Civil Rights Attorney to Discuss Race & Judicial Judgment March 18

The 2009 confirmation hearings of the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, rekindled an intense debate about the role of race in judicial decision-making. Noted civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill will explore this topic when she presents “Wise Latinas, Black Raconteurs, and White Umpires: Conceptions of Race and Judging in Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings, 1955-2009,” at Washington College’s Litrenta Lecture Hall on Thursday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m.

Since 1955, when John Marshall Harlan was nominated to the Supreme Court just after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, questions about race have played a central role in Supreme Court confirmation hearings. The contention surrounding Justice Sotomayor’s nomination is only the latest chapter in a much longer story.

Ifill, one of the strongest voices advocating greater diversity on the Court, will be in residence at Washington College from March 15-19 as this year’s Frederick Douglass Visiting Fellow at the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, Ifill is a nationally recognized advocate for civil rights, voting rights, and judicial diversity. She offers commentary on race and the law on CNN, NBC Nightly News, and C-Span, and is a regular op-ed contributor to the Baltimore Sun and the Afro-American.

In her current project on the judicial selection process, Ifill argues that all judges – not just minorities – are affected by their own background and life experiences, and that diversity on the bench is key to creating a Court that can wisely interpret the law. If this is true, she maintains, it follows that the popular perception of white male judges as impartial “umpires” and female and minority judges as inherently biased is fundamentally flawed.

Prior to joining the University of Maryland faculty, Ifill litigated voting rights cases for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. An advocate of restorative justice for past racial wrongs, Ifill is the author of On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century (Beacon Books, 2007), which explores the lingering effects of lynching here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Established through a generous gift from Maurice Meslans and Margaret Holyfield of St. Louis, the annual Frederick Douglass Visiting Fellowship brings to campus an individual engaged in the study or interpretation of African-American history and related fields. Besides providing the recipient an opportunity for a week of focused writing, the fellowship also offers Washington College students exposure to some of today’s leading interpreters of African-American culture. During her week in Chestertown, Ifill will speak with students and faculty about her research, and her experiences with restorative justice processes.

Litrenta Lecture Hall is located in the John S. Toll Science Center. Ifill’s talk, which is co-sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the Black Studies Program, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the Pre-Law Program, is free and open to the public.

African American Council Events Spring Series Announced

Come join us to honor the memory of the African American Civil War veterans from Kent County MD who fought for freedom!  Two films, ‘Glory’ and ‘Black Soldiers in Blue’, and the African American Civil War History Chats at the public library are free and open to the public

March 13th ‘Glory’
Fundraiser for the Charles Sumner Post #25 G.A.R. Building
7 p.m. Norman James Theater, Washington College

Spotlighting the courageous efforts of the 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. This film provides insight into the lives of the men who built the Sumner Post # 25 Grand Army Republic in Chestertown, one of whom, Oscar Crozier was a member of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. This showing is made possible with generous support from Washington College Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), and the Washington College ‘Film Series’

March 27th – ‘Black Soldiers in Blue’
7 p.m. Kent County High School Auditorium

This documentary film on Camp William Penn takes us through the historic site in PA, the federal training ground for black troops during the Civil War. Learn about the recruitment of black volunteers, their training, and hardships, their heroism, and their enormous contribution to Union victory. Re-enactor Tom Davis, 3rd Regiment Infantry will give a living history presentation after the film – Directed by Warren Bass, produced by Zilan Munas and narrated by Dr. James Paradis.

April 7th and May 12th – African American Civil War History Chats

6 p.m. Kent County Public Library – Light refreshments served.  Join these informal gatherings with free reading materials provided.

These events are made possible with support of the Kent County Arts Council, and by Alternate ROOTS, Community/Artist Partnership Program whose funding is provided by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Eastern Neck Refuge Announces Youth Turkey Hunt

Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in cooperation with the National Wild Turkey Federation will once again conduct a gobbler-only spring youth turkey hunt on the refuge. The Youth Turkey Hunt will include two Saturdays during the state season, May 8 and May 22, 2010. A refuge hunt permit is required. A limited number of permits will be issued to ensure a high-quality and safe hunting experience. Three youth hunters between the ages of 10 and 15 will be randomly selected for each hunt day. Only youths ages 10 through 15 who were not chosen for past hunts will be eligible. Applications for permits may be obtained by contacting Visitor Services Specialist Michele Whitbeck at 410-639-7056 ext. 222, online at www.fws.gov/northeast/easternneck, or by writing to Eastern Neck NWR, 1730 Eastern Neck Road, Rock Hall, MD 21661. There is no application fee.

Completed applications must be received by the refuge no later than 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 8, 2010. The drawing will be held on Friday, April 9, 2010. All successful applicants will be notified by telephone following the drawing.

All youths selected for the hunt must attend a safety briefing the day before their scheduled hunt. This mandatory safety briefing will be held at the refuge at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 7 or Friday, May 21 at the Tundra Swan Boardwalk parking lot. Youth hunters must present their valid hunting license at this time. Hunt permits will be issued at the briefing.

Members of the local chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will be guiding each of the youths selected for the hunt. The youths may be accompanied by a non-gun carrying parent or guardian. The bag limit will be one bearded turkey per youth.

All Maryland rules and regulations related to the State’s spring turkey season are applicable and will be enforced during the special hunt on Eastern Neck NWR. Detailed refuge-specific hunt regulations will be provided to the successful applicants.

The Prince’s Evening of Reconciliation

The Prince Theatre, known as the Lyceum during much of the 20th Century, has had a painful history of racial segregation. It is remembered — first-hand by many older residents in local black communities, and in accounts passed on to younger ones  – for  requiring them to sit only in the upper balcony and for banning them from seats on the first floor, for most of its existence.

No more. The Prince is, as it has been now for decades, open for everyone of every hue. And yet, as any regular patron of events there could and did observe, it has not become a place where very many people of color are comfortable. Some reaching out seemed in order.

On Saturday night, The Reverend Robert Brown Jr, pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church,  and Philip Dutton, president of the board of the Prince Theatre Foundation, kicked off an evening of acknowledgment and healing at the Prince.

As the Reverend Brown noted in his opening remarks, “This building is still here as a theater, and for many people it remains a symbol, a painful reminder, of times when they were treated unjustly and unfairly, when segregation existed right here in our community.

“We know that one event, although conducted with the very best intentions and no matter how carefully planned, will not instantly erase all the painful memories of those times for the people who were harmed.  We do hope, however, that tonight we will begin a process.”

Mr. Dutton, in his role as president of the Prince, began the process on behalf of the board by saying, “The Prince Theatre Foundation hereby acknowledges that in this building in years past African American citizens were required to use a separate entrance and to take a separate staircase leading to a segregated seating area in the upper balcony.

“This was wrong.  For this injustice, we express our profound regret and apologize for the hurt done to you and to your ancestors, to those who felt inferior or unequal by these acts. May we all be prepared to commit ourselves to putting the past behind us, and work together for a new future unified in our humanity and in our spirits.”

Other presenters included African American Heritage Council leader Karen Somerville, County Commisioner William Pickrum, Chestertown Mayor Margo Bailey, and Acting Prince Theatre Director Lucia Foster.

Those participating with performances during the second part of the program included  Karen Somerville, Lester Barrett, Jerome McKinney, Bob Ortiz, Pam Ortiz, Mary Ashley, Debbie Campbell, Philip Dutton, Dannette Boyer, Irene Moore, William Pickrum, Alina Thomas, Lamontte Henry, Sunny Fassett, Bonita Harris, Peter Heck, Hope Clark, Joe Holt and The New Gospelites.

Photography by Leslie Raimond

The Feast of Reason Turns off the Lights

The Feast of Reason, which had been one of downtown Chestertown’s top lunch spots for many years, has formally closed. Kathleen Jones, one of the founders of the original restaurant, and who now owns the building with the brother Patrick, confirmed that Jen Friedman, who had run the Feast for the last six years, decided to close sometime last week.

Wind Ensemble Back with Concerts Beginning Next Sunday

On Sunday, March 14, the Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble, with a concert theme of “Cityscapes,” will take its audience on a musical tour of various cities. The program will begin at 4 p.m. at Christ U.M. Church, 401 High St., Chestertown. Admission is free. Directed by Keith Wharton since its founding in 2001, the ensemble is a community concert band based in Chestertown.

Not surprisingly, vibrant and diverse New York City, long the cultural capital of the United States, has been the topic or setting for much music over the years. Opening the program, contemporary composer Gary Gilroy’s “Heart of the City” is alive with the spirit and sounds of New York, evoking busy (and sometimes noisy) street life as well as more laid-back nightlife, represented by a middle bluesy section.

Jack Bullock’s “Salute to New York City” is a medley of well-known 20th-century tunes that showcases the city as the entertainment capital of the musical stage: “Give My regards to Broadway,” “Forty-Second Street,” “The Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side),” and two with the title “New York, New York.”

The band will also play a medley of tunes from “West Side Story,” a latter-day Romeo and Juliet story that is set in mid-1950s New York. With music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Jerome Robbins, the work is known for its extraordinary dance sequences, melodic characterization and continuity, excellent orchestration, and cohesive plot. The musical opened on Broadway in 1957 and was adapted for film in 1961.

Sometimes called the Second City, Chicago was honored by Fred Fisher in his 1922 song about his adopted town, “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town). Very popular in the 1920s, it was revived by Frank Sinatra in the 1957 movie “The Joker Is Wild,” and then recorded by numerous other singers as well.

“Nightflight: Scenes of a City from Above,” with its three sections (Street Carnival, A Heavenly View, and Fireworks Galore!) resulted from what contemporary composer James Swearingen saw from a plane as it left Miami, Florida.

On the other side of the pond, the city of Paris is evoked by Andrew Watkin’s 1997 piece “City of Lights,” which seems at least partly inspired by the 19th-century music of Jacques Offenbach.

One of the highlights of the program will be “Flight of Fancy,” a lively 2005 piece written by Timothy Johnson for solo flute and band, in which the composer invites listeners’ imaginations to take flight and soar. Aaron Richmond of Port Republic, a Calvert High School senior and student of Keith Wharton for four years at the Summer Center for the Arts held at Washington College, will be the soloist. Besides participating in school ensembles, Aaron has been selected for all-county and regional bands and for participation in solo and ensemble festivals at the county, regional, and state levels, where he earned high scores. He has also been in talent shows at his school and at a camp hosted by the National Federation of the Blind.

The program will conclude with a familiar, well-written march, “Queen City,” that a little-known composer (W. H. Boorn) wrote in the early 20th century to honor the city of Cincinnati.

The Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble offers area wind and percussion musicians an opportunity to continue or return to the pleasures of playing quality music in a large ensemble. New members are always welcome, without audition or fee. For further information, call 410-778-2829 or 410-810-1834. The ensemble is supported by grants from the Kent County Arts Council and community donations.

Spy Op-Ed: Sykesville Vs Ruthsburg – Similar? by Sherry Adam

As the cold rain falls at 7:45 in the morning and the frigid air blows mercilessly in the Ruthsburg Community center parking lot, we wait for the GSA/Dept of State people to arrive to take us on what is supposed to be a tour of a ’similar’ facility to the proposed FASTC – The MD Public Safety Education and Training Center (PSETC) in Sykesville, Md.  Before we leave the parking lot we are told that there will be NO explosions demonstrated today and handed yet another white, glossy, embossed folder with premium pages of “info” about the Sykesville Academy.  Yet another waste of taxpayer’s dollars.

As the bus we are on climbs the huge hill to get there, you can hear the engine lugging and I laugh as I think of The Little Engine That Could.  We pull in and my first thought is this is nothing like Ruthsburg.  The hills, valleys and natural terrain are so far from that of home – similar?

We get off the bus and go into a classroom where two instructors give us a rundown of what they do there as far as training and tell us that they receive few phone calls in reference to the noise.  We ask questions and find that they set off maybe two explosions per year less than 3 pounds, there are NO armored vehicles, there is NO mock urban warfare zone and they have maybe 18 employees – similar?

The lead “instructor”, Mr. Liebno, is to be our tour guide today and we board the bus again to see the facility.  First are the driving tracks.  As you look around you see lots of paved roads with intersections, stop signs, arrows, etc. just like anywhere you drive pretty much, but you don’t see any cars.  I thought we were here to get an idea of what will be going on at the FASTC driving tracks, not see a ghost town – NO CARS!?  We ask if they can put someone on the track for us, and our tour guide says “sure.”

After a few minutes of standing in the cold at the side of the “high speed” track, two police cars fly by us at about 70 mph on the straight-away then circle around and come back up the hill to stop in front of us.  Our thoughts; we can see that on 50/301 anytime.  There were no screeching tires, no brakes …. Hmmm – similar?  We asked Mr. Liebno about this and he tells us that it is quite costly to go through all that rubber and wear and tear on the car and adds that the smell from those maneuvers makes him sick to his stomach.  What a colossal disappointment.  We were not impressed.

The only thing left is their firing range since there is no mock urban warfare zone and no explosives – not even flash bangs.  These are 25 yard and 50 yard ranges that have concrete flooring with 3 concrete walls and what looks like waffling aluminum roofing.  There are 3 men shooting 9mm pistols and one 12 gauge shot gun.  We are told that we cannot get off the bus without ear protection.  Guns blazing on the 50 yard range made it impossible to hold a conversation even with the person sitting next to you on the bus.

We wanted to hear it from outside so they took us uphill 300 feet from the range and we got off the bus.  After a moment or two they started firing the pistols and the sound was horrendous!  The 9mm pistols blasted away and we were devastated to think we would be hearing this all day long not to mention it was only three guys NOT the 20 – 30 students proposed for the FASTC.  Some actually jumped at the blast of the 12 gauge.  These were not even the larger weaponry; I.e., 45 cal machine guns – again, similar?  Totally unacceptable!!

So to summarize:

PSETC                                                           FASTC

Mountainous terrain                                  Flat terrain

18 employees (only saw 4)                        400 employees

NO students                                                  450 students

Pistols and 12 gauge                                   45 cal machine guns, etc.

2 police cars                                                  100’s of cars including armored vehicles

NO mock urban warfare                             3 Mock urban warfare zones

NO rifle range                                               Indoor/Outdoor rifle range

Explosive detonations 2/yr                        Explosive detonations 3,323/yr

Similar???

I went, I saw, I wasted an entire day.  I am sure that when Senator Mikulski suggested this, she actually meant it should be a site that was actually similar to the Ruthsburg proposal so we could get a feel for what it will really be like at the FASTC.

They had weeks to prepare for this, months even.  I, and I am sure the others, expected tires squealing, cars racing around, braking, circling on the skid pads – lots of action; dozens of shooters blasting 45 caliber machine guns NOT  pistols; explosions/flash bangs; even a hostage situation at the mock urban warfare zone.  What we got……..yet another COLOSSAL government disappointment.

Sherry Adam
1636 Ruthsburg Rd
Ruthsburg MD

Artworks & Main Street Promote Chestertown Arts

The New York Times has called it charming, proud, remarkably unscarred. The Baltimore Sun touts that it’s cozy. The Washington Post uses the words comely and tony, and talks of a balance between traditional and trendy.

For centuries Chestertown has called to artists who find willing subjects in the handsome buildings, the beckoning river, the sidewalk scenes, and the surrounding natural beauty. In March Artworks showcases an eclectic variety of images in its downtown gallery, images that capture the spirit, energy, and heritage of this community. Selected artwork will be reproduced on banners to be hung on lightposts downtown.

Partnering with Artworks in promoting this exhibition is Main Street Historic Chestertown, part of the nationwide Main Street program established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) to enhance and preserve historically significant downtowns all across America. The Main Street program expands the concept of historic preservation beyond maintaining individual landmarks to perpetuating entire communities that played central roles in our nation’s history. Chestertown was designated as one of these treasured communities.

The NTHP has recommended enhancing the visual appeal of historic downtown business districts in order to stimulate commercial activity. Installing colorful banners that move in the breeze to add visual interest along High Street was one of these recommendations. Using artwork and photography by local artisans to promote attractions and entertaining events also displays the extraordinary creative talents of our thriving artists’ community.

A reception to open this special show will be held on First Friday, March 5, from 5-8 pm.

Artworks also maintains a non-profit gift shop featuring unique, hand-made gifts, with proceeds going to support local classes and programs for children and adults and to foster arts on the Upper Eastern Shore.

Artworks gallery, gift shop, and office are located at 306 Park Row, across from Fountain Park, in Chestertown.  Regular hours are Wednesday through Friday 12-3 and Saturday 9-3.  Phone 410-778-6300 for more information on membership, classes, and volunteer opportunities or go to www.artworkschestertown.org.

Alison Brown’s Jazz Banjo at the Mainstay March 12

One of the bright stars in the world of independent music, banjo and guitar player Alison Brown brings her dazzling quartet to the Mainstay in Rock Hall on Friday March 12 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. For reservations and more information call 410-639-9133. More information is also available on the Mainstay’s website http://www.mainstayrockhall.org.

The Alison Brown Quartet offers up an astonishingly original instrumental sound that blends elements of bluegrass, jazz, Latin and Celtic music into a vibe that is somewhere between the sophistication of elegant jazz solos and the mesmerizing pulse of a jam band. Taking banjo and guitar far from their stereotypical hillbilly and country roots, Grammy winner Alison Brown fronts the group, which also includes Garry West on bass, John R. Burr on piano and Larry Atamanuik on drums.

Brown has garnered extensive critical acclaim for her music including features on NPR’s All Things Considered and Weekend Edition, CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood and in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Billboard Magazine among many others. With an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an MBA from UCLA she has also attracted attention as one of the entrepreneurial founders of the very successful Nashville record label, Compass.

Since 1994, the Alison Brown Quartet has toured domestically and abroad, including performances at The Kennedy Center, MerleFest (6 appearances), New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Celtic Connections (9), Newport Folk Festival, Dublin National Concert Hall, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (7), Cambridge Folk Festival, The Edmonton Folk Festival (2), Telluride Bluegrass Festival (3), Strawberry Music Festival (2) and the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

Brown began her musical career as a teenager, playing banjo in several Southern California bands alongside fiddler Stuart Duncan. After graduating from high school, music took a back seat while Brown attended Harvard University and then earned a MBA from UCLA. After a couple of years as an investment banker, she got back into music playing banjo with Alison Krauss and Union Station and then as musical director for Michelle Shocked in the early 90s. This experience led Brown to develop her own style of music, a merger of bluegrass with jazz and folk idioms, bringing to mind the fusion styles of Béla Fleck and David Grisman.

After earning a Grammy-nomination for her first solo effort Simple Pleasures and winning Banjo Player of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Association, Brown put her business skills to work, founding Compass Records in 1995 with her husband Garry West. She says, “I co-founded Compass with Garry West the same year that I began touring with my own band so the label and the band have grown up in tandem, even though I didn’t release an album on Compass until 1998.”

Compass is a new breed of roots-music label: eclectic, sophisticated, and artist-friendly. Called “one of the greatest independent labels of the last decade” by Billboard Magazine, Compass Records has provided a thriving haven of creativity for artists and a beacon for music fans with “big ears.”  Its 2006 acquisition of the Green Linnet catalog and the 2008 acquisition of the seminal Mulligan Records label has made Compass one of the pre-dominant Celtic and roots music labels.

“Our artistic aesthetic is very well described by the idea that the company we’ve built and sustain (both in our roster and our staff) reflects our values and musical priorities. We take a very long tail approach to our business and feel a great sense of pride in having built a business model that is scaled to be successful with records that may only sell a few thousand units. Some of our smallest records say more about us as a label than our biggest selling records do.”

Clearly, the business model has been influenced by the independent musical sensibilities of the artist. An exquisite player, Brown’s bright, sophisticated arrangements take an ensemble approach to the music and fuse together elements of bluegrass, jazz, Latin and Celtic music into a captivating, cohesive far-ranging whole. Reflecting on her 2009 album Company You Keep, Brown said, “I’ve been writing, recording and performing my own tunes for nearly 20 years now. As I thought about the progression of my sound – our band sound – I began to think about what a collaborative effort this musical journey has been. After 15 years of recording, performing and philosophizing about music with (pianist) John R Burr and (bassist) Garry West, I really wanted to draw that collaborative spirit to the forefront on this album.”

Brown’s discography includes 6 releases on Vanguard Records and 6 on Compass Records. She has been a guest speaker at Harvard Business School, Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School, and the University of Colorado Boulder, and currently serves as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.

The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It serves Rock Hall and the surrounding region by presenting local, regional and national talent at a reasonable price in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Beverages and snacks are available.  For information call 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website http://www.mainstayrockhall.org.

Letter to Editor: Last Chance for Health Insurance Reform

Music to my ears! “Seeing no prospect of a bipartisan agreement on health care, congressional Democrats say they will make another effort to pass sweeping health care legislation on their own.” (N.Y. Times Feb. 27)

Obama, Pelosi, and Reid realize that (1) the U.S. electorate—by a wide margin—delivered the White House and substantial majorities in both houses to Democratic candidates who said they’d reform health insurance; and (2) it’s time to deliver.

Even Steny Hoyer has found his missing backbone: “The No. 2 Republican in the House, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, asked the House Democratic leader, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, to renounce use of the budget reconciliation procedure for health care. But in an exchange on the House floor on [Feb. 26], Mr. Hoyer refused to do so. Use of the procedure is ‘in the Republican tradition,’ Mr. Hoyer said. In any event, he said, Senate rules requiring a 60-vote majority to cut off a filibuster ‘are impeding the work of the American people.’” (Ibid)

Either South Carolina’s Sen. Jim DeMint was right, that health insurance reform “will be Obama’s Waterloo,” or he wasn’t.

Can we assume that Rep. Frank Kratovil—blue dog morphing into lame duck—will do something right to remember him by and vote for health insurance reform now?

Gren Whitman

Organist Brian Jones at Emmanuel March 5th

Emmanuel Church Concert Series presents an organ recital by Brian Jones on Friday, 5 March at 7:30 pm. Mr. Jones is Director of the Copley Singers, a Boston-based semi-professional choir, and Visiting Artist at Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington, Kentucky. A graduate of Oberlin and Boston University, he is Emeritus Director of Music & Organist at Trinity Church, Boston and has performed widely through the United States, England, Mexico,  Bermuda, and Canada as an organ solo artist or guest conductor. Emmanuel Church is located on the corner of Cross & High Streets in downtown Chestertown, and is handicap accessible. Tickets are available at the door: $15 per adult; $10 for students/children. For further information, please call the church office at 410.778.3477.

Senator Cardin in Town March 1 to Talk Terrorism

On Monday, March 1, U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) will speak with Washington College students about the terrorist threat facing the United States and the difficult balance of protecting Americans against terrorism while safeguarding civil liberties.  The Senator’s address is part of the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, named after the late Louis L. Goldstein who served as Comptroller of Maryland from 1959-1998.

Senator Cardin heads the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  “Our top priority must be to protect the American people …at the same time we must ensure that our government uses its resources wisely and that it strikes an appropriate balance between national security and protecting civil liberties,” stated Senator Cardin at a Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing he chaired last year.

Senator Cardin to address Washington College students about the terrorist threat facing our nation.  Following his address, he will take Q&A from the students

WHEN: Monday, March 1 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Washington College, Hodson Hall 300 Washington Ave., Chestertown, MD

Letter to Editor: Taxes will go up with FASTC

Several weeks ago, Clayton A Mitchell, an attorney from Stevensville, placed an op-ed in the Spy supporting the proposed FASTC Hard Skills Training Center. Two thirds of the letter was spent in explaining how this proposed facility was vital to national defense, and “Queen Anne’s County must ‘step up to the plate’…. with overwhelming support.” Never in any discussion have I heard any person opposed to the facility in QAC say that personnel should not be adequately trained. They simply say that Ruthsburg is a poor choice of location for a military training facility, and also extremely expensive, particularly when the government already owns so much land that could be used for the facility. The last third of the letter describes how life on the Eastern Shore will decay without the facility and “lead to certain…higher tax rates.”

Mr. Mitchell’s economic projections are not supported by any data. In fact, the FASTC team trying to sell the program says that no economic studies have been made, that they are underway, and it will be several weeks before they are complete, and they are unable to say what economic benefit, if any, will come to the County if the Hard Skills facility is installed until these studies are complete.

The proposed hard skills facility hits the county with a triple-whammy for a tax increase. Not only are we taking away 2000 acres of tax positive farmland, we are substituting for it a business which pays zero taxes, and takes even more land for tax negative residential use for employees of that business which pays no taxes. I don’t believe anyone could study the numbers involved without predicting a tax increase for the County. The American Farmland Trust has run over 100 studies of counties and areas like ours, and every single one of them has shown that residential land use cost the county more than it collected in taxes on that land and its improvements. Only by taxing other sectors of the community (industrial, commercial, farmland and open space and forests) more than the cost of services provided to them, is the county able to maintain a balanced budget.

Let’s look at the study made for our neighbor, Kent County Maryland

Residential cost $1,065M more in services than it paid in taxes. Industrial/commercial paid $1.001M more than it costs, and Farm/Open Land paid $1.2M more than it costs in services. Think what would happen to Kent County if they suddenly took away 2000 acres of taxpaying farmland and added additional residential land to support the new people working in that non-taxpaying former agricultural area.  Their budget surplus would soon be eaten up, and taxes would have to be increased. One might suggest that the other businesses that would start up, like service stations and plumbing/heating companies, would provide industrial/commercial tax increases to the County. But those tax increases will go to offset the losses on the residences of employees who are employed in those support businesses, plus make up for the taxes lost on the 2000 acres of farmland used by the State Department Facility, plus play for additional expense to the county of having an additional 500 residences in the county.

This proposed training center brings us traffic, noise, pollution, and damage to our agricultural base. This study indicated that it would also bring tax increases to us.

The two studies that support these figures can be found at the following websites:

http://www.farmland.org/programs/states/documents

www.farmlandinfo.org/documents

Bob Simmons
Reed Creek Farm
Centreville, MD

Hofmann & Wofford at the Mainstay

Internationally known jazz flute and piano duo Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford pay a welcome return visit to the Mainstay in Rock Hall on Friday March 5 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. For reservations and more information call 410-639-9133. More information is also available on the Mainstay’s website http://www.mainstayrockhall.org.

Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford are husband and wife who co-lead a quartet of their own, work with a string orchestra and on individual projects, but the duo format allows their technical virtuosities and creativity to blossom in a special way.

Hofmann’s secure sense of swing and broad emotional range have earned her recognition amongst jazz lovers around the world as “The first lady of the flute”. She makes a convincing case for the flute as a lead instrument with her robust tone and bluesy playing that is hard-driving as well as lyrical.

Wofford is a renowned pianist who was music director for Ella Fitzgerald and has had a long career as a soloist, as an arranger for Sergio Mendes, as staff pianist working with Quincy Jones on “The Cosby Show” and as a sideman on more than 200 recordings. This is an irresistible pairing of two incomparable musicians who have worked together for more than 20 years and have been married for 10.

Hofmann was born near Cleveland, Ohio, and began playing standards with her father, a jazz guitarist at the age of five. Early exposure to jazz and popular standards would blossom into a love for straight-ahead jazz, but her parents were insistent that she have a solid background in classical technique. Her formal education began at seven with lessons from the first flutist of the Cleveland Orchestra, Maurice Sharp. Her music education continued through high school at Interlochen Arts Academy. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado.

When Hofmann isn’t touring the globe she makes her home in San Diego, California where she’s enjoyed a long association with pianist Mike Wofford. She has nine critically acclaimed recordings as a leader of duos, quartets and the sextet Flutology featuring two other flutists. Some of her notable collaborations have been with Ray Brown, Bud Shank, Kenny Barron, Slide Hampton and Marian McPartland.

Downbeat magazine called Mike Wofford “one of the outstanding pianists of our time.” A sensitive and astute accompanist and composer, Wofford has been cited on more than two hundred recordings as a sideman and was music director for both Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald at various times in his career.

A native Texan, Wofford was raised in San Diego, California, where he now lives. His mother was a professional singer, and he began studying piano at age seven. At eighteen, he moved to Los Angeles and entered the jazz scene there during the 1960s. His first professional performances were with the legendary Lighthouse All-Stars and the bands of Teddy Edwards, Red Norvo, Chet Baker, Bud Shank, and Shorty Rogers. It was during this time that he appeared on his first jazz recordings, with Mel Torme, Gary Burton and Joe Pass.  He also recorded his first albums on Epic and Discovery under his own name. In the late 1960s, he was a free-lance session player in Los Angeles on recording dates and motion picture and TV soundtracks. He was staff pianist on “The Bill Cosby Show” with Quincy Jones, and was first-call pianist for Oliver Nelson at Universal Pictures. He also became active as an arranger at Capitol Records, writing for such artists as Sergio Mendes, and the Mike Barone Big Band.

Wofford has had a long association with drummer Shelly Manne, playing and recording with Manne’s various groups. He toured Europe with the Shelly Manne/Lee Konitz Quartet, and later South America, Europe and Japan as pianist and music director for Sarah Vaughan. In 1989, he became pianist and music director for Ella Fitzgerald and continued until her retirement in 1992.

This concert is another in the jazz series at the Mainstay in memory of David Pike. Pike was legal journalist and jazz guitarist with local connections. After working his way through college writing and playing jazz guitar he chose journalism as a career eventually becoming a highly respected legal journalist covering the Supreme Court. In retirement, he again took up the guitar, playing for himself, improvising on the guitar while listening to radio or CD.  He also played at the Open Mike Night at Andy’s in Chestertown.

The Mainstay is the storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It serves Rock Hall and the surrounding region by presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Beverages and snacks are available.  For information call 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website http://www.mainstayrockhall.org.

College Announces $50,000 George Washington Book Prize Finalists

In commemoration of George Washington’s birthday, Washington College today announced three finalists for the 2010 George Washington Book Prize.

The books, which were chosen from 62 entries, include a masterful account of the Constitutional Convention, an insightful reconsideration of the Founding Fathers, and a lively and dramatic narrative of one of the most remarkable partnerships in American history.

The finalists are: Richard Beeman’s Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution (Random House), R.B. Bernstein’s The Founding Fathers Reconsidered (Oxford), and Edith B Gelles’ Abigail & John: Portrait of A Marriage (William Morrow).

The $50,000 award—co-sponsored by Washington College, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and George Washington’s Mount Vernon—is the largest prize nationwide for a book on early American history, and one of the largest literary prizes of any kind. It recognizes the year’s best books on the nation’s founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance broad public understanding of American history.

“Each of this year’s finalists tells the stories of some of the men and women who participated in the nation’s founding,” said Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold director of Washington College’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, which administers the prize. “These books are not simple biographies: they are group portraits that bring to life, in personal and immediate ways, an extraordinary era in American history.”

The winner will be announced at a gala celebration May 20 at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens in Virginia.

The finalists were selected by a jury of three distinguished historians:  Theodore J. Crackel, Editor in Chief, The Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia, who served as chair; Catherine Allgor, Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside; and Andrew Cayton, University Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University, Ohio.

They selected the finalists after reviewing 62 books published last year on the founding period in American history, from about 1760 to 1820—time of the creation and consolidation of the young republic.

Richard Beeman “has long been a jewel in the historical profession’s crown,” and in Plain, Honest Men, he has written what could be considered his “magnum opus,” the jurors wrote. They praised the book for its “clear, accessible prose” and its “willingness to engage the reader in a public conversation,” calling the work “the best modern account of the Constitutional story.”  Beeman is Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of several books on the revolutionary America, including Patrick Henry: A Biography (1974), a finalist for the National Book Award.  He serves as a trustee and vice-chair of the Distinguished Scholars Panel of the National Constitution Center.

R.B. Bernstein’s The Founding Fathers Reconsidered  “is the product of a genius for concise analysis” that in its relatively few pages “has synthesized a generation of scholarship into an extended essay about the nature and meaning of the American Revolution,” the jurors reported.  “He provides a straightforward account of men who were neither demi-gods nor scoundrels, but rather talented, imperfect human beings.”  Bernstein is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School and has written, edited or co-edited nineteen books on American constitutional and legal history, including Thomas Jefferson (2003).

Edith B. Gelles’ Abigail & John: Portrait of a Marriage is the judges noted, “not only a lively telling of a most important chapter in our nation’s history, but also – and appropriately – a romance.” In this most recent exploration of the famous duo, Gelles “has added new dimensions, capturing the husband and wife in a truly multi-dimensional construct.”  Gelles is currently a Senior Scholar at the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Studies at Stanford University.  She began her research into the Adamses over thirty years ago and is the author of two books about Abigail: Portia: The World of Abigail Adams (1992), a co-winner of the American Historical Association’s Herbert Feis Award, and Abigail Adams: A Writing Life (1998), an examination of Abigail’s life through her letters.

You can read more about the George Washington Book Prize at gwprize.washcoll.edu.

To the Editor: A Chestertown Fire by Trams Hollingsworth

It hadn’t been my best week.  I was spinning my wheels.  Literally and figuratively.  My long country lane was almost impassible with deep ruts of slush and mud.  The first days of the week I’d spent caring for my elderly mother.  She had gotten, and then generously shared with other family and friends, a virulent norovirus.  This bug had landed one of my mom’s caretakers in the hospital.  It landed me, purged and exhausted, on the bathroom floor.  But I woke up Friday morning feeling better and with an odd, for this week, attitude of optimism.  This, I thought, will be a better day.  And that’s when a neighbor called to tell me that my house on Kent Street was on fire.

I was numb with fear as I slid down my lane and sped toward town.  I love the purple house in inverse proportion to it’s size.  It might be the smallest house in Chestertown.  It began as a log-and-chink cabin, a slave house or an outside  kitchen (we’ve heard both) that was long ago transported from a country estate to Kent St.  I was imagining, as I drove, all the happy history of my little purple house up in smoke.  But mostly I was scared for our tenants who are also our friends.  I’d been told they were not home.  But  I knew that much of their family history was stored inside this happy house.  My friend had proudly pointed out the furniture she’d recently inherited from her mother. But her most valuable possessions, like mine, were the boxes of photographs and letters that we all plan to sort through one day.  I imagined these boxes in flames and I was consumed by sadness on my short drive to town.

In the few minutes it took me to reach the site, the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company had already blocked the street.  At some point when I was able to focus I counted six fire trucks in front of my house.  But I wasn’t focusing at first.  All I registered were  firemen, a few at a time, entering and exiting my house through a tunnel of black smoke.   A score of other firemen standing ready in the street.  I knew the tenants were not inside but…

“There’s a cat inside!” I started screaming as I ran into their midst.

Everyone stopped what they were doing in attention. Then those brave firemen designated to respond to this emergency went back through the axe-broken front door.  In less time that it took to be terrified, a cat who had always been the color of smoke came scooting out of the house and into the yard.  And everybody, the throng of careful neighbors, the local insurance agent already on the scene, and a brigade of canvas-bundled firemen started clapping and cheering.  Grey Kitty, the neighborhood’s once-feral now community-spoiled cat was safe.

Next I stood in my neighbors’ side yard and watched our fire company at work.  Soon there was a big hole in the side of my house.  I could see firemen with crowbars prying  boards from inside and throwing these flaming javelins through the hole into the snowy yard where they were extinguished.  The smoke, once floor to ceiling, was clearing.  But flaming missiles kept flying through the hole into a high pile of char.   It would be much later when I realized that the many water hoses held ready in the street were never turned on inside the house.  It would be only hypothetical by the time I wondered how much water it would have taken to dissolve a two-hundred year old log and chink historic cabin.

Then, as I looked through the hole into my house, I was surprised to see my tenant.  He had been working in Galena when he got the call that his house was on fire.  I recalled the terror of my two-minute drive and wondered how he’d managed his twenty minutes of not knowing.  But there he was waving me inside to where he stood with the firemen.  He was dazed I’m sure.  I’m also sure he had this weird grin.

“It’s funny what you think about,”  he told me later.  “I wouldn’t allow myself to hope that the old wooden house would be standing.”

Where his irrational brain had taken him on his terrible drive to town were the recent days he’d spent here trying to get his income taxes in order.  The hours he’d spent finding and organizing all the papers he needed to compile this report.  And how he’d piled them on the dining room table.  Somehow his sense of emotional self-preservation had not allowed him to think of the boxes of family photos but had focused him on these piles of tax papers.  “Look,” he said pointing to the dining room table now framed by the charred studs of what had been the wall of our house.  And there, a little sooty but there, were his neat piles of tax papers.  We both looked incredulously at the firemen still milling about who had made this crazy relief a reality.

This is how a big black hole in your little purple house can make you feel very, very lucky.  Lucky that you live in Chestertown.  Where a neighbor smells smoke and goes looking for its source.  Where another neighbor pushing a stroller calls 911.  Where firemen arrive almost instantly.  Where they go bravely into your smoking, burning house and make the careful assessment that they will try to save it from the easier but devastating dousing.  Where  more neighbors and friends have gathered to offer support for the owners and temporary residence for the tenants.  And best of all for the community of all who cheered so loudly when the once-feral, now-cuddled cat comes scooting into the crowd.

There is a lot to be thankful for when you live in this careful town.  Firemen and friends are at the top of my list as I finish this story.  Thank you.

Sincerely.

Trams Hollingsworth
Owner of the Little Purple House
Still standing on Kent Street

Lyric Brass Quintet Comes to WC on Saturday

The 58th season of the Washington College Concert Series continues with a performance by the Lyric Brass Quintet in Decker Theatre on Saturday, February 27, at 8 p.m.

Formed in 1998, the Lyric Brass Quintet quickly distinguished itself as one of the premier brass chamber groups in the Mid-Atlantic. As winners of the 2000 Baltimore Chamber Music Competition, they performed at ARTSCAPE, and their debut CD, Daydreams, was released the same year to critical acclaim.

They have been featured artists on the Baltimore Composers’ Forum, the Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust Concert Series, and at the Foxboro Orpheum in Boston.

The Lyric Brass Quintet’s members have appeared as soloists in Eric Ewazen’s concerto grosso Shadowcatcher with the Peabody Wind Ensemble and were featured artists in Virginia’s Catch a Rising Star Concert Series.The quintet’s second recording, Christmas Around the World, was released in December 2002, and the latest CD from the group, Ancient Noels, came out in fall 2009.

The 2009-2010 Washington College Concert Series will conclude with a performance by pianist Inna Faliks on March 28.

Single admission tickets, available at the box office, are $15 for adults, $5 for youth 18 and under. Decker Theatre is located in Washington College’s new Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts. For more information, call 410/778-7839.

Last Foreign Affairs Center Public Forum this Tuesday

On Tuesday evening, the final public forum will be held to discuss plans to create a US State Department Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (“FASTC”) in Queen Anne’s County.  During the programs, all interested parties are welcome to make public statement of support or in opposition to the current plans.

Public Forum
Queen Anne’s County High School
Auditorium
Tuesday, February 23rd

6:00-8:00pm

At the public forum, there will be a presentation followed by an opportunity for the community to ask questions.

Also, the public comment period has been extended to Friday, March 12th.

Please visit the website www.state.gov/recovery/fastc/ for project information

Photographer on “American Power” Wednesday Night

Award-winning photographer Mitch Epstein will give a presentation based on his latest project, American Power, at Washington College’s Litrenta Lecture Hall on Tuesday, February 9, at 7:30 p.m. A book signing will follow.

Epstein’s new work examines how energy is produced and used in the American landscape, raising questions about the nature and exercise of power, both energy-based and political. Taken on forays to energy production sites and their environs, his stunning photographs question the power of nature, government, corporations and mass consumption in the United States. In his presentation, Epstein will reflect on the role of the artist in a country torn between tradition and sustainability.

Epstein is one of America’s most distinguished color photographers. He is the author of six other books in addition to American Power, including: Vietnam: A Book of Changes; The City; and Family Business. His photographs are featured in numerous major museum collections, including New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The American Academy in Berlin awarded Epstein the Berlin Prize in Arts and Letters for 2007-08. Other prizes include a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003. Epstein also has worked as a director, cinematographer and production designer on several films, including “Dad,” “Salaam Bombay!” and “Mississippi Masala.”

Litrenta Lecture Hall is located in the John S. Toll Science Center. Cosponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the Center for Environment & Society, and the Department of Art and Art History, Epstein’s presentation is free and open to the public.

Audition Dates for Church Hill Theatre’s “Oliver!”

Auditions for “Oliver!,” a musical by Lionel Bart with direction by Sylvia Maloney, music direction by Brittney Lynn, and piano accompaniment by Faith Souders, will be held at Church Hill Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 2 to 5 pm, Tuesday, March 2 from 7 to 9 pm and Saturday, March 6 from 2 to 5 pm.

Needed for principal and supporting roles are 7 men and 5 women, ages 20’s to 60’s; 1 young man and 1 young woman, ages 15-20; 8 to 10 boys and girls, ages 9 to 14; and 8 to 10 chorus members, ages teens to 60’s.

Please come with a prepared song and sheet music and be prepared to read from the script. Technicians are also needed.  Oliver! performs June 11 through June 27, 2010.

For more information, call Sylvia Maloney call 410-778-3783 or email ssmaloney@verizon.net.

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