The Pocomoke Public Eye: 4/18/21

August, 1972

Footnote: At a ceremony in Pocomoke in March of 1982 Dr. Sartorius, at age 103, was awarded one of the highest honors given by Rotary by being made a Paul Harris Fellow in connection with the foundation that provides scholarships for study abroad. Although Dr. Sartorius wasn't able to make a personal appearance at the ceremony many were on hand for the event in his honor.

Daily Times (Salisbury)

Footnote: 103 year old Dr. Sartorius Sr. passed away in late April, 1982. Dr. Norman E. Sartorius Jr., his son who also was a longtime physician in Pocomoke, passed away in July, 1983 at age 70.

(PPE reader comment)

Anonymous said...

Dr. Sartorius was noted for being a bit unusual and also a bit tight with a penny. His office was on the second floor of a building on Market Street. Whatever your ailment, the treatment was always the same. He did not write prescriptions to be filled at a pharmacy but dispensed his own medicine.

Once you were diagnosed he would trudge up the stairs to his attic and return with a small bottle of red liquid. He would write the label by hand, lick it, and apply to the bottle. It always read the same, "Take two tablespoons in a wineglass of water three times a day."

One day Jimmy Daugherty ran into the doctor on the sidewalk outside of George Reid's soda parlor. Jimmy said, "Doc, my ear was hurting when I got up this morning. Do you think it could be serious?"

Doc looked at his ear and replied, " I don't see anything, you will be fine."

Two days later Jimmy got a bill in the mail for $10 for a medical consultation.

Before his death Doc Sartorius became a bit of a philosopher. His most famous quotations was thus, "There will come a time when politicians will think the City should engage in private enterprise and may even construct a building, possibly a restaurant, along the river. All will go well at first but eventually there will come a time with much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments."

July, 2007

*****

(Maryland State Archives)


Ilia J. Fehrer (1927 - 2007)

Ilia Fehrer gave the citizens of Maryland many gifts - an unspoiled Pocomoke River and Chincoteague Bay, millions of dollars worth of land conservation, legislation to protect wildlife and water quality, and the education of thousands. Her legacy includes Assateague Islands state and national parks, the designation of the Pocomoke as a "wild and scenic river," the Nassawango Creek Preserve and the Worcester County rural legacy area. She battled offshore waste incineration, the building of an industrial park near Ocean City, the needless destruction of acres of wetlands and forests and the permitting of ill-planned communities.

Ilia Fehrer grew up on a family farm in central Maryland. In 1942, her family moved to Baltimore where she graduated from high school and attended Towson University. She taught elementary school in Baltimore, married Joe Fehrer Sr., and raised eight children. With their move to Snow Hill, her career as Worcester County's environmental conscience began

In 1972, she opposed the rezoning of 3200 acres in central Worcester County and appealed the county's decision to Maryland's highest court, curtailing damage to some of Worcester's prime farmland. From this effort came the Worcester Environmental Trust that today holds easements protecting ecological habitat within county subdivisions. For the next three decades she "watch-dogged" state agencies commenting on applications and attending hearings for wetland disturbances, reported soil and erosion control violations, called for hearings on water and sewer permits and opposed the hardening of our shorelines, while championing soft shoreline protections.

Mrs. Feher and her husband, Joe, canoed the Pocomoke, inventorying the river's environmental and wildlife assets. In the 1980s, they spearheaded the effort to establish a water quality-monitoring program, prevented the damming of Nassawango Creek and convinced the Nature Conservancy to preserve the creek and upland forest that has grown to 10,000 acres and founded the Nassawango Creek Stewardship Committee that oversees the protection of this area. In 2003, the Chesapeake Bay Trust recognized Mrs. Feher for her efforts on behalf of the environment with the Ellen Fraites Wagner Award; she and her husband also received the Feinstone Environmental Award at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 1987

During the 1990s, Mrs. Feher help established the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. She served a 5-year term on the Worcester County Planning Commission and was one of the first citizen stakeholders to serve on the habitat restoration subcommittee that advanced the coastal bays rural legacy area. In 2002, Mrs. Feher and her husband received that program's first Osprey Award for their efforts in protecting Maryland's coastal bays.

As a member of the Committee to Preserve Assateague, known now as the Assateague Coastal Trust, she testified before Congress to save the Island. Every New Year's Day Mrs. Feher led a nature walk on the island that now bears her name in remembrance.

Biography courtesy of the Maryland Commission for Women, 2009.

(PPE reader comment)

Ilia Fehrer was also known for living in the second largest house in Snow Hill. It was necessary because she was also known for having eight children, Christa, Celeste, Melissa, Michelle, Joseph, John, Douglas and Damien.

The Pocomoke Public Eye

Friday, April 23, 2021

Blessing Of The Combines is a no go again this year

(Updated) Chief Brumley is leaving, citing "unforeseen issues"

Time Machine Preview

Thursday, April 22, 2021

The passing of a veteran of Delmarva airwaves

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Worcester County Veterans hosting replica of Vietnam Memorial Wall

Veterans Memorial Park, Route 589 and Cathell Road

Thursday, April 22 – Sunday, April 25 2021

Open 24 hours a day

Free to the public

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Time Machine: Leaving legacies in Worcester County- Dr. Norman E. Sartorius Sr. and environment defender Ilia J. Fehrer.