Keeping an EYE on some good news hiding behind the headlines...

Mother Nature's good news..


A HARVEST MOON!  


The night of September 8-9 will have a 

beautiful bright full-looking moon, as seen

from around the globe. So will the night of

September 9-10.


The Harvest Moon is known for ushering

in a procession of moonlit nights. 

Here's more..

http://earthsky.org/space/harvest-moon-2

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview

1968.. Somerset County teachers push for $6,000 a year starting salary; 1922.. A surprising development in abandoned baby case in Accomac; 1977.. A special week celebrates Deal Island; 1939.. A blow torch and asphalt create a big problem in Snow Hill; 1953.. Pocomoke Elks bringing big stage show to the Marva Theater; And the concluding portion of a 1902 article about Tangier Island.

Although you may not find all of these items in a history book, they are a part of our local history and you can read more about it 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!

2014 Christmas Production: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

OPEN AUDITION DATES: September 6 10 AM - 2 PM Check in 9:30 AM 

September 9 7:30 PM - 9 PM Check in 7 PM 

*English accents required.* 

WHERE: Mar-Va Theater, 103 Market Street Pocomoke, MD 21851 

What Do I Need to Do to Audition? 
- Bring A Theatrical Resume 
- If you have no experience, an application will be available at the audition. We encourage anyone interested to audition. This is not a professional production. - Bring a recent, non-returnable photo 
- Be prepared to do a cold reading from the show 
- Wear comfortable clothing that allows for ease of movement 

Regarding questions, please call:
 Kathryn Redden, Producer - 443.614.0830 

Rehearsal Schedule: To Be Determined 

Performance Schedule: 
December 5 at 8 PM 
December 6, 12, 13 at 7:30 PM 
Decemeber 7 & 14 at 2 PM Weekday Matinees: 
December 3 & 10 at 10 AM

Keeping an EYE on some good news hiding behind the headlines...

(Excerpts: WBOC.com)

Shorebirds' Season Closes On High Note

Salisbury, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds finished the 2014 season with a 5-3 victory over the Hickory Crawdads on Labor Day Monday. Meanwhile, Chance Sisco clinched the league batting title with a franchise-record .340 average, the first ever Shorebird to win the batting crown.

The Shorebirds finished the 2014 season with a 66-73 record, the most wins since 2009. Delmarva saw several franchise records set, including seven midseason All-Star selections. Drew Dosch passed his manager Ryan Minor for the most hits by a Shorebird in a single season with 157 base hits.

Full story here...
http://www.wboc.com/story/26421148/shorebirds-season-closes-on-high-note

More Photos from the Car Show

 Travelers on Rt 13 were attracted to the show.

 Blue 1954 Plymouth Savoy owned by John & Peggy Hess of Shelltown Md & the yellow 1955 Chevy Bel Air is owned by Albert Banks of Pocomoke City MD

TIME MACHINE ... 1922, 1961, 1996, 1908, 1942, 1902

"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; is 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)


April, 1922
The Washington Times (Washington, D.C.)

BABY ABANDONED, RICH MAN IS JAILED

Girl Who Claims to Be Daughter Also Arrested in Desertion of Infant.

NORFOLK, Va., April 22.-  Snatched from a luxuriously furnished home on an island and lodged in cells in the jail at Accomac. Va., small town on the Eastern Shore of Virginia- that is the unusual.. (print illegible)..which William E. Thursby and a pretty woman find themselves. They are accused of abandoning a baby.

Claims to Be Daughter.

Thursby is a wealthy man. He owns a yacht and a magnificent home on Assateague Island. The furnishings in the home alone are said to have cost a good sized fortune.

The young woman says she is Thursby's daughter. The authorities say otherwise.

On the night of December 7 a baby was found in a basket hanging to the gate post at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Brasure. The baby was dressed in costly garments. There was some money in the basket in which the little bit of humanity was tucked. There was a bottle of warm milk In the basket. There was a note there, too, in which it was stated that the baby would be properly provided for if the finder would take care of it.

The authorities of Accomac county and in fact the entire Eastern Shore were aroused by the "baby case" as It was called. The baby could not have been abandoned by residents of Accomac it was said.

An investigation was begun and it was learned, according to the police, that the baby came from the luxurious home maintained by Thursby.

Says It is All a Mistake.

The police found also that Thursby and the young woman had been cruising around Assateague and Chesapeake bay for almost a year. The people at Assateague, a few fishermen and their women folks, had noticed the young woman and the man. They said the woman frequently made trips on the yacht and then the pair would return to the beautiful home on the island.

When the baby was found on the gate post and the people of Assateague heard about it, they said it came from the pretty house on the island. The police arrested Thursby and the woman several days ago. They are still in jail.

The woman says the authorities have made a horrible mistake. The man denies any connection with the baby. He says his home is in Flushing, N. Y. The authorities say they have enough evidence to present to the grand Jury for indictment. The case will not be heard before June.

FOOTNOTE:  Next week an update to this article regarding a surprising development.

October, 1961
The Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Md.)

(Excerpts)

Mother Of Two Named Mayor Of Pocomoke City On Shore

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. (AP)-  Selection of Mrs. Evelyn C. Parsons as the new mayor surprised just about everybody in this lower Eastern Shore city.

It also surprised Mrs. Parsons.

She was sworn in Tuesday to succeed former Mayor Leroy Conant who resigned last summer.  The 36-year-old mother of two children and widow of a former mayor had been questioned about the job before her selection.

"But it was still a big surprise when they telephoned my the other night," she went on.

"When they said 'You're the new Mayor of Pocomoke.' I hesitated a second or two, then I just accepted it." she said.

Mrs. Parsons is attractive at 115 pounds with blue eyes and short brown hair. Her late husband, Dr. Fred Parsons, served as mayor from 1958 until his death in 1960.

She is Pocomoke City's first woman mayor.  She was chosen by the City Council to serve for seven more months in the unexpired term of Conant.  

Mrs. Parsons is a graduate of Radford College and she taught several subjects in schools in three states.  Her children are Patty, 7, and Ann, 11.

Footnote: Five months later Mayor Parsons spearheaded a drive by the mayors of Pocomoke City, Salisbury, Snow Hill, and Princess Anne to provide food, clothing, and furniture to Chincoteague in the aftermath of the historic storm of March, 1962.  She was quoted in the Salisbury Daily Times as saying, "In Pocomoke items were coming in so fast they had to use vacant buildings for storage.  It's the most wonderful response I ever saw in my life. It shows what you can do when everyone pulls together." 

September, 1996
(The New York Times)

Spiro T. Agnew, Ex-Vice President, Dies at 77

Spiro T. Agnew, who was forced to resign as the 39th Vice-President of the United States in 1973 when he pleaded no contest to a charge of income tax invasion, died yesterday in Berlin, Md.  He was 77 years-old. 

John Ulrich, the owner of the Ulrich Funeral Home in Berlin, Md., said Mr. Agnew died at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin.  A spokeswoman for Atlantic General Hospital would provide no details about his death.

Mr. Agnew, a Greek immigrant's son whose rise to high office seemed to be a reaffirmation of the American dream, was nearly unknown outside his native state of Maryland when Richard M. Nixon chose him as a running-mate in 1968.  And Mr. Agnew might have been as little remembered as most Vice-Presidents without the notoriety of his enforced departure.

Mr. Agnew's political experience, before he won the Vice Presidency, included three years as an appointed member of the local zoning appeals board in Baltimore County, four years as Executive, the equivalent of mayor of that suburban county, and less than two years as Governor of Maryland.

Footnote:  Agnew maintained a residence in Ocean City.

June, 1908
(Peninsula Enterprise- Accomac Court House)

Quite a lot of excitement was caused in our town Monday by the appearance of a strange and mysterious machine on Main St.  Some of the old heads got together and after a lengthy discussion voted it was the long awaited road machine.  A general holiday was at once proclaimed, everyone stopped work and celebrated the event in royal style. Engineer West is to be congratulated on the good work he did, working the street and putting it in such good order as it was never put before.

January, 1942 (Time Machine archive)
(The Salisbury Times)

WORCESTER TO HAVE BLACKOUT TEST JAN. 14

Practice To Be Held In All Sections Of County

(Excerpts)

Snow Hill, Jan. 8- Darkness will envelope 16 towns and villages throughout Worcester County next Wednesday night, during a one-half hour practice blackout, sponsored by the Worcester County Council of Defense.

The county-wide test, largest in scope yet attempted in Maryland, will be held between the hours of 10p.m. and 12 midnight.

Initial steps for the practice blackout were taken today when Sheriff J. William Hall, County Chief of Public Safety and Police, began the task of deputizing each of the 56 air raid wardens.

Fire sirens and steam whistles in all county towns and villages will be the signal for the blackout.

Maryland State Troopers are expected to assist in the test. Troopers will be stationed at all highways entering Worcester County and will halt all incoming traffic. County roads bordering Delaware, Wicomico county, Somerset county and the Eastern Shore of Virginia will be patrolled.

Worcester County towns and villages that have completed plans for the simultaneous blackout next Wednesday night are Bishopville, Showell, Friendship, Berlin, St. Martins, Whaleyville, Taylorsville, Ocean City, Newark, Public Landing, Snow Hill, Girdletree, Stockton, Goodwill and Pocomoke City.  

Final instructions to the public of Worcester County on what to do will be given by qualified civilian air raid wardens at seven county meetings to be held tomorrow night at eight o'clock.

August, 1902
The Times (Washington, D.C.)

(Continuation of Tangier Island article from last week)

The prevalence of the sunbonnet is one of the marked features of outdoor life in Tangier, and the sunbonnets can be seen in almost any direction. Sometimes the wearer may be seen punting a boat across the fields, for in that flat country the tiny canals are completely hidden at a short distance by the long marsh grass; at other times the sunbonnets sprinkle the one street of the island, and especially is this true at the hours when purchases are needed for the family table, or when the daily mail arrives from Crisfield, an event of moment, for there is no daily train to furnish excitement for this quiet spot.

At 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoons the sunbonnets vanish as if by magic, and the girls and the matrons who are now seen on the street are usually bareheaded, or wearing becoming hats, the aprons have been put aside for the day, and perhaps you may meet on the street some very handsome women tastefully gowned, whom you have seen at an earlier hour of the day going to the store or the post office barefooted and wearing a generous sized sunbonnet, for the women do not seem to think it strange to go barefooted during the working hours of the day if they are so inclined.

(Conclusion of this article next Sunday)


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!


"Somewhere over
the rainbow
Bluebirds fly..."

Flying on for JMMB