Pocomoke Police Press Release

Pocomoke Police Department

1500 Market Street

Pocomoke, Maryland   21851

410-957-1600

www.pocomokepd@comcast.net

February 2015

2-01-2015 Kalifah Milton, age 20 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department and charged with Disorderly Conduct.

2-2-2015 Kalifah Milton, age 20 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department and charged with Unlawful removal of property.

2-5-2015 David Tull, age 33 of Bloxom, VA was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department and charged with Theft less $100.

2-6-2015 Reginald Mills, age 56 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department and charged with Driving While Intoxicated and Driving under the Influence.

2-6-2015 Demetrius Mills, age 26 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department and charged with Disorderly Conduct and Failure to Obey a Lawful Order

2-7-2015 Moneeka Reese, age 24 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department for Theft less $100.

2-9-2015 Lowell Rolley, age 54 of Marion Station, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department for Driving While Intoxicated and Driving Under the Influence.

2-13-2015 Michael Brooks, age 38 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department on a Outstanding Warrant for Driving while Suspended through Somerset County.

2-16-2015 Lydia Kinsell, age 45 of Snow Hill, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department for Theft less $100.

2-16-2015 Kyle Thompson, age 29 of Salisbury, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department for Theft less $500.

2-17-205 Breon Turlington, age 30 of Melfa, VA was arrested by the PocomokeCity Police Department on an Outstanding Warrant  for 2nd Degree Assault and Malicious Destruction of Property.

2-18-205 Tremayne Rogers, age 33 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the  Pocomoke City Police Department for Theft less $100.

2-21-2015 Kristina Holcomb, age 44 of Greenbackville, VA was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department for Theft less $500.

2-24-2015 Xavier Arnold, age 26 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department on an Outstanding Warrant for  Assault.

2-24-2015 Devin Lockley, age 19 of Oak Hall, VA was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department on an Outstanding Warrant for Theft.

2-27-2015 Alphonso Shockley, age 52 of New Church, VA was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department on an Outstanding Warrant.

2-28-2015 Devin Bryant, age 26 of Pocomoke, MD was arrested by the Pocomoke City Police Department for Assault and Reckless Endangerment.

A Pocomoke Juvenile, age 15 was arrested for 2nd Degree Assault.

A Pocomoke Juvenile, age 17 was arrested for 2nd Degree Assault.

A Pocomoke Juvenile, age 16 was arrested for Theft.

Nine (9) additional Arrest were made for various traffic violations.

Kelvin D. Sewell

Chief of Police

March 4, 2015

Cypress Festival Opportunity

     The annual Cypress Festival will be held this year on June 17, 18, 19 & 20.

     The Cypress Festival is the main fundraiser for the Pocomoke Chamber of Commerce and the signature festival for Pocomoke. This event could not come together without the support of the local business community.

     This year marks the 40th year that the Cypress Festival has been held.  We are in the process of planning and creating the official program for the event.  Board members are taking orders now for paid ads that local businesses wish to place.  Sponsorships are also an option.

     We appreciate you for advertising in this year's Cypress Festival Program.  Beginning in May, over 2500 full color copies of the program will be distributed.

     If you wish to place an ad or be a sponsor and have not been contacted by a Chamber Board member, please call Deb at 410 957-1919 or email at pocomokechamber@gmail.com.

     

Ad orders & payment are due by April 15, 2015.

TIME MACHINE ... 1922, 1832, 1939, 1936, 1902, 1980's.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."

(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)


April, 1922

This coming week marks the anniversary of the disastrous Pocomoke City fire of April 17, 1922.

The pictures below of the fire's aftermath were taken by Pocomoke City resident Jake Mason. 

(Pictures courtesy of Choppy Layton)

                                         

                                                     (Excerpt from The Washington Times)

May, 1832
The Village Herald (Princess Anne)

Female Seminary.

MISS HAYNIE

HAS opened in Somerset County a Seminary for the Education of Young Ladies- English Grammar, History, Rhetorick, Arithmetick, Geography, Astronomy, Natural Philosophy, Chymistry, French, Music, and Plain and Ornamental Needlework, are taught at this Seminary.

TERMS.
Board and Tuition in all of the branches enumerated, except French and Music, $25 per quarter. Music $12 per quarter. French $4 per quarter.

Terms for day Scholars.
Tuition in all the English Branches $5 per quarter. Reading and Writing $4 per quarter. 

Bedding and Washing extra charges.

A deduction will be made for the vacation in August.

Olney, near Princess Anne.
May 8, 1832. 


1939- A typical monthly residential electric bill on the Eastern Shore of Virginia..

"In the 1930's the Hopkins Hardware Store owners also owned the generating plant and it was later sold to the Accomack-Northampton Electric Co-op."

(Image courtesy of Eastern Shore Public Library, Accomac)

June, 1936 (Time Machine archive)
(The Daily Mail- Hagerstown, Md.)

PRISONERS WILL COLLECT GARBAGE

SNOW HILL, Md., June 26. (AP)-  The city's prisoners at the county jail here became garbage collectors today.

Mayor John O. Byrd and city council did away with private contracts for collecting garbage and decided to let the prisoners do the work.  

State's Attorney Thomas F. Johnson and the Worcester County Commissioners approved the plan for working the city's prisoners.


May, 1902 (Time Machine archive)
(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."  


1980's.. The latest in home video!

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. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!  



PPE remembers JMMB.

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1922.. Disastrous April fire rakes Pocomoke City; 1832.. Seminary for the education of young ladies opens in Somerset County; 1939.. You'll be envious of this Eastern Shore of Virginia typical home electric bill; 1936.. Prisoners given garbage collection duties in Snow Hill; 1902.. Envisioning a new road from Pocomoke City to Snow Hill; 1980'S.. (Ad) "Reggievision" has arrived.

It's this Sunday right here at 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. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

Would you consider helping The Pocomoke Public Eye as one of our contributors of current local items of interest?  Please contact pcitypubliceye@gmail.com

"American Pie"

There's this..

..and there's the other "American Pie."  In the news today, 1971's classic hit that reflected on life during the early rock and roll era.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/08/gloomy-don-mclean-reveals-meaning-of-american-pie-and-sells-lyrics-for-1-2-million/

UNEXPLAINED..SO FAR.

GOOGLE has compiled NASA images of a large unidentified circular object on the surface of Mars measuring 3 1/2 miles across.

More at:  http://www.inquisitr.com/1986692/google-ufo-disc-mars-nasa/

TIME MACHINE ... 1999, 1941, 1893, 1946, 1954, 1893.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archive/historical archive material)


January, 1999
Somerset Herald (Princess Anne)

County, towns try to head
off Y2K computer glitch 

By Liz Holland

When the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, 2000, some experts are predicting the world could be thrown into chaos due to a glitch that causes computers not to recognize the Year 2000.

The glitch — which affects personal computers and equipment containing computer chips — could affect anything from utilities and the stock market to elevators and heating systems.

But despite what happens in the outside world, Somerset County, Princess Anne and Crisfield officials said they expect to be ready locally. 

About nine months ago, the county formed a committee to assess the Year 2000 computer problem, which is commonly called Y2K. 

Although the county expects to have all of its equipment Y2K compliant in time, certain things, such as utility service, will still be out of local control. The worst case scenario, the committee decided, would be for a massive
power outage to leave vital services in the dark.

Part of the county's efforts has included making sure those areas have back-up generators to ensure the continuation of police, fire and ambulance services, Adams said. Work on the high-risk areas is currently about 90 percent cornplete, he said. 


December, 1941 (Time Machine archive)

A system of guard duty was put into effect to allow Maryland State Guard members to return to their civilian jobs. The armories in Pocomoke City, Crisfield, Salisbury, and Cambridge remained under guard and closed to all public activities. All guard members were under orders to report to their armories each evening for roll call and orders.


October, 1893

Accomac deals with pig pens and Sunday bicycle issues.

(Peninsula Enterprise)

April, 1946 (Time Machine archive)

School news reported by students in the "PHS Speaks" column in Pocomoke's Worcester Democrat newspaper included items about a month long competition among home room classes for cleanest rooms...the annual Commercial Day program under the direction of Miss Mary Emily Matthews...an Easter Party being planned by Miss Pearl Bratten's 5th and 6th grade classes...a victory garden project under the direction of Mrs. Wilson...a fried chicken dinner for faculty and Chef Club members, directed by Miss Mable Jones...the organization of an Aviation Club to make model airplanes and collect information about important flights, under the direction of Mrs. Mae Taylor...and the organization of a Camera Club under the direction of Mrs. Cutright. 


April, 1954
The Salisbury Times

Pocomoke City Tops Ocean City    

Mason Pitches 5-Hit Ball

Pocomoke City ruined the home opener of Ocean City High yesterday afternoon with a 12-1 setback.

Robert Mason hurled a five-hit victory, whifting 12 and walking but two.  The big blow of the day was a sixth inning pinch-hit homer by Dennis Lees with two aboard.  Dick Bundick and Dick Parsons each laced out two hits apiece.


1893

Here's the reason Gold Dust washing powder says housewives need their product.

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. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!



PPE remembers JMMB

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1999.. Officials in Somerset County prepare for possible year 2000 computer glitch; 1941.. Lower Shore National Guard members remain on active duty but can resume their civilian jobs; 1893.. Pig pens and Sunday bicycle riding are issues in Accomac; 1946.. Pocomoke students write about activities of the day at PHS. 1954.. Several Pocomoke High baseball players are standouts in game with Ocean City High; 1893.. (Ad) See why Gold Dust washing powder says housewives deserve their product.

It's this Sunday right here at 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. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

AN IMPORTANT POCOMOKE PUBLIC EYE PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE!!

Stay on your P's and Q's today or someone will be saying.....

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

It was warmer on the northern tip of Antarctica last week than here on Delmarva.  In fact, according to multiple news sources, that section of the coldest place on Earth reached a record breaking temperature of +63.5 degrees (F) on March 24th.  The previous record high was +63.3 (F) the previous day.

TIME MACHINE ... 1931, 1900, 1861, 1884, 1960's.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."

(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)

July, 1931
Denton Journal 

FIRE DESTROYS CRISFIELD PIER AND WAREHOUSE
OF B&V STEAMSHIP LINE AND PENN RR.

CRISFIELD, MD., JULY 25 1931
Early Thursday morning, fire swept the pier warehouse of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Baltimore-Virginia Steamship Line at Crisfield, destroying the terminal and several freight cars with an estimate of $150,000. Fire companies from Crisfield, Pocomoke City, Princess Anne and Marion fought the flames three or more hours. While the firemen pumped water into the warehouse, locomotive crews made repeated trips into the fire area to save all but three of twenty loaded freight cars on sidings near the pier. The investigation shows evidence that the fire started from a carelessly discarded cigarette out on the pier. Employees were first unaware of the fire until a sudden gust of wind filled the office area with smoke. The loss included a large quantity of produce and the freight in three cars. All employees escaped unharmed.

June, 1900
Baltimore Sun 

Negotiations Between Worcester & B.C.& A. Railway for Sinepuxent Bridge

Negotiations are pending between the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railway Company and Worcester County, Maryland, for the use of the railroad bridge across Sinepuxent Bay for highway purposes. Recently the railroad company bought control of the bridge from the Ocean City Bridge Company. A dispatch from Ocean City on Thursday stated that the company had decided that after June 15 use of the bridge would be limited solely to the purpose of the railroad. As this is the only bridge across the bay, such action would cut off all other traffic to and from Ocean City. 

General Manager Willard Thompson of the railroad company said yesterday that this was a mistake, as the county had been offered the use of the bridge at $750 a year. It previously paid $500 a year, but Mr Thompson stated that this was insufficient to keep up the bridge for county roads purposes.


September, 1861
The Daily Exchange (Baltimore)

The Daily Exchange quoting The Washington Star.   

November, 1884 (Time Machine archive) 
(The Denton Journal)

(Excerpts)

  An Eastern Shore Miser.-  No more curious or interesting character perhaps ever lived on the Eastern Shore than William J. Handy, of Somerset County, who died last week at the age of 85.

The Handy family is a prominent one in Somerset and Worcester counties, and several of its members have risen to distinction.  William J. Handy was born before the 19th century began, on a farm on Jones Creek near Princess Anne, and lived there until he was taken away by an order of the court a year or so ago.  He was thoroughly educated and remarkably intelligent.  He studied law, but never practiced.  He never married.  He was of miserly habits, and in slave times, it is said denied his Negroes food enough to keep them from being hungry;- the weekly allowance being a peck of corn and two pounds of bacon.  So (they) had an evil reputation throughout the countryside for stealing.  He had a hundred slaves and a large-landed estate.

Handy accumulated a large amount of money which he kept hid about his premises, being afraid to trust a bank with it.  In 1851 he was robbed of $3,200 which was never recovered.

When he lost his slaves through emancipation, Handy became embittered and enraged.  It made him almost helpless, and his lands were never thoroughly cultivated afterwards.  And the revenue raised by hiring out slaves was gone, so that he became more miserly than ever, and it is said that his sister who kept house for him, with thousands of dollars around her, did not have enough to eat.

In 1863 a second attempt was made to rob him.  The house was entered, but Mr. Handy opened upon the intruders with a double barreled shotgun, and drove them off.

After this affair Mr. Handy kept strict watch and ward over his money.  Even in the hottest weather the windows and doors were kept fastened down, and Mr. Handy and his sister led miserable lives.  During the night while one slept the other would watch with a double-barreled gun and pistol heavily loaded at hand.  Even during the day Mr. Handy kept his gun in his hand and seemed to be constantly afraid somebody would rob him.  The farm became a wilderness, and the house almost inaccessible from the bushes and thorns that grew around it.

(In a third robbery attempt he told would-be robbers to go ahead and kill him but his sister persuaded him to relinquish $3,000 in gold.  He hired detectives to track down the robbers but when they were located he refused to identify them.)

A short time after this (the robbery) his sister died and he was left alone, and he would have died several years ago from hunger and cold had it not been for the kindness of his neighbors.  He would furnish neither food nor raiment for himself, yet he persisted in the house in which he had eked out such a miserable existence, though kind friends offered to care for him at a reasonable figure.  But he rejected every generous offer, and would have remained under the old roof until his death had not the house been reduced to ashes.  He was then forced to take up quarters elsewhere.

Two years ago he was judged a lunatic and Col. Levin L. Waters was appointed by the court trustee to sell the property and take care of the proceeds. 

1960's..

Some of us can remember when the place where you bought gasoline for your car was also the place that provided full service. Here's a Texaco commercial from the 1960's. It includes their classic jingle.  See it here, including more vintage Texaco commercials.

http://archive.org/details/dmbb40002

(Courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections)

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. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!



PPE remembers JMMB.

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview

1931.. Large fire at pier warehouse in Crisfield;  1900.. Worcester County negotiating for use of Ocean City railroad bridge for highway purposes;  1861.. Lower Eastern Shore being used to aid secessionists (original newspaper clip); 1884.. An Eastern Shore miser.- " No more curious or interesting character perhaps ever lived on the Eastern Shore..."; 

1960's.. Remember when the places where you bought gasoline were also the places that provided service for your vehicle? 

View a 1960's television commercial for a well known gasoline brand; it includes their classic jingle. 

It's this Sunday right here at 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. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

TIME MACHINE ... 1920, 1999, 1958, 1900, 1887, 1911.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)

March, 1920
The Washington Post

CRISFIELD PRAYS FOR TAX RELIEF

Believes Bills Would Kill Seafood Industries- Public Services Are Need

Crisfield, Md., March 21.-  Public prayer services were held in all the churches of Crisfield today, the ministers praying for the deliverance of their people from the hardships which they claim would be placed upon them by bills now in the legislature, which provide for increased taxes and licenses on the different branches of the crab and oyster business.

For more than a week Crisfield has been alarmed by the prospect of what the majority of people say would be confiscatory  taxes on its one great industry- seafood.  Meetings of the protest have been held nightly.

The taxing measures are those which are backed in the legislature by the conservation commission and provide increased legislation fee on oysters, increased crabbers' license, increased oyster tongers' license and the placement of a shipment tax on hard and soft-shelled crabs. 

February, 1999
The Capital (Annapolis, Md.)

Tanker spills hundreds of gallons of gas

Salisbury- A pickup truck rammed into a gasoline tanker truck just outside Salisbury, spilling at least 1,500 gallons of gasoline onto the roadway and threatening the nearby Wicomico River, a state police spokesman said.

Police closed U.S. 50 yesterday just after the 6:30 p.m. accident, while crews tried to contain the gasoline, said Sgt. Fabian White of Maryland State Police Salisbury Barrack.

The roadway was reopened about 5:30 a.m. today.

The Wicomico River passes just a few hundred yards from the accident site west of Salisbury Sgt. White said. The spilled gasoline escaped down a storm drain before firefighters dumped sand over the drains with a back hoe.

The tanker driver was attempting to pull into a filling station at the time of the accident, but couldn't get the truck positioned correctly, Sgt. White said.

The driver of the pickup was hospitalized at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. The tanker truck driver wasn't injured.

February, 1958
(The Salisbury Times)

Marva Theater Sold In Pocomoke City

POCOMOKE CITY-  Pocomoke City's Marva Theater has been sold to three Berlin residents, John T. Hudson, Alma T. Truitt and Calvin P. (Jack) Pruitt. 

The theater which had been under the ownership of Mrs. Della Bartlett and Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Garrison, also of Berlin, will continue to be operated by Dawson Clarke and Orville Mason.

Also included in the purchase was a store operated by George Reid, and a barber shop operated by Mervin Ward. 


February, 1900.. Hotel Pocomoke.

(From the pages of The Peninsula Enterprise)

December, 1887 (Time Machine archive)
(The Herald And Torch Light- Hagerstown, Md)

Snow Hill, Worcester County, was lighted for the first time on Wednesday night of last week with electric lights.  The work of wiring stores, etc., proceeded rapidly and the business portion of the town has been supplied with electric lights.   

1911..

Footnotes:

Postum was discontinued in 2007 but was back on grocery shelves in late 2012.

(Wikipedia)
Postum is a powdered roasted-grain beverage once popular as a coffee substitute. The caffeine-free beverage was created by Postum Cereal Company founder C. W. Post in 1895 and marketed as a healthful alternative to coffee. The Postum Cereal Company eventually became General Foods, which was bought by Kraft Foods. Post was a student of John Harvey Kellogg, who believed that caffeine was unhealthy.


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.  Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!  



PPE remembers JMMB.

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1920.. Crisfield churches hold prayers for tax relief; 1999..Collision with gasoline tank truck results in large fuel spill in Salisbury; 1958.. Pocomoke City's Marva Theater has new owners; 1900.. Hotel Pocomoke is open (newspaper ad); 1902.. Snow Hill businesses get lighting; 1911.. An ad for a beverage being promoted as a substitute for coffee (clue: P_ _ _ _M.) 

It's this Sunday right here at 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.   Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!

Easter Egg Hunt

Chief Kelvin Sewell would like to invite you to join us for our Annual Easter Egg Hunt! Please spread the word. Thank you.

Many thanks to the following new & renewing PACC Members!

Wal-Mart

Worcester Community Work Experience Program

Believe It Or Not!

     Although Spring doesn't even officially begin until this Friday, we are already thinking ahead to the annual Cypress Festival to be held this year on June 17, 18, 19 & 20.

     The Cypress Festival is the main fundraiser for the Pocomoke Chamber of Commerce and the signature festival for Pocomoke. This event could not come together without the support of the local business community.

     This year marks the 40th year that the Cypress Festival has been held.  We are in the process of planning and creating the official program for the event.  Board members are taking orders now for paid ads that local businesses wish to place.  Sponsorships are also an option.

     We appreciate you for advertising in this year's Cypress Festival Program.  Beginning in May, over 2500 full color copies of the program will be distributed.

     If you wish to place an ad or be a sponsor and have not been contacted by a Chamber Board member, please call Deb at 410 957-1919 or email at pocomokechamber@gmail.com.

     

Ad orders & payment are due by April 15, 2015.

March General Membership Luncheon

Wednesday

March 18, 2015

(12:00 - 1:00 PM)

Don's Seafood & Chicken House

1344 Ocean Highway

Pocomoke City

Featured Speaker:

Michael Franklin

CEO

Atlantic General Hospital

Menu Choices

Flounder Sandwich w/ Chips

Pork BBQ on Kaiser Roll w/ Cole Slaw & Chips

Turkey on Kaiser Roll w/ American Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato & Chips

Large Garden Salad

Register

online at

pocomoke.com

OR

Call Deb 410 957-1919

OR

email at

pocomokechamber@gmail.com

Raiding Md.'s Pension Piggy Bank

In Case You Missed It: Raiding Md.'s Pension Piggy Bank From The Washington Post Editorial Board - "That boils down to a short-term payoff to core Democratic constituencies, especially teachers unions, that will burden taxpayers down the road." ____________________________________________________________________________________ Editorial Board The Washington Post March 14, 2015 "WHEN THE big bond-rating agencies took Maryland’s financial temperature last month, they found the state in robust health — with the notable exception of Maryland’s undernourished pension fund. The fund needs a sustained infusion of cash if the state is to meet its long-term promises to retired teachers, police, judges and other public employees — a $20 billion infusion, to be precise. "So how did Democrats, who control the state legislature, respond to this red flag? A week after it was raised, they advanced a plan to make the situation worse — to raid the fund in order to forestall cuts in next year’s budget proposed by Gov. Larry Hogan (R). By grabbing pension dollars to plug immediate budget holes, lawmakers would risk the state’s future knowing that most of them will no longer be in office when the bill comes due. ... "Nonetheless, bad old habits — raids on money earmarked for the fund — returned last year and now seem to be accelerating. In an effort to block relatively modest budget cuts proposed by Mr. Hogan, mainly to schools and public employees’ wages, Democratic lawmakers in Annapolis are pushing a plan to revamp the formula for scheduled contributions. According to Comptroller Peter Franchot, one of the few prominent Democrats who opposes the scheme, it would shift $2 billion into the general budget over the next decade, then cost the state $4.5 billion in the following dozen years — meaning Maryland would face a net $2.5 billion in additional costs over time in order to keep its pension promises. "That boils down to a short-term payoff to core Democratic constituencies, especially teachers unions, that will burden taxpayers down the road. And if the pension fund’s investments underperform officials’ rosy projections, the result will be fiscal calamity — and big trouble for the employees the legislature is purporting to help."

TIME MACHINE ... 1896, 1935, 1981, 1922, 1914, 1971.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archive/historical archive material)

September, 1896
Peninsula Enterprise (Accomac Court House)

An Exchange of Shots

PRINCESS ANNE, Md., Sept. 8,-  Mr. E. D. Young, the day operator of the N.Y.P & N.R.R. at Princess Anne, and Mr. Tazewell Jones, proprietor of livery stables at this place, had a dispute yesterday over the delivery of a telegram.

During the dispute, insulting epithets were passed and this culminated in Mr. Young assaulting Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones drew a pistol and fired several shots at his antagonist to defend himself from the assault. Mr. Young also drew a pistol and fired once at Mr. Jones, but without effect.

After the affray it was found that Mr. Jones had received a flesh wound in the thigh. The bullet was probed for by Dr. Wainwright and was removed.- Balto. Sun.

Mr. Young is from this county (Accomack), son of Mr. John Young, Belle Haven, and was operator at Keller a few months ago.  


February, 1935 (Time Machine archive)
(The Denton Journal)

(Excerpts)

For the first time since 1888 the upper Chincoteague Bay which laps tidewater Worcester County between South Point, near Ocean City, and the Maryland-Virginia boundary, is a solid field of ice.  Approximately 90 square miles of the bay is frozen with ice ranging from 6 to 10 inches in thickness, which extends between the mainland and the beach peninsula.  Last week several Stockton and Girdletree fishermen walked seven miles across the ice to the beach, chatted with Coast Guards isolated at the Green Run station, and returned without mishap.  Ice skaters at Public Landing ventured miles out across the ice covered bay.  Older residents, recalling the freeze on the bay in 1888, tell tales of horse-drawn vehicles being driven over the ice from Chincoteague, Va., north to Ocean City, Md., a distance of 40 miles.


December, 1981
The Star Democrat (Easton, Md.)

(Excerpts)

Three Shore A&P stores to close

Three Eastern Shore A&P Food Stores are among 21 the super market chain is planning to close in the Maryland area in mid-January.

A&P stores are to be closed in Cambridge, Pocomoke City, and Seaford, Del.

The closings are necessary "in order to eliminate the continuing losses," and improve operating efficiencies, according to a letter W.E. Zentgraf, regional director of personnel for A&P, sent to union officials.

Managers of the three Eastern Shore stores said they could not comment on the closings.


1922..

                                                           1922 newspaper ad. 

April, 1914
The Delaware Pilot (Lewes, De.)

Boring for Oil Near Ocean City

Men who are boring for oil on the Isle of Wright, near Ocean City, which is owned by David L Levy and Morris Roos of Wilmington, have struck oil producing rock and there are many traces of oil. According to experts, oil will be struck in less than a month. Experts from the Texas oil fields have visited the island and claim the soil strata is the same as that found in Texas and Mexico oil fields. The Isle of Wright comprises 500 acres exclusive of the riparian rights, and is separated from Ocean City by a stretch of water. Some persons believe there is an oil belt stretching from Parsonsburg to Ocean City on the Eastern Shore. Boring for oil is not going on at Parsonsburg. 

January, 1971 (Time Machine archive)

Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Ed Watt was scheduled to be guest speaker at a Pocomoke Little League meeting designed to generate enthusiasm among parents and eligible players.  Little League president Louis H. Kragler Jr. said plans were for eight Little League teams and four Senior League teams in Pocomoke involving 180 players for the 1971 season.  

Orioles Ed Watt

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. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!



PPE remembers JMMB.

Some Things Never Change...

This political  cartoon, titled "Early Planting," appeared on the front page of The Sunday Star in Washington, D.C. 100 years ago this date.  If you're a history buff you may know or want to research who the presidential hopefuls were.  For the rest of us it might just be a reminder that as far as presidential politics is concerned, some things never change.