September 20, 2013 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch Page 43 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FROM PAGE 42 like to thank the Town of Ocean City and the many local nonprofit organizations for partnering with us to make this year’s Sunset Park Party Nights music series a success. We are especially grateful to Bill Paul and his volunteers with the Recreation Boosters who sold beverages at each music event to raise funds for youth programs at Northside Park. Also special thanks to Greg Shockley and Shenanigan’s Irish Pub and Grille for donating the beer sold by the Recreation Boosters. We look forward to seeing all attendees for the 2014 music season at Sunset Park. Bob Givarz Glenn Irwin (Givarz is the president of the OCDC, and Irwin serves as executive director.) local businesses that contributed to our very successful "One Night Only" raffle. Ish Boutigue, Planet Maze, Candy Kitchen, Coffee Beanery, Liquid Assets, Galaxy 66, Malia's Cafe, Lobster Shanty, The Hobbitt, Blu, The Embers, Fisher’s Popcorn, OC Wasabi, Grab and Go Taco, Fresco's, Plak That, Princess Royal, Yoga Vibez, Simply Clean, Wockenfuss, Gillette Art Studio, Chloe McKenna, Farm Foodie, Jolly Rogers, and Full Moon, Dog Treats. And congrats to winner Judy Schoelkopf. Thank you to the entire community for your support. We hope you will enjoy this week’s 9th Sandcastle Home Tour and continue to celebrate our 50th anniversary of the OC Art League. 2013 Home Owners Cocktail Party Committee members Jamie Albright, Rebecca Galyon, Nancy Rider, Jenny Carven, Christina Pohland, Judy Tremellen, Linda Kessinger and Jacquie Warden Between The Lines By Publisher/Editor Steve Green Even the most cynical among us would have to laud the success of this year’s pedestrian safety campaign in Ocean City. The statistics were reviewed this week, and they are nothing short of impressive. Overall, pedestrian accidents were down 39 percent in Ocean City. Identified problem areas also saw reductions, including 40th to 62nd streets that saw five accidents this season compared to 12 last year, and south of 40th Street to the Inlet, 14 this year compared to 23. The tally for north of 62nd Street to the Delaware line held steady. It’s difficult to cheer accident tallies of any consequence, but the fact is these are major decreases from a general perspective and the public safety effort as well as the infrastructure changes implemented deserve credit for making that happen. Sure, some will say the wet weather during some stretches of the summer limited pedestrian volume as well as the fact crowds were down in general in Ocean City this summer, but I would argue the areas targeted this summer and labeled as problem areas were not impacted by those factors. There was still a high volume of pedestrians along the highway, particularly during the evening hours. While this may seem cold, I look at pedestrian accidents as inevitable in Ocean City. There are a unique set of circumstances in Ocean City that combine to make for an unsafe place at times unless extreme caution is used. With common sense dulled by vacation tendencies, alcohol often impairing judgment and the limited infrastructure improvements available, the chance of accidents occurring among vehicles and pedestrians will always be high in Ocean City. That’s an inescapable fact. Despite the uphill climb with lots to overcome, the end result from this summer was a huge increase in safety on resort roadways for pedestrians and vehicles. The numbers do not lie, and the agencies involved deserve credit for achieving a difference. The challenge will now be continuing this trend into the foreseeable future, and there is a story in this week’s paper about more infrastructure improvements planned for this off-season. A bevy of new laws take effect on July 1 and Oct. 1 each year, and there are a couple involving driving to take note of before the end of the month. The most high profile one involves cops now being able to pull over motorists spotted using hand-held cell phones while driving. Previously, it was a secondary offense, meaning officers who noticed someone driving and texting or talking on the phone could not pull the driver over just for that offense. Now if a cop sees a motorist at a stop sign talking on the phone or texting, that person can be pulled over and fined. The first-time offense is $75. Another law change involves one that I already thought was a requirement – that all passengers in a vehicle must be retrained by a seat belt. Apparently, the law only applies currently to the driver and front-seat passenger. Now all passengers must be bucked up or be fined $50. The concept of a Mid-Atlantic Amateur Sports Alliance being formed between Worcester and Wicomico counties and Ocean City is currently being discussed among tourism and government officials. This week the concept was in the news, as Wicomico is looking to cement a contractual relationship with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) that will allow the county to apply for and accept funds to be spent on attracting and retaining amateur sports tournament and similar types of events. The best example of this partnership working out of late was over the summer when the USSSA Girls World Series was held across the lower shore. At one point during the event, thousands of softball players converged on the Inlet in July for the opening of a leg of the multi-age event. The economic impact on the shore was considerable, and some retailers and hoteliers in Ocean City reported a bump from the event attendees as well. This sort of partnership is an obvious direction to head, but surely there are details to be worked out. Most businesses in Ocean City feel significant impacts when youth sports are being held at Northside Park. The multiple-weekend soccer tournaments held in March are a prime example as well as the lacrosse tourneys held each summer at the facility. The Ocean City Mayor and Council will soon weigh in on the partnership concept and that’s when more details will be known about what exactly this alliance will entail and what it could mean across the lower shore. Conceptually, it seems like a sound direction because the entire business community benefits from these large-scale youth sports events. It was nearly impossible to escape the unmistakable roar of the bikers last weekend. I have no idea if the 200,000 bikers reported to be in the area is an accurate tally or not, but I can report you could hear the roar of the bikes from everywhere. Even the OSV area of Assateague Island was not immune from it. I am looking forward to watching or taping the “Hotel Impossible” episode on Monday to see what transpired at the Lankford Hotel on 8th Street and the Boardwalk over the summer. Several local faces should be featured on the show, including managers and owners of the old hotel as well as Joe Dashiell of Joseph T. Dashiell Builders, Inc., the main contractor for the work during the weeklong project. The show will air Monday at 10 p.m. on The Travel Channel. Thanks From Committee Editor: On behalf of the Ocean City Art League and its Sandcastle cocktail party, we would like to thank everyone who attended the beautiful "Evening on the Bay" last Wednesday hosted by the ever-generous Jim and Jan Perdue and The Gateway Grand Residences. The evening was absolutely perfect, the weather outstanding, the food by Waterman’s in Crisfield, Md., was delicious and our wonderful guests in attendance made this home tour cocktail party the best one yet. So many volunteers worked hard to create this beautiful evening and a very big thank you goes to Zack McCarthy of Coastal Tented Events, Ami Reist of Little Miss Lovely Florists, Pepsi Bottling, Co., guitarist Adam Bilenki, Baked Dessert Cafe, Encore Events, T.J. Carven, Mike Lawson, David Lewis, Aviad Sasi, Steffanie Riddle, Ainsley Ayers, Ed Galyon, Jeff Albright, Ann Hanson, Stasia Heubeck, Marsha Howarth, Chelsea Thaler, Katie Rosinski and Chase Shmelling. Also, a huge shout-out to all the 9/11 Ceremonies Moving Editor: I attended a 9/11 ceremony at the Elks Lodge in Ocean City where they had guest speakers and a pertinent video of this tragic day and they also honored a local fireman and policeman of the year. Afterwards, I attended another 9/11 event at the fireman’s statue on the Boardwalk that was sponsored by the Red Knights. It was an awesome event with a motorcycle parade, bagpipers, speeches by local dignitaries with the U.S. flag flying proudly. I am a retired New York City firefighter and I am always overcome with emotions on this day. I lost 343 of my firemen brothers on that fateful day and I am so thankful and appreciative to the Elks Club and the Red Knights for remembering. I am so proud of all the firemen, policemen and EMS in our country for their dedication to their jobs. May their memories live on and may we never forget. Thank you. Logan Doviken Ocean City Quotable Quotes “Generally, we can all agree it is late at night … and I am now tasked with devastating someone’s life because generally you are going up to knock on a parent’s door … and one of the results of this campaign is I haven’t had to do that this year, and I take that very personally.” OCPD LT. SCOTT HARNER POINTING OUT THE MOST IMPRESSIVE STATISTIC FROM THE SUMMER WAS ZERO, REFERRING TO PEDESTRIAN DEATHS “If somebody was in there asleep, for example, they would have had plenty of time to get out. That’s what these systems do and that’s why they are so important.” OCEAN CITY FIRE MARSHAL DAVID HARTLEY REGARDING THE FIRE ON 94TH STREET AND THE ROLE SPRINKLERS PLAYED “It will allow us to add table games, which will be in the first phase of it. The exact amount of table games will probably be a small offering.” CASINO AT OCEAN DOWNS GENERAL MANAGER JOE CAVILLA DETAILING THE PLANNED EXPANSION FOR THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL “Crime is up in some areas and weapons are one of them, so I think this is important that the chief is going to put together this unit.” OCEAN CITY COUNCILWOMAN MARGARET PILLAS ON THE CREATION OF A NEW OCPD UNIT “We are realizing there are national trends. We are not oblivious to that just because we live on the Eastern Shore, and we are going to focus, so this is a very positive, proactive and I am excited about it. I thank the chief for it.” OCEAN CITY COUNCILWOMAN MARY KNIGHT ON THE PLANNED NEW POLICE UNIT