The original idea for the Mid-Shore-based Sprouts! to expand to Annapolis was neither original nor all that new. That’s because Ryan Groll, co-founder (along with his wife, Emily) of the locally prepared and ready-to-eat meal company, actually grew up there and had long planned to find a way to return to his home base, where many of his old friends had started their own businesses.

So Sprout’s move to a space right across from the popular Trader Joe’s near the Westfield Mall was a perfect spot to attract food-conscious customers who wanted to support local agriculture but did not have the time to make healthy meals for themselves and their families.

Sure enough, the Annapolis branch has turned out to be a remarkable success story. and one of their best customers turned out to be those working in the state house, either as elected officials or their staff, who perfectly describe Sprouts, customers, and a series of chitchats with those clients open the door for a totally unplanned invitation to be the primary vendor for the state of Maryland’s capital and office buildings downtown.

The Spy was intrigued by this unique pathway for Sprouts and asked Ryan to stop by this Spy Studio to talk about it a few weeks ago.

This video is approximately four minutes in length.

In historic Centreville, a unique small-scale environmental project is taking root, literally.  The Captain’s Houses Conservation Landscaping Project, located along the picturesque waterfront, has demonstrated that even these tiny efforts can have a big impact for history and the environment.

The project centers around the Captain’s Houses, a set of four frame houses built in 1880 by Captain John H. Ozmon. These houses, now on the National Register of Historic Places, have become the focal point of this innovative initiative led by the homeowners’ association. Recognizing the importance of environmental sustainability, the association agreed to install three conservation landscape beds in the common areas.

These beds are more than just a beautification effort. They serve multiple ecological purposes, such as enhancing the stream buffer to Mill Stream Branch, providing habitat for wildlife, and reducing stormwater runoff. The initiative is a perfect example of how local communities can contribute to the protection of vital waterways like the Corsica River and Chesapeake Bay.

The project also holds a special place within the community context. Adjacent to a public walking trail and the Captain’s Walk pier, the conservation beds will be a point of interest and education for both residents and visitors.

The Spy caught up with Sandy Huffer, who has been spearheading this effort with her fellow homeowners’ association members to talk about how this was done in Centreville and how it can be done in other communities.

This video is approximately four minutes in length.

One compassionate act of kindness.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to make someone’s day.

To change someone’s life.

Maybe to even build stronger bonds within a community.

Springing from a single gesture of goodwill, the Delmarva-based nonprofit organization Tides of Grace, Inc. has grown into one of the most active charitable entities in our region and, with a new year’s calendar packed full of upcoming events, is forming a powerful wave of positive energy, ambitious goals, and direct hands-on efforts to lessen the load for as many of our Eastern Shore neighbors as possible.   

Because the circumstances of personal hardship are individual and infinite and not always financial, Tides of Grace operates from the perspective that on any given day each and every one of us could be, as founder Leann Rhodes-Ickes says, “coming out of a storm, in the middle of one, or getting ready to get hit with one.”

Board Memeber Mary Himmel, Founder Leann Rhodes Ickes, Board member Stacy Fox.

It was in the weeks leading up to Christmas 2020 that Rhodes-Ickes, a businesswoman, author, and mother of two, made the original small decision that sparked a larger idea. Culling through her young son’s toys, Leann thought perhaps she’d give away some of the things he played with the least. The stranger who took her up on the online offer explained that due to Covid both she and her husband were out of work and these slightly used toys would provide their family a Christmas that they otherwise might not have been able to afford. The conversation between the two women turned emotional.

Afterwards, Leann figured there were probably others who could use a holiday helping hand during those tough times, so with the recruitment of a few friends a semi-impromptu toy giveaway was quickly scheduled. The response from both those who donated and those in need was inspiring.

January 20th Bingo Night dinner

The toy drive grew in scope each year after that first event. In 2023 thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers and supporting business partners, over 600 local children had a much better Christmas than they would have had without the efforts of Tides of Grace and all their helpers.

Witnessing the community response to the toy drives, a decision was made that the spirit of giving shouldn’t be relegated to just once a year and that perhaps growth as an organization was a possibility. As Leann says, “When a community offers so much kindness its important to make the most of it.”

Beginning their second calendar year as an accredited 501(c)3 tax deductible NPO, Tides of Grace kicked off 2024 on January 20 with their sold-out Bingo For A Cause dinner, the first of three scheduled fundraisers designed to help support operational costs.

In February, the group will host a Community Baby Shower for expecting mothers, new mothers, and any mothers in need. Leann says that for many different reasons, parents sometimes don’t have the support system necessary to provide everything a baby may require. She says that no matter the circumstances, “Your bundle of joy is special and as a community we want you to feel the love.” Attendees will be welcomed with games, refreshments, and a personal photo opportunity. Each mom will be provided time to fill a bag with needed baby items. Then they’ll get to choose one large item like a crib or a highchair.

This event is scheduled for Saturday the 17th from 11 am to 1 pm. Now through February 9th, Tides of Grace will be accepting contributions to stock the free giveaway inventory. Among other basic necessities, items needed include new or gently used strollers, cribs, bassinets, booster seats, highchairs, car seats, play equipment, nursery necessities and decor, baby monitors, bottles, nursing accessories, bath and hygiene supplies, and clothing. Donations can be dropped off Monday-Friday between 9 am and 5 pm at 605 Main Street, Suite B in Stevensville, though other arrangements can be made by contacting Tides of Grace at [email protected], or 410-924-7744.

As the spring thaw begins, the next planned events are March’s Easter Basket giveaway and April’s Prom extravaganza. A success in 2023, the prom dress pop-up boutique approach utilized last year is going to be expanded upon this go round by adding suits to the clothing that will be available for teens who don’t have access to the hundreds of dollars that outfits for the big night can cost in retail stores. For $25.00 parents will be able to send their kids to the prom in style and if the need is there, the fee can be waived. Clothing donations will be accepted as the event nears. Last year over 100 students said yes to a Tides of Grace dress.

The rest of 2024 shapes up thusly: May will focus on a clothing drive for summer wear.  June will see the first Family Fun Day, a free event open to the public featuring games, large inflatable play spaces, music, and amusements. A Paint Night fundraiser’s scheduled for July. August will be a Back-to-School drive featuring school supplies and free haircuts. The organization’s first 5K fundraiser will be held in September. October’s efforts will center around a winter clothes drive, November will feature Family Photos Day and December will see the return of the original Tides of Grace event, the Used Toy Drive.

There’s a saying that goes, “Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love.” Through their planned efforts and the generous support of individuals, local businesses, and other non-profits, Tides of Grace is on an enthusiastic mission in this new year to help more families struggling with burdens both financial and otherwise. “When a family is in crisis,” Leann Rhodes-Ickes says, “it’s the little things that can make a better life that often slip by too easily. Our big goals include trying to help break the cycle of poverty in our community and to erase the stigmas and prejudices about those of us who could sometimes use a safety net, but really, it’s just about helping the person standing next to you with a small act of kindness and compassion. Sometimes,” she says, “that’s all it takes.”

Tides of Grace can be found online at https://tidesofgraceinc.org/ and on social media. Volunteers are always welcome, as are those in need of community assistance. Donations are tax deductible and go directly to those in need.

Brent Lewis is a native Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shoreman. He has published two nonfiction books about the region, “Remembering Kent Island: Stories from the Chesapeake” and a “History of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department.” His most recent book, “Stardust By The Bushel: Hollywood On The Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore”won a 2023 Independent Publishers award. His first novel, Bloody Point 1976, won an Honorable Mention Award at the 2015 Hollywood Book Festival. He and his wife Peggy live in Centreville, Maryland.

Growing up in a town rich in the oral tradition of baseball, author Marty Payne recounts his journey from childhood to becoming a researcher of the game’s local history in his interview with the Spy. . Born and raised on the Eastern Shore, he first encountered the local baseball culture while working at his father’s drugstore, a popular hangout for teenagers. His academic pursuits led him to Washington College, where he earned a master’s degree before embarking on a career as a state bureaucrat. It was during this time that his interest in baseball history deepened.

Inspired by Bill Mowbray’s  The Eastern Shore Baseball League, he began to explore the origins of baseball in Talbot County. His research revealed a fascinating correlation between the sport’s growth and the expansion of railroads and steamboats in the region between 1865 and 1867. As transportation networks connected towns, baseball followed, attracting players from major cities and nurturing local talent.

Local newspapers became a goldmine for his research, revealing how baseball was more than just a game; it was a social cornerstone of the community. Throughout the early 1900s, the Eastern Shore produced notable players like Homer Smoot and Jake Flowers. By the 1920s, the minor leagues had become a breeding ground for future Hall of Famers, transforming local games into major social events that drew large crowds and fostered community connections. This historical journey through baseball on the Eastern Shore highlights the sport’s profound impact on local culture and community life.

Marty stopped by the Spy studio last month to talk more about his book.

This video is approximately minutes in length.

There are books we receive that are meant to be savored and revisited, books whose content reveals more with each reading. Small Craft Warning, an engaging collection of 20 small poems and 20 miniature paintings, is such a book.

Representing a first-time collaboration between two respected Chestertown artists—poet Meredith Davies Hadaway and painter Marcy Dunn Ramsey, Small Craft Warning grew out of the artists’ love for and close observation of the Chester River, beside which they live and work. The interplay of light, sky, and weather on the river’s ever-changing surface has given them an endless palette of images and emotional correspondences from which to draw inspiration and make meaning.

Safe home, soft bed, warm coffee—
the sameness of every day, precious
and slippery as the river.

The idea for the book germinated over several years (and many lunchtime discussions) during which the two artists came to appreciate how much their work paralleled each other in the way they see the world. While they both traditionally work larger scale, in longer narrative poems and full-size oil paintings, their vision for this project was to celebrate the river they love through small moments, captured in easy-to-understand Haiku-esque poems and small gemlike images. “We wanted the book to be small,” explains Hadaway, “not just because of the miniature theme, but because we wanted it to be accessible at every level.”

Indeed, though one can easily breeze through this deceptively simple book in one sitting, the true rewards come through reading it again and again. What they say about good things coming in small packages holds true here. There are magical points of connection between Ramsey’s lush images and Hadaway’s spare poems that somehow enlarge them both and offer the attentive reader something close to a revelatory experience. Ramsey has spoken of her art making as trying to capture “a small slice of the sublime.” This could be said of Small Craft Warning as well, which invites us to immerse ourselves in the infinitely varied qualities of the Chester River as well as the ebb and flow of life itself.

Between the light beyond us
and the gray we face, bright
edges of tenderness.

Those interested can purchase a copy of Small Craft Warning, published by Chester River Press, while they enjoy Marcy Ramsey’s work at the MassoniArt High Street Gallery in Chestertown during the month of December. A reception for the launch of the book, hosted by Carla Massoni, will take place at the High Street gallery on December 15, from  5-7 pm, when the artists will be available to sign their book. It is also available through amazon.com and at the following stores: Twigs and Teacups, The Bookplate, and The Finishing Touch in Chestertown; Flying Cloud Booksellers in Easton; and Chesapeake Trading Company in St. Michaels. 

Deidra Lyngard has spent most of her professional career in the communications and graphic design fields, working primarily for nonprofit art and educational institutions. She lives in Tunis Mills and is a working poet (Deidra Greenleaf Allan) with publications in print and online journals. In 2001 she was selected by former US Poet Laureate Robert Hass as the poet laureate for Montgomery County (PA).  Her poetry blog can be found here. 

Phillips Packing Company was the economic powerhouse in Cambridge, Maryland, in June 1937, when around 2,000 employees went on strike. The workers, both black and white, demanded better pay, better hours, and the right to form a union.

The protest led to violent confrontations between the strikers and armed representatives of the company. Then the police got involved, and there were injuries, arrests, and one death.

The workers and their union backers rejected the company president’s offer of a meager pay increase, but Phillips’ cunning legal gambits finally wore the employees down. The merciless end of the strike brought no resolution to the economic and social inequalities in Cambridge, and the door was left open to civil unrest.

This video is approximately five minutes in length.