A Wonderful Man

Sometimes, God decides to take people home with no warning and we are left to wonder why He took away such a wonderful person. William Poole, III went home to God on Friday. His family and North Beach have suffered a huge loss. Bill was well-known around the Beach. You could often find him tending the plants and flowers in the Town flowerbeds or the pots on corners. He attended the majority of Town events with his wonderful wife, Sheila, at his side. Bill was a Gardener. Not only did he garden at home and take care of other gardens but he was known to share plants from his gardens with other gardeners. Bill was also known as a participant in Town meetings - most often as a voice of reason. He felt passionately about the environment and was greatly disturbed by the number of large mature trees that have been disappearing around Town as he knew well the environmental impact of such losses. Bill supported the local Boys and Girls Club and the Senior Center. Bill raised a wonderful family including a daughter who influences many students with her wonderful teaching, and a son who serves his country in the US Army. Bill will be sorely missed by family and many, many friends and neighbors. http://www.rauschfuneralhomes.com/service/572/William-H,-Poole,-III

Gardening and Politics

Gardeners prepare the planting bed, plant a seed, add some fertilizer and water, and stand back to watch the plant grow for a bit. Gardeners tend the plant carefully, ensuring that it has enough water, light, and food to grow into a big and healthy plant. Sometimes the gardener has to deal with unwelcome additions to the garden -- weeds, whose seeds are brought in by other forces. Those weeds' sole purpose is to grow and they will use anything they need to do it, including the water, light, and food so lovingly provided by the gardener. If the gardener wants the plant to grow, he has to get rid of the weeds. Politics is very much like gardening. There are some people in politics whose sole purpose in life is to grow weeds. They throw those seeds out there, wait until they fall upon fertile ground, add plenty of manure and then keep feeding the manure hoping that the weed will gradually smother and kill the good plant. When it comes to politics, we are all a fertile garden waiting to be planted. Will your garden grow weeds? Or flowers? I keep an eye out for weeds in my garden, and they are ruthlessly yanked out. How about you? Remember, one little weed allowed to grow can ruin years of work and toil in your garden when it starts to spread its own little seeds.

Is it something in the water????

There seems to be several allegations being put out and about concerning a mysterious group called the "North Beach Citizens Council". Don't know who or what they are but they sure have at least one Town resident seriously freaked out and paranoid. Those folks who read neighborhood blogs will know what I'm referring to in this post. If you haven't heard about them, don't worry, neither has anyone else. It seems that someone's imagination might be working a little bit of overtime these days. Perhaps the long, dark days of winter might have something to do with it? I'm pretty sure it's not in our local water as the Town is very conscientious about making sure that our water supply is free of any contaminants. Enjoy your week!

North Beach Fire Department Open House

Our own North Beach Volunteer Fire Department (Company 1) is having their open house on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at the firehouse from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Take advantage of the opportunity to tour our local firehouse and learn about all of the wonderful things that our Firefighters and EMT's do to help us out. In case you didn't know, this is an all-volunteer company. They are definitely here when we all need them and are truly a dedicated bunch of people. If you just happen to have any spare change around your house or any extra discretionary income in these hard times, please try and steer a few dollars towards the Fire Department. You never realize how very much you appreciate them until that awful day when you need a fire truck or ambulance at your own house. My family always makes a donation every year. I look at it as a payment in advance and a way to say "thanks for being there to help". Although, I do have to say, I kind of miss hearing the old fire siren go off to call the volunteers in for a call -- changing times, I guess, and I do understand why the neighbors had a problem with it. I just always looked at it as a reassuring sound that meant that help was needed and would be provided. I know, I'm old school...

Any new events?

Although I try to keep up with what's going on around Town, I don't always catch everything so if you know of anything going on in North Beach that might be of interest to someone, feel free to add a "Comment" to this post. I'll work on investigating other options for adding content that might be of interest to others. In the meantime, don't miss our Haunted Boardwalk, coming up next weekend, October 25th, starting at 6:30 down on the Boardwalk. Whatever you do, don't miss the haunted house down on the boardwalk!!

Family fun activities

It was nice to see all of the children enjoying the activities at the "end of summer beach bash" that was held recently. I really enjoyed watching the tug-of-war and the watermelon-eating contest -- those kids really looked like they were having a lot of fun. One little gentleman was very intelligent with his clothing choices -- seems like he didn't want to get all messy while he was chowing down on that watermelon! Coming up next is our annual "Haunted Boardwalk" event on October 25th, beginning at 6:30 PM. This is one of those events that the children look forward to all year while talking about what fun they had last year. Speculation is always rampant about what kinds of delicious horrors will show up on the north end of the boardwalk at the "very" haunted house. Each year seems to top the last one! My household is looking forward to being delightfully horrified again this year! October 31st is Halloween and our Trick-or-Treat starts at 6:00 PM -- it'll have to be quick trip to the last Farmer's Market of the season so I don't miss the little trick-or-treaters that always visit our house. This year, there is a pumpkin contest at the Haunted Boardwalk with the winners to be exhibited at the Halloween night Farmer's Market --- sure don't want to miss that! It's great that our Town is getting back to offering more family-oriented activities that all of our citizens can participate in and have fun! Sometimes in the past it's seemed as though people forgot that a great many of our residents are children who need things to do and places to play. Not knocking the Boys and Girls club but it's only one part of the equation and not the be-all and end-all of providing children's activities in Town. We need to remember that children need playgrounds and "unstructured" play time, too. Those opportunities are what help them learn to become independent, problem-solving citizens in their own right. After all, they're the ones who will be running our Town when they grow up. What do we want them to remember most about their childhood here -- how it was always so much fun with many things to do or how there was no place to play and nothing ever got done because all of the adults kept arguing and fighting with each other over what was best for them? Think about it.....

Farmer's Market

If you haven't been down to the Friday night Farmer's Market yet you are missing a real treat! We've had a few rainy Fridays recently but don't let that stop you from coming out -- farmers love rain (it makes their crops grow!). It's an opportunity to visit with neighbors as you stand in "the bread line". Sounds like something out of the Great Depression but the homemade bread is so fantastic that everyone wants some so there's a line. It's a pleasant wait as you chat with neighbors and enjoy the bay breezes. My son prefers the sesame semolina and my favorites are the olive bread and the rosemary bread. Yesterday's offerings from farmers included home-made caramel apples and decorative gourds and pumpkins along with some of the regular offerings. Food items are not the only items sold at our Farmer's Market. I must admit to placing a family member in the bread line to hold a spot or make a purchase while I stop at the Wise Acres table and treat myself to some garden grown flowers. White Oak farm has a lavender salt scrub that is truly fantastic! Add in an orchard for fresh fruit and you're carrying home a bunch of great purchases, all grown/made in southern Maryland. You can even get a special bag or two to make carrying items much simpler and very environmentally correct! Many kudos go out to the North Beach Special Events Committee (all volunteers) and the Town Hall staff for helping to make this a reality, along with the elected officials who believed in the viability of the idea from the start. It's been along time coming and I'm SO glad it's finally here. Now, if only we could find someone who does home-made cheese....