Delmar DustPan

Sometimes you end up being the family repository for family information you know little about, it just happens you fell heir to it. One piece of my wife's family history is what is referred to as the Aunt Hattie Photo album. It is a musty, moldy, old photo album that shows signs of silverfish etc. It has photos from the 1890's to perhaps 1920 time period. Aunt Hattie was Hattie Webb Blades. She lived in a general area I will give as Stockton, Maryland. She is related to my wife as she was the daughter of the sister of her Great Grandmother. Hattie Webb was the daughter of Aaron Webb and Fannie B. Callahan Webb and she was born in 1883. Hattie had two brothers Clayton P. (referred to as Clates) and Harold W. Webb. Hattie when she was 29 married Clarence E. Blades (he was referred to as Captain Ned). I do not believe they had any children. Altho the photos are old and faded I thought I would post a few of the more interesting ones. I think most of the people shown lived in the Stockton Girdletree, Klej Grange Area. Perhaps it will be of some help to someone searching their family tree in that area


Clayton P Webb, Hattie Webb and Harold Webb


Hattie Webb Blades, Ned Blades, Harold, Fannie, and Aaron Webb


Miss Maude Strickland Klej Grange MD

Theodore Blades

Tom Rowley - must have been proud of that bike

Nan or Nellie Onley

Annie Callahan Sharpley, Howard Sharpley and Alfred Sharpley

My mother was telling me an interesting tale about living in Salisbury in the 1940's. She said in that time period women would walk from their homes to go shopping in downtown Salisbury. If they had babies, which most did due to the baby boom, they would push their baby carriages with them. Women did not take baby carriages into stores in those days and when they came to a store they wanted to shop in they just left the baby carriage, with the baby in it, parked outside the store on the sidewalk. She said it was nothing unusual to see ten or so baby carriages with babies in them parked on the sidewalk while the mothers shopped.

Now think about that - living in a town that was so safe you did not have to worry about your baby being stolen while you were shopping inside of a store. Compare that to Salisbury today. Besides being safe you did not have to worry about some government agency looking over your shoulder questioning if you were a good mother.

In that same time period the Strawberry harvest was still a big economic time of the year for this area. Housewives would work for various farmers picking strawberries and they would leave their children on a blanket at the end of the row while they picked. Nothing happened to the children.

It was also a time when mothers would tell their children to go outside and play and don't come back in until lunch time or supper time. When we lived on Roger Street in the 1940's my younger brother, Robert, and I at the age of five or six had a play range of several blocks. We use to walk over to the Salvation Army in the summer time as they had wading pools you could play in. Robert, who was four, kept peeing in them and finally got us banned from the Salvation Army wading pools. We thought we were living free but in truth all the housewives in the neighborhood knew all the children and kept track of our where abouts.

While we lived on Roger Street they built Prince Street Elementary School, which I later attended. Since it was being built almost in our backyard, Robert and I use to go over and beg money from the brick masons laying the bricks for the school. They would toss us a nickle and we had a good racket going until our mother found out we were begging money from them. Can you imagine four or five year old children wandering around a construction site today? The point of the Roger Street stories is it was still safe to walk around Salisbury as a four or five year old in the 1940's and without government intervention.

I know in the 1950's people still rarely locked their houses or their cars in Salisbury. I use to go to dances held in the basement of one of the Churches on Division street in the late 1950's. I think it was a dime to get in. If you found a girl to make out with at the dance you would simply go outside and assuming you didn't own a car of your own, you would find an available unlocked parked car and get in it and use it for your make out session.

They are working the La Cabana sign today at the old Memories

Today in 1977 a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on the Canary Island of Tenerife, killing 582 people. 62 people on the Pan Am aircraft survived. Both aircraft had been diverted to Tenerife airport, which was crowded with other diverted aircraft, due to a bomb explosion in the airport building at Las Palmas, their original destination.

The bodies from the plane crash were flown to Dover Air Force Base and that was the start of using Dover AFB as an entrance point for mass deaths. The morgue at Dover had been used since the early days of Vietnam for receiving American dead. Besides the Canary island crash dead it has handled the dead from the Jonestown, Guyana cult deaths in which 912 died, and in December 1985, the 256 victims killed in the Gander, Newfoundland air disaster. In addition it handles the everyday dead of American military. The workers at Dover perform autopsies, clothe the dead in full dress uniform with all the appropriate stripes and medals, and prepare their bodies for delivery to their families.

A little about this operation is here

Back in the 1980's when I was elected a Delmar Delaware Councilman the first committee I was put on was Planning and Zoning. I hated it - boring - telling people what they couldn't do - lots of detail work looking up codes - it was so bad I ran for Mayor in order to get off Planning and Zoning. Tonight when Tim from Davis Bowen and Friedel (the Town's Engineering Firm) gave his update on the progress of the Delmar Maryland comprehensive plan it all came back to me as to why I disliked Planning and Zoning meeting - boring - big time.

Kirk Kinnamon was before the commission to present plans for a new home in Bridgewood Estate (the development at Foskey Lane and Stage Road). As usual for builders in these economic times he was in a rush to get it approved. It is to be a Cape Cod style home. The commission didn't think it fit the other two story homes built by Ryan Homes in the development. There was some discussion on the style and suggestions from the Commission. He is to bring back the changes to the Maryland Board of Adjustments or the Planning and Zoning Commission next month.

An owner from Delmar Pizza came before the Commission to request a change in the shopping center pylon sign at State Line Plaza. He would like the pylon sign in front extended 33 inches so he can get his Delmar Pizza sign on to it. The commission lead by Michael Houlihan said the sign would be considered grandfathered in and would not have to conform to the ten foot limit currently imposed on Pylon signs in Delmar. Now this is a commission that has stressed smaller signs in Delmar. The Commission was going to vote to approve it until the one lone voice of reason spoke up. Joy Slabaugh said she was not going to vote to approve the extension. She felt the bushes at the bottom of the pylon sign could be cut and the Delmar Pizza sign would have visibility in that position. It ended with the sign matter to be revisited at the next meeting. Big thumbs up to Joy for keeping the Commission consistent in their views.

Brian Twilley from Hastings Bros Inc came before the commission for approval to demolish a house at 305 South Maryland Ave and build a new one there. After much discussion suggestions were made for additional windows. Again he was in a rush to start work so the commission gave him approval subject to the additional windows being added to the house.

Pat Hurley addressed the Commission about Yorkshire Estates and the ditch between his property and Yorkshire property. He said Yorkshire had not performed the drainage work they promised him and other property owners and flooding was occurring on his land. He was concerned about the finances of Yorkshire Estate and asked the council how it would be handled if a number of builders bought up the lots. Yorkshire Estates had its’ ribbon cutting on February 1, 2007.

All members of the Planning and Zoning Commission were present tonight with the exception of James Henderson. The meeting was over with a little bit past Eight.

Indian summer is like a woman, hotly passionate, but fickle, she comes and goes as she pleases....

The opening lines of a book that in 1956 was considered HOT. I came across a copy in a thrift store in Laurel today and thought how much discussion this book caused back in the late 1950's. "Peyton Place" by Grace Metalious was THE book talked about in groups and locker rooms by teenagers in the late 1950's. It was on the New York Times Book List for fifty nine weeks. It had a movie and TV series named after it and several sequel books and the title is synonymous for small towns with secrets. The book was one of the first to publicly write about sex, scandal, and murder in graphic detail. It took place in a small town in New Hampshire so all the residents of small towns, which is most of America, could relate to it. Grace Metalious, who wrote the book, resided in Manchester and Gilmanton, New Hampshire as she wrote the book. Gilmanton was considered the model for the book and the town was unhappy with the publicity. Grace Metalious's husband, George Metalious, was fired from his job as principal of the town's school. Grace Metalious was essentially a small-town housewife who became famous overnight. One source said "Success and her did not mix well. Over the next seven years she spent her money freely, hit the bottle, divorced her husband George, married a local disc jockey, and partied in Hollywood before eventually returning to her home state towards the end of her life. Back in New Hampshire, she trolled the Lake Winnipesaukee area in a drop-top Cadillac, drunk, with a succession of lovers attracted by her cash." Thirty-nine-year-old Grace Metalious died of cirrhosis of the liver on February 25, 1964. So "Peyton Place" excited America but made a lot of people and a town unhappy.


Well, this is just a little Peyton Place and you're all Harper Valley hypocrites

1968 "Harper Valley PTA" sung by Jeannie C. Riley, written by Tom T Hall

I was to a meeting of the Lower Delmarva Genealogy Society last night. Our Speaker was Jim Trader, Genealogist, Historian and Board Director of Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites. For those of you who know Jim you are aware his passion is locating, saving, and protecting graveyards. He talked about the difficulty he has with state, county, and local government in ensuring these old graveyards are put on government maps and how they (The Governments) refuse to have developer put them on plats they submit when doing developments. Developers like to knock down the tombstones and build over and around them (can we all say Poltergeist) so they do not have to show a covenant on the property for a graveyard. As usual he gave a good talk.

As you know I am always interested in drinking water and when he spoke of Drinking Grandma it perked my interest. Drinking Grandma refers to an article released in December 2008 in the Journal of Environmental Health. Basically it talks about the fact embalming started during the Civil War and up until the 1900's they used arsenic-based embalming fluid in the embalming - matter of fact about 3 1/2 gallons per body of embalming fluid. Since this is over 100 years ago a lot of this fluid has escaped into the ground and seeped down to groundwater level. In addition when arsenic-based embalming fluid was stopped by Federal law the switch was made to formaldehyde based embalming fluid, which also is a hazard and is leaking into the soil. This article is aimed at saying embalming is a bad thing for the environment and don't drill a drinking water well near a graveyard. It is interesting in what the article says; formaldehyde based embalmed bodies should be consisted hazardous waste; when you cremate a body that has been embalmed Formaldehyde enters the atmosphere, Once in the air, formaldehyde can last for up to 250 hours in good weather and because formaldehyde is highly soluble, it readily attaches to atmospheric moisture and washes out in precipitation. Now the only crematorium we have in town is Shorts Funeral Home and I have no idea how many cremations they do a year so I don't know what effect this has on Delmar.

There seems to me a movement to clean up the State of Maryland official song "Maryland My Maryland." The song was written in 1861 and not adopted as a state song until 1939. Since it was written in 1861 and Maryland was a southern state (but held in bondage by Northern armies) it contains a lot of anti northern comments. It was written in a time when states were much more powerful than they are today and they did not bow down to every direction given by the federal government. Men still had balls. However today is 2009 and most people singing the song would not realise the references and certainly when I was in the Maryland school system and had to sing the song, half the time I would sing Christmas O Christmas tree instead of the words since it is the same tune. I am not a big one on rewriting history and I would say leave the song along.

Maryland, My Maryland
I
The despot's heel is on thy shore, (Refers to Abraham Lincoln.)
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore, (refers to anti-north riots in Baltimore )
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!

II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
Maryland!
My mother State! to thee I kneel,
Maryland!
For life and death, for woe and weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!

III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,

Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust, (signer of Declaration of Independence)
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,- (Continental Army Colonel)
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,
Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray, (an artillery officer in Mexican American war)
With Watson's blood at Monterey, (Officer Mexican American war)
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!

V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And chaunt thy dauntless slogan song,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
"Sic semper!" 'tis the proud refrain (Death to tyrants)
That baffles minions back again,
Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek-
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll, (The Vandals sack of Rome in 455)
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control, (refers Abraham Lincoln)
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland!
The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum! (self explanatory)
She breathes! she burns! she'll come! she'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!

Today in 1634 Maryland was founded, when the English settlers from the two ships the "Ark and the Dove" touched land in the Chesapeake bay at St. Clement's Island (St Mary's County). For an interesting writeup of the journey of the Ark and the Dove read The Founding of Maryland and here is a list of Maryland Colonists Who Arrived in 1634. After disembarking they held a day of thanksgiving for their safe voyage end and today it is referred to as Maryland Day.

The formal observance of Maryland Day began in 1903 when the State Board of Education chose one day in the school year to be devoted to Maryland history. March 25th was named Maryland Day by the Board. In 1916, the General Assembly authorized Maryland Day as a legal holiday. At one time it was celebrated more than today. Today it is another holiday for government workers, but even that is becoming less of an authorized holiday.

Timothy Hunt of Marquette Michigan finished the Iditarod today by entering Nome at 4:06 AM ( 8:06 AM our time) making him the last musher to finish the race. It took him 15 days and 14 hours to finish. Hunt was awarded the coveted Wells Fargo Red Lantern award for finishing last.

Out of 67 mushers starting the race, 15 dropped out and 52 finished. Six dogs died in this year's Iditarod.

It would seem all the states are looking at increasing the tax on tobacco products in order to help the "budget". The News Journal had an article on that subject on Sunday. Now I use to, and occasionally still do, smoke a cigar or a pipe. My wife stopped smoking cigarettes back a couple of years ago, so I was shocked to see that cigarettes are $4.31 a pack in Delaware. I can remember when they were twenty five cents a pack and in the military even cheaper. The tobacco companies even had small packs of cigarettes they would give away free.

Now what concerns me is not the price of a pack of cigarettes, as the higher they are priced, there will just be more bootlegging and counterfeiting of cigarettes, making a number of people who would not be criminals, criminals. Look at the bootleg cigarette traffic going to New York City thru Delaware from North Carolina on I95 and RT13 for a quick example of organized and amateur crime. What does concern me is a moral issue. I have always viewed government as being me and you. We are the ones who are suppose to control it's action. Some people do not hold up their share of the burden which in turns allow for a run-a-way government that does what it wants to. Look around you can see it every where. Now lets face it Delaware like many states think gambling is fine as long as they have a monopoly on it or are getting a cut of the action (sort of like organized crime). They also like to get a cut of the action on all forms of vices by way of tobacco and liquor taxes. Why they haven't gone to legalising prostitution in Delaware is beyond me but perhaps they are getting a cut of that action also. So finally let me get around too talking about the tobacco tax. Now why am I against the Delaware tobacco tax, after all I rarely buy tobacco products anymore, so I guess I should just turn my head and ignore what the State (which is I) does.

My reasoning against the Delaware Tobacco tax is it is a calculated tax designed to make criminals of a large number of people. If you look at the Delaware tobacco tax it is $1.15 currently. Maryland has $2.00 in taxes, New Jersey has $2.75 in taxes, and Pennsylvania has $1.35 in taxes. By keeping the tobacco tax lower than it neighboring state tobacco taxes it makes Delaware cigarettes the cheapest of those four states. Certainly living in Delmar we can see that 75% of cars in front of our tobacco shops have Maryland tags.

Now we know each state has a law prohibiting bringing cigarettes into their state with out paying their state tobacco tax. In Maryland, you are limited to only two packs of cigarettes not taxed in Maryland. More than that and you will be arrested for bootlegging cigarettes. Now Delaware has calculated their tax in order to attract out of state buyers. In an article from the the Mackinac Center for Public Policy titled A New Estimate of Interstate Cigarette Smuggling Rates it was estimated in their words We estimate that Delaware experienced a tax-induced casual smuggling export rate of 34.8 percent of its total cigarette consumption — the highest average annual rate in the nation during that period — followed by Virginia at 22.0 percent and New Hampshire at 21.4 percent. Looking at the same article they show yearly sales of tobacco per adult in Delaware to be $142.05, New Jersey $67.78, Maryland $114.69, and Pennsylvania $87.37. Now does anyone really think Delawareans smoke more than the other three states are is it just bootlegging. Our tax is designed to attract out-of-state buyers and in turn it is designed to turn them into criminals.

So are we saying we don't care what out of state people do, the price is legal in Delaware and the crime is in another state? Have we all become whores in the name of State revenue, where any act or morally questionable activity is okay as long as we get a share of it?

There are three possible courses of action I see to this. Any one of them should work. First, drop all federal, state, local taxes on tobacco product which will even the field and put bootleggers out of business. Second. have the four states agree on a tobacco tax that is the same in all four states so there will be no reason to bootleg between states. Three; outlaw tobacco entirely in Delaware.

I would like to see a tax on fructose corn syrup, without a doubt something that is far more harmful than tobacco and is in apparently 90% of the beverages we drink and the food we eat.

March 24 10 AM Sussex County Council Meeting

March 26 Delmar Planning and Zoning 7 PM

March 26 Sussex County Planning and Zoning Meeting 6 PM

March 28, Pop Warner Football and Cheer Signups at Delmar High School rear entrance, Cheering 8 to 9, Football 9:30 to 10:30

March 30 6:30 PM Delmar Utility Meeting

March 30. 7 PM Delmar Joint Council meeting

March 31 10 AM Sussex County Council Meeting

April 3 and 4th A barn sale at the Two Chicks Barn Sales On April 3rd from 10 am to 6 pm and April 4 from 8 am to 6 pm.


April 4, Community Easter Egg Hunt given by the Delmar Kiwanis Club at 1:00 p.m.; Delmar Senior & Middle High School Football field. Rain Date - April 11, 2009

April 6. 7:00 p.m. Delmar Alumni Association General membership Meeting. Delmar High School Auditorium.


April 12th Easter Sunrise Service - Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009 7:00 a.m. All Saints Episcopal Church (corner of 10th& State Streets)

April 25. Delmar Alumni Association 7th Annual Banquet at Delmar VFW. 5:30 p.m. Social Hour
7:00 p.m. Dinner
$20.00 per person.

April 27. Delmar Middle School Band Concert. Delmar Middle School Auditorium. 7:00 p.m.

April 29. Middle School Chorus Concert. Delmar Middle School Auditorium.
7:00 p.m.

Today in the news media I was hit with headlines that said "Cuomo Says Most AIG Bonuses Were Returned" (Newsjournal) and "Cuomo Says Most Huge A.I.G. Bonuses Were Returned" (New York Times). Now what they seem to be talking about is some executives at AIG have agreed to return about $50 Million dollars in bonus money. This is out of $165 Million or $218 Million in bonus money depending on the source you believe. Now I have always felt that the word "most" in dealing with money was more like 75% to 95%, instead of the 30% that $50 million would represent. Cuomo is Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York. So you have to read the words more carefully. It would seem only 47% of the total bonuses were paid to Americans living in America. The rest was paid to executives living elsewhere, some of which are American. So now we are looking at "most" describing $50 million out of $80 million (62.5%), still doesn't fit my definition of "most". Also the article seems to indicate he is talking about the NUMBER of people who received the BIG bonuses returning them, not necessarily the dollar amount returned. Apparently even tho our government gave AIG, from public funds, about 173 billion dollars it was not all for America, only 47%, the rest we generously gave to foreigners. As usual it is in the details not in the headlines that we find out more about these bailout plans.

Press Release
Delmar Police Department

Incident: Burglary / Theft of Firearms
Date: 03-22-09
Location: 204 E. Chestnut St., Delmar, MD
Suspect: Gary Lee Smith Jr., 19 Y.O.A., Delmar, MD

On Sunday, March 22, 2009 an officer of the Delmar Police Department responded to 204 E. Chestnut St., Delmar MD in ref. to a Burglary and Theft. Investigation revealed that Gary Lee Smith Jr. had entered the residence while the owners were not home. Smith removed a shotgun, 2 rifles, and a handgun. Delmar officers subsequently located Smith at a residence on E. Elizabeth and placed Smith under arrest. Officers were able to recover the weapons. Smith was transported to the Wicomico County Detention Center.

Charges:
Burglary 1st Degree
Burglary 3rd Degree
Burglary 4th Degree
Burglary 4th degree Theft
Theft: $500 Plus Value

Tomorrow at 10 AM the Sussex County Council will have their meeting. One of the items on the agenda is the new Laurel Paramedic Station. Now this would normally be an item for Elbert but since Delmar is covered by the Paramedic Station (102) from Laurel I might as well have a few words to discuss it.

There are two Sussex County Emergency Medical Services (SCEMS) Stations that cover the Route 13 corridor (Bridgeville and Laurel). The other stations are to the west of us. They are usually stationed at a volunteer fire department. Unlike the volunteer fire departments, the SCEMS is a paid county position. I think it has about 109 fulltime employees. In their words;
Sussex County EMS (SCEMS) is a government service which provides Advanced Life Support (ALS) Paramedic service to the residents of and visitors to our community. We work closely with fire department-based Basic Life Support (BLS) services, volunteer ambulance services, local hospitals, state and local police, and are a part of the Delaware State-wide Paramedic Program. We are funded through a combination of County and State resources, and do not charge for our services.

Sussex County is currently leasing space from the Laurel Fire Department for the Laurel Paramedic Station 102, which is located in the Fire Hall. The Laurel Fire Department is going to kick them out. Sussex County has purchased land behind O'Neal Antiques on Sycamore Road near Laurel for a new station. Sussex County has requested bids to build a new paramedic building on that land, the cost of which is estimated at $250,000 and will consist of approximately 1,100 square feet of paramedic quarters, plus a two-bay garage of approximately 1,400 square feet.

Now between buying land and constructing a new building this item is going to cost some bucks. The question I have is why don't they buy or lease one of the empty buildings in the area (it doesn't have to be in Laurel as it is suppose to handle Laurel, Delmar and Gumboro) and convert it to an EMS station? It may be cheaper and it would take one more empty building off the market. Or they could buy Bargin Bills fleamarket for $7.8 Million and lease part out and convert part to their EMS station.

Other items tomorrow at the meeting will be the approval of small sums of monies in the form of grants to at least six organization in order to shore up votes for the incumbents in future elections.

Over at What A Smell, Uncle Paul talks about his bad experience at Sonics Drive-In in Bridgeville - Overpriced and not clean. In this time, when eating out occurs less frequently, you want to select a restaurant that you are sure of getting good value for your money so it interesting what other people say about eating spots around Delmarva.

He also suggests, in an earlier post, we should post our comments on these restaurants at Delmarva Dining Guide

From the Bi-State Weekly March 1953

GLEN RAYNE POST OBSERVES CHARTER NIGHT AND 20TH ANNIVERSARY

On Friday night, March 20th the Glen Rayne Post No. 15, American Legion held a combination Birthday Party and Charter Night. This was the 20th Anniversary of this post.

Eight of the fifteen Charter members, all of whom are still living, attended. Mr. Clarence Cummings, principal of Conrad High School in Wilmington, came the furtherest distance.

Other Charter members attending were Francis E. Nunvar, Newell Johnson, L. D. Short, John Sheldon, Corbit Sturgis, M. L. Hastings, Raymond Wilkinson, Sr., and S. Harrison Jones.

M. L. Hastings, the first commander of Glen Rayne Post and Mr. Cummings told of the post first activities.

Each charter member was presented with a small token of appreciation.

The committee on preparation for the turkey dinner was headed by James L. Hearn, Jr., service officer of the post.

The "Holiday In Paris" Army Showmobile came to Delmar in March 1956. It featured M/Sgt Jimmy Watts, PFC Barbara Maloney, Pvt George Joseph, Pvt. Betty Jo Thomas, PFC Richard Wyman, SP 3 Charles Perry, and Pvt. Norman Oliver.

Up A Creek in Lower Slower Delaware has given another poor food review to of all places "The Old Mill." Altho popular it is generally out of my price range to go there so I can't make a comment on it, but frankly who would go there and buy dinners instead of picking crabs? She says the food is bland, no dinners rolls came with the meals, the beverage pitchers were too small, and the service was not all that great.

Wow, a White House Vegetable Garden! Seems like a good place to recycle that endless supply of government bull shit. There is of course a vast array of comments I could make but I will try and stick to the garden.

Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden. ~Orson Scott Card

I think all American should try and plant a garden. It brings a certain relaxation to you when you work in one. I can't say small gardens really save you any money on your food budget as when the plants in your garden are in full production so is everyone else's garden and at that time you can buy vegetables cheaper than you can grow them. I am a fan of the freshness and pride you get when you pick vegetables from your own garden.

The proposed White House Garden will be about a 40 by 40 plot. The Obamas’ garden will have about 55 varieties of vegetables (from a wish list of the kitchen staff). Cilantro, tomatillos, hot peppers, red romaine lettuce, green oak leaf lettuce, butterhead lettuce, red leaf lettuce, galactic lettuce, spinach, chard, collards and black kale, sugar snap peas, rhubard, broccolli, shallots, and a wide variety of herbs. Plus Blueberries, Raspberries, and blackberries. There will be two bee hives for honey. They say the total cost of seeds, mulch and so forth is $200. Yea I believe that the same as I believe the bailout bill. The plots will be in raised beds fertilized with White House compost (that government bull shit again but at least they putting it to a good use), crab meal from the Chesapeake Bay, lime and green sand. Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control harmful bugs.

Okay how many of us really envision a scenario of of Barack saying "Hay Michelle I got the Prime Minister from England coming to dinner tonight and I am going to fire up the barbecue and do ribs, could you run out and cut some collard greens for a side dish"

Are they going to have a produce stand in front of the White House to sell the excess? Which brings us to Congress: H.R. 875, or the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. Brought about by the peanut butter scandal it, in typical government fashion, can be applied to everyone who grows food and may decide to put some out front of their house in a wheelbarrow to sell. In reading the bill most would fit CATEGORY 3, 4 and 5. There is no hobby or homegrown exception to the bill. We will see how it is actually implemented. One more rule, one more law, from a nation that can't enforce the ones they have.

I wish the Obama's good luck and the most enjoyment with their vegetable garden this year.

I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse

Stolen from the Garden Rant blog