Eastern Shore

If you weren't excited about the upcoming session of the Maryland General Assembly you will be now: One of the bills to be filed would designate “Soft Shell Crab” as the official Maryland state sandwich. According to the Washington Post, Sen. Richard F. Colburn, R-Old Bay, believes that awarding official status to “a Maryland delicacy” will boost restaurant business and help troubled watermen. Maybe it will, although I have never eaten a Baltimore Oriole specifically because it is the Maryland State Bird.

The sister of Raymond H. Bartles, a Hagerstown man who died Wednesday while in police custody on the Eastern Shore, last contacted his family last week to say he was heading for a job in that area. "He had stayed here about two weeks ago," Faith Bryan said. "When he called on Saturday, he seemed OK. " Bartles, 43, died at Easton (Md.) Memorial Hospital. "I'm thinking it was heat-related," Bryan said about her younger brother's death. "The doctor said he was dehydrated and he had no water with him. " According to an Associated Press story, Bartles went limp after he was handcuffed by Maryland State Police after a series of incidents where he reportedly had been seen wandering in and out of traffic and acting strangely.

o Obituary The sister of a Hagerstown man who died Wednesday in police custody on the Eastern Shore last contacted his family Saturday to say he was heading for a job in that area. Raymond H. Bartles, 43, died at Easton Memorial Hospital. "I'm thinking it was heat-related," said Faith Bryan of Hagerstown when contacted by telephone today about her younger brother. "The doctor said he was dehydrated and he had no water with him. " Bryan said her brother often worked at carnivals, car shows and NASCAR events.

Two Washington County Little League teams will begin play as representatives of District 1 in their respective Maryland state tournaments Saturday afternoon at Brunswick Little League. The Valley Little League 10-11 All-Stars play their opening game against the District 5 (Northern Maryland) champion at 2 p.m. on Field 2. Valley will play again on Sunday, either at 10:30 a.m. with a loss or 4:30 p.m. with a win. The 10-11 tournament championship round is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday and, if necessary, Friday.

Alzheimer Advocates Day scheduled for Tuesday Alzheimer's Association, Western Maryland Chapter, in conjunction with chapters from the Eastern Shore and Central Maryland, will hold the 2001 Alzheimer Advocates Day Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. John's College in Annapolis. Advocates Day will give family members, caregivers and other Alzheimer's advocates an opportunity to meet with state legislators. Advocacy training will be provided during the meeting to prepare participants for their legislative visits.

Elizabeth Landon, a resident of Somerford Assisted Living on Sharpsburg Pike, is shown with her 52-year-old Christmas cactus. The cactus is from the lower Eastern Shore and was started from blooms brought to her father by a neighbor during his final illness. It came to live with Landon in Hagerstown in 1956 and has survived five moves since. She said it likes to be on her porch in the summer, dark nights in the fall, with little attention, not too much water and a few kind words now and then.

Thumbs up to Allegany, Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties, which have formed the Maryland Rural Counties Coalition, largely to lobby against a proposed statewide development plan called PlanMaryland. The counties hope to expand the group to include other rural counties, including those on the Eastern Shore, to strengthen their influence in Annapolis. Thumbs up to the Smithsburg Middle School Gives Back program, through which 62 students made 24 fleece tie blankets for various community facilities, created about 40 holiday cards to send to servicemen and servicewomen, and made 15 fleece scarves for residents of Holly Place in Hagerstown. 

Movie shot in Md. makes shore debut EASTON, Md. (AP) - A movie shot in Talbot County, Md., made its Eastern Shore debut on Friday. The film "Swimmers" is about watermen and a fading way of life. Maryland residents probably will recognize several Eastern Shore landmarks. The movie was shown at Easton's Avalon Theater. The film has been seen worldwide but director Doug Sadler said it now faces its toughest critics - the locals. Perdue tries to reach Spanish speakers SALISBURY, Md. (AP)

Name of Business: Just In Time Seafood Owners: Justin and Kelly White Address: 245 Retail Commons Parkway, Martinsburg, W.Va. Opening date: June 8, 2012 Products and services: We have fresh seafood, live crabs, we do lunches and dinners, as well as feasts. Target market: Anyone who enjoys seafood How did you get into your business, and what motivated you to start it? Justin has been in seafood his entire life. His mother is from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and his father is from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invites families to sign up for the Park Quest, a Maryland Park Service outdoor adventure-based program. Park Quest is a free 11-week competition, continuing through July 26, which challenges families to complete designated outdoor activities and challenges at state parks throughout Maryland. Participants who complete 8 of the 14 challenge activities will qualify to compete in the Park Quest Finale on Aug. 8, at Tuckahoe State Park on the Eastern Shore.

Haven Lutheran group plans fundraiser A group of women and teens from Haven Lutheran Church in Hagerstown will hold a mission trip fundraiser Friday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the church. The event will include the parlor game Bunco, refreshments and door prizes.  All money raised will assist in transportation costs to Virginia's Eastern Shore, lodging and materials for helping the community. The church is at 1035 Haven Road.  For more information, call Kathy Yaraghi at 240-818-9607.

William “Bill” Bryan Bundick of Clear Spring, Md., passed away Dec. 28, 2012, at the age of 79, in Winchester, Va. Bill was preceded in death by his grandparents, Oscar and Lillie Barnes; his mother, Theodosia Barnes Truitt; his father, Horace Bundick; his stepfathers, James Truitt and Ray Galloway; his brother James “Jimmy” Bundick; and his aunt, Amanda Ewell. He is survived by and will be missed by his wife, Marie Salgado; his son, Arthur; daughter-in-law, Carmen; granddaughter, Amanda; brothers, David Bundick of Jenison, Mich., and Robert Galloway of Boise City, Idaho; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

If you weren't excited about the upcoming session of the Maryland General Assembly you will be now: One of the bills to be filed would designate “Soft Shell Crab” as the official Maryland state sandwich. According to the Washington Post, Sen. Richard F. Colburn, R-Old Bay, believes that awarding official status to “a Maryland delicacy” will boost restaurant business and help troubled watermen. Maybe it will, although I have never eaten a Baltimore Oriole specifically because it is the Maryland State Bird.

Name of Business: Just In Time Seafood Owners: Justin and Kelly White Address: 245 Retail Commons Parkway, Martinsburg, W.Va. Opening date: June 8, 2012 Products and services: We have fresh seafood, live crabs, we do lunches and dinners, as well as feasts. Target market: Anyone who enjoys seafood How did you get into your business, and what motivated you to start it? Justin has been in seafood his entire life. His mother is from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and his father is from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Thumbs up to Allegany, Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties, which have formed the Maryland Rural Counties Coalition, largely to lobby against a proposed statewide development plan called PlanMaryland. The counties hope to expand the group to include other rural counties, including those on the Eastern Shore, to strengthen their influence in Annapolis. Thumbs up to the Smithsburg Middle School Gives Back program, through which 62 students made 24 fleece tie blankets for various community facilities, created about 40 holiday cards to send to servicemen and servicewomen, and made 15 fleece scarves for residents of Holly Place in Hagerstown. 

John Rodenhausen and Beth McGee of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation stopped for a rest day in Williamsport Thursday in the middle of a 1,300-mile bike ride around the Chesapeake Bay watershed. "We started in Maryland, went up to Pennsylvania and then all the way to New York, and we are now on our southern route going back through Maryland," Rodenhausen said. "We plan to go through West Virginia, Virginia and then head up the eastern shore on into Delaware. " Rodenhausen and McGee said they were making the bike trip to raise awareness and money for health and environmental issues.

With a piece of India n flour bread in his pocket and hopes of becoming a free man in his heart, James W.C. Pennington ran away from Rockland Estate in search of freedom. The so-called fugitive blacksmith would go on to become a minister in Presbyterian churches in New York and Hartford, Conn., and a delegate to several international abolition conventions. He led efforts to desegregate New York City's public transit system and fought for the right of blacks to vote. He also received a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Heidelberg and helped the Africans involved in the historic Amistad case form a Christian mission in Sierra Leone.

Two Washington County Little League teams will begin play as representatives of District 1 in their respective Maryland state tournaments Saturday afternoon at Brunswick Little League. The Valley Little League 10-11 All-Stars play their opening game against the District 5 (Northern Maryland) champion at 2 p.m. on Field 2. Valley will play again on Sunday, either at 10:30 a.m. with a loss or 4:30 p.m. with a win. The 10-11 tournament championship round is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday and, if necessary, Friday.

Elizabeth Frances Landon, 97, of Somerford Place, Hagerstown, Md., died Thursday, June 30, 2011, at her home. Born Nov. 6, 1913, in Marion Station, Md., she was the daughter of the late Edward Travis and Rose Esther Hall Landon. She was a graduate of Marion High in 1930, received B.A. degree from Western Maryland College, Westminster, Md., in 1934, and a master’s degree from Columbia University Teacher’s College in New York, N.Y., in 1949. She taught in Berlin High, Berlin, Worchester County, Md., for 7 1/2 years, and in Washington School, Hagerstown, for 31 years.