Record Attendance at Chincoteague Seafood Festival!

40Years Ago today HB Rew Chairman of the Board of F&M Bank wanted to have a festival for the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce. seafood_114.jpg He envisioned a festival that featured Chincoteagues famous Lil Nik Clams, and other Island delicacies to bring people to the Island and showcase it’s Chamber of Commerce. The first Seafood Festival drew 500 people at $5.00 per ticket.

This year Mr. Rew proudly proclaimed that they sold 4000 tickets at $40.00 per ticket.

As always the food was absolutely phenomenal. Of course the Lil Nik Clams were there as were the Oyster Fritters, Clam Fritters, Jambalaya, Fried Oysters, Fresh Fried Drum, and Trout, French Fries, and Hush Puppies.

The beer and Rum Punch flowed all day, and a good time was had by all.

Governor Kaine sat at our table with his cardboard box of food, and we chatted for a few minutes he was loving the clams!

The highlight of the day was The Marshall Tucker Band! They played all of their old favorites and some of their newer stuff. Their were lots of young girls hanging out by the back stage entrance cheering and dancing to the music. Doug Grey one of the original members, and the lead singer found this extremely amusing as these girls weren’t even born when they were in their ‘Hey Day’, but all of us 40 somethings thoroughly enjoyed the music of our youth. The band was extremely accommodating as they invited the 92.5 radio crew onto the stage, to sing a song with them. They also posed with as many people that came up and asked and signed everything from old record albums to one young lady’s chest.

They played three extra songs as they said they had 500 miles ahead of to get to Allentown, PA., and they weren’t looking forward to getting back on the road.

I spoke to the lead guitarist Clay Cooke after the concert and told him about the Marva, and our Block Party and he said to give them a call, they would be happy to come back to the area. The guys genuinely had a great time, and thoroughly enjoyed our Eastern Shore seafood hospitality!

Benefit For BJ

On Feb. 22 BJ was involved in a near fatal car accident in Seaford. He's 27 years old. He was run over by a car and had spine surgery, vertebrae surgery, double hip replacement and gastric bypass surgery. He was self employed at the time with no medical insurance and 3 kids. Since the other person involved says he ran himself over, their insurance company is refusing to pay out and his bills over $500,000.00 as of March 15.

This is a benefit to help this young man and his family out. I will attempt to get an address and contact number in case someone can't be there but would like to help out.

Attn: Pray For BJ
14774 County Seat Hwy
Seaford, DE 19973

Grandad Recognized By WBOC

I thought I'd share this information with everyone. Grandad was recognized by WBOC today after they read the Post about his bio diesel manufacturing process. They took the phone number from one of the pictures of his cube van and called his business number and they actually asked if they could speak to "Granddad", ROTFLMAO!

Nevertheless, Grandad has now admitted he's gone Bi and is all about lying, the ingredients it takes to make his fuel. LOL

Keep your eyes on WBOC tomorrow as they share this story with everyone.

Salisbury Hosts 2nd Round NCAA Men's Lax Game Saturday!

The top seeded Salisbury Seagulls will host the winner of Ohio Weslyan and Keynon College which is being played today this Saturday at 7:30pm at Seagull Stadium. Salisbury is 18-0 and looking to repeat as NCAA Division III Champions.

The bracket can be found here -
http://www.ncaa.com/uploadedFiles/Sports/Lacrosse_(M)/Articles/Division_III/MLaxDIII_2008_Bracket.pdf

Salisbury News Exclusive

Sunday was a very special day at the Salisbury Zoo. Zookeepers walked into the Red Wolf Exhibit and saw a bundle of 5 new pups lying there snuggling together in a small ball.

The Zoo Staff has contacted representatives from the Red Wolf Recovery Project in Alligator River National Refuge, N.C. with the possibility of reintroducing some of the pups back into the wild. This is done by placing them in a fostering situation with another new wolf mother in the wild in hopes she will take care of them.

With a new Zoo Director comes new hope for the Salisbury Zoo. For more information on these animals and or a sponsorship at the Zoo, (it used to only cost $25.00 a year to sponsor an animal for the year) contact Mary Seemann or Joel Hamilton at 410-548-3188.

This weeks DVD releases 5/6/08

Theatrical Releases this week:

• "First Sunday" -Allstar comedic cast makes this tale of a church heist irresistable.Katt Williams and Ice Cube star. Widescreen available.Also on blu-ray disc.

• "I'm Not There" -An offbeat movie that focuses on singer songwriter Bob Dylan, with an appearance by the late Heath Ledger.Widescreen.

• "P.S. I Love You"-This weeks obligitory chick flick stars Hilary Swank, who is widowed and discovers her husband is still very much with her through letters.Widescreen.

Other DVD's released this week....

• "The Bridges of Madison County"-Widescreen.
• "The Business of being Born"-Widescreen.
• "The Hottie and the Nottie"-Widescreen.
• "La Roue"(1923)-2 disc set
• "Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Movie"-Widescreen.
• "Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning"-Fullscreen
• "Teeth"-Widescreen
• "Twister"(1996)-DVD and Blu-ray release

TV on DVD.....

• "The 4400 - The Complete Fourth Season"-4 disc set
• " Avatar the Last Airbender - Book Fire - Volume Three"-Fullscreen
• "Bewitched - The Complete Sixth Season"-4 disc set
• "Crossing Jordan - Season One"-5 disc set

Thats all for this week-these were released yesterday and so should be available at your local video store and all retailers today.Enjoy!

BREAKING NEWS

I'm being told that Delmarva Aluminum is closing their doors at the end of this month due to the economy. This has been confirmed. They are located in Delmar, DE.

I have changed this Post because the management at Home Depot is stating they are not closing their doors and only time will tell.

The City Park Committee's Annual Spring Cleanup

Mr. Albero,

The City Park Committee is hosting our annual Spring Cleanup event on Saturday, May 17th. This will be the third or fourth consecutive spring event, and our focus will be Picnic Island. The event is volunteer only, very popular with students, and family-friendly. We'd love your help in spreading the word!

Here is the link to the official press release which contains more details: http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/Portals/0/Press/PR-CityParkCleanup508.pdf

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 410-251-3647.

Thanks,
John Swanson
Chair, City Park Committee

Chincoteague Seafood Festival TODAY 12:30 ESVA Chamber of Commerce

Today marks the 40'th annual Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce Seafood Festival to be held at Tom's Cove Campground on Chincoteague Island starting at 12:30 PM.

We have been long-time fans of this event for the GREAT food, fun and community spirit. This is a place to see people from all over the Eastern Shore & the political "whose who" of Virginia.

This year entertainment will feature The Marshall Tucker Band for all us old time rock & rollers.

Click here for the "official website" of the event.

There is always lots of great food to be had from oysters on the half shell to Tyson's special chicken cooked up by the executive staff from the local plant.

Tickets are $40 each and there are usually some available at the gate.

It's easy to find from anywhere on the Eastern Shore: Just take the Route 13 South to the first traffic light in Virginia (T's Corner) and turn left on the Route 175. Follow it to the end on Chincoteague Island and turn right at the light and follow the signs to Seafood Festival or Toms Cove.

The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce knows how to put on an event probably better than any other Chamber on the Shore so its worth the time, cost of entry and the trip.

Hope to see y'all there.

Life of a Skater Mom

I have always been proud to say I’m not a Soccer Mom. I don’t know what made me uncomfortable with the title, as it would be good if any of my kids were team players, but unfortunately like their parents, they are not . They have all excelled in sports that were individually oriented. As a teen I was a Diver, and Ice Skater. Billy was a Cyclist and even rides a Unicycle.

We registered the kids in Soccer, and Baseball, Field Hockey, Volleyball, but they were just never good at it. With our youngest I registered him in PeeWee Soccer and he spent the entire time laying on the field looking up at the sky. Occasionally the ball would capture his attention, usually, when it was being kicked down the field by the one kid who really grasped the concept and strategy of the game. He would get up and run toward the ball and kick it.Unfortunately, his kick would usually be in the opposite direction that his team was heading for. This was hugely humiliating for me as a parent. None of the other kids were behaving like this, they seemed to have been born with the rules of the game engraved in their brains and were ready to play this game and prove themselves to be the future saviors of Pocomoke High’s Soccer Team. I

I was determined this child was going to be different and learn to be a team player. I would practice with him at home, explain the rules to him in 5 year old speak , and tortured the both of us week after week with going to the park putting him on the field after yet another stern warning about how he was to behave only to have immediatley throw himself down and roll across the field. At some point I gave up, and told him that was it.

Every spring, and every fall go by and his friend register in these games and he never mentions a desire to participate, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

But now; we have a Skate Board Park. The child is no sooner off of the school bus he is sitting down with his homework and getting it done as fast as he can so that we can go to the park so that he can skate.

It has been a very pleasant experience. I have taken my laptop with me and have been able to write. I have had pleasant conversations with the officer assigned to the park, and have met quite a few new faces here in town that I previously did not know.

It’s a different group, the Skate Kids they all seem to have an individualist streak in them, and I like it.

Yes, sometimes I think it would be great if he were a team player, but it’s just not in his genes. He certainly gets his individuality honest, and he is certainly comfortable in his skin.

So I will now proudly say I’m a Skater Mom.

2 Years Ago Today Wildlife Photo

Made In The USA?

Once a sign of pride, now a thing of the past. Made In The USA used to be monsterous to us manufacturers but now it means nothing to Americans. When's the last time you saw an Oil Company say, Made In The USA?

It's All About Who You Know

Click on images to enlarge.

What am I doing to fight high fuel prices?

To answer Sunnyinoc's question I had to put it in a post rather than a comment.

Since we own a company that sells energy efficient vinyl replacement windows and a company that installs them at a price lower than anyone else (little plug there), we thought it would be natural to draw attention to the "energy saving" benefits of going green in any advertising we do. We also thought it would be only natural to do what we can to conserve as we conduct business as well. With the price of diesel fuel high enough to make me scream with no end in sight, I made a command decision to investigate the option of powering our trucks with.....Bio Diesel. What's more, we're making it ourself. That's right. I have several local resaurants who give me their used cooking oil from their deep
fryers.
I'll accumulate it until I have enough for a batch, then I'll go to work. Lye and alcohol mixed with the oil in a ratio determined by the acidity of the oil, heated to 120 deg. and circulated does the trick. I purchased the equipment to conduct titration testing which took me back to my days high school science class. Beakers, test tubes, graduated cylinders, electronic scales, Ph testers, etc. The reactor (shown above) operates on a timer and, once the chemicals are introduced to the oil, it operates on its own. Once the reactor is finished, I draw off the glycerine (a by-product), and filter the bio diesel through a purolite filtration system which pulls out any moisture, glycerine, soaps, and impurities that didn't separate during the reaction phase.

Pictured here is the test vehicle. Our 2001 Ford E-450 Cube Van has a 7.3 liter International Harvester diesel. We're currently on our first tank and it's......different. It runs more quietly and the exhaust smells like french fries. Really.

Once we run this truck succesfully for a while, we'll try our 2006 F-350 dually with the 6.0 liter Navistar diesel and our John Deere 110 compact tractor with a 43 horsepower diesel.

Admittedly, the first batch was messy and it smells. Oil all over me, the floor, the van...... but I'll get better at it. The cost to make? 'Bout $2.00 - $2.50 a gallon.

Question of the Day, Wed 5/7

While in school, did you suspect a teacher and student of having an inappropriate relationship?

Seems like Dana Goodman, the principal of Sussex Central High School, is in major trouble. Headlines today express that school administration was totally shocked and angered by the allegations regarding Mr. Goodman.

Going back to my Question of the Day a few days ago: How did the parents NOT know what was going on? She had Mr. Goodman texting her, even while she was being questioned by police!!!

Unfortunately, similiar headlines are seen almost everyday across the nation.

Did you have a teacher that gave you an inappropriate vibe? Did you know/suspect an inappropriate relationship between a teacher and student?