Recent News

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The Outstanding Achiever for this issue is Richard F. Hazel of Eden, MD. The former CEO of Pepsi of Delmarva and long-time supporter of numerous causes helping the lower Maryland Eastern Shore African American community exceeded his past achievements recently with a $3 million donation to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He was honored at the University during a September 20, 2004 ceremony (see related story on Page 18 of this issue). We are proud to make his the first non-African American that we have honored this way.

Hazel made the $3 million donation to UMES to benefit the University's teacher education program, making it the largest private gift on record to a historically black college in Maryland. He and his family have quietly supported several well-known efforts that benefit the African American community here over the years.

Some of the many philanthropies that the Hazel family have provided our African American communities are: their Scholarships for Minorities in Education at the Com-munity Foundation of the Eastern Shore; their donation of $100,000 to help build the West Side Salvation Army Youth Center in Salisbury; their donation of a computer leaning center at three Salisbury Black churches; their support of 100 Good Men and a 30,000 donation to create its scholar-ship fund; helping to create OUR Community, Inc. to promote better racial relations in the Salisbury area; and their significant donations to the building funds of St. Paul AME Zion Church and Family Worship Center in Salisbury.

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Former Easton, MD Chief of Police Walter Chase made history again being elected to the Trappe, MD Town Commission in a Sept. 13, 2004 special town election. He defeated two white candidates, including a former two-term commissioner who was trying to return to the Commission. He was sworn in on Oct. 4th.

Chase is Board Chairman of Neighborhood Service Center, 1st VP of the Talbot County Branch of the NAACP, a Prince Hall Freemason, and past Chairman of the Talbot County Democratic Central Committee; past president of the Eastern Shore Police Association; member of the MD Bd. of Governors of the American Civil Liberties Union; and former Exalted Ruler Samuel T. Hemsley Elks Lodge #974.

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Two long-time incumbent city council members have been reelected to their seats. Rev. Gloria Ortiz was reelected to a 3rd four-year term on the Fruitland City Council and Elroy Brittingham was reelected to a 5th four - year term on the Berlin Town Council.

Rev. Gloria Ortiz was reelected to the Fruitland City Council on October 5, 2004. She was unopposed and will be starting her third term on the council. She is its only African American member. Rev. Ortiz is the founder and pastor of the Cathedral of Deliverance Church in Fruitland. She has ministered to the community over 27 years and became the first African American to ever receive the Citizen of the Year Award from the Fruitland Chamber of Commerce.

Elroy Brittingham was also reelected with out opposition. He is vice president of the council, a member of the Planning Committee of the Maryland League Municipalities and the economic development committee of the National League of Cities. The owner of Absolute Sports in Bethany Beach, DE, Brittingham is a member of the Department Executive Committee of the American Legion, a Master Mason, and a member of the St. Paul UM Church.

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SHORE UP!, Inc., the Salisbury-based Community Action Agency, has been awarded the contract to operate the Head Start program in Dorchester County. It has centers in Cambridge and Hurlock. The expansion adds that county to the operation that the Agency had covering Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties. It also adds over 30 more employees to the Agency staff of near 300. The Dorchester County Head Start Program had been operated for years by Dorchester County Development Corporation, a single-county Community Action Agency.

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The only new member elected to the Somerset County Board of Education in the November 2nd elections is William M. Miles. He defeated incumbent Ernest Satchell 341 votes to 259 in predominantly Black District 1. The win places Miles in the seat that his wife, Betty Miles, vacated upon her death a year after she had been re-elected three years ago. Satchell was selected by the County Democratic Central Committee to serve out the remainder of her term. Miles is a retired Wicomico County school teacher and administrator who is now a minister and pastor of Handy United Methodist Church in Marion Station, MD. He resides in Oaksville, east of Princess Anne.

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Former Public Address Announcer Patrick Doughty has joined the NBA's newest franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats. He won the job as announcer for the Charlotte Bobcats and Sting. Doughty was the Public Address Announcer for the Hawks from August 2000 through August 2004. He began the audition process for the Bobcat's public announcer job in March of 2004 making the cut from over 500, all the way down to two. Doughty competed with the other finalist, the former voice of the Charlotte Hornets, during the WNBA season. Doughty did such a good job for the Charlotte Sting that executives at the Bobcats gave him the job. Then when the runner-up turned down the WNBA job he got that one too.

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The upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet will celebrate the 20th year that the Tri-County Organizations' Coalition, Inc. has held the popular celebration. It will be held at the University of Maryland for the first time. The 20th Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Celebration will be Monday, January 17, 2005 at 6 pm in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center at UMES in Princess Anne, MD.

Tickets for the banquet are $25 per person. Call Jesse Ballard at 410-546-4206 or Marion "Bud" Barkley at 410-742-2482 for ticket information.

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This year's Salisbury University homecoming queen is Enzinga Martin of Silver Springs MD. She becomes one of only a few African Americans to receive that honor. A senior with a double major, she plans to earn degrees in Conflict Resolution and Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Social Work and Exercise Science.

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The UMES Student Government president for this school year is 20 year old Terrell Fleming from Newark, NJ. A junior majoring in business education, Fleming is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. He enjoys community work and working with youth in particular.

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The 2004-2005 UMES King and Queen are Eric D. Chandler of East Orange, NJ and Lisa Renee Wilkes of Baltimore.

Chandler is a senior majoring in Business Administration. He graduated with honors from Bishop Francis Essex Catholic High School and entered the University as one of Dr. Jackie Thomas' UMES scholars. A member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. where he has served as Chapter President, Eric has served a treasurer of the Pan-Hellenic Council. He plans to pursue a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Master of Science in International Business.

Ms. Wilkes is a senior, majoring in English with a minor in telecommunications. She has been in the University's Honor's Program since she enrolled there on a full academic scholarship. After graduation, Ms. Wilkes plans to pursue graduate school and become a news producer.

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The historic town of Unionville was founded in 1867 by Civil War veterans from the United States Colored Troops, returning to their home in Talbot County, Maryland. Eighteen Talbot County slaves and free blacks joined the U.S. Colored Troops and fought in the Civil War from 1863 to 1866. At least half of them were assigned to the Seventh Regiment Infantry, which fought in some of the war's most crucial battles. They were celebrated at a Veteran's Day Ceremony held at St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal Church in Unionville on Veteran's Day - November 11, 2004. St. Stephen's AME Church was also founded by the 18 and still used today.