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Mar-Va Theater
by Cynthia W.
Posted Saturday, May 18th 2013

Last night I took my daughter and nephew to see the "Croods". It was my first time ever going into the Mar-VA theater and I must say it was a delight. The movie was impressive, colorful, entertaining, and very touching. The kids enjoyed the movie and my daughter said "mommy the popcorn is really cheap here"...Overall I see myself going to more movies there and would recommend it to any one looking for a nice cozy place to catch a good movie!!!

Nature Trail update
by Ritch Shoemaker MD, project chairman
Posted Tuesday, May 14th 2013

Construction:
Looking back from where we are now, I can’t believe we only got started 2 weeks ago. Now we are ready to start building (come help us on 5/15 and beyond). The massive transport job led by foreman Andy Clarke is just about done. The 38 “second floor” racks are now waiting on the island (as yet unnamed; how about “Broken Back Island”?) near their final resting place in the final stretch of impenetrable swamp. Granted it took two sessions of 90 minutes each to load the 150 pound racks in groups of 10 onto Andy’s long trailer, transport them from the City Public Works lot to the building site, slide each rack down the hill and through the woods, over the bridges and into place. It took four people to load each rack; two to unload and move to the forest and four to haul into the swamp staging area.

We had some familiar faces sweating with the loads: Larry Fykes, Rob Clarke (right in there full bore!), Andy Clarke, Michael Redden and a newbie, Josh Weichman. Our first truck load took 58 minutes and the second 39 minutes. The next session was Andy, Larry, Rob, Scott Tatterson, some physician part time, and from the cadet corps came Kalie and Luke Speta. With all that crew, Larry suggested that they move some planks that we need to use as joists as well. And so they did.

Meanwhile, the Town Public Works crew has moved the hundreds of 4 foot treads that Chris Miles cut (for free, thanks Chris!) for us. Only 600 more to go (well, maybe a few more). We are ready for the machine-like assembly line in the swamps! But, one small item remains. What path does the Trail actually follow to get to its final end point? Into the swamp go Andy and Larry, with music from African Queen and Heart of Darkness quietly playing in the stream of consciousness. They make it back alive. Larry’s hip waders didn’t drag him down into the suction of the organic floor of the wooded wetlands (don’t laugh, that happens).

So now we are so close to finishing. Larry wants to jump start our deep water sections, the most difficult, which as one might expect are the first. Yet, our plan is still to push the work over Memorial Day weekend, beginning on Saturday at 9 AM. Volunteers will assemble at the Greenway parking area for the Trail entrance by the golf course and walk around Stevenson’s Pond to the work site adjacent to the northbound Route 13 Bridge. You will see and hear us. Bring your own tick repellent spray, water and work gloves. We will work for 3 good hours and see what we have.

Donations:
We are so thankful for the support we have received so far. Many people have called asking about how to contribute. Checks are welcome, payable to CRBAI or the Pocomoke Nature Trail; mail them to Nature Trail, 500 Market St Suite 103, Pocomoke, Md 21851.

T-shirts are going out (as soon as they are done!) to Anne Hughes, Al Correia, Debbie Waidner, CD Hall and Nancy Newsome for their donations for a Foot of the Trail. Major donors are Dr. Tom and Dorothea Harblin and Dr. Scott McMahon who will each sponsor an observation station. Our biggest booster to date is Circuit Court Judge Richard Bloxom who is a Silver Sponsor and supporter of an observation station.

Why volunteer to do this much work?
As I stood as quietly as I could last week on the island, I could hear the pileated woodpeckers and summer tanagers calling. Prothonotary warblers were all around. See them and hear them. There was a black and white warbler close to the trunk of the sycamore tree. The great crested flycatchers (AKA weep-weep birds) were definitely annoyed that I was in their space. I heard a new bird call, one almost like a warbler’s phrasing, but no, this was a vireo. We have lots of vireos in our swamps, but this one…

My hearing is getting bad, so I can’t rely on the sound any more. There it is, I can see it just overhead. It was a solitary vireo (and was by itself too), one that I personally have never seen around here. Where is naturalist John Dennis when I need him?

I saw a blue-lined skink and found scat of a fox newly deposited on the top of the new bridge abutment. The lizard and fox couldn’t resist checking out our new trail. Neither can I. As the evening started to arrive with fading light, softening of the wind in the cypress and a few buzz, buzzing bugs around my ears, I could see schools of surface feeders breaking the calm of the slack waters between the tides. Solace, indeed.

And yet, what was that? Not a log; that was a head! An otter! Oh my, I haven’t seen otters here for twenty years! I waited, hoping if I held my breath that it would come my way but it swam to shore out of sight up by the magnificent cypress that will be our final destination of this loop.

Otters, birds, fish, and quiet magnificence of our Trail: all this wonder leads to some important questions. What really matters when people are slaughtered in Mother’s Day parade and stories of unspeakable horror fills our newspaper? Are we really better off to seal away human populations from use of our wooded wetlands as a place for solace, learning and recreation? Or are we better off teaching our visitors what splendor we have by letting them see it from our protected boardwalks and observation platforms. I have consistently voted to open access of our forests and swamps to school kids and visitors understanding that a few visitors will attack our signs and some others will toss cans and paper onto the forest floor. Not all people are good hearted.

For every knucklehead who trashes a part of our Trail, there are hundreds and hundreds of others who will value seeing an otter slide or an osprey soar or a calico bass ripple a still surface. Will seeing an elusive vireo (after first identifying its call) impact an eighth grader’s view of nature and the world? Will that attention to detail be the springboard for a new answer to approaching the complex problems of a global world? Can we just try?

I am not suggesting that studying lizard habitat or understanding where mammals hide under the snows in southern places like Pocomoke will help save the world, but as long as we have youngsters like Hunter Tatterson, Kalie and Luke Speta, and Josh Weichman who are willing to give back to a community like Pocomoke, almost before they are old enough to have taken from the community, then I am optimistic that all the efforts of old guys like Don and Jim and me, like Jack Spurling years ago, are based on an idea that won’t die as we will. We have a duty to teach, to share and to provide for those who will follow and improve upon our attempts to make this a better place to live, to work and to raise the next generation. We can’t ask our schools to take on extra burdens when we can combine our love of nature and our willingness to do the hard work to share with others in hopes that our survivors will see what we see now.

So, you can understand why I feel that building the last loop of the Trail means a lot symbolically. Please give generously of your time and what donations you can to help us make the Pocomoke Nature Trail better.

And don’t forget to pick up a couple of the famous Birds of the Pocomoke River t-shirts! And the bumper stickers too. Call us at 410-957-1550 or at the Chamber of Commerce at 410-957-1919.

Years ago (1980), Mayor Dawson Clarke told me that once I had some Pocomoke River mud under my toenails that I would stick around. The world has changed since then but the same river mud that helped shape my career to focus on environmental health issues might just be important for some one else.

Please help our Trail committee make that opportunity grow.

Download the Pocomoke City Nature Trail Donation Form

Many thanks,

Ritch Shoemaker MD
Trail Committee, Chairman

Let’s face it; this entire project is complex and heavy. The construction project now includes over 50 tons of materials that have to be organized, moved to the Trail site, staged and assembled. We are well on the way!

Saturday we had just a couple of hours to put together 38 racks, each 4 foot by 16 foot, with five cross braces. Done; the racks are now stockpiled at the City Public Works lot. Back in 1993, building flimsier versions of these racks took us old guys at least three sessions of hand hammering of three hours each to finish. Now that Larry and Andy are tooled to do the job, our work crew of Andy, Larry, Robbie Mills, Scott Tatterson and his 9th grade son Hunter, Mike Thornton, Rob Clarke (no kidding I have photos of Rob working) and I knocked out all the racks in 125 minutes. Don Malloy supervised. You had to see those guys crank out the racks! After a task decision-process that took at least 5 minutes, the racks were put together in 115 minutes. It is incredible to think that a rack could be finished and stacked in less than four minutes each.

Robbie Mills has another nickname now: call him Hammer, the nail gun man. These racks are stronger than our old ones, with four nails per side (not three) and five cross braces not four. Hunter wasn’t too thrilled at first (it seemed) to be volunteering to carry 70-pound boards when the rest of his class mates might be still sleeping. And Mike was inscribing nailing lines as fast as he could bend over to do so.

Sunday afternoon Larry, Andy, Don and I had to clear out underbrush from our proposed staging area on the island in Stevenson’s Pond. I had no idea this site was an island. But the island apparently has no name; maybe because no one has visited! I hope that readers can help me with the name of the island, or if none is known, suggest reasonable names. I tend to think that we should honor Don by naming the island for him. Don’s Watery Den, anyone? Malloy’s Mire? Understanding that no man is an island, and only one island is named for Man, what should we call this island? “Trail Staging Area Island” doesn’t have a real clever sound to it.

Please don’t be bashful about suggestions.

But since the access bridge to the island is now sturdy, we have to get ready for hauling in our materials for the Memorial Day weekend construction. Remember, we need you to help! If you aren’t interested in hauling wood for the actual construction, how about a nice donation? Or buy a famous Bird T-shirt!

Andy is so in to tools. He is often reminded of his uncle’s suggestion to invest in tools that will save labor immediately and for the days to come. Here again, the advances of the next generation need recognition. There I was, sweating for 10 minutes to use loppers to clear out a 30 square foot area of greenbrier, scrubby alder and gum. Andy had his metal blade on a device that looked like a trimmer. In 10 minutes, Andy is barely breaking a sweat and 70 square feet are clear. Meanwhile Larry has figured out how the Trail will traverse the creek and the wetlands beyond. Don has supervised. All told, 60 minutes passed and the entire site is cleared and is ready to go.

Monday afternoon the rocket pace of Trail work continued. This time, all it took was 90 minutes for the delivery of 50 trimmed railroad ties to the island site. Think about it. Take a chain a saw, cut through a sandy, creosoted railroad tie without significantly dulling the chain. First, though push the 200 pound tie far enough away from its stack to cut off 30 inches using a simple template to mark the 30 .inches mark. Nice work, Andy and Larry.

Meanwhile Larry is scrounging pallets for the (bound to be useful) 30 inch pieces. Scott Tatterson and son Hunter are joined by Mike Redden, who seems to be everywhere lifting ties and organizing them on Andy’s trailer. Almost immediately the trailer is loaded with 7500 pounds of ties, the pieces are on three pallets and we are off to the island. Don has supervised.

The ties don’t jump off the trailer by themselves and they sure don’t make a neat and tidy pile in the forward staging area by themselves. Amazing. The whole job only took 90 minutes.

Donations! Don agrees it is a good idea to show civic pride to help this project.

Mayor Bruce Morrison donated a foot as did Jennifer and John Rafter. Dr. John Whittaker (and Suzanne) donated two feet, as did Don Malloy; and also Jim and Dee Norton. Just about every business in town has received a donation packet by now, complete with free Trail book and a nifty bumper sticker (this one was designed by Debbie Waidner). If you don’t have a packet, call the Chamber at 410-957-1919 or my office at 410-957-1550. We will get one to you right away.

Next up is the rest of the railroad ties. We need strong backs and a willingness to work fast. And have a good time! We have started building bridges over deep holes in the island entry way to the new Trail construction; that work will be done soon. We need to transport the 38 racks and over 950 pieces of boardwalk decking.

Please join us in this worthy cause. We would like to be done by Memorial Day.
Ritch Shoemaker MD, chairman

Thank You from the Pocomoke Spring Open Golf Tournament
by Chuck Scott of TD Digital Printers, Committee Chair for the Pocomoke Spring Open
Posted Wednesday, May 1st 2013

The Chamber would like to thank everyone who participated in the Pocomoke Spring Open Golf Tournament!

The winning team was sponsored by Hickman Heating, Plumbing & Air Conditioning, Inc. and consisted of Mickey Ashby, Ralph Hickman, Wade Taylor and David Brittingham. Congratulations!

The Bergey & Company team was second, and Adam Mason and The Chauncey Swingers came in third. Thank you to everyone who played, donated, or sponsored a tee sign!

The other teams entered were:

The Chauncey Swingers

---Jamie Skweres
---Adam Mason
---George Stevens
---Keith Aydelotte


Philadelphia Investment Management

---Renee Shettle
---Bill Shettle
---Gary Stewart
---Karen Stewart


Hoober, Inc

---Mike Null
---Jeff Bramble
---Lance Bramble
---Bicky Roche


TD Digital Printers

---Chuck Scott
---Walt Warren (Peninsula Printing Co)
---Dennis Cuzzo (Pocomoke Chiropractic Center)


Bergey & Company

---Ross Bergey
---Ryan Bergey

We would also like to thank all of those who so generously donated to our tournament:

Peninsula Golf and Country Club
The Bay Club
Hog Neck Golf Course
Heritage Shores Club
Nutter’s Crossing Golf Club
Eagle's Landing Golf Course
Maple Dale Country Club
Rum Pointe Golf Club
Bear Trap Dunes
Bay Creek Resort & Club
Ocean Resorts Golf Club
Deer Run Golf Club
Delmarva Discovery Center
Wal-Mart
Riverside Grill

And thank you as well to those who purchased tee signs:

Jason Blair
Riverside Grill
Pocomoke City Lions Club
Atlantic General Hospital
Philadelphia Investment Co.
Shore Bank
Pocomoke Chiropractic Center
Market Street Boutique

So far, we have obtained a line of credit to purchase the materials we need for the 600 foot long “Missing Link” that will let us walk around Stevenson’s Pond and loop back to the main Trail in the high ground. We have our first buyers of a “Foot of the Loop,” as Pamela and Professor Matthew Hudson donated double the cost of two feet. Don’t be bashful about buying the Famous bird T-shirt! We will have an excellent selection next week to complement our dwindling supplies.

Why donate to the Trail? Simple. It is a magnificent project. With all the talk about government doing dumb things with tax dollars, here is a model for community self-help. Keep the gubmint out of here! We can do this work privately just fine.

Just think, walkers will now be able to see flame azaleas of the banks of Stevenson’s Pond (blooming right now) up close and touch massive cypress knees growing from the root systems of cypress trees that might have not been touched by people for a long time. The origin of our Trail is blazed through a logged-over cypress swamp but the missing link doesn’t have any cypress stumps that I can find. The swamp is just too deep to cut and drag out huge cypress trees. I wonder who has visited this unfound ground in the last 50 years.

And yet we would like to open access into this hidden forest to anyone who can walk on a boardwalk. The job really is a bit ambitious for old men like Don Malloy, Jim Norton and me. Larry Fykes has already volunteered for the job of construction foreman and now his fellow volunteer fireman, Andy Clarke, has agreed to be in charge of transporting materials from our stockpile at the City Works lot to the loop site. I can almost feel a passing of the hammer here and this is a good thing. Andy was 10 years old when the original Trail was build yet even back then he was helping out. Larry was right at the “Head of the Trail” for the section of 300 feet of boardwalk we added several years ago to join the Trail to the City Dock in Cypress Park.

The guys at the Head get wet, dirty and lots of satisfaction by setting in the “sleepers,” long structural beams, which are then held together by 16 foot racks of cross-braced 2x8 boards. As the developing structures weaves its 16 foot lengths through the swamps, avoiding disturbing the vegetation as much as possible, the “mules” bring in the materials for the joist layer of more 2x8x16 foot boards.

We initially walk on the joist layer placed flat until such time as we can attach the boards on end to the racks and then attach the treads to make the top layer of the boardwalk. By staggering the angle of attachment of one rack to another the entire structure can wind sinuously on top of the floor of the wooded wetland, as the Trail interlaces by trees and hummocks, it can resist forces of winds and tide that could tear apart a straight line structure.

Here is where the next generation of builders comes in. We’ve got to access the loop staging area by crossing a 40 foot-wide stream (or gut, as they are called around here). The bridge we built 20 years ago that crosses the gut lasted until Hurricane Sandy surged the bridge abutments up onto the bank, twisting the 4 foot wide structure into a good imitation of a salt treated Mobius strip. I have no decent plan for what to do to fix the bridge. If we can’t cross the gut, the idea of finishing the loop is just an old man’s fantasy.

Andy looks at the bridge and talks with Larry for a moment. “We can use a come-along like the house movers do. We can move the four-ton bridge back into position, level it up and we are then set to start moving materials in. Shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

And it wasn’t. The next day when Larry and Andy started finagling with the come-along, using different trees to be the solid end, we could get the free end of the bridge levered out of the swamp only to have it slip back when the tension increased on the come-along. Andy didn’t get frustrated, just looking for a place to attach the come-along with a different chain angle and a different height of the solid end on the tree. “Let me try just one more time. If I can’t get it then, I will be surprised.”

With Larry guiding the free end of the bridge (but not pinning his leg between the nearby tree and the bridge abutment), Andy cranked her up one more time. Slowly the bridge eased past the roots, and up the bank. Larry yelled out, “Just a little more, Andy, we are almost there.”

And then the job was done. The bridge dropped right where it had to be in its new perfect position. The structure is solid and it will carry the weight of hundreds of 2x8s and 100 200-pound sleepers, not to mention a herd of mules.

Well done, Larry, good job! And the gold star goes to the Come-Along King, Andy Clarke. Next weekend we will start on building the racks.

Come out and help us. There is hard work ahead but we sure have a good time. Call the Chamber at 410-957-1919 or Dr. Shoemaker’s office at 410-957-1550 for more information.

And don’t forget to donate to the Trail project!

Pocomoke Spring Open Golf Tournament, April 20 2013
By Jennifer Rafter, Executive Director, Pocomoke Area Chamber of Commerce
Posted Thursday, April 25th 2013


Photos by John T. Rafter - Click here for more

I am writing to you to share some news about our Nature Trail and its new construction project. After 20 years of thinking that “someday” we would walk the last link around Stevenson’s Pond, we can now make our dreams come alive. We are so hopeful!

And as you might have already guessed, I am hoping that this privately-funded construction project is one that you might support financially. We need to raise $30,000 for the 600 feet of floating boardwalk, gather volunteers to build the last link and then donate the project to the City. This project is endorsed by the Mayor and City Council of Pocomoke and is supported by the Pocomoke City Chamber of Commerce.

In case the history of the Trail construction in 1993 (followed by the “flying bridge” installation in November 1993 and Fishing Pier in 1994) is a bit distant, I am enclosing a copy of our book, Discovery Nature Trail, A Guide for Walkers. Please accept this book as our thanks for considering a donation to our 501-c-3, non-profit conservation organization. All donations are considered to be charitable donations. We are dedicated to our three goals of providing education, enhancing public access and increasing awareness of conservation of the wildness and beauty of the Pocomoke River.

The design for the new boardwalk is the same as what we first developed in 1992, with verification that the engineering was adequate provided by Eddie Young. The test of time has confirmed that both Eddie and our design committee were right on target! Fortunately, the test of time has also showed that maintenance, now consistently and competently provided by the City Public Works Department, is not a budget-breaker.

Most importantly, as the years have shown, the Trail is a focal point of civic pride, not just for weddings and outings for our school-age kids, but for all users of the Trail. The joining of the Trail effort with the Discovery Center and the Chamber ensures the Trail will continue to be a destination for those who enjoy nature and our town.

Please give generously, as the construction will provide a finishing touch to our Trail.

For more information, call Debbie Waidner at 410-957-1550 (9-2; M-F) or Jennifer Rafter at the Chamber of Commerce 410-957-1919 (10-4; Tues-Saturday).

Download the Pocomoke City Nature Trail Donation Form