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Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

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New park mural reflects ideas from local students

BERLIN– After months of work, the town is finally ready to unveil the new Stephen Decatur Park Mural.
Muralist Ann Ashman and others who worked on the project will participate in an official ribbon cutting on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m.
Ashman began working on the mural during Clean Up Day in April.
“After that we started working every Saturday throughout the summer,” she said. “We started out with a couple of the kids from the high school, then it ended up being me and Kathy Mumford. She is an art teacher and she had done the first mural that needed to be redone, so she was very excited to be part of the second mural.”
Nine Stephen Decatur High School students came up with the design: seniors Trent Carpenter, Katie Collins, Jordan Kahl, Ian Postley and Daniela Romero, juniors Teron Tatum, Haley Trice and Brian Yount, and freshman Brittney Thompson.
“The town put out a contest to Stephen Decatur: ‘What does Berlin mean to you?’” Ashman said. “We got about nine or 10 images and all of them were similar, so I combined all the entries into one theme.”
Ashman summed up the image as depicting, “playing in the park.”
“I really wanted it to be childlike, so in working there all summer long I got to see tons of families coming, kids playing tennis, one Saturday they had a birthday party with about 50 people, music playing – it was really neat to see kids that were not in front of a video game or television,” she said. “They were running, playing, screaming – all of it.”
Ashman finished the mural two weeks ago.
“My mom has brought everybody she knows by, bragging,” she said. “It was good to have it done.”
The Worcester County Health Department and Town of Berlin of Parks Commission will host the third Annual Just Walk Berlin before the ceremony.
“This is a really great program and the town is excited to partner with the Worcester County Health Department again this year,” said Town Administrator Laura Allen. “We expect even more people to participate this year because we’re now America’s Coolest Small Town.”
Registration begins at 9 a.m. followed by a warmup at 9:30 and a one- mile fun walk at 9:45.
The Health Department will offer information on healthy eating, physical activity, diabetes prevention information, and quit-smoking kits. The first 100 participants receive a free Just Walk water bottle.
To pre-register for Just Walk Berlin call 410-632-0056.