Mid-Shore Life

Where life is a bit slower, neighbors are a bit friendlier, and community is a LOT more important!

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Counties: Dorchester, Talbot, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Kent and Cecil! 

by Cyndi Paxton Johnson

Changing your life involves a LOT of positive thought and actions.  It means starting and living your day with gratitude, making straight forward goals and visualizing those rosy-red results. But what happens when you just can’t be upbeat and positive? When you feel like smacking Suzy Sunshine and inviting her to try out YOUR life for a change?

We all get the deep blue funks from time to time – and we all deal with them differently.  Some folks exercise (that’s WAY too healthy for me), others treat themselves to a spa day or special treat, and still others – like me – simply give myself permission to be sad/sick/depressed for a day or two – and indulge myself!

by Suzanne Sparks

Starting in January, swing dancing in Annapolis has had a weekly venue at Naptown Swing. Every Wednesday, I teach a beginner swing dancing lesson that is followed by open dancing. As the instructor, I do my part to prepare, but let's be honest sometimes that preparation takes place right before I arrive as I run through moves in my head and link them together. I'm really fortunate to have a great partnership with the Eastport Democratic Club. I never have to worry about the space not being ready or dealing with a surly manager. Before I ever arrive, Jimmy turns up the heat just enough to ward off the chill but not too much so we don't swelter once dancing commences. Jay pops his head in to make sure I've got everything I need. And Jenny always brings my dinner up from the kitchen.

This Saturday, March 13, the Eastport Democratic Club turns that giving spirit to the community with their annual charity event, the Green Beer Races Benefit. This annual fundraiser dates back to the 1970s and involves every sort of tasty Irish food, teams of local servers participating in relay races while carrying beer on a tray, a keg toss, and a Kool-Aid race for the kids. The SPCA of Anne Arundel County is the beneficiary of all funds raised this year.

Maryland State Arts Council 2007 Individual Artist Award Recipient for Music Composition and Parents’ Choice Awardee

 “Every so often (rarely) you chance upon an artist whose work is evidently a class apart from all the others. Christina is one of those artists who deserve the world-wide recognition reserved for the few and select... ” - review from the United Nations FAO CASA GAZETTE, Rome, Italy.

Maryland based Christina Harrison is a singer/songwriter from Glasgow, Scotland and has sung before live audiences most of her life.  Her repertoire is beautifully versatile featuring a combination of traditional, contemporary and original Celtic/folk ballads and audience participation songs from Scotland, Ireland, and America. In addition to her family style entertainment and school assembly performances her melodic and witty Robert Burns Shows both challenge and enhance her natural rapport with the audience. Before extending her music career to the USA she was the lead singer in both a traditional bluegrass and a jazz band in London. As a teenager, she received classical voice training from Bill Ibbotson, the pianist for the great conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent and his orchestra, and Isabel Bailey, the Opera star. She became one of the few solo sopranos for the English travelling choir, 'The Centralaires,' which appeared on B.B.C. Television.  Christina studies periodically under Cari Cole in New York City, who made the nominee ballot for best female vocalist for the 2004 Grammys and Veniamine Jitomizski, former coach for the Russian Opera, Moscow, Russia. Christina has received applause in hundreds of cities internationally including, London where she appeared in musicals at the Westminster Central Hall and the famous Royal Albert Hall, London.

by Carolyn Kennedy 

Caring for elderly loved ones often becomes a balancing act.  You must balance your life and comforts against theirs.  If you are employed you may at times have to miss several days on the job because your parents need your time, have a doctor appointment, or an unexpected need arises.

My husband and I try to live most of the winter months in Florida.  We are of the age where people start to say “at your age”, though we like to think we are in the prime of life.  Even a cool Florida feels good in January and February when the snow is falling in the North.  My elderly parents live in a northeastern state.  The Blizzards of 2010 created some challenges for keeping them safe and comfortable.

During the first storm in February, they were on their own.  They both rely on a walker to move around and because Mother is very frail and Father has macular degeneration, it is difficult for them to even prepare meals.  Fortunately we have caregivers who are there every day to prepare meals. 

13-Year old boy was headache sufferer for four years

(March 9, 2010, Chester).  According to a case study published late last fall in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health, a course of chiropractic care was successful in completely eliminating headaches a 13-year old male patient had been experiencing at least five hours a day for four years.

            “Headaches are a common disorder affecting two-thirds of the world’s population,” said Chester-based Dr. John Jennings, D.C., “but we are still in the dark about all the causal factors and, in many instances, the most effective treatment options, which often depend on the mechanics of the specific type of headache presented.  Experts have recognized 14 distinct types of headache.”

Spring won’t officially arrive until next weekend, but downtown Cambridge is going to get a jump on the season’s eagerly awaited arrival this Second Saturday, March 13, with stores staying open late to preview new seasonal merchandise and deliver fabulous deals on a wide range of fashion, accessories, home goods, and more.

And that’s not all: Four downtown art galleries will be hosting opening receptions for new shows, and two downtown restaurants will be presenting music shows in the later hours of the evening.

“It’s always fun this time of year, to see shopkeepers changing out their windows and unloading boxes full of the great new finds they made on their various buying trips,” said Jim Duffy, executive director of Cambridge Main Street. “These individual shopkeepers make every last decision about their inventory, and that’s what makes shopping in downtowns like ours so much more fun and interesting than with the chains. Every store reflects a highly individual vision you can’t find anywhere else.”

The shops will be open all day on March 13; Second Saturday festivities get under way at 5 pm, with stores generally staying open until at least 8 pm and some until 9 pm. Many stores will be offering snacks and refreshments to shoppers as well.

‘Master of Whisky’ helps French bistro take an Irish twist on St. Paddy’s weekend

“The Luck of the Irish” lands in downtown Cambridge on Friday, March 19 when Bistro Poplar welcomes “Master of Whisky” John Heffernan and rising-star chef Ian Campbell and his staff put their culinary talents to work creating a menu that complements a selection of fine libations from the Emerald Isle.

One of the evening’s highlights will be the presentations made by John Heffernan, the Washington, D.C.-based “Master of Whisky” for Diageo, the world’s leading distributor of premium drink brands. To earn his degree, Heffernan underwent years of training in the history, production, maturating and blending of premium whiskeys. Before that, he served 12 years as a Whisky Ambassador.

Heffernan now educates bartenders and restaurant owners about the nuances of Scotch and Irish whiskies. “There is nothing more exciting than teaching people about my two loves: history and whisky,” he says. “I always get excited to share with others and see their faces turn from puzzled to enlightened.”

The skipjack Nathan of Dorchester is accepting new volunteers for crew, maintenance and administrative positions as she gets ready for her 2010 sailing season.

Owned, operated and maintained by the nonprofit Dorchester Skipjack Committee, the Nathan sails late April through early November from Long Wharf in Cambridge. She offers charters for all occasions, educational sails and special event trips throughout the Chesapeake Bay, along with a regular public sailing schedule.

A volunteer orientation session will be held on Thursday, March 25, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Dorchester County Airport. Registration for the session is requested by March 20. Light refreshments will be provided.

Special help is needed this year in handling reservations. The organization can use one or several individuals who have computer access and time to answer phone and email requests, along with someone to help at the dock during public sails. Except for the times at the dock, most of the work can be done from home.