(July 28, 2016) As usual, The Lower Eastern Shore Mayor’s Association dinner last Thursday night included good-natured ribbing between local leaders. It also included a rallying cry from a local nonprofit.
The association is a networking group for municipal officials in Worcester, Wicomico, Dorchester and Somerset counties. The July meeting was held upstairs at the Globe restaurant in Berlin.
Douglas Gosnell, president of the Sharptown Commissioners, started the meeting by asking Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan to stand. Meehan, it turns out, was wearing shorts during the occasion.
“This is July, folks. This is the dress code for Berlin,” Gosnell said, drawing laughs from the several dozen in attendance.
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said it seemed like there were “three Marches” this year before summer started.
“I saw a lot of sad, worried faces, then the summer came and what a difference it’s made,” he said. “I think the spirit of tonight’s get-together shows you how much we are dependent on the weather and on each other for our local economy.”
Williams said Berlin did not have any tourists, but it had “a hell of a lot of guests.”
“I think we learned a lot from Ocean City, Assateague and neighboring communities,” he said. “We love having you here each summer.”
Laura Mitchell, Salisbury City Council vice president, spoke on behalf of the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore during the meeting. She introduced a new “Elected Leaders United” campaign, which has a goal of recruiting 100 local elected officials to donate to the nonprofit.
Mitchell also encouraged officials to hold United Way presentations for their employees, and to offer donations through regular payroll deductions.
She said the campaign was both personal and professional for her.
“Most of you know that I have a son who is drug addicted,” she said. “We’ve struggled with that, and because of that, I’m raising my 10-year-old grandson. But not everybody has that advantage where he has grandparents with graduate degrees who are young enough … to be able to play with him and do things with him, and to converse with him and give him the language skills and read books with him.”
A program of United Way, called Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, sends books to a child’s house, Mitchell said.
“If they’re behind [in reading] when they get to Kindergarten, they are 13 times more likely to not graduate,” Mitchell said. “And if they don’t graduate they don’t qualify for 90 percent of the jobs that we have in this country.
“For $26 a year, you can put a book in a child’s hands from the age of birth to 5 years old, every month, so that they can learn to read and we don’t repeat the cycle,” Mitchell continued. “As leaders, I think it’s up to us to stand up and lead the way for kids that are falling victim to addiction. I plead – I beg you – help us.”
Also during the meeting, Delmar, Maryland Mayor Karen Wells was installed as president of the association for the next fiscal year. The next meeting will be held in Crisfield in September.
The association is a networking group for municipal officials in Worcester, Wicomico, Dorchester and Somerset counties. The July meeting was held upstairs at the Globe restaurant in Berlin.
Douglas Gosnell, president of the Sharptown Commissioners, started the meeting by asking Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan to stand. Meehan, it turns out, was wearing shorts during the occasion.
“This is July, folks. This is the dress code for Berlin,” Gosnell said, drawing laughs from the several dozen in attendance.
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said it seemed like there were “three Marches” this year before summer started.
“I saw a lot of sad, worried faces, then the summer came and what a difference it’s made,” he said. “I think the spirit of tonight’s get-together shows you how much we are dependent on the weather and on each other for our local economy.”
Williams said Berlin did not have any tourists, but it had “a hell of a lot of guests.”
“I think we learned a lot from Ocean City, Assateague and neighboring communities,” he said. “We love having you here each summer.”
Laura Mitchell, Salisbury City Council vice president, spoke on behalf of the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore during the meeting. She introduced a new “Elected Leaders United” campaign, which has a goal of recruiting 100 local elected officials to donate to the nonprofit.
Mitchell also encouraged officials to hold United Way presentations for their employees, and to offer donations through regular payroll deductions.
She said the campaign was both personal and professional for her.
“Most of you know that I have a son who is drug addicted,” she said. “We’ve struggled with that, and because of that, I’m raising my 10-year-old grandson. But not everybody has that advantage where he has grandparents with graduate degrees who are young enough … to be able to play with him and do things with him, and to converse with him and give him the language skills and read books with him.”
A program of United Way, called Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, sends books to a child’s house, Mitchell said.
“If they’re behind [in reading] when they get to Kindergarten, they are 13 times more likely to not graduate,” Mitchell said. “And if they don’t graduate they don’t qualify for 90 percent of the jobs that we have in this country.
“For $26 a year, you can put a book in a child’s hands from the age of birth to 5 years old, every month, so that they can learn to read and we don’t repeat the cycle,” Mitchell continued. “As leaders, I think it’s up to us to stand up and lead the way for kids that are falling victim to addiction. I plead – I beg you – help us.”
Also during the meeting, Delmar, Maryland Mayor Karen Wells was installed as president of the association for the next fiscal year. The next meeting will be held in Crisfield in September.