Senator Carozza seeks reelection-

 

           10/14/25

  

                                            

(Note: The Pocomoke Public Eye does not solicit political material or endorse political candidates.)

Medicare Advantage Plans: some Marylanders notified-

(View article")

Thousands of Maryland seniors notified of the end of their Medicare Advantage plans - Maryland Matters

(The Pocomoke Public Eye asked AI about it:)

Marylanders can find and compare Medicare Advantage insurers through official government resources, state-run assistance programs, insurance brokers, and private comparison websites. Your choice of plan will depend on your specific health needs, budget, and location, as available plans vary by county. 

Official government resources

• Medicare Plan Finder on Medicare.gov: The official Medicare website offers a plan comparison tool where you can enter your ZIP code to see all available Medicare Advantage plans in your area. The tool also displays the plan's quality ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which can help you compare options.
• Maryland State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP): This program provides free, unbiased counseling to Maryland Medicare beneficiaries. Trained staff and volunteers offer personalized help with understanding benefits, comparing plans, and enrolling.
• Maryland Department of Aging: The state department's website provides Medicare information and contact numbers for each county's SHIP office.
• Maryland Insurance Administration: The state agency can help with insurance education and assist with consumer complaints related to Medicare. 

View Worcester Health Services Guide-

 

(View the new guide:)

Worcester County Health Services Guide

(After accesing the link use the mid-screen turn page symbols)

Snowplows in October?

 (Shore Daily News)

       

(Sunday)

VDOT’s snowplow trucks were repurposed to push water aside along the Chincoteague Causeway so vehicles could pass.

Anonymous

no way, wow - I want that job.....

We asked... (1800's erosion?)

    

 In the 1800's were any concerns expressed about possible erosion along Delmarva's oceanside and bayside areas?

Yes, in the 1800s, concerns were expressed about erosion along the oceanside and bayside areas of the Delmarva Peninsula. Records show that residents, particularly those on the Chesapeake Bay's islands, witnessed firsthand the powerful forces of erosion and rising sea levels as their communities and property were lost to the water. 

Examples of 19th-century erosion concerns and observations:

• Vanishing islands: Residents of the Chesapeake Bay's smaller islands were among the first to raise the alarm. Holland Island, for instance, had a sizable community in the late 19th century but was already experiencing significant land loss to erosion. Islands that were populated in the 18th and 19th centuries, like Sharps Island, had vanished entirely by the early 20th century.
• Lost property: Landowners in shoreline communities on both the Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay sides of Delmarva documented the continuous loss of their property to the relentless forces of storms and wave action.
• Threat to infrastructure: As erosion encroached on inhabited areas, it became a clear threat to developing infrastructure. The Miller R. Creighton hotel, built in the late 1800s on Sharps Island, was torn down by the early 1900s because erosion had claimed enough of the island to render the hotel unviable.
• Scientific and military reports: Records from the time, including those from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, noted the coastal changes. For example, reports from the late 19th and early 20th centuries documented shoreline changes and were influenced by factors like relative sea-level rise. In the Chesapeake Bay region, the uncertain future of earthen forts built around the War of 1812 was discussed in terms of erosion processes.
• Filling of waterways: The issue was not limited to the coastline. Extensive soil erosion from agricultural lands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, exacerbated by widespread tillage, caused downstream problems. This led to bayside shipping ports filling with sediment, which made them too shallow for navigation, a problem documented from the 1820s onward. 

By the end of the century, these local observations and reports began to lay the groundwork for more systematic analysis of Delmarva's eroding coastlines.

Without erosion there would be no Delmarva Peninsula. We are the creation of sediment from the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. What The Lord giveth, The Lord taketh away.

Your friend,
Slim

Time Machine: 100 years ago this week in Pocomoke's newspaper; plus 1887, 1885, 2001.

 

                                                

March, 1887

Baltimore Sun

January, 1885

Peninsula Enterprise

*December, 2001

Salisbury Times

tkforppe@yahoo.com

A page from 1916's Maryland's Colonial Eastern Shore.

                                                                       

(View another page next Saturday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye.)

Pocomoke announcements-

 

City of Pocomoke

Pocomoke City Hall will be closed on Monday, October 13, 2025 in observance of Columbus Day.

Holiday Trash Route: 

Mon 10/13 picked up on Tues 10/14

Tues 10/14 picked up on Wed 10/15

State Board of Ed: Somerset schools-

(WBOC)

Two opinions issued by the Maryland State Board of Education Monday detail months of tension among the local board, the superintendent and the school community in Somerset County.

(View video news story:)

 Maryland Board of Education weighs in on local school 

(View printed news story:)

Maryland Board of Education weighs in on local school leadership | Latest News | wboc.com

Budget survey for Somerset schools-

 

SCPS FY27 Stakeholder Budget Survey: Please Respond by October 24, 2025

Somerset County Public Schools invites families, students, staff, and community members to share their input in the FY27 Stakeholder Budget Survey, now through October 24, 2025.

Your feedback will help guide the Somerset Board of Education in making decisions for the 2026–2027 school year budget.

The survey asks participants to identify budget priorities and share where additional funding is most needed.

Click the link below to participate in the survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9qiIjx7eyOcGg50tFHJ3vmTsXqlDaWApQN-kycCWMZ_82lQ/viewform?pli=1&authuser=0

Meet and chat with Worcester Supt-

 

Country performers shine in OC!

 It was COUNTRY CALLING this past weekend in Ocean City. Among the performers were Carrie Underwood and Brooks & Dunn.

Megan Raymond Photos/Special To The Daily Times

We asked... (Westover POW Camp)

 

Tell me about the Prisoner of War Camp in Westover, Md.

The Prisoner of War (POW) camp in Westover, Maryland, was known as 

Camp Somerset. It held nearly 1,000 German POWs during World War II and was the largest permanent POW camp on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Today, the site is known as the Westover Labor Camp. 

History of Camp Somerset

• CCC camp: The site was originally built as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in 1935, which housed 270 men involved in area drainage and ditch projects.
• Army post: During the early years of World War II, it was converted into an army post headquarters, with a total of about 1,000 soldiers stationed there to guard the shoreline.
• POW camp: In 1944, the army soldiers were relocated, and the empty facility was repurposed to house German POWs and American guards.
• Post-war migrant camp: After the German POWs were repatriated in mid-1946, the camp was sold to the University of Maryland and soon became a migrant labor camp, which it remains today. 

Treatment and labor of POWs

• Work details: POWs from Camp Somerset were contracted out to local businesses to work on farms, in sawmills, and at meatpacking and canning plants throughout Somerset County. Some prisoners were also sent to work in neighboring Worcester County and housed in temporary branch camps.
• Fair conditions: According to local accounts and historical records, the prisoners were generally treated well, in accordance with the Geneva Convention. They received three meals a day and were reportedly content to work in America. One notable instance involved German POWs being confused by corn on the cob, as in their home country it was only used as livestock feed.
• Positive interactions: Though fraternization was technically against the rules, some prisoners and their supervisors had friendly relations, and some Germans were seen as model workers. 

Legacy of the camp

• German POWs: Some former German POWs maintained contact with the American families who employed them, with one writing to his former employer for food packets after the war.
• Migrant labor camp: Following the war, Camp Somerset, now known as the Westover Labor Camp, gained notoriety for its harsh and squalid living conditions. Despite recent improvements, it has long been known as one of the largest and most infamous labor camps on the Eastern Shore, attracting migrants from across the Americas.
• Modern development: In 2007, a portion of the former POW camp was demolished to make way for new dormitory-style housing for seasonal workers.