December 2017 GOOD NEWS Newsletter — Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!

How times flies! As we approach the end of 2017, let us again celebrate what is new in Crisfield as we look forward to even more progress by the 2018 season. Here’s what I learned about:
TWELVE CHURCHES OF CHRISTMAS:

• A new event this year is “The 12 Churches of Christmas,” a bus tour of Crisfield’s historic churches hosted by Crisfield Storyteller Joe Paden of the Crisfield Story Project and the Somerset County Arts Council. It’s set for Saturday, December 9th. The bus departs from the Food Lion parking lot at 5:30 PM. See more details on the announcement at the bottom.

CARRIAGE RIDES:

• As another new event for Christmas, Dan and Mary Nelson at Water’s Edge Cafe are sponsoring Carriages Rides from 5:00-7:00 PM on Saturday, December 23. Rides are limited to patrons who purchase the rides with dinner. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children, and will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis since the rides are likely to be sold out. Pulled by Clydesdale horses, the carriage will make its way along the downtown area. The event will include carolers as well as vendors indoors at the 50s Rock Around the Dock restaurant and also outdoors on the sidewalk. As far as I know, this is the first time for carriage rides in Crisfield. It’s a great idea for the Christmas season in Crisfield, and we appreciate Dan and Mary for making it happen.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT:

• A third new event this Christmas is the First Annual Christmas Concert sponsored by the Lower Shore Ambulance Squad. It is scheduled to be held on Saturday, December 23rd from 7:00-9:00 PM and will feature choirs from area churches. Tickets are $10 and can be obtained at the door or from ambulance squad members. You can also call 443-880-1731 for tickets. This will be another great way to celebrate the Christmas season.

JAVA JAY’S:

• Java Jay’s opened in November after months of renovations to the old building dating back to the early 1910s. Located at 324 West Main Street, Jay Tawes and his team did an exceptional job of creating a welcoming atmosphere for visitors and locals, building the decor around an exposed brick wall and incorporating a mural by artist Robin Daniels. Serving coffee, pastries, soups, and sandwiches, it is an excellent addition to Crisfield’s eateries.

CAFE’S CARRY OUT:

• Renovations at Cafe’s Carryout are coming along nicely. Located behind the post office on West Main Street, Cafe’s Carryout will offer carryout orders from the menu at Water’s Edge.

CONDO RENTALS:

• Condo owners report anecdotally that the rental season for Crisfield condos is growing, extending through the end of the year.  Owners have been turning renters away due to lack of Fall availability.  Guests at this time of year fall into three general categories: 1) tourists, especially sporting tourists coming for duck hunting, deer hunting, and fishing; 2) relatives of Crisfield residents coming for family holiday gatherings, weddings, etc.; and 3) contract workers including traveling nurses, teachers, or construction personnel working on regional construction projects.  None of these visitor categories are being targeted by any sort of advertising or promotion, so if additional rental capacity were available, this would present the Crisfield economy with an opportunity for growth.  Reservations are also already being received for Summer 2018 rentals, driven in large part by Crab and Cruise events and returning visitors.  An annual Crisfield event calendar listing activities sponsored by all local organizations and businesses would be very useful if published in the Fall of the prior year to help yacht clubs, camping clubs and vacationers finalize their Summer plans and schedules.

CRISFIELD FOOD LION:

• Interesting tidbit: Charles Rayfield at Salon One has customers from all over the Lower Shore and beyond. He remarked to me recently that a lot of his customers from out of town shop at the Crisfield Food Lion while they are here. They like that it is clean, it has the things they can’t get where they live, and they like how the store is organized. They come to Salon One from Pocomoke, Snow Hill, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, among other places. It’s also interesting that Charles’ customers drive a good distance to get their hair done here and is a reflection on the quality of his work. People will drive to Crisfield if you make it worth the trip.

A WEEKEND IN CRISFIELD:

• I heard an interesting story from Saxon Birdsong, who owns a condo at Captain’s Galley and also has a home in Florida. He said a group of 14 of his friends, including 6 couples from Florida, flew up for the weekend in November for an Oyster Roast in Crisfield. Even though the original Oyster Roast was cancelled, he still managed to pull together a wonderful weekend. Butch Lawson helped him find another unit to rent for the visitors, plus get a Smith Island cake, 3 dozen soft crabs, and 2 dozen crab cakes directly from the folks on Smith Island, a real treat for his visitors. They toured Tangier Island on Saturday, using the mail boat to ride over. They ate at Lorraine’s, visited the Tangier museum, and took the golf cart tour of the island. Upon returning, they went to the Crisfield Country Club to dance and make friends.

Then on Sunday, they met Pastor Sumner Jones, toured the beautiful Asbury Church, and learned some of the church’s history. After that, Billie Chandler catered the afternoon meal, which turned out great. She served “an exquisite lunch” with oysters cooked every way possible and also beef, barbecue, several different salads and many other fixings. So even though the original Oyster Roast was cancelled, they still enjoyed delicious meals of local foods while here and found other fun things to do. Some left on Sunday and others stayed until Tuesday, but all had a terrific weekend. Not only did they enjoy the food and activities, but the people they met in town were “very friendly and helpful.”  It shows that people will come great distances for these kinds of foods and activities in Crisfield. It also shows how the people in Crisfield respond with hospitality and helpfulness.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE HAS NEW GRANTS:

• It Takes a Village to Help Our Children, Inc. (ITAV) has been providing critical out of school time activities for the youth in our community for more than 10 years and is excited about several new grant awards to help continue their services.  They received a college access grant from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore to support college awareness for kindergarten through high school students and a grant to provide child care certification to all of their staff.  In addition, they were awarded a Public Schools Opportunity Enhancement (PSOE) grant to supplement the 21st Century Program grant which funds their current afterschool program. Both the PSOE and the 21st Century grants are administered through the Somerset County Local Management Board.  Their newest award is a Next Generation Scholars grant from the Maryland State Department of Education to provide college access, awareness and preparation activities to 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students in Somerset County Public Schools.  The grant will be a collaborative effort with the school system and serve students on both ends of the County.  (See the attached Daily Times article highlighting many of the good things ITAV is doing with our youth — ITAV – Daily Times 11-27-17.) It Takes a Village is also intensifying efforts to build a new facility.  Since their building was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, they have been operating out of the old PNC bank downtown and have limited indoor and recreation space.  Via a partnership with the City of Crisfield, they were awarded a grant from the State of Maryland’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for construction of a new facility.  They are still seeking architectural support for this effort, but as you can see, God is blessing the ten plus years of hard work they have expended on behalf of our children.

The transformation of Crisfield will not happen overnight. But it will happen with a new business here, a new event there, and evidence of visitors having a positive experience in Crisfield – just as you see in this newsletter.  As these occurrences gain steam in 2018, we will see more and more things happen to bring about the change we seek. Meanwhile, I sincerely wish each of you a happy and holy Christmas season and many blessings in the New Year.
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Best,
Charlotte