Shore Legal Access Adds Three New Members to Board of Directors
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Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Centreville
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Join the talented string trio Vandalia for an immersive Old-Time music workshop on Saturday, November 8th at Allegro Academy. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned player, this hands-on session will help you deepen your understanding of the singular groove unique to Old-Time music. With Dakota Karper on fiddle, Ellen Gira on cello and Gabriel Furtado on guitar, Vandalia will guide you through essentials of Old-Time tunes. The workshop begins with small breakout groups, working with one of Vandalia’s musicians on melody and backing. As the workshop progresses, we’ll come together to play as an ensemble and experience the magic of group music-making! This is also a rare opportunity for cellists to learn authentic trad backing and bowing from one of the best in the business. Whether you’re playing fiddle, banjo, guitar, or another instrument, everyone is welcome!
Vandalia is dedicated to exploring the depth and breadth of American String-band music. Informed by tradition, but not chained to it, the group has found a niche inside of the old-time community as well as in the wider arts world that offers audiences a forward-looking take on traditional acoustic music. Formed from a chance encounter at the 2024 Baltimore Old-Time Festival, fiddler Dakota Karper, cellist Ellen Gira and guitarist Gabriel Furtado met in a late-night afterparty jam session. Together the trio creates a version of string-band music you can tap your foot to, or get lost in the details of the melodies. Weaving intricate fiddle and cello lines, gorgeous vocal harmonies, subtle guitar textures and exhilarating rhythmic drive, the pleasure these three musicians have creating and playing together is palpable, both in the studio and on the concert stage. More about this band at can be found at www.vandaliaband.com.
The Old-Time music workshop will take place at Allegro Academy, 114 North Washington Street, Easton, on November 8, 1-3pm. A donation of $20-$50 per person is suggested. To register, please email [email protected] or call 410-603-8361.
Allegro Academy, a non-profit music conservatory located in downtown Easton, connects musicians through workshops, lessons, ensembles, and performances, and aspires to enrich the lives of music enthusiasts of all ages and incomes in our community. Academy Programs are supported in part by generous contributions from individuals, Talbot Arts, the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, and the Maryland State Arts Council.
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The Botanical Art League of the Eastern Shore is exhibiting paintings and drawings in an exhibit ‘Garden Companions’ at the Talbot County Library. The exhibit opened on October 1 and runs until October 30 during regular library hours. Using mediums of watercolor, colored pencil, graphite and ink, members have paired vegetables and flowers in our gardens that are beneficial to each other’s growth and health.The exhibit will move to the Queen Anne Center for the Arts in Centreville for the month of November.
Companion planting is a gardening technique where different plants are grown together to benefit one another, whether through improved growth, pest control, enhanced flavor or all of these. For example, planting marigolds alongside vegetables like tomatoes can help deter harmful insects, while basil, when planted near tomatoes, is believed to improve the flavor of the fruit and repel pests like aphids.
The benefits and modern relevance of companion gardening undoubtedly continue to exist:
Pollination – Companion plants can attract pollinators, improving crop yields.
Pest Control – Some companion plants deter pests; others attract beneficial insects that control other pests.
Weed Suppression – Companion plants help suppress weeds by creating shade.
Nutrient Enhancement – Some plants, like beans and clover, are nitrogen fixers, enriching the soil for other plants.
Soil Health – By reducing erosion, conserving moisture, and adding nutrients, companion plants can improve the soil.
Space Optimization – No matter how large or how small your garden, companion planting allows for better use of garden space.
Sustainable Agriculture – By reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and other external inputs, companion planting can help protect the ecosystem of your garden.
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The Daily Record has named David Fike, President & CEO of Leadership Maryland, one of Maryland’s 2025 Most Admired CEOs.
Most Admired CEOs honors talented business CEOs, higher education leaders and nonprofit executive directors throughout Maryland whose leadership and vision are admired by those around them. A panel of judges selects these honorees based on professional accomplishments, community service and letters of reference submitted by co-workers, board members and community leaders showing the CEO’s leadership and vision.
Three-time winners are inducted into the Circle of Leadership, which honors sustained achievement over a period of at least six-years. This year’s inductees are Greg Abel, Abel Communications; Marco V. Ávila, P.E., Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Franklyn Baker, United Way of Central Maryland; Br. John Kane, FSC, Ed.D., Calvert Hall College High School; and Susan Malone, Wide Angle Youth Media. A listing of all the winners is below.
“The 2025 Most Admired CEOs are extraordinary leaders. They have impressive resumes, work to lead their companies to success and are truly admired by their peers, teams and in the community,” said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, managing director of BridgeTower Media/The Daily Record. “They help to grow the next generation of leaders in Maryland by empowering those who work for them, those they work with on community boards and through mentoring. The Daily Record is pleased to recognize these outstanding CEOs.”
This year’s Most Admired CEOs will be honored at a celebration on Nov. 3 at the Hilton BWI, 1739 West Nursery Road in Linthicum Heights. Food stations, drinks and networking begin at 4:30 p.m., with the awards celebration at 5:30 p.m. followed at 6:30 p.m. with dessert, drinks and networking. The event hashtag is #TDRevents.
Attendance is limited. This event will sell out. Winners and sponsors receive priority. Sponsorship includes a table for guests, logo usage, multimedia marketing opportunities and more. Only sponsors will be guaranteed a table for their guests. If space is available after the sponsorship deadline, a limited number of individual tickets will go on sale. To secure a sponsorship, contact Suzanne Fischer-Huettner at [email protected].
Winners will be profiled in a special magazine that will be inserted into the Nov. 4 issue of The Daily Record and will be available online at TheDailyRecord.com.
The Supporting Sponsor is Towson University. For more information and updated sponsorship information about The Daily Record’s 2025 Most Admired CEOs, visit thedailyrecord.com/event/most_admired_ceos/.
About The Daily Record
The Daily Record is a digital first, daily news media company focused on law, government and business at TheDailyRecord.com. The Daily Record publishes a print edition on weekdays in addition to more than 25 special products a year in a variety of industries including Power Lists. The Daily Record hosts 11 annual events to recognize excellence and provide leadership opportunities. These events include Maryland’s Top 100 Women, Most Admired CEOs, Influential Marylanders, Health Care Heroes, Icon Honors and more. The Daily Record’s Digital Marketing Solutions helps customers with social media, search engine marketing and optimization, retargeting and email marketing, among other services. The Daily Record, with 137 years of editorial excellence, is part of BridgeTower Media, the authoritative voice for insights and marketing solutions across 40+ brands in five key sectors across the United States.
2025 Most Admired CEOs
***Indicates Circle of Leadership Inductee
Government
Karen Holt, Harford County Office of Economic Development
Brandi Stocksdale, Baltimore City Department of Social Services
Higher Education
Dr. Courtney Overton, University of Maryland, College Park
Dr. Falecia D. Williams, Prince George’s Community College
Nonprofit with less than $10 million in annual revenue
***Marco V. Ávila, P.E., Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Kim Callari, The Baltimore Station
Erika Strauss Chavarria, Columbia Community Care
David Fike, Leadership Maryland
Danista E. Hunte, Maryland Philanthropy Network
Mary D. Kane, Maryland Chamber of Commerce
Hye Yeong Kwon, Center for Watershed Protection, Inc.
***Susan Malone, Wide Angle Youth Media
Dr. Diandra Poe, Glass Soldier
Eddie Resende, World Trade Center Institute
Robin Rickard, Chrysalis House, Inc.
Michael Sakata, Maryland Transportation Builders & Materials Association
Nico Sanders, Community Housing Associates
Nonprofit with more than $10 million in annual revenue
***Franklyn Baker, United Way of Central Maryland
Tracy Broccolino, Community Action Council of Howard County Inc.
Bob Cohn, The Baltimore Banner
Johnathan Davis, Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc.
John Dumas, Service Coordination, Inc.
Bernard Gyebi-Foster, MBA, LCPC, Tuerk House, Inc.
***Br. John Kane, FSC, Ed.D., Calvert Hall College High School
Gregory T. Miller, Penn-Mar Human Services
Kristen Pironis, Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County
Private company with 50 or fewer employees
***Greg Abel, Abel Communications
Patrick Collins, Greenspring Advisors
Dr. Nkem Okeke, Medicalincs
Stanford Oliver, Camelot Secure
Karen Pecora-Barbour, The Barbour Group, LLC
Kimberly Prescott, Prescott HR, Inc.
Dr. Jennifer Rios, Pinnacle Software Consulting Inc, DBA PSCI-LIA
John J. Scott, Jr., Westminster American Insurance Company
Private company with 51-149 employees
Kristen Valdes, b.well Connected Health
Private company with 150 or more employees
Steven Attman, Acme Paper & Supply Co. Inc.
Jack Dwyer, Capital Funding Group & CFG Bank
Kim Wireman, LCSW-C, LCADC, Powell Recovery Center, Inc.
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On Thursday, Fello Communities hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of 407 Brookletts Avenue, the first completed building of the highly anticipated Easton Crossing community.
Easton Crossing is an ongoing community development project that will transform the 6.5-acre site of the former Perdue AgriBusiness operation into a vibrant, and walkable neighborhood. The development will include 117 new residential units, 30% of which are designated as affordable, and is designed to create an inclusive community where people of all abilities can thrive. Additionally, Easton Crossing will also feature ground-level commercial space and community amenities, such as walking paths and a fishing pond, to enhance the neighborhood’s livability for everyone.
“This ribbon cutting is the start of something bigger,” said Ross Benincasa, Senior Vice President of Community Development for Fello Communities. “Easton Crossing will bring new homes, new opportunities, and new energy to Easton. This is the first step in that journey—and there’s much more to come.”
The opening of 407 Brookletts Avenue marks an important step toward the construction and launch of the Easton Crossing community. This building will serve not only as the leasing hub for both Easton Crossing’s future residents and commercial tenants, but also will support Fello Communities properties across the Mid-Shore.
“At Fello Communities, we believe people deserve more than housing. People deserve homes,” said Jonathon Rondeau, President & CEO of Fello. “Housing is the foundation of everything in a person’s life. It is our responsibility to ensure that everyone in our communities have safe and accessible places to call home.”
Looking ahead, there will be additional progress throughout 2026 as sitework for the entire footprint of Easton Crossing is completed including stormwater management, fiber installation, underground infrastructure, and surface parking, all laying the groundwork for Building 509, a multifamily building and the next milestone in Easton Crossing’s journey.
About Fello:
Fello champions the rights of people with disabilities and invests in what matters most: real opportunities, strong relationships, and inclusive, equitable communities. Fello partners with people with disabilities to provide support services, develop inclusive housing, and create spaces where people feel genuinely connected—not just accommodated. Founded in 1961, Fello continues to lead with heart and purpose, building inclusive communities where everyone belongs. Learn more at www.fello.org.
About Fello Communities:
At Fello Communities, we develop and manage housing that’s built for belonging. Through community development and rental housing, we create inclusive, affordable, and accessible homes where people of all backgrounds and abilities can choose how and where they live. Founded in 2007, Fello Communities was created to offer people more options and better opportunities when it comes to housing. Our work bridges community development and long-term property management to create homes and communities that last. Learn more at fellocommunities.org.
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Qlarant has been selected, as part of TEAM Agile4Vets (A4V), to participate in the Veterans Health Administration’s Integrated Healthcare Transformation (IHT) 2.0 IDIQ contract.
Through this vehicle, VA Program Offices now have access to a proven, highly qualified pool, and Fully Mission Capable Veteran Integrated Contractor Teams (VITs) ready to deliver best value health system services across 4 Functional Categories (Health System Transformation and Innovation; Implementation and Operations Support; Healthcare Business Enabling Services; and Health Informatics).
This is a gamechanger that offers us all a major step forward in supporting the health and well-being of our nation’s Veterans
Through this contract, Qlarant as a VIT Member will:
✅ Support Veterans by delivering comprehensive, Veteran-centric healthcare solutions that improve quality of care.
✅ Enhance services with expanded capabilities designed specifically for healthcare transformation – enabling VHA to deliver the Best Care Anywhere across every healthcare market in the United States.
✅ Advance the VA mission by contributing directly to positive Veteran experiences while receiving the high-quality health and benefits they have earned.
✅ Partner on significant subcontracting opportunities that drive innovation and ensure highly reliable execution of critical VA initiatives.
This award represents more than a contract – it is a commitment from our Team of Teams to Our Veterans, to taxpayers, and to the core missions of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
We look forward to working with our partners and the VA to ensure the best possible outcomes for those who have served, and those who serve them.
About Qlarant
Qlarant is a not-for-profit, nationally respected leader in fighting fraud, waste, and abuse, improving program quality, and optimizing performance. It has a 50-year record of accomplishment of improving the performance of some of the Nation’s most important health programs. Qlarant uses subject matter experts plus innovative data science and technology to help organizations see risks, solve problems, and seize opportunities. The company provides customized solutions for state, federal and commercial industries across the nation. Headquartered in Easton, MD., Qlarant has offices throughout the country and employs over 600 people. Qlarant is a five-time winner of the Best Places to Work award.
The Qlarant Foundation— the mission arm of the organization, has provided over $7 million in grants to charities throughout Maryland, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida and Texas. For more information, visit www.qlarant.com or contact [email protected]
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Are you a choral singer or enthusiast who would like to enhance your musical knowledge? Consider joining Music Theory for Choral Singers this fall at Allegro Academy. In four sessions participants will study basic music theory as it pertains to the choral world including rhythm, terminology, sight-reading, and various forms of choral music. Teaching the course will be Amy Morgan, Director of the Allegro Women’s Chorus and Summer Sing Choir Festival, and Assistant Director and Accompanist of Easton Choral Arts Society.
Music Theory for Choral Singers will take place October 10, 17, 24, and 31. Participants will meet 10:00-11:15am at Allegro Academy, 114 N. Washington St. The cost for the four weeks is $100. To register please email [email protected] or call 410-603-8361.
Allegro Academy, a non-profit music conservatory located in downtown Easton, connects musicians through workshops, lessons, ensembles, and performances, and aspires to enrich the lives of music enthusiasts of all ages and incomes in our community. Academy Programs are supported in part by generous contributions from individuals, Talbot Arts, the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, and the Maryland State Arts Council.
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Today, the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (CMC) kicks off its 10 year anniversary celebrations. Over the past 10 years, the CMC has partnered with over 100 organizations who are collecting water quality and benthic macroinvertebrate samples at 2,490 monitoring stations throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
“The Alliance is honored to lead the CMC project and work with so many of our community volunteers and partners over the years,” said Liz Chudoba, Water Quality Monitoring Initiative Director, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. “The collective impact of our efforts informs decision-making policies and supports communities across the watershed.”
Formed in 2015, the CMC began as a six-year cooperative agreement through the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, to integrate community and volunteer monitoring data into the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership. The CMC team was awarded a second cooperative agreement in 2021, continuing the partnership for an additional six years.
The CMC is supported by five partner organizations: the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, the Izaak Walton League of America, the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring at Dickinson College, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia at Virginia Institute of Marine Science. These organizations provide technical services to monitoring groups in the Chesapeake Bay region in order to ensure data are of known quality.
“The CMC has allowed the Chesapeake Bay Program to expand its knowledge base and better understand conditions throughout the watershed through broader engagement with the public,” said Dr. Peter Tango, Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Coordinator, USGS at the Chesapeake Bay Program Office. “This supports management of our ecosystems by working across local to regional scales to meet state and federal goals for water quality improvements.”
Historically, there were many sources of data, including data collected by volunteers, local governments, and NGO’s, that were not being used to track Chesapeake Bay and Watershed health at a broader scale. To address this issue, the CMC team established a quality assurance structure that aligns with state and federal regulatory decision-making processes and enables all data of known quality to be used together across the region. This structure not only helps existing groups, but also breaks down the barriers and enables more monitoring groups to become established in the watershed. To date, over 1.1 million data points have been uploaded to and are publicly accessible on the CMC Data Explorer.
“The CMC Data Explorer has been a game changer for sharing data,” said Mary Claire King, Citizen Science Coordinator at Buttonwood Nature Center, who organizes a volunteer water monitoring program in partnership with the Antietam Watershed Association. “Our monitoring program includes 28 testing sites, many of which are located on private property. The data explorer allows the landowners a chance to connect with the data collected from their property in real time. It also provides incredible graphs and visuals that we at Buttonwood and AWA use when working with the public to educate on the importance of keeping our local waterways clean. It is such a useful resource for our organizations and is very easy to use!”
Community volunteers and partners are the backbone of the CMC. With the support of generous individuals donating their days, evenings, and weekends, the CMC has increased temporal and spatial data collection throughout the watershed. These data support significant insights on watershed health from tidal estuaries in Virginia, to farms in Pennsylvania, to West Virginia trout streams, to Baltimore Harbor, to communities in Anacostia, to wetlands in Delaware, and forests in New York. No matter the reason individuals are collecting data, it is vital information being used to create positive change for local ecosystems and communities.
For more information about the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative, visit: https://www.chesapeakemonitoringcoop.org/.
For data in the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative, visit: https://cmc.vims.edu/data-explorer
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The Eastern Shore Writers Association (ESWA), in partnership with Kent Island’s Cult Classic Brewery, is proud to announce the first ever ESWA HOLIDAY BOOK FESTIVAL, taking place on Saturday, December 13, 2025.
Open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the ESWA Holiday Book Festival at Cult Classic will offer book lovers an opportunity to connect with their favorite authors from all over Delmarva and discover new voices across a variety of genres. There will be books for sale, signings, readings, giveaways, and for the convenience of holiday shoppers, gift-wrapping services. Attendees are encouraged to enjoy the host location’s food, beverages, and hospitable cheer throughout the day.
Now celebrating its 40th year, the Eastern Shore Writer’s Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving writers and their supporters throughout Delmarva. In addition to this year’s Holiday Book Festival, ESWA’s annual efforts include the long-running Bay to Ocean Writers Conference and the publication of the Bay to Ocean literary journal. https://easternshorewriters.org/
Cult Classic is a brewery, bar, restaurant, and live entertainment venue hosting everything from concerts and comedy to creative revels and community fundraisers. Dedicated to supporting the arts, this locally owned business regularly hosts author presentations, a popular book club, and writers get-togethers. Teaming up with ESWA seems like the perfect plot twist. https://cultclassicbrewing.com/
For media inquiries or to schedule interviews with ESWA representatives please contact Brent Lewis at 410-310-8216 or [email protected]. Organizers are excited to share more about this event and would appreciate your help in spreading the word.
Remember: It’s time for the Holidays – and books make great gifts.
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