Twas' the night before Christmas
And throughout Worcester County
Children were snug in their beds
Awaiting Santa's good bounty.

The Eastern Shore hour was late
When all should be sleeping.
But to no one's surprise
Some sure were peeping.

The jolly ol' elf isn't far away
They all knew.
Maybe he's in Accomack, Somerset,
Or Wicomico, too.

They hoped that with decorations
Making everything pretty,
Santa certainly would visit
Pocomoke City!

Then from Second Street Extended
To Stockton Road,
Santa's sleigh was spotted
With all its good load.

And from the river bridges
To the Virginia line,
He made all his stops
Hoping to make everything fine.

All the children were sure
That when they awoke,
They would find good things
Left by Santa in Pocomoke!

Time Machine Preview

 
Each Sunday through January 2nd The Pocomoke Public Eye's Holiday Edition of  our weekly Time Machine is tracking back through  news and features from the holiday season in times gone by. 

Have a recollection to share? Just send it in and we'll post it on-screen (use comment section or email to tkforppe@yahoo.com ). Names are welcomed but not required.

TidalHealth Reducing Elective Surgeries, Suspending Visitation Starting Monday

 (WBOC)

SALISBURY, Md. and SEAFORD, Del.- TidalHealth announced Wednesday that patient visitation is being suspended temporarily on Monday, Dec. 27 at both TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury and TidalHealth Nanticoke in Seaford. At the same time, there will also be a temporary pause at both hospitals of elective, non-emergency surgeries that require an overnight stay.

View full news story:

TidalHealth Reducing Elective Surgeries, Suspending Visitation S - WBOC TV

SKATING EVENTS

 

Worcester County Department of Recreation and Parks is offering two holiday events with their ice rink. The community is invited to skate with their friends and family at either or both events, Skate with Santa and Open Skate.

Skate with Santa is a free family event being held on December 22, at Sturgis Park in Snow Hill from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Event attendees will have the opportunity to ice skate, decorate ornaments, hop on a train ride, enjoy festive music, sip on hot chocolate and get a picture with Santa. The Marine Corps League 1st State Detachment has generously donated toys for this event. The first 300 kids to arrive will be gifted a toy. This event is open to all ages. The event address is River Street, Snow Hill, Maryland 21863.

Open Skate is the perfect opportunity for you to ice skate with a view! The ice rink will be set up at Sturgis Park in Snow Hill. The cost is FREE. Compliments of Ann Sturgis-Coates and Randy Coates. Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Children 6 and under are not permitted to skate without an adult on the ice with them. The skate times are from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 27, Tuesday, December 28, Wednesday, December 29 and Thursday, December 30.

Goodbye to Phillips Crab House in Ocean City

 

(Announcement on Phillips Crab House Facebook page:)

"The Phillips family has made the difficult decision to sell our Phillips Crab House property in Ocean City, Maryland, and the location has now permanently closed. Over our 66 seasons in business, we’ve served millions of families, vacationers and OC locals, and our family feels so fortunate to have earned the loyalty of our guests, who came back year after year to build their vacation memories with us. Thank you for being such a wonderful part of our story.

 

Not many restaurants live to see their 50th season, let alone celebrate over 65 years, and our family credits the amazing Crab House team for giving the business such longevity. From the crab department to the prep room, through the upstairs and downstairs kitchen staff, to the servers, bussers and bartenders, our employees returned season after season and became part of the extended Phillips family. Led by a strong management team, our staff worked together to deliver delicious dishes, all served up with a warm smile and welcoming Eastern Shore hospitality. None of our success over the years would have been possible without their hard work and dedication, and we are so grateful for their loyalty.

 

While it is extremely difficult for our family to say goodbye to the Crab House, we will take with us all the memories from the days and nights with our coworkers and guests, the lessons we have all learned from working together as a strong team, and the friendships we have grown over the years. As we move forward, we will continue to build on the strong foundation that our original Crab House location gave us. We remain firmly planted in Maryland and will dedicate our resources in support of our Baltimore restaurant location, Baltimore culinary center and the growth of our retail, club, foodservice, and international business."

Governor Hogan tests positive

 (WBOC)

BALTIMORE (AP/WBOC)- Maryland’s governor announced Monday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus, but is feeling fine at the moment.   

View news story:

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Tests Positive for COVID-19 - WBOC TV

Holiday pretty around Pocomoke City

 

Vote for your three favorites (larger views) on the Pocomoke Recreation Committee Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/230756228097398/

Time Machine Holiday Edition

December, 1953 (excerpt)

The Denton Journal

December 24, 1945

Salisbury Times

 December, 1972

Sunday Times (Salisbury)

December, 1937

Baltimore Sun

December, 1934

Salisbury Times

December, 1925 Letter To Santa

Worcester Democrat

Kathy Horney

Pocomoke City

At Christmas time, my mind always goes back to about 1970.

 

I was young (20) and doing Christmas shopping in downtown Pocomoke City.  The air was crisp and cold and a light snow was falling.  The downtown area was lit up with Christmas lights in the storefront windows and Christmas carols were playing over a P.A. or loudspeaker system (I don't know what the technical term is) but I remember that it was beautiful.

 

At that time, you could do ALL of your Christmas shopping downtown - didn't have to go anywhere else. There was a 'five & dime' store, a 'dollar' store, a couple of department stores, a couple of shoe stores, a couple of dress shops, a men's clothing store, a couple of jewelry stores, a couple of catalog stores, a couple of hardware stores, a couple of pharmacies, a couple of banks, and a car dealer by the river.  Just turn the corner off of Market St. and go just one block down Clarke Ave. and there was a soda fountain shop, a couple of mom & pop grocery stores, and a fish market (I think). There may have even been a beauty salon on Willow St. between Second & Clarke (memory is fuzzy here). If you proceeded on to the next block down Clarke Ave., there was a second-hand store (clothing, etc.), a deli, and a small mom & pop clothing store.  Unbelievable isn't it?  Yes, all of those businesses were in the downtown area (at the same time).

 

I miss it when I get thinking about it.  It was different shopping like that than when you go into these hugh chain stores and have to fight the crowds. Whole different atmosphere - the magic of Christmas has gotten lost in greedy commercialism.  Well, maybe that's a bit extreme, but right now I am savoring those wonderful memories of times gone by.

 

P.S.  You could shop without worrying about getting your purse snatched, or getting mugged or carjacked, etc.

Emailed to The Pocomoke Public Eye, Dec., 2013

(PPE reader comment)

 Anonymous said...

Kathy Horney is indeed correct; there was a beauty salon on Willow Street between Second and Clarke! And the downtown merchants banded together to purchase a new automobile which they gave away in a drawing every Christmas season. For each dollar you spent in their store you received one ticket. I believe that the car dealers were also in on this so if you purchased a new car for $2,500 you received 2,500 tickets. I think it was 1970 or '71 that Sharon Benchoff won the car. Her father, Dick Benchoff, was sales manager at Midway and the last thing she needed was another Camaro so they tried to sell it back to Midway but Midway refused to give them a decent price to they had to sell it privately.

Daily Times, (Dec., 2008)

Daily Times, (Dec., 2008)

It started with a pocket watch

(From our email bin)

--About the Pocket Watch, a very interesting story with a surprise end. If you were in the market for a watch in 1880, would you know where to get one? You would go to a store, right? Well, of course you could do that, but if you wanted one that was cheaper and a bit better than most of the store watches, you went to the train station! Sound a bit funny? Well, for about 500 towns across the northern United States, that's where the best watches were found.

Why were the best watches found at the train station? The railroad company wasn't selling the watches, not at all. The telegraph operator was. Most of the time the telegraph operator was located in the railroad station because the telegraph lines followed the railroad tracks from town to town. It was usually the shortest distance and the right-of-way had already been secured for the rail line. 

Most of the station agents were also skilled telegraph operators and it was the primary way they communicated with the railroad. They would know when trains left the previous station and when they were due at their next station. And it was the telegraph operator who had the watches. As a matter of fact, they sold more of them than almost all the stores combined for a period of about 9 years.

 

This was all arranged by "Richard", who was a telegraph operator himself. He was on duty in the North Redwood, Minnesota train station one day when a load of watches arrived from the East. It was a huge crate of pocket watches. No one ever came to claim them. So Richard sent a telegram to the manufacturer and asked them what they wanted to do with the watches. The manufacturer didn't want to pay the freight back, so they wired Richard to see if he could sell them. So Richard did. He sent a wire to every agent in the system asking them if they wanted a cheap, but good, pocket watch. He sold the entire case in less than two days and at a handsome profit. That started it all.

He ordered more watches from the watch company and encouraged the telegraph operators to set up a display case in the station offering high quality watches for a cheap price to all the travelers. It worked! It didn't take long for the word to spread and, before long, people other than travelers came to the train station to buy watches. Richard became so busy that he had to hire a professional watchmaker to help him with the orders. That was Alvah. And the rest is history as they say. The business took off and soon expanded to many other lines of dry goods. Richard and Alvah left the train station and moved their company to Chicago -- and it's still there.

YES, IT'S A LITTLE- KNOWN FACT that for a while in the 1880's, the biggest watch retailer in the country was at the train station. It all started with a telegraph operator: Richard Sears and partner Alvah Roebuck! 

 

Bet You Didn't Know That!  OK, maybe you did; I didn't! 

 

Now that's History.

(PPE footnote)

The above account seems to be basically verified by the following from "Sears Archives" at searsarchives.com : 

Time Machine Preview

 
Every Sunday now through January 2nd The Pocomoke Public Eye's Holiday Edition of  our weekly Time Machine tracks back through  news and features from the holiday season in times gone by.  Hoping you'll check for these special editions. We think your friends will enjoy as well, so please pass the word on.

Have a recollection to share? Just send it in and we'll post it on-screen (use comment section or email to tkforppe@yahoo.com ). Names are welcomed but not required.

Pocomoke City New Year's Eve event for all the family!

 (Delmarva Discovery Museum)

We are having our first annual family New Year's Eve party on December 31st.  Families are invited to join us for dancing, games, animal programs and the Jellyfish drop at 10:00 p.m.  Tickets are available through our website www.delmarvadiscoverycenter.org .  Proceeds from this event will go towards funding a new jellyfish exhibit that we hope to have up and running in the Spring of 2022!

Senator Carozza Recaps 2021 Legislative Special Session

 

(From the office of Senator Carozza)

The Maryland General Assembly met in a special session on December 6 through December 9 for a special session on redistricting. The members of the Maryland General Assembly were charged with passing a fair congressional redistricting map for Maryland. For the first several days, the Maryland Senate moved forward with overriding Governor Hogan’s public safety vetoes, which Senator Carozza voted to sustain and later took up highly-partisan redistricting maps passed by the entire legislature.

Partisan Gerrymandering

The Maryland Senate voted on the partisan Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s proposed maps as opposed to the nonpartisan Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission’s maps. While the citizens’ commission map received an A rating from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, the legislature’s map received an F grade. The majority in the Maryland legislature rejected the transparent work of the Governor’s citizens redistricting commission and instead drew congressional districts even more gerrymandered in their favor than the ones drawn 10 years ago. 

 

The new First Congressional District takes the Eastern Shore across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge diminishing Shore representation with the domination of Anne Arundel County suburbs. During the Senate Floor debate, Senator Carozza noted that Marylanders have made clear that they do NOT want gerrymandered maps, yet the majority in the legislature is moving forward with a highly partisan map. Before the session, Senator Carozza talked to her Mom about the tough challenge of drawing new redistricting maps. “My Mom said to always be fair. That’s what Marylanders expect. We need to listen to the people of Maryland, who are demanding fair, equitable, and nonpartisan redistricting maps,” urged Senator Carozza during the Senate debate.

With the override of the Governor’s veto and passage of legislative maps, Senator Carozza said, “We can now expect intense legal battles over the redistricting maps with the courts having the final say. I will continue to fight for and support fair redistricting maps, and free and fair elections for Maryland.”

Governor Hogan’s Public Safety Vetoes Overridden

 

On the Senate Floor, Senator Carozza spoke out in support of the Governor’s vetoes of 2021 including sanctuary state legislation, House Bill 23, which will directly affect a facility in Snow Hill, MD that has been under contract since 1999 and community college legislation, House Bill 894 that will raise student tuition and fees. In her remarks on the Senate Floor, she said, “one size does not fit all. Our local correctional facilities should retain local control and have the discretion to determine if and how to engage in local agreements with Federal immigration agencies.”

 

Over the objections of the Senate Republican members, the legislature also voted to allow counties to raise their income tax, remove the Governor from parole decisions, and allow violent criminals to only serve a fraction of their prison sentences.

 

Additionally, Senator Carozza supported the Governor’s veto on House Bill 894 which establishes a uniform statewide collective bargaining process for community college employees. She said these unbudgeted costs will be a burden on students through tuition and fee increases and reduced programs and services.

 

In her comments regarding community colleges, Senator Carozza notes that community colleges are at the forefront of workforce development and they have stepped up during this time where we have extreme shortages in every major industry. “Their work has been made more difficult during this economic recovery of COVID-19 where we have extreme work shortages and a decreasing number of students. Collective bargaining at the community colleges should be a local decision, said Carozza.” Prior to the special session, Senator Carozza met with Wor-Wic Community College President, Dr. Ray Hoy, and board members to discuss the negative impact of this legislation on local students.

 

Governor’s Emergency Crime Bills

 

Senator Carozza joined the entire Senate Republican Caucus to petition to bring the Governor’s emergency crime bills to the Senate Floor. A violent crime crisis continues to plague the people of Maryland and they urged the Maryland General Assembly to take action now, during the special session to protect our constituents from repeat, violent criminals.

SB 5 The Judicial Transparency Act of 2021

Requires the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy to publish sentencing records of judges in violent crime cases to hold the system more accountable to the public for sentencing decisions.

SB 6 Violent Firearms Offender Act of 2021

Significantly increases sentences for those who repeatedly illegally carry firearms and for convicted gang members who illegally possess guns.

 

Treasurer’s Election

On Thursday, December 9th, the Maryland General Assembly elected Delegate Dereck Davis from Prince George’s County to be Maryland’s next Treasurer succeeding Maryland’s long-time Treasurer, Nancy Kopp due to retirement. He additionally served as the Chair of the House Economic Matters Committee. The Board of Public Works consists of The Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer to oversee Maryland’s finances.

 

Constituents in Annapolis

During the special session in Annapolis, Senator Carozza also met with physician assistants from the Shore including Brandon McCullen from Pittsville and Tim Sparta from Berlin. The shortage of providers and access to health care on the Eastern Shore continues to be a hardship especially given the aftermath of COVID-19. Last session, I worked with local health care representatives to pass major health access bills including Alcohol and Drug Counseling through Telehealth (SB 646) and Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact (SB 139). Senator Carozza will continue to work with the health professionals in her District to increase access on the Shore.

 

“Many of our districts are hard hit by health care workforce shortages, especially in the rural parts of the state. Our hospitals, schools, long-term care facilities, and community providers need more flexibility in recruiting qualified health care providers to provide both in-person and telehealth services, said Carozza.”

 

Senator Carozza also met with the leadership of the Professional Fire Fighters of Maryland including Melissa Bragg, 2nd Vice President and Ocean Pines Fire Department; Alyssa Clayville, Eastern Shore Representative; and Andrew Pantelis, 4th District Vice President. “We recognize your hardworking fire safety efforts to protect our home communities and look forward to working with you during the January session on your health, retirement, and work-shortage priorities,” said Carozza.

 

Looking Forward

As the 2022 session approaches Senator Carozza will continue to work with local leadership on difficult issues such as violent crime, healthcare shortages, job recruitment opportunities, and more. “I will continue to give it my all to see us through full COVID-19 recovery and encourage my constituents to continue to share your views with me. I am forever grateful to serve District 38 in the Maryland General Assembly and look forward to seeing you back home,” said Carozza.

                                                            ###

Weekend Holiday Treats!

 

Worcester County Recreation & Parks (WCRP) is excited to announce two new events in Maryland’s Coast, Worcester County. Save the date for free drive in movies and laser shows during the month of December.

On Friday, December 17, The Santa Clause will be showing on the big screen at John Walter Smith Park in Snow Hill. On Saturday, December 18, Elf will be shown at Newtown Park in Pocomoke. After the conclusion of both movies, the sky will be lit up with an exciting laser show performance. Vehicle parking will begin at 6:00 p.m. and showtime starts at 7:00 p.m.  

The addresses to the parks are John Walter Smith Park at 6022 Public Landing Rd, Snow Hill MD 21863 and Newtown Park at 2001 Groton Rd, Pocomoke MD 21851.

Don’t miss out these outdoor events, bring a blanket, some of your favorite snacks and enjoy one or more of these great holiday movies and laser show performance with your friends and family.

For more information contact Tyler Keiser at 410-632-2144 x2505 or tkeiser@marylandscoast.org . For a full list of special events visit www.playmarylandscoast.org .