastated and then some. There just are no words to describe the feelings they had that cold winter night as they watched the cinder block building they all loved burn on the inside.  It didn't ease their worries  knowing that this fire was just one a several suspicious fires in the area.  Two ambulances were destroyed in the fire and it was later determined that the fire began  in the newest of the ambulances as an electrical problem.

Estimated damages shortly after the fire were somewhere around $1.5 million.  Donations poured in to assist the fire department with getting to its feet.  The equipment that was saved due to already attending another blaze was stored in various places and has been through the duration of waiting for the new firehouse to be completed.

The wait is over!

This weekend, with the devastation from that night behind them,  members of the  Bloxom Volunteer Fire Company have  moved into their brand NEW firehouse!!

I'm sure it's the talk of the town! 

To view the photos of the Bloxom firehouse during construction until its completion can be found on their facebook page - Bloxom Fire Company.

~CONGRATULATIONS~
~BLOXOM  VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY~
 
jmmb

Monday, October 24, 2011

"A Delmarva Haunting"- Begins This Week

Worcester County Approves Substance Ban

October 21, 2011
Written By: Staff Writer,
 Travis Brown

SNOW HILL -- Following in the steps of Ocean City, the Worcester County Commissioners decided Tuesday to ban several “cannabimimetic agents and hallucinogenic chemical substances” including the controversial K-2.

With innocuous aliases like “Mr. Nice Guy” and “Spice,” large amounts of K-2 began popping up on the Boardwalk and in Ocean City stores last summer.

“The worst part of all is that it’s being marketed to our kids,” said county attorney Sonny Bloxom.

According to Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) Lieutenant Mark Pacini, K-2 was being “openly marketed” in Ocean City last summer. Though officially sold as incense, Pacini explained that during a number of purchases, undercover officers were often told how to smoke K-2 and offered paraphernalia like hookahs or pipes. Smoking the drug, said Pacini, will cause symptoms similar to smoking marijuana, though often times even more pronounced.

Smoking K-2 may lead to an elevated heart rate, paranoia and panic attacks along with the traditional high associated with substances like marijuana. While there have been no deaths from K-2 in Maryland, Pacini told the commission that overdoses were not uncommon, with seven reported this summer in Ocean City.

The commissioners were then played the audio from a 911 call from someone who had overdosed on the drug and was clearly panicking.

“Hospitals weren’t aware of it,” Pacini said of K-2. “EMS weren’t aware of it.”

Commissioner Judy Boggs wondered how many overdose cases weren’t being reported by visitors not wanting to talk to hospitals or the police.

“I’m suspecting there were a lot of overdoses you didn’t see,” she told Pacini.

OCPD Captain Robert Bokinsky noted similarities between what’s going on now and the Salvia situation a few summers ago. Salvia, another hallucinogenic substance, was eventually banned by the Ocean City Mayor and Council and later the County Commissioners. A state law soon followed, though it only made it illegal to distribute or possess salvia for those under 21 years old.

“Salvia was a walk in the park compared to what we’re dealing with here [with K-2] as far legislating against,” said Bokinsky.

Because of the complexity of K-2, he explained, small chemical alterations could make the drug technically legal while preserving all of the effects.

“They [drug manufacturers] are just one chemistry class away from creating a whole new class [of K-2],” Bokinsky said.

“Drug dealers and manufacturers stay one step ahead of the law,” agreed Pacini.

Hoping to counter that, a list of five classes of hallucinogenic drugs and 15 individual substances were presented to the commission for possible banning. By hitting such a broad range, said Bokinsky, it would be harder for drug dealers to sneak mildly altered forms of K-2 under the radar.

With an endorsement from State’s Attorney Beau Ogelsby and Worcester County Sheriff Reggie Mason, Pacini urged the commission to act on the ban. With the gates to Ocean City closed, Pacini warned dealers could move over the bridge to West Ocean City or other parts of the county.

“This is a major, major, major operation,” said Commission President Bud Church.

The commissioners voted unanimously to ban the list of substances as well as any paraphernalia associated with K-2 or its variants. Because it is an emergency ordinance, all forms of the drug and paraphernalia will need to be removed from shelves immediately, with the Sheriff’s Office visiting county businesses to make sure the ordinance is being followed.


Source;  http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/articles/2011/10/21/Top-Stories/Worcester-County-Approves-Substance-Ban

Sunday, October 23, 2011

TIME MACHINE ... On The Road- The Early Years!

May, 1902

(Ledger Enterprise- Pocomoke City)

(Article referencing road improvements in some areas of the Eastern Shore)

"As yet Worcester County has not taken any steps in this direction, and the time has come when we must do something or our neighbors will have much better roads than we. What better plan could be adopted by our county authorities than the building of a road from Pocomoke City to Snow Hill on scientific principles."

 

June, 1914

(The Daily News- Frederick, Md.)

Controversy Over Road

The State Roads Commission, with Governor Goldsborough present, heard rival delegations from Somerset and Worcester counties on the route of the highway southward from Westover, about six miles south of Princess Anne, Somerset County, to which point the highway has already been improved. The Worcester delegates want the road diverted from Westover to Pocomoke City and thence to the Virginia line, to connect at that point with a road which Virginia will build through Accomac and Northampton counties. The Somerset people argued for the extension of the road southward from Westover to Crisfield.

The Commission did not announce a decision on the controversy. The opinion prevailed, however, that the advocates of the Pocomoke City route will win.

Footnote: Future TIME MACHINE postings will include "On The Road" updates from the 1920's through the 1950's.

 

1900

When was the first automobile driven on Pocomoke City streets? Perhaps it was sometime during the first decade of the 1900's for it is said that Salisbury may have had up to a dozen cars on its streets by 1910. The first car to be driven in Salisbury was around 1900 and the driver and owner was Billy Edison, son of famed inventor Thomas Alva Edison. The young Edison had lived in Salisbury for a while and married a young lady from Salisbury. But he encountered the problem of tires on his Stanley Steamer being cut while negotiating Salisbury's sandy oyster shell based streets of that era. Years later when Edison returned to the area in an expensive Pierce Arrow he found that attempting to drive the vehicle on country roads was too hazardous an endeavor. He decided not to attempt a return trip from the country back to Salisbury; he sold the vehicle. 

 

July, 1958

Advertised nationally as America's best automotive investment, the Studebaker line could be seen at J. Scott Porter Motors, on the west side of Willow Street at Front Street in Pocomoke City. A new Studebaker Scotsman sedan was priced a $1,795.

 

ACROSS THE USA

May, 1959

(The Associated Press)

Amid Promises And Mystery

GM Joins Ford And Chrysler In 'Smaller' Car Parade

WILMINGTON, DEL. (AP) - General Motors announced yesterday it will have a "smaller and lighter car" called the Corvair in its 1960 model line. A similar auto will be built by GM's affiliate in Canada.

Frederic G. Donner, chairman of the GM board and its chief executive officer, told more than 2,600 stockholders at the firm's annual meeting here that the new car- to be introduced this fall- will contain features "new to the American automotive industry."

Retaining an air of mystery around the Corvair, Donner declined to disclose any details. It has been reported, however, that the smaller, more compact Chevrolet will have a rear aluminum engine.

The GM announcement followed by a day disclosures by the Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. that they planned to build smaller American cars to meet competition of European imports and American Motors' Rambler and Studebaker's Lark.

 

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two or more if you wish. Your name won't be used unless you ask that it be. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

707 Owner’s Death Probe Continues

Written By: News Editor, Shawn J. Soper

WEST OCEAN CITY -- The investigation into the death of a West Ocean City bar owner following an altercation outside his establishment earlier this month remains open while law enforcement and prosecutors await the final report from the state Medical Examiner’s Office.

Around 2:23 a.m. on Oct. 6, a Worcester County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the 707 Sports Bar and Grille in reference to a disturbance complaint. The deputy arrived and met with a Maryland State Police trooper, who advised the bar’s owner, Carey Patrick Flynn, had been assaulted.

According to police reports, Flynn, who was on the ground with visible abrasions on his knees and elbows, was complaining of shortness of breath.

Emergency Services were dispatched to the scene and Flynn was transported by ambulance to Atlantic General Hospital, where he died a short time later. Flynn’s wife advised police her husband had a heart condition and had a pacemaker in place.

The investigation revealed a suspect, later identified as Cyle Walker, 26, of West Ocean City, had been in a verbal confrontation with Flynn that had turned physical. Incidentally, Walker’s birthday is Oct. 5, the day before the incident in the early morning hours of Oct. 6. While police were still on the scene, Walker returned and spoke with the deputy, advising the officer a verbal altercation had taken place between he and Flynn.

According to police reports, Walker admitted pushing Flynn, causing him to fall to the ground. Walker was charged initially with second-degree assault.

That second-degree assault charge against Walker was dismissed on Monday, but Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby, who was pictured on the scene of the investigation the day of Flynn’s death, said dropping the second-degree assault charge was a formality and Walker remains a person of interest.

After Walker was charged initially with second-degree assault, Oglesby took possession of the arrest warrant as the investigation developed. On Monday, the assault charge was dropped in order to leave the investigation open-ended until the medical examiner’s report comes back.

“It remains an open investigation,” he said. “We’re still waiting for the medical examiner’s report to come back to determine what, if any, new charges are appropriate. The second-degree assault charge has such a quick shelf life in District Court, he [Walker] could go to trial on that charge and have it resolved before we get the medical examiner’s report or conclude our investigation, and we don’t want it to become a double-jeopardy situation.”

Source;  http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/articles/2011/10/21/Top-Stories/707-Owners-Death-Probe-Continues

Navy To Study Using Wallops For Practice Landings


E-2 Hawkeye

NORFOLK (AP) -- The Navy will consider using the runway at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility as a site for practice landings by pilots.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that the Navy announced its decision Thursday. E-2 Hawkeye and C-2 Greyhound pilots would practice touch-and-go maneuvers and low-altitude passes.

Pilots of the propeller planes now use Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field in Chesapeake and also practice in Jacksonville, Fla. To ease congestion at Fentress and save travel costs, the Navy is trying to find a field closer to home.

The Navy also is looking at using Emporia's local airport.

A pilot involved in the search, Cmdr. Matt Baker, had complained that the Wallops option was being ignored.

Fleet Forces Command spokesman Ted Brown says an investigation found that none of Baker's allegations were substantiated.

Source;  http://www.wvec.com/news/military/Navy-to-study-using-Wallops-for-practice-landings-132305898.html