Letters to the Editor

Thanks for your dedication to our school and for helping us to promote the positive things that go on at White Marsh Elementary School everyday. Ginger Roupe, Principal

Nice pictures! I'm glad you en-joyed the meal. Our ladies love to cook!!!

Eunice Jenkins, Scotts Church Secretary

I have lived in the Trappe area for a long, long time. To me, this is home. It’s very special. I love Trappe! Chris Routzahn

A word about bird feeders By: Anne Stinson

Lots of people assume that be-cause the world is stirring to life, the situation for birds is easing off from winter’s perils.

Weather-wise, yes. Food-wise, not necessarily. Fall is the seed-bearing season for much of birds’ diets, and the supply lasts through early winter when things get dicey. With nesting time ahead, there will be a new crop of insects to feed their families, but in the interim, birds either get a boost from backyard feeders or fail to thrive. If you feed them, please don’t stop now. Their survival is dependent on the kind-ness of strangers.

TWO SUPPORT GROUPS NOW MEETING IN TRAPPE

Tromp’m In Trappe Time! The Talbot County Health Department is offering

Free Quit Smoking Classes (including free patches) at the United Methodist Church on

Maple Avenue 7-8 pm on Tuesday evenings from March 30th to May 18th. Please call 410.819.5600

for more information. Alcoholics Anonymous meets at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Main Street Tuesdays at 6:30 pm. For more information, please call the church office at 410.410.3936 or the local AA office at 410.822.4226. Informa-tion about the organization is also available online at www.alcoholics-anonymous.org

Ralph Potter Receives WMES’s First “Above and Beyond” Award

No matter how many times you interrupt him, his answer is always the same: “I’ll take care of it.”

By Ann E. Dorbin and Mrs. Murdoch’s First Grade Class

Mr. Ralph Potter has been selected as the first recipient of White Marsh Elementary School’s “Above and Beyond” Award. Because our school did a good job on testing, last year we received a grant from the State (that means they gave us some money to put to good use). It was decided to use some of the money for an award to recognize the school’s employees. Mrs. Leslie Hamburger was one of the parents on the Selection Committee. “Everyone who nominated Mr. Potter had some wonderful story about his concern and dedication to the students,” she told us. “From making sure a child had breakfast in the morning to cleaning up vomit with a smile, even if it was his third or fourth time for the day!” During Newspapers in Education Week 2004 (March 8-12), our class worked on a pro-

ject to write an article about Mr. Potter. First we made a list of what we already knew about Mr. Potter. Some of the things on our list were that you can count on him, he cares about the students, and he keeps the building very clean. He also smiles a lot and is very helpful to everyone, like when he opens our ketchup packets, cleans the lunch tables, and ties our shoes. Best of all, he gives us ice cream tickets!

Then we read aloud from the nomination forms. One of them read, “No matter how many times you interrupt him, his answer is always the same: “I’ll take care of it.” We also read that Mr. Pot-ter is a “team player,” does extra things for teachers, built the brick marquee in front of the school dur-ing a very hot summer, is trustworthy, cheerful, patient, and a good role model.

Next, we invited Mr. Potter to our room for an interview and photo shoot (that means we took his picture). He told us that he learned to take pride in his work and to do a good job from his father, who was also his role model. He told us that he is supposed to start work each day at 7:00 a.m., but that he always arrives one hour early, and that he polishes the floors with the buffing machine twice a day. We asked him what the worst part of his job was, and he couldn’t really come up with an answer. (We thought it might be cleaning up vomit four times in one day.) But when we asked what the best part of his job is, he smiled and answered right away: “The kids.”

When we took a picture of Mr. Potter surrounded by our class, he looked very happy to be with us. And that is the main reason why he just the right person to receive the very first Above and Beyond Award!

Mr. Potter & Mrs. Murdoch’s First Grade Class (photos © Paragon Light Inc)

Students from St. Paul's Preschool, a state-approved pre-school on Main Street, recently visited Giant Food in conjunction with a unit about food and nutrition. Pictured, left to right, are Griffin Adolf and Tori Westerfield (in car), Lori Hemming (Director), Skyler Schult, Johnny Spilman, Molly Ford, Max Adolf, Cole Schuman, Wil-liam Smithmyer. (not shown: Emily Christopher and her mother) The preschool is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8:45 to 11:45. Children enjoy mornings of fun and learning that include age-appropriate themes in music, science and show ’n tells. For more information contact Lori Hemming at 410.476.4465 or the church office at 410.476.3048.

Photo courtesy of Sherrie Schuman

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS

The following excerpts from letters received by the Trappe Volunteer Fire Department fol-lowing the fire at Cherry’s in Easton reflect well-earned praise for our hometown

firefighters. Thanks for all you do to help in our town and beyond!

I am writing to express our sincere gratitude for the response of each of your members. I personally observed the outstanding teamwork and hope you will pass along my compliments to your members. As a life member of the Easton Volunteer Fire Department I am acutely aware of the dedication re-

quired and the sacrifices each of your members make to help protect the citizens of the community and the entire region. It is a very comforting thought to know help is available, at any time for any situation. The Town of Easton is very grate-ful for the selfless heroism which was so vividly displayed yet again.. (Robert C. Willey, Mayor of Easton)

The quick response and heroic efforts of the men of the Trappe Fire Department as well as that of our other fellow fire departments were conspicuous. Nothing swells our pride more than to have such fine fire fighting professionals come to our aid in such a time of need. (Easton Volunteer Fire Department)

On behalf of our most grateful staff we . . . deeply appreciate your valor and we salute your selflessness and service to others. The responding and covering fire companies acted as one body with teamwork and camaraderie. (Ronald J. Ensminger, Pres. & CEO, SAT-7 North America, neighboring office to Cherry’s)

Coming from a family of volunteer fire fighters, (father, brother, stepfather) I must admit that I never gave fire fighters much thought until “9-11.” Since then I have gained a whole new respect for them, paid or volunteer. Standing on the street watching the fire that destroyed Cherry’s, I felt compelled to write this. I cannot find the words to describe my emotions standing there watching these companies from four counties come together as one to fight this fire. At first, I went to “gawk” then I started watching and listening to more than the fire. My emotions ranged from shock, to horror, utter amazement and pride. Here were these people, volunteers, rushing in to this fiery building, on ladders over top with flames shooting at them, smoke so thick you couldn’t even see them at times. I could not stay away. I was so amazed I kept going back to stand on the corner down the block and watch these brave people. Volunteers all working together. Even when they got another call for a house fire on the other end of town, they never faltered. Whatever was needed to be done to take care of both situations was done and I doubt that most of the people watching realized that this second call came in. As is said, these people are a “special breed” and I for one am glad that they are out there. I have even more respect for the fire fighter now, man or woman, paid or volunteer, but especially the volunteer. Great Job Guys!

(Deborah Larimore Skipper, Trappe) OTHER FIRE DEPARTMENT NEWS:

TVFD WILL SPONSOR A BREAKFAST ON SUNDAY APRIL 18, 2004 AT THE FIREHALL 7am - 10am $5 per person

Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage links, hashbrowns, coffee, orange juice, muffins. Contact Lou Diefenderfer @ 410.476.3882

WAIT!! RESCUE THOSE DISCARDED ITEMS FROM THIS MONTH’S SPECIAL BULK PICKUP (APRIL 30TH). BE SURE TO SET ASIDE THE

“GOOD STUFF” FOR TVFD’S ANNUAL YARD SALE ON JUNE 5TH! Pick ups will be available beginning in May.

Call Kari Diefenderfer @ 410-476-3882 to arrange a pick up of unwanted items.

LAST CHANCE TO FOR LITTLE LEAGUE PROGRAM ADS: Trappe Little League is still ac-cepting advertising for this year’s program brochure. They hope to have enough ads this year to print enough programs to give away at all games throughout the season. Let people know about the many local businesses right here in the Trappe area. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2004. Please call Ray Geist at 410.476.3178 for more information.

RISE is looking for a volunteer to finish out the school year. If you are interested in helping beginning readers and available 9:00-11:00 on Tuesday mornings, please contact Mrs. Susan Redmond at White Marsh Elemen-tary School 410.476.3144.

Brownie Troop #906 is hitting the open road! We will be taking trips to Washington, DC and/or New York City. Watch for more news from us in future issues or contact Barbara Coleman by phone 410.476.3128 or email: bacjec@goeaston.net

Celebrate April: Month of the Young Child

Artwork by WMES Students

Adult Scholarships !!!

The Chesapeake Women’s Network is accepting applications for a $1,000 scholarship. Female residents of Talbot, Caroline or Dorchester County, age 21 or older, seeking tuition assistance for career advancement are eligible. To apply, submit resume with letter stating personal background, career intentions and pro-posed use of scholarship. Resume and letter must be received no later than Wednesday, April 28, 2004. Mail to: Chesapeake Women’s Network, PO Box 62, Easton MD 21601. The winner will be notified by mail and the award will be presented at the year-end meeting in May. The Scholarship will be paid directly to the winner’s institution of learning.

Editor’s Note: At the age of 38, I became a returning college stu-dent and the recipient of one of these scholarships. I attended col-lege while raising a family and working part time. It took me eight years to graduate, but I could not have made it without the support of organizations such as Chesapeake Women’s Network. Thank you!

The following high school students from Trappe were inducted into the National Honor Society on February 24, 2004: Samantha Asmussen, Becky Doty, Kelli Dungan, Shanez Jenkins, Amy Lester and ChristieTowers.

The following students were named to the Dean’s List at Salisbury University for the Fall 2003 semester: Amy Anderson, Lacey Baker, Kelley Newnam, Sara Sewell, and Kay Wellenkotter.

Whitemarsh Elementary 4th Graders for completing the Sticks & Stones Project, an initiative led by Barbara Brooks to help students understand and avoid teasing and bullying.

Sue Tucker was honored as March Teacher of the Month. Mrs. Tucker teaches kindergarten at White Marsh Elementary. (Editor’s note: I can tell you first-hand that she is a gem!) The Teacher of the Month award is given monthly by

Giant Food. The criteria for selecting the winner includes demonstrating the traits taught in the Character Counts Program within the school & the community, demonstrating excellent communication skills with parents & colleagues, and, holding students to high

academic standards while giving the resources/support to meet those standards.

APRIL SHOWERS: Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah’s Ark

1. Don’t miss the boat 2. Remember that we are all in the same boat 3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark 4. Stay fit. When you’re 60 years old, someone may ask you to so something really big 5. Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done 6. Build your future on high ground 7. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs

8. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were onboard with the cheetahs 9. When you’re stressed, float awhile 10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals 11. No matter the storm, there’s always a rainbow waiting

Hold That Thought….. Money talks, but this is ridiculous! By Ann Dorbin

The other day, my wallet began to talk. It was innocently resting on the table across the room when it began to speak. “Hello! Hello!” it repeated several times before I realized where the voice was coming from. I opened it to find my small cellular phone in autonomous operation. “Hello, is anybody there?!” it squawked

impatiently. “Hello,” I echoed into it. “David here,” it replied. (David? I didn’t call anyone named David. I don’t know anyone named David. I didn’t even

touch the phone!) “Hi, David, why are you calling me?” “I didn’t call you, you called me!” (In a mature, adult way, I resisted the urge to start a “Did-not! Did-to!!” slinging

match.) “Sorry to have bothered you,” I said politely, although the theme music to The Twilight Zone flashed through my

mind. It wasn’t until later that I realized David was the husband of a friend I had spoken with earlier. I had neglected to lock

the keypad and somehow the redial button must have been bumped into activation. The last time this happened, I was on the receiving end of the call. My husband was grocery shopping and the store

was so noisy that and he didn’t hear my increasing-impatient “Hello”s sounding from inside his pocket. I listened to a few minutes of chitchat between Richard and the checker and finally disconnected. What a waste of prime airtime minutes! I grumbled to myself.

Perhaps these incidents are but a small price to pay for all of the modern communications technology available to us—land phones, voice mail, cell phones, beepers, pagers, conference calls, email, fax, text mes-saging, Palm Pilots. These days, we expect to be able to make contact in seconds and are put-out when we can’t. I remind myself of the times when there were no such things as answering machines and we actually were forced to have real conversations with one another. When I was a young child, for several years my family had a “party line,” a shared a telephone line with several other households. You could tell which “party” was receiving an incoming call by how many times the phone rang. Ours was a quick double ring. (A bonus feature of this cheap, low-tech service was that if you were the nosy type, you could snoop into your neighbor’s business.) In those days we also used the nifty technique of “calling back later.” Better yet, we never ever wasted time lamenting about communications glitches. Aah, those were the days! Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear my wallet calling. . .

Put away your recipes, menu planners, and table settings and sit back and let Trappe United Methodist Church host a hearty Country Church Breakfast especially for your family or group. Bring on your guests and your appetites and enjoy a morning gathering of family, friends, or business associates.

Please call the church office at 410.476.3384 or Drake or Elizabeth Ferguson at 410.476.4858.

Last month, more than 30 Guests gathered at TUMC to enjoy a Sur-prise Birthday Breakfast for Nora Niemeyer, including a full spread of eats, decorations, and (what else?) birthday cake.

Nora had a wonderful birthday and was happy that her husband, Bob, had the idea for a breakfast sur-prise. She quipped, “Bob didn’t spend this much time planning our wedding!”

Looking for a different way to celebrate a special event?

Kalla waits for her owner, Carol Lange, outside the P.O. Rescued during Hurricane Floyd, Kalla was part of a

model program for emergency animal rescue originated at North Carolina State Veterinary School.