Ocean City, Maryland, (February 26, 2019)– The Town of Ocean City announced today a new partnership with POWDR Adventure Lifestyle Co. and Woodward, a playground for progressive athletic experiences. Beginning in late April and continuing through October, the Woodward WreckTangle — a proprietary ninja obstacle challenge course for kids and adults, named for its rectangular shape — will be available for use in Ocean City.
“We are excited to bring Woodward WreckTangle to our community,” says Mayor Rick Meehan. “This is a great partnership, in that Ocean City and Woodward both aspire to deliver amazing experiences that bring people together, doing things they love with the ones they love.”
With ten obstacles, participants will have a unique experience in an awesome place as they compete with friends to make it through the WreckTangle. Obstacles are designed to be achievable and fun for kids and adults of any age. The encouraging instructors, camaraderie with friends, and satisfaction of taking on ten thrilling obstacles make WreckTangle a fun experience guests will want to do over and over again.
Using the WreckTangle app, participants can compete with friends near and far, share videos of their run, and track their individual ninja athlete progression as they strive to be the fastest WreckTangle finisher in the galaxy.
“WreckTangle is an extension of Woodward’s mission to empower and inspire youth through sports, community and culture,” Chris Gunnarson, senior vice president of youth development for POWDR, said. “The WreckTangle is a fun way to experience what Woodward is all about and we are excited to bring WreckTangle to Ocean City this spring.”
The Woodward WreckTangle first debuted in 2017 at Copper Mountain in Colorado, and has since expanded to include locations at Killington Resort in Vermont; Snowbird in Utah; Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania; Woodward West in California; and the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Woodward in Mexico. The Ocean City WreckTangle will be the seventh location and more locations, which are yet to be announced, are on the way.
WreckTangle opening dates are subject to change. For more information about Woodward and the WreckTangle, please visit their website.
The Town of Ocean City just rolled out a new tech-savvy feature that brings you one small step closer to Ocean City when you can’t actually be in Ocean City.
What would we do without you, modern technology?
The Boardwalk’s looking a little lonely these days as the high late-winter winds whip sand around and gulls go hungry looking for disregarded french fries that just haven’t made their annual appearance yet. Soon enough the streets downtown will be packed with family minivans, cruisers and CRVs, and the beach will be lined with umbrellas and blankets as far as the eye can see, but until then, the off-season desolation is very real.
If you need a little help overcoming the winter blues, here’s how you can virtually enjoy OC and get hyped up for your summer vacation well before the summer actually arrives. Featuring, first and foremost, the newest advent in virtual reality beach-bumming:
1. Listen to the sounds of Ocean City on Alexa
“Alexa, play Ocean City sounds.” If you have an Alexa, that’s all you have to say to get the sounds of the seagulls and the waves straight to your ear in about five seconds or less. It’s a little more sophisticated than holding up a conch shell souvenir from your last beach vacation, although if you don’t have an Alexa, that’ll work, too.
Per the Town’s website, here’s exactly what you need to do:
Open the Alexa app or go to Amazon.com. Tap or select “Skills” and search for Ocean City, Maryland. Select “Enable.” Accept “Terms and Conditions.”
If you’re really craving a trip to the beach, play the sounds of OC on Alexa while you watch the waves roll in on one of the many webcams placed around town, from the Inlet to the bayside to a hotel’s balcony view of the ocean.
And let us know in the comments section below: Where else would you like to see a webcam live stream of Ocean City?
We’re always here to keep you updated on what’s happening in Ocean City, with the latest news and feature articles on everything from hotels to restaurants and bars to things-to-do. Whatever you want to know about, we’ve probably written about it.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for in our articles or elsewhere on our site, start a thread in the Ocean City forum. Your fellow OC lovers are probably wondering about the same topic and are just waiting for someone like you to start the conversation.
Hopefully this will tide you over (get it?) until you’re able to enjoy Ocean City in real life. For added authenticity to your staycation, a homemade orange crush and a sunscreen-scented candle ought to round out the almost-OC experience.
Obviously nothing compares to actually being on the beach and Boardwalk in the summertime, toes in the sand and fruity drink in hand — but until then, enjoying Ocean City over the internet is the next best thing. Only a few more months til summer!
The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office is now offering free Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training to the public.
The CRASE training is designed to increase your chances of surviving an active shooter event or other critical incident.
“The ultimate goal of this class is to save lives,” Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli said. “To meet that goal, this class is specifically designed to teach participants how to think differently should the unthinkable situation occur. Through real-world examples, videos, and hypothetical situations, participants will receive hands-on training in how to respond to an intruder, to identify where exits are located, and what to do if the exits are blocked.”
The CRASE course is designed and built around the “Avoid, Deny, Defend” strategy developed by Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center in 2004. This course will provide strategies, guidance, and a proven plan for surviving an active shooter event. Topics include the history and prevalence of active shooter events, civilian response options, medical issues, and considerations for conducting drills.
The CRASE course is an instructor-led question and answer session geared toward churches, businesses, and public organizations. To schedule CRASE training for your organization or to learn more about the course, contact Chief Deputy Mark Titanski at mtitanski@co.worcester.md.us or 410-632-1111.
Snow Hill – February 19, 2019 — In a letter to Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, the Worcester County Commissioners have voiced their opposition to offshore drilling and seismic airgun blasting in the waters off the Delmarva Coast, specifically in the vicinity of Ocean City and Assateague Island State and National Parks.
In the letter, Commissioners have asked for Bernhardt’s support to remove the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area from consideration in the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and to deny any seismic airgun surveys for oil and gas off the Delmarva coast.
“As elected leaders, entrusted by Worcester County citizens and visitors to protect sensitive natural resources and ensure the future prosperity of our communities, we strongly feel the risks associated with oil and gas development in the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area far outweigh any potential benefits,” Commission President Diana Purnell said. “Our economy heavily depends on healthy waterways and beaches to support our robust tourism, real estate, and fishing industries. These industries are directly threatened by the proposed exploration and drilling for oil and gas off the Delmarva Coast in the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area.”
The oil and gas industry has a poor history of accident prevention and remediation. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reported that between 2011–2017 the following safety incidents occurred in the U.S. offshore drilling industry: 13 deaths, 760 fires or explosions, 26 losses of well control, and 125 spills of 50 barrels of oil or more.
These statistics clearly demonstrate the inherent risks that come with offshore oil and gas development. Underscoring this risk is the dearth of oil and gas in the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates there are approximately 2.41 billion barrels of oil and 24.63 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Mid Atlantic Planning Area. At current U.S. consumption rates, that equals less than a four-month supply of oil and less than a year’s worth of natural gas.
For these reasons, The Commissioners have requested that all areas in the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area be removed from consideration in the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and that any seismic airgun surveys for oil and gas off the Delmarva Coast be denied.
Buying a new home should be an exciting and happy experience. However, without the proper preparation or information, the process can be less than satisfactory.
The following is a list of helpful hints for buyers, based on my more than 35 years of experience working with first-time buyers who are purchasing their primary home. Keep in mind that finding an experienced agent with knowledge of the area will be your greatest resource. No website or manual can replace the skills of a REALTOR.
First, you should contact a reputable loan office or lending institution.
Your real estate agent can help direct you. If you start the buying process already prequalified for a home loan, you will be armed with the knowledge of exactly how much you can afford to spend on your first home. In turn, this will allow your agent to search in the price range most suited to you.
The most important part of the decision making is the general area you wish to reside. There are many sections or streets of any township or city that you may want to become familiar with. Location, of course, is primary.
Repairs and alterations may be made for any problem within a home, but nothing can be done about location should you be unhappy with that area.
What to take into consideration when searching locations:
Noise and traffic in the area.
Continual and/or excessive noise and high traffic patterns can adversely affect your daily life. Is local transit available?
For local bus line information, you may call the municipality. The local crime rate.
You can locate neighborhood crime rates here. The distance to the closest medical facility.
Nearby hospitals and major medical centers. Location and quality of schools.
You may contact the local Department of Education for school information.
Check with the utility companies.
Utility companies can provide information as to the price of a normal electric or water bill, to help you rule out properties in areas with costly utility bills.
Contact the local planning and zoning department.
Information as to future planned projects that may affect the neighborhood can be obtained through Planning and Zoning,
Sometimes, simply making yourself familiar with a specific area, by walking or driving that area at different times (and days) provides a tremendous amount of knowledge and feel for that location.
Once an area is located, it is time to move on to a home selection.
Here are some hints: Make a list of needs and wants.
If you need a two car garage, office space, or even sufficient closet space, encapsulate those needs in a list. Whatever your needs are, making a list helps to keep your eye on the ball while viewing available properties. Do not look at more than three properties a day.
It is difficult to keep properties straight when too many are viewed in the same day. Take pictures of any home you may consider purchasing.
Start with photographing the front of the house, and even the address, if possible. Take pictures of each room and any upgrade or facet of the structure that stands out to you. Take notes.
Even in pictures, the sizes of decks, etc. may be misleading. Notes help keep the information solid in your mind. Does the property belong to an HOA or COA?
If the home is in a development, and belongs to an HOA or COA: How much are the fees? What do the fees cover?
Spend some time viewing the properties.
Imagine sitting in the living room or kitchen. Try to get a feel for the home and what it would be like to live there. Walk the perimeter of the land so you’ll know if your rose bush will get enough light, or if you can build that gazebo you have always wanted.
Talk to the neighbors.
Speaking to neighbors is always a good way to obtain inside information as to the disposition of the area.
STATE TRANSFER TAX
Section 13-203 of the tax property is reduced from 0.50% to 0.25% of the consideration payable for the instrument in writing and shall be paid by the seller.
RECORDATION TAX AND LOCAL TRANSFER TAX
Section 14-104 (C) (1) states “of the real property article of the annotated code of Maryland provides that the entire amount of recordation tax and local transfer tax shall be paid by the seller unless there is an express agreement between parties that the recordation tax and local transfer tax will not be paid entirely by the seller.
To realize the advantages offered to first-time home buyers, inform your agent (at the first meeting) that you are indeed buying your first home.
We hope these hints will help to make your first home purchase a wonderful memory that will stay with you all the years you reside in your new home.
Ocean City, Maryland – (February 14, 2019): Fire Chief Chris Larmore, who has been leading the Ocean City Fire Department for more than a decade, will be retiring this spring.
“I have been honored to serve as a member of the Volunteer Fire Company for over 27 years and most recently serve as fire chief for the Ocean City Fire Department,” Larmore said. “I am thankful for the men and women that I work with each and every day, and for the opportunity to serve the community that has been my home for most of my life.”
Larmore was hired as Fire Chief in 2008, when the Town of Ocean City created a combined fire department. Serving as the department’s first chief, Larmore oversees the department’s various divisions, including the volunteer division, career division and the fire marshal’s office.
“Chief Larmore lead the department through both changing and challenging times,” said City Manager Doug Miller. “He played a vital role in the successful merging of our volunteer division and our EMS division. He exemplified the slogan, ‘United to Serve’ and his service will most certainly be missed.”
Although an official date has not been announced, Chief Larmore is expected to retire before the start of the summer season.
Based on the comments we received after the list was published, it seems that some additional mentions are in order. There’s one downtown dive in particular that can’t be ignored, that serves as Boardwalk-goers go-to in the summer and the locals’ favorite all year round:
The Cork Bar.
“I don’t know why it’s called The Cork Bar,” owner Billy Wilkins said. “I’ve asked everybody and I get three different answers.”
The Cork Bar has been in the Wilkins family for over 50 years, and is currently owned and operated by Billy, his sister Wendy DiBuo, and their parents Martha and Gordon Wilkins.
A look inside The Cork Bar, located on 3 Wicomico Street.
The bar was purchased by Gordon’s father, Maurice Wilkins, and his partner John Matzcho in 1963. They leased the building from Dolle’s, which they still do to this day, and as Wilkins noted, it was already called The Cork Bar when his grandfather purchased it.
“I started working here in 1979 with my grandfather when I was 11 years old,” Wilkins said. “I was chairs up, stools up, sweep and mop. And anything else he told me to do.”
When Wilkins worked there in the 70s, the bar’s entrance was still a garage door. In 1992, glass doors replaced the garage, and in that year, The Cork Bar became a year-round rather than seasonal business.
A picture of a picture of the old garage doors.
Dolle’s tore down the entire building in 2007 and rebuilt it, adding a kitchen for the customers who’d previously had to pop outside for a snack. The new, updated bar opened in the spring of 2008.
Even in the new building, old traditions preserved… Like customers signing their dollar bills and taping them to the ceiling. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of dollar bills stuck to the ceiling of The Cork Bar on any given day.
The tradition started over a decade ago by one regular after he’d had a few drinks, and it quickly caught on.
“Other people started doing it, ‘til every time we put a dollar up, five would fall down,” Wilkins said. “We didn’t really know what to do about it, so we decided when they fell down we would just put them in a can, and donate the dollar bills to this charity, the Autistic Children’s Support Group of Worcester County.”
The support group was started by Wilkins’ sister, Wendy, who raised her own child with autism. Wilkins said that the bar has been able to donate over $80,000 to the charity after 12 years just from the falling dollar bills.
Another reigning tradition of The Cork Bar is the firefighter memorabilia that decorates the walls. That tradition started when Wilkins’ friend, a Baltimore City firefighter, brought in a friend’s helmet to hang on the wall as a joke. Like the dollar bills on the ceiling, hanging old helmets on the walls quickly grew popular.
“We hung one helmet up, and people started bringing us helmets they wanted to hang up, too,” Wilkins said.
That tradition is also sentimental to the family: Both Maurice and Gordon Wilkins had volunteered at the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company for 50 years.
Badges on the wall.
Over the years, The Cork Bar has attracted firefighters and civilians alike, not to mention a crowd of loyal regulars and tourists who become regulars when they visit Ocean City every summer.
When asked how the Cork Bar attracts a variety of customers all year long, Wilkins said that it’s all about customer service.
“We try to treat everybody right,” he said. “And our beer is very cold.”
Travel review site TripAdvisor has recently named Ocean City, Maryland one of 25 of the “Best Family Beach Vacations to Take With Kids in the USA.”
“Ocean City is an ideal spot for a family beach vacation. Famous for its salt water taffy, three-mile boardwalk, and seemingly endless opportunities for kid-friendly fun, Ocean City Beach [sic] is undoubtedly one of the best beaches to spend your time with the kids. The large, local beach and action-packed Jolly Roger Amusement Park give you and your family plenty to enjoy,” says the article.
As Ocean City becomes a year-round destination, there’s even more to do in West Ocean City, especially in the summertime and with the entire family involved. Here are the top places in West OC to eat, play, lodge and chill, with kids and kids-at-heart.
Ocean City is listed second after Wellfleet, Massachusetts, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Another resort town on Delmarva, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, also made the list, which featured a mention fo Rehoboth’s Funland amusement park and Dolle’s famous saltwater taffy.
Other nearby towns on the Eastern Shore that were included are Virginia Beach, Virginia (“an iconic and classic seaside getaway with stunning beaches, a vibrant boardwalk, and lots of amusement rides that will tire the kids out by sundown“) and Hampton, Virginia (“with its pint-sized-but-stunning Buckroe Beach“) to the south of Ocean City, and Wildwood Beach, New Jersey up north, noted for its namesake Wildwood Beach.
If you’re ready to start planning your family beach vacation at one of the top destinations in the U.S. (we think it’s #1)… Search hotels and vacation rentalsto get started!
John Chester is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, television director, cinematographer, and farmer, whose short films for OWN’s Super Soul Sunday alone have garnered him five Emmy awards for outstanding directing, writing, and cinematography, among others. Chester currently lives with his family and a varied assortment of farm animals in Ventura County, California, though his roots on Maryland’s Eastern Shore run deep.
Emma the pig and Greasy the rooster star in “The Biggest Little Farm.”
Chester’s latest project, “The Biggest Little Farm,” is finishing up a successful run of premieres on the national and international film festival circuit; The 91-minute documentary will make its local debut at the Ocean City Film Festival this March, in the very town where Chester grew up, attended school, and shot some of his first short films on the Boardwalk right outside his house.
The great-grandson of the late Dr. Francis Townsend, Ocean City’s first physician, Chester grew up in downtown Ocean City above what was once Fishers Pharmacy on Talbot Street.
It was there, just outside his door to the wide expanse of Ocean City’s downtown and Boardwalk, Chester said, that his passion for storytelling was initially sparked. He befriended and made short films about the quirky cast of real-life characters that made their livings practically in Chester’s own backyard, including Boardwalk Elvis; Shorty, the blind banjo player with a German shepherd named Mandy; Roy Becket, known for standing on his head while playing the kazoo; and Jim Stark, puppeteer and wielder of marionettes.
“For me, Ocean City was full of these lovable, bigger than life characters,” Chester said. “They made my childhood feel magical.”
In his teen years, Chester’s family moved to West Ocean City. He attended Stephen Decatur High School where he graduated in 1990, and where he started the high school’s TV station with fellow student Steve Dikos and teacher Terry Sterner.
Chester additionally created a local cable series called OC Live, a weekly news show produced entirely by teenagers, which eventually developed a cult following in the area.
“But that’s only because it was literally the only thing on that channel,” Chester said. “In fact, when the 30-minute show would end, the VHS tape in the VCR would simply rewind the tape and automatically play again. Somehow people would sit in their homes and watch it over and over again.”
After living and working on two different farms in Berlin with his brother Deeley, Chester transitioned into his filmmaking career, which would eventually land him in California.
His first project to reach a wide audience was the television docu-series “Random 1” on A&E, which he directed and starred in in 2006. That series inspired his feature documentary that followed, “Lost in Woonsocket,” which premiered at South by Southwest in 2007. Chester also directed the documentary Rock Prophecies, about legendary rock photographer Robert Knight, which won three audience awards for best documentary feature and was distributed nationally on PBS in 2010.
The director’s latest project, “The Biggest Little Farm,” is a documentary based on the actual lives of Chester, his wife Molly, their dog, and an entire host of farm animals that they meet along their adventure. The film profiles the family, beginning at the moment their barking dog Todd leads to an eviction notice from their tiny Los Angeles apartment. The couple, plus Todd, takes a leap of faith and moves out of the city and onto 200 acres of farmland in the foothills of Ventura County, where they work for eight years to raise their animals and grow their trees and crops in the midst of a brutal drought and with a lack of nutrients in their land.
The film’s synopsis describes it simply as, “A testament to the immense complexity of nature.” When their local ecosystem does eventually reawaken, so does the Chesters’ hope — but not without the new knowledge they’ve gained about the intricacies of nature, which often has a plan much different and larger than that of the humans that till the land.
The Biggest Little Farm has been described by Variety as “Fresh air for the soul.” The Boston Globe called it “captivating, and possibly the most life-affirming thing ever produced in Southern California.”
Chester and dogs in a windstorm.
The film premiered at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, and is now finishing up a run of back-to-back sold-out showings at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
“This film took eight years of filming to capture the intricate details of this inspiring true story, and I couldn’t be more proud of how it’s being received,” Chester said.
Erica Messer, another Ocean City native and Stephen Decatur alumnus, served as one of the documentary’s main executive producers.
“I knew John and Molly’s inspirational story would make a huge impact with a broader audience and was thrilled when John asked if I would help make the film,” Messer said.
The Biggest Little Farm will be shown locally at the Ocean City Film Festival at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 9 at the Ocean City Performing Arts Center.
The film will be released in theaters nationwide in May 2019. Chester’s children’s book series featuring characters from the film will release its first of three installments, “Saving Emma the Pig,” in the spring of 2019.
Currently, John Chester lives with his wife Molly, son Beaudie, and an assortment of cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens on Apricot Lane Farms in Ventura County, California.
It may be a little bit quieter than it is in the summertime, but Ocean City’s bar scene stays alive in the rain, sleet, sub-zero temperatures, and snow. No matter what you’d like to be drinking, there’s an open bar stool with your name on it and a bartender who’s ready to slide you a cold drink.
Happy Hour times and specials are below, but call ahead of time to ensure accuracy.
Pickles is essentially the reason for the off-season in Ocean City: They’re open seven days a week year-round, serve their entire menu until 1 a.m., and host some great live acts throughout the season. Not to mention their giant high-def TV, perfect for watching a game, plus pool tables, craft beer, and delicious pub fare. Pickles was voted the Best Sports Bar in Ocean City for the last two years, so be sure to stop by and see what makes them so special (and try an Original Pickle Shot).
Happy Hour: Monday – Friday, 3 – 6 p.m. See the full list of specials here.
Find beer, pickle shots and more at Pickles on 706 Philadelphia Ave. in downtown OC.
Sports, burgers, and beer. What more could anyone need? The Original Greene Turtle in North Ocean City provides the same great burgers and beer as its sister locations throughout the East Coast, but with that dive-y, fun atmosphere that traditional Ocean City bars are known for. The Original Greene Turtle was, as its name indicates, the first Greene Turtle restaurant ever. Join their Mug Club and you can receive exclusive beer specials and notifications when they add new craft beers behind the bar.
Since 2013, the Longboard Cafe has been the perfect place for any surfer to stop for fish, tacos or gourmet burgers after a long day spent riding the waves. And for anyone who worked up a thirst after a long day at the beach, the Longboard Cafe is well-known for serving delicious cocktails and local craft drinks at their full tiki bar.
Happy Hour: Daily, 5 – 6 p.m. • Two drinks for the price of one • discount margaritas on Tuesdays, half priced bottles of wine on Thursdays after 6. Specials here.
Breakers Pub is a cozy, tucked-away bar on the second floor of the Clarion Resort, next to their restaurant Horizons. Enjoy a floor-to-ceiling view of the ocean while feeling at home in the welcoming, beachy atmosphere.
If you’re a big fan of the Ravens or the Orioles–or both, preferably–then the 28th Street Pit & Pub is your go-to on a Sunday afternoon. Especially when Happy Hour is all day on Sundays. The environment is fun and family-friendly, and children’s menus are available, too (just no Happy Hour specials on those). Additionally, in the off-season, there are half-priced specials every day.
Happy Hour: Daily, 3 – 6 p.m., all day on Sunday. Menu here.
Fagers Island specializes in fine dining all year round, offering delicious food and beautiful bayside views, but what you’ll find at Fagers’ bars is just as high-quality. They’ve got plenty of craft beer, fine wines, crushes, and martinis, and for only $5 during Happy Hour.
If you love craft beer, then Backshore Brewing’s bar on the Boardwalk is the bar for you. They specialize in local craft beers brewed right on-site in the salty ocean air, in addition to Hoop Tea, a spiked ice tea concoction made from natural ingredients.
As far as the best bars in Ocean City go, no matter what time of year it is, Seacrets is an obvious choice. But even in the off-season when Ocean City is all but abandoned, Seacrets keeps Ocean City’s vibrant spirit alive with live music, cool events, and beachy drinks even in the dead of winter.
Happy Hour: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 4 – 7 p.m. View the Happy Hour drink specials here.
It’s always a party at Seacrets, at all times of the year.
Located on the 3rd floor of the Courtyard by Marriott on 15th Street, Captain’s Table is known for its daily Happy Hour, early bird specials, and live musical entertainment all year long. Everyone’s welcome to take a seat at this captain’s table.
Shenanigans isn’t technically open all year, but they do open their doors for St. Patrick’s Day every year, and that’s essentially the most important holiday of the shoulder season in Ocean City. Because St. Patrick’s Day is all but the official holiday of Ocean City and no one throws an Irish pub party better than Shenanigans, here they receive an honorable mention. Shillelagh season can’t come fast enough.
In 2016, Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order, from a podium situated right on the Ocean City boardwalk, that mandated Maryland’s public schools not start for the year until after Labor Day. In recent weeks, Democrats in the General Assembly have challenged this order in support of school districts determining their own schedules.
A standing committee of the Maryland State Senate, the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, voted on Senate Bill 128 on Wednesday, which passed 7-4. Among other things, the bill allows individual school districts to determine their own start and end dates.
Senators debated the bill on Thursday, when Hogan spoke out against the legislation and claimed that the majority of Marylanders, including teachers, support starting school after Labor Day. He referenced polling that shows over 70% of Marylanders continue to support his executive order.
The new legislation, he said, is an effort to subvert the will of the people by “out-of-touch politicians” and “paid political operatives.”
“Inexplicably, they are attempting to reverse this policy, but we simply cannot and we will not allow misguided and misinformed legislators and special interest groups to turn back the clock and ignore the will of the people of Maryland,” Hogan said.
Supporters of Senate Bill 128, headed by the bill’s sponsor Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), have argued that school districts need the flexibility to maintain their own annual schedules and that politics should be left out of education policy. Some educators claim that pushing back the start date of the school year has resulted in the loss of valuable learning time for students.
The executive order that went into effect in 2016 was initially popularized by Comptroller Peter Franchot’s “Let Summer Be Summer” campaign, which launched in 2014. The campaign was accompanied by a petition for all public schools to start after Labor Day, which was ultimately signed by 13,240 Marylanders.
An economic development impact report on a post-Labor Day start for public schools that was released in August of 2013 found that a delayed school start in Maryland would result in an additional $74.3 million in direct economic activity, including $3.7 million in new wages and a separate $7.7 million in state and local revenue.
Hogan posted a petition to his Facebook page on Feb. 5, asking Marylanders to “Stand with us and our efforts to restore common sense to school calendars.” The Town of Ocean City’s tourism Facebook page shared the petition, adding, “As big fans of summer, Ocean City, Maryland supports the post-Labor Day start to the school year.”
Hogan has promised a referendum if the new bill is ultimately passed.
Further reading
Hogan Promises Referendum If School Start Date Reversed By Legislature
OCEAN CITY – As predicted, a Senate committee this week approved legislation which could derail the mandate for a post-Labor Day school start, but Gov. Larry Hogan quickly fired back with a promise for a referendum if the bill is ultimately passed.
Democrats revive fight with Hogan over starting school after Labor Day
February 6 The question of who should decide when schools start in Maryland continues to be up for debate in Annapolis. More than two years after Gov. Larry Hogan (R) ordered public schools to begin classes after Labor Day, a Senate panel has approved legislation that would let school districts determine when school starts and ends.
Maryland battle over school start date flares up anew
CLOSE The start date for Maryland’s public school year has sparked a high-profile battle between Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and Democrats who control the General Assembly. Hogan spoke out forcefully Thursday against a measure to let local school districts decide whether schools start before or after Labor Day.
Thoughts From The Publisher’s Desk – February 8, 2019
A quality lead on a newspaper piece is important, but one recently in an editorial in The Baltimore Sun takes that concept way too far. An editorial by Deputy Editorial Director Tricia Bishop began with, “Did I ever tell you about the time the governor broke my daughter’s collarbone?”
Demolition of the long-abandoned Ocean Plaza Mall, formerly sandwiched between Rose’s and ACME in the 94th Street bayside shopping plaza, began around this time last year. Now the ground has been leveled, and in the old mall’s place is just a gravel lot and a chainlink fence. It’s a blank slate.
David Donato, the Senior Vice President of the group that manages the site, Continental Realty Corporation, told the Dispatch in Feb. 2018, “We would love to redevelop this site, but there are some challenges right now… This demolition work is not a signal that something new is imminent.”
Rose’s and ACME remain open, and there hasn’t been any news of what might replace the old mall since its demolition.
We drove by the site on Wednesday, Feb. 6, and took a quick Facebook Live, asking, “What would you like to see the old mall on 94th street become?” We received 158 comments in response.
The general consensus on Facebook seems to be that no one wants a chain restaurant or hotel (for the most part), and that most people would like to see some kind of entertainment complex or green space.
Some of the responses we really agreed with. Others we chuckled at. Some made us scratch our heads. If future developers want to make the people of Ocean City happy, all they really have to do is post a question on Facebook. “What do you want to see here?”
Here’s what you want to see in this spot:
An aquarium and animal rescue center
A big, wonderful lazy river with swim-up bars
“A 20 story parking lot so people will finally stop complaining about no where to park” (Wouldn’t that be an eyesore, though?)
A new state-of-the-art bowling alley with a pub
A park with walking trails
An indoor/outdoor waterpark
Somewhere to go when it rains, like a Dave & Buster’s or a Sky Zone trampoline park
A new mall
A flea market (The empty Ocean Plaza Mall actually housed a flea market for a short period)
An indoor playground
A dinner theater like Medieval Times
A sports complex/Rec center
A farmer’s market
A kids’ entertainment center
“Let nature take back the land”
A Rainforest Cafe
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville
A Trader Joe’s
Another Playland Amusements
An air strip
A petting zoo
Thrashers (maybe a super-sized Thrashers?)
A skating rink
Something like Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Landing
A big combined Candy Kitchen/Sunsations (wait, was this a joke?)
A Bass Pro Shop
“Jail for H2O people”
Our friends on Facebook are a creative bunch. What would you like to see in the 94th Street Plaza?
[TW: This article and embedded video contain references to sexual assault]
The poster for Eric Roache’s “Sublimate,” which stars Morgan Pavey and Timothy Huls.
Eric Roache, a Maryland native and filmmaker currently living in Vietnam, makes movies that convey the central themes of humanity, compassion, and understanding. His latest work, “Sublimate,” imparts these motifs and more, using the medium of film to explore empathy and provide a lens that peers into the worlds and inner lives of other people.
Sublimate, a short film, is just over 15 minutes long. Its synopsis is similarly brief: “A young woman gets unexpected help overcoming a traumatic experience from a mysterious stranger.” But what unfolds within the story is much more than a one-sentence logline might indicate.
The film, which features a woman (played by Morgan Pavey) recovering from a sexual assault, is “not so much about the act of sexual assault, but about healing and empathy,” according to Roache. The story was his way of contributing to the national dialogue that currently surrounds sexual violence in America, a response to the #metoo movement against sexual harassment and assault.
Roache said he wanted to contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way, which is why he sought to make a short film not about the event of a sexual assault and the “he said, she said” that tends to permeate public discourse surrounding it, but about the physical and emotional experiences that survivors endure.
“It was a hard film to write and shoot because it is such a sensitive topic,” he said. “I wanted to get the balance right while trying my best not to alienate anyone watching the film, man or woman.”
Roache is an independent filmmaker who was born and raised in Bowie, MD, and spent many summers and New Years holidays in Ocean City, where much of his family lives today. His filmmaking career began when he 35 years old and living in San Fransisco, CA.
“I always wanted to share my lens on the world by making my own films,” he said. “It just took me a while to get the confidence to do it.”
Roache’s filmmaking focuses on intimate character portraits, because the more you can understand and relate to a character, he says, the more you compassion you can have for them, no matter what they’ve done or experienced.
In Sublimate, he hopes that viewers who may not have experienced sexual assault firsthand might think about the experience in a new way, and have a more empathetic outlook on how the experience affects victims.
“We focus so much on judgment and punishment, which is more likely to force people into taking sides and debating the details of what happened,” he said. “My goal with the film was to take the focus off of judgment or defining assault and put it completely on the experience and feelings of the victim.”
Sublimate was shot in San Fransisco over the span of two-and-a-half days, and Roache only had four weeks in the city to plan, cast, produce, and shoot the film before he headed back overseas. The project’s budget was $1,500, with most of the money going toward the actors.
Still photo from “Sublimate.”
Roache recently started writing his first feature film, which he says will be his most personal film to date.
“The film will be about manhood, and the negative and invalidating effect cultural expectations and perceptions of men can have on men who do not fit neatly into those boxes,” he said.
The upcoming project will delve deeper into the themes of Sublimate, exploring the long-term effects of childhood sexual assault on young boys, and what that means for survivors’ identities as adult men.
Roache has never filmed anything in Ocean City, he said, although he’d like to someday in the future.
“I was inspired watching the film “Ping Pong Summer,” and the way it captured the feeling I had as a kid visiting OC in the summers.”
“Sublimate” will be screened at the Ocean City Film Festival on Saturday, March 9 at the Fox Gold Coast Theater.
The film is featured in an 11 a.m. block of Social Commentary Short Films, which also includes “For Your Consideration,” about two artists and a viral Harvey Weinstein statue, “Driving Miss Saudi,” inspired by Saudi Arabia lifting its ban on women drivers in 2018, “Trafficked in Paradise,” about the relationship between prostitution and sex trafficking, “Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever,” a response to the current racial tension in America, and “Final Refrain,” which depicts a dystopian world where art and music are forbidden.
Emmi Shockley, an Ocean City native and undergrad at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, draws on her experiences growing up on the East Coast — from living in Ocean City to studying film in New York City — to make films about self-discovery, identity, and generally figuring life out.
“Don’t Be a Baby,” which will be screened at the Ocean City Film Festival this March, is Shockley’s most recent production, an eight-minute coming-of-age short film that tells the story of a young New Yorker in the throes of a pregnancy scare.
“Just being in that phase of life where you’re figuring things out, the future and life as an artist, is where [the story] kind of came from,” Shockley said.
Shockley wrote, directed, and starred in the film, which she made as a final project during her junior year at NYU. The film made its school-wide debut at NYU’s New Visions+Voices Festival in November 2018, where it won awards for Audience Choice, Best Directing, Best Lead Actress, and Best Editing.
The pregnancy scare that the main character Billie (played by Shockley) endures becomes an existential crisis, so she calls her long-distance best friend Manny (Cecelia Bonner) for support.
“Don’t Be a Baby actually had the least to do with my personal life. That character was the furthest from me that I’ve ever written,” Shockley said of Billie, a bohemian young artist who starts to doubt the entirety of her life’s choices and her future as an artist when she goes into crisis mode.
“I tend to pull a lot from my personal experiences. The two scripts I’m working on right now, they’re both based on really my experiences growing up in Ocean City.”
Still from Don’t Be a Baby, starring Emmi Shockley (left) and Cecelia Bonner (right). Photo courtesy of Emmi Shockley.
Shockley’s next project will be her final thesis for NYU: A 20-minute film called “J-1,” to be shot in Ocean City in late spring of 2019.
J-1 is about a young and dissatisfied Ocean City local, Olivia, who falls in love with Mac, an Irish student in Ocean City for the summer on a J-1 Visa, while they’re working together at The Crab Bag. The film follows the couple on their last night together in Ocean City, where Olivia struggles with her decision to leave Ocean City behind and move to Dublin with Mac.
“I always worked at Shenanigans,” Shockley said. “This is very much inspired by my summers working there and working around J-1 students.”
In addition to The Crab Bag, J-1 will be shot on the Ocean City beach and Boardwalk, and at local businesses throughout Ocean City TBA. The film’s “On the Ground OC Team” will be led by Shockley’s brother Tate, and include local craft services, art assistants, and production assistants.
Emmi Shockley (far right) in Ping Pong Summer (2014).
While she hasn’t filmed much in Ocean City since high school — “We were always running around with our cameras, I did a few shorts that I look back on now that are like, ‘well, you gotta start somewhere,'” she said — Shockley’s screen acting career began in Ocean City, on Michael Tully’s 2014 coming-of-age comedy “Ping Pong Summer.” Shockley played Stacey Summers, the very 80s-neon-clad ex-girlfriend of villainous 17-year-old rich kid Lyle Ace.
Being behind-the-scenes on Ping Pong Summer “was a really positive experience and really encouraging for me to see,” Shockley said. “Just to be fully involved and learning so much, it definitely taught me I could write my own stories and create my own work.”
Shockley also cites Worcester Prep’s media teacher, Nancy Raskauskas, as being a major source of inspiration and support for both her and her brother’s filmmaking dreams.
After she films her J-1 thesis and graduates from college, Shockley hopes to shoot a TV series she’s currently writing. “Thing for Trouble” is a fictionalized series that also draws on her Ocean City upbringing; she describes it as a coming-of-age drama about a group of close friends in a small town during their summer after high school graduation. Each member of the group struggles with her or his own varying issues with their families, identity, and vices.
The series was largely inspired by music, specifically by surf rock California band The Growlers, and Shockley’s memories growing up in a coastal beach vacation town.
“I always wrote in high school, I kept a lot of journals of my experiences and the wild times we had growing up there,” she said.
“My dream is to shoot it [in Ocean City] sometime in my career, but it could translate to another American beach town, as TV is trickier with locations than independent filmmaking.”
In the meantime, Shockley and her J-1 production team will soon begin fundraising, and then shooting, their final thesis.
Don’t Be a Baby will be screened at the Ocean City Film Festival during the “Locally-Sourced Short Films” block at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, at the Francis Scott Key Family Resort.
Ocean City, Maryland – (February 5, 2019): During the month of February, the Museum’s changing exhibit, Archives and Artifacts, focuses on black history within Ocean City, MD. This exhibit is a pictorial history that provides insight into the lives of black men and women living and working in Ocean City from the 1930s through the1960s.
African Americans were often the backbone of many Ocean City iconic hotels and restaurants such as the Commander and Atlantic Hotel. From hotel bellman to the restaurant cooks and waitstaff these men and women were responsible for maintaining many establishments’ distinguished reputations.
While black men and women were an integral part of Ocean City’s hospitality workforce, most hotels did not accommodate them as guests. The Henry Hotel was one of the few places located in Ocean City that would rent to black guests. Due to the narrow lodging options black visitors had to choose from when visiting Ocean City, the Henry Hotel accommodated many famous black entertainers and notable public figures such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Maryland State Senator Verda Freeman.
“This display of photographs is a starting point in telling the story of what life was like for African Americans living and working in Ocean City,” said Curator Sandy Hurley. “Ultimately, we hope the exhibit sparks conversation amongst one another about black history on the Delmarva Peninsula.”
At the White Marlin Open, Ocean City’s famous annual fishing tournament — the largest billfish tournament in the world, in fact — hundreds of fishermen compete for millions of dollars in prize money over the span of five days in August, where everything is literally on the line.
The famed WMO has been well-documented over the years by regional and national press, but most of what’s reported is after-the-fact, from the scales at Harbor Island after the boats are docked for the evening, when fish are weighed and prizes are awarded.
Where the action really takes place is up to 100 nautical miles from the Ocean City Inlet in the wide, watery swath of the Atlantic, where lines are baited and teams of fishermen endure long periods dormancy interspersed with “explosions” — 100-plus lb. fish leaping out of the water and testing the crew members’ luck, their skill, and giving them a run for their money.
In the summer of 2017, four-time Emmy nominated filmmaker Nick Ruff and his team at Reflection Pictures set out to document the real excitement and energy that fuels the White Marlin Open: The weigh-ins and the crowds at Harbor Island, but also what happens out at sea where the billfish are reeled in.
A Maryland native, Ruff grew up taking summer vacations to Ocean City and spending time at Harbor Island, where he’d watch the boats come in and the fish hit the scales over the duration of the five-day tournament. One day, talking to his brother, he realized that they didn’t know what fishing in the tournament truly entailed — and they wanted to find out.
Ruff was surprised to find that, in the 44-year history of the White Marlin Open (now entering its 46th year in 2019), no one had ever sought to make a feature-length documentary about the tournament.
“Nobody had ever documented the experience from day one to day five, the entire thing,” he said. “People had done little pieces online, but nobody had truly documented the experience of fishing in the tournament.”
After receiving the go-ahead from White Marlin Open founder and president Jim Motsko, Ruff assembled a small team of filmmakers to shoot the documentary. They joined the crews of the Stalker, captained by Steve Moore, and the Marli, captained by Mark Hoos, over the tournament week, August 7 – 11, 2017, and recorded everything they saw during the five days of fishing, from sunrise to sunset.
“The Marli” Captain Mark Hoos in “Five Days in August.”
Ruff had never been offshore fishing before, let alone fishing in the White Marlin Open. He wanted to make the movie from the perspective of someone who hadn’t been out there before, he said, and shot scenes based on what he was genuinely curious about, having expert fishermen and veterans of tournament explain what was happening in real time.
“Seeing a marlin pop out of the water for the very first time stands out in my mind,” he said. “I’d never seen anything like it before, seeing a 70-lb. fish come flying out of the water like a bat. It’s not like anything else you’ve ever seen before when you’re fishing for flounder off the dock in Ocean City.”
In addition to everything that goes on during the White Marlin Open, “Five Days in August” also features some beautiful shots of Ocean City. “Half of it to me was writing a love letter to Ocean City and showing it off in a really nice way,” Ruff said.
Sportfishing consists of long periods of waiting around for something to bite, but when there is something on the end of the line, there’s a definite adrenaline rush that comes with reeling in something big. That adrenaline rush feeling that’s depicted in the film is something that Ruff thinks all viewers can relate to, even if they aren’t passionate or experienced fishermen.
“I’ll be out in [Los Angeles] talking to people about it, and they have no idea that people fish for millions of dollars for marlin,” he said. “They’re like, what’s a billfish? The movie is for that person, who has no idea that this even exists.”
“Five Days in August” premiered in Ocean City last August, a year after it was shot. It debuted at the White Marlin Club to a crowd of 200 people, selling out instantly and premiering just a week before the White Marlin Open of 2018.
The documentary will be screened for the public again at the upcoming Ocean City Film Festival at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, at the Carousel Hotel. The screening will mark the first time the film has been shown featuring footage of the 1933 storm that cut the Ocean City Inlet. The footage, which Ruff said has been sitting in storage for years, has never before been seen in high-resolution.
More information and updates about the documentary can be found on fivedaysinaugust.com.
Cover image photo by Kirby Sybert. All other photos courtesy of Nick Ruff.
