per for Worcester County. Periodical
postage paid at Berlin, Maryland, and
additional mailing offices.. The Mary-
land Coast Dispatch, 10012 Old Ocean
City Blvd., Berlin, Md. 21811, is pub-
lished weekly on Friday mornings, 52
weeks a year. Subscription rates are $75
per year, $55 for six months.
P.O. Box 467, Berlin, Maryland 21811.
Maryland Coast Dispatch offices are lo-
cated at Route 346 and Graham Avenue,
Berlin, Maryland.
from hell in Ocean City.
the victims on local roads, a shoot-
ing, multiple stabbings, selected vis-
itors exhibiting threatening behavior
and a slew of general disturbing
incidents in the area, there is no ig-
noring the fact times have changed.
This is the case everywhere, but it's
particularly revealing that it's hap-
pening in Ocean City, a small-knit
community with a year-round popu-
lation base under 7,000 that swells
to about 300,000 at times during the
summer.
The days when a man would turn
away dejected after being told he
could not enter his bar of choice
continues today, but what's different
is there is that one person out of
dozens who will make an issue and
pull a knife on a bouncer or bar
owner. That has been happening
elsewhere for years and it's now
occurring in Ocean City.
consequences of that. Of all the
issues, including this week's tragic
scooter accident, the Boardwalk
stabbing in June that was gang re-
lated, the 6-year-old being struck
and severely injured in a crosswalk
in a hit-and-run incident and June's
shooting incident, it's the individual
basis that should get the most con-
sideration. It's the swell of emails
and phone calls that tell personal
accounts of disturbing situations
that give us the most pause.
some of which are founded and
some of which are overly dramatic
and a result of social media com-
menters misunderstanding the en-
tire situation and blurring the lines
between perception and reality.
merits a general rehashing be-
cause it's largely symbolic of many
recent concerns. It was from a
Pennsylvania woman who has been
following all the happenings of
Ocean City, but still spends her two
weeks in the resort every summer
and has no plans to not do so. She
stayed on the Boardwalk for six
days last month, starting early in the
week and checking out on Sunday.
She reported having a marvelous
week, enjoying fulfilling traditions of
years gone by, but admitted to
bringing her family in a little earlier
from the Boardwalk at night than
she used to as a result of the inci-
dents of late. Wanting to sleep with
her sliding door open in her Board-
walk condominium so she could
hear the ocean, she reported hear-
ing men shouting at 2 a.m. that the
Boardwalk was closed and it was
now "our town." She didn't know
battle with Multiple System Atrophy.
When Steve was diagnosed in 2009
with MSA, which destroys all of your
motor skills, we had no idea about
the journey we were about to take,
but we knew from that very first day
that we would not be alone. On
Sunday, July 21, we held a celebra-
tion of life service in his honor and
we were reminded again how in-
credible this community really is.
wonderful place (Berlin and Ocean
City). We knew we had friends who
became family and strangers who
became friends and care givers.
Our family and friends, too many to
name, helped in keeping Steve at
home. The visits, the food and wine,
the laughter and tears kept us go-
ing. When Steve was diagnosed in
March, 2012, with fourth-stage can-
cer, the obstacles grew larger and
so did the support from so many.
Wendy Fitzgerald, and their staff be-
more than the game of lacrosse, he
taught them how to accept and live
with a tremendous disability and to
do so with humor, grace and deter-
mination.
slipping away daily. But the love and
support we received was wonderful
whether it was one visit, a card or
call or daily visits, food and hugs
and many prayers.
from his softball or sailing friends,
parents from the lacrosse team, or
people he built houses for, we knew
that his celebration of life service
would have to be somewhere with
lots of seats, but also somewhere
that meant something to him.
Steve coached baseball and girls la-
crosse and our daughters, Blair and
Brooke, received an amazing edu-
cation there. Dr. Barry Tull and the
staff opened the school and their
hearts to our family that day, and we
knew that we had found the perfect
place. What we could never have
imagined was seeing over 900 peo-
ple there, in island attire, Hawaiian
shirts and flip-flops, who laughed
Dr. Preeti Yonker and staff gave
Steve the strength to continue to
fight the battles even when we knew
he was losing the war. The staff at
Atlantic General Hospital, where he
spent months and months, gave
him more time to live. We opened
our home to the nurses and thera-
pists from Chesapeake Health
South and they opened their hearts
to us. Our caregivers, Josie and Re-
nee, from Thomas Patient Care and
the V.A. made our day to day so
much better with laughter and love.
Martin and Kathleen Weinstein and
their crew at Eastern Shore Physi-
cal Therapy kept him moving longer
than we thought possible. The guys
from the Berlin Fire Department res-
cued us in so many ways.
that, but his surfing buddies helped
him keep going. They created a
special board and gave him a help-
ing hand into the ocean even when
he couldn't walk. When his other
passion, coaching girls lacrosse,
was threatened, too, he never gave
up. Even when he had to use a
walker to get on the field, he told his
girls, "if I fall, just pick me up and
laugh with me." They visited him in
the hospital and at home when he
could no longer make it on the field,
but she knew it was not something
she wanted to be involved with. We
have heard of this happening multi-
ple times this season.
about Ocean City's perception ver-
sus reality, but the fall surely is and
planning should be underway now.
One item we would like to see spe-
cifically addressed is a curfew on
the Boardwalk.
not an isolated incident. In our view,
the time has come for the Board-
walk to essentially close to the pub-
lic at 2 a.m., and Ocean City should
crack down publicly on it. The Board-
walk is one of Ocean City's crown
jewels, only second to the beach and
ocean in our view. It needs to be pre-
served and the idea that it's unsafe
at certain hours needs to be ad-
dressed. The belief by some unruly
sorts that they can take over the
Boardwalk at any time of day or night
cannot be accepted either.
been tragic on so many fronts, and
the Mayor and Council, Ocean City
Police Department and tourism offi-
cials will need to accept this fact
and publicly lead a charge to coun-
terbalance all the negatives. That
needs to be the sequel to this sum-
mer's "Lucky Summer of `13" cam-
paign.