SALISBURY Wicomico County
accepted a couple of grants this
week from the Maryland Depart-
ment of Natural Resources to repair
boat ramps.
Before the Wicomico County
Council on Tuesday morning were
two resolutions to accept grants
from the Maryland Department of
Natural Resources (DNR).
The first resolution authorized
County Executive Rick Pollitt to ac-
cept a grant award in the amount of
$99,000 from the DNR for restora-
tion to the Wetipquin Boat Ramp.
According to the resolution, the
DNR through the Waterway Im-
provement Program offers grants to
local jurisdictions to expand/im-
prove public boating access and to
improve/enhance boating safety.
The Wetipquin Boat Ramp is
deteriorating and in need of replace-
ment, and the Department of Recre-
cilities in the county that are in need
of improvement, and the Depart-
ment of Recreation, Parks and
Tourism also submitted a grant ap-
plication that has been awarded in
the amount to $25,000 for Small
Capital Improvement Projects relat-
ed to public boating facilities.
"This is put into a fund and the
balance rolls forward if we don't
spend it ... such as on repairs at
boat ramps," Mackes said. "I do,
however, have some repairs at Riv-
erside Boat Ramp, or if we incur
other expenses at Wetipquin. That
is the nice thing about the way this
program works ... if we ever have a
problem at any of our boat ramps
this grant covers the expense of
repairs without affecting Wicomico
County citizens as an operating
budget expense."
The County Council voted unani-
mously to approve both resolutions
to accept grants provided by DNR to
improve/enhance county boating
facilities.
ation, Parks and Tourism submitted
a grant application that has been
awarded in the amount of $99,000
for the Wetipquin Boat Ramp Res-
toration Project.
"Getting this grant was a sur-
prise. The amount of revenue gen-
erated from sail boats have dimin-
ished to almost nothing, so I was
surprised to receive both of these
grants," Recreation, Parks and
Tourism Director Gary Mackes. "As
far as when it is going to be done,
between obtaining permits and en-
gineering, I am guessing probably
next fall. I don't want a major disrup-
tion because people use the Wet-
ipquin Boat Ramp as it is but it does
need a major restoration."
The second resolution on the ta-
ble was authorizing Pollitt to accept
a grant award in the amount of
$25,000 from the DNR for small
capital improvement projects relat-
ing to public boating facilities.
According to this resolution,
there are several public boating fa-
Grants To Help Wicomico Restore Boat Ramps
BERLIN On Jan. 29, SonRise
Church will be starting a series for
the area's youth based on absti-
nence called "Guy Talk Girl Talk."
The purpose of the series is to en-
courage students to remain sexual-
ly abstinent until marriage.
It is a gender specific series tack-
ling important issues that students
face while preparing them to live
their lives in a God honoring way,
according to the church.
Studies indicate that the divorce
rate among married couples who
abstain from sex until marriage is
significantly lower than those who
engaged in sex prior to marriage.
Additionally, their chances of ob-
taining sexually transmitted diseas-
es (STDs) were slim to none. Un-
dents who have waited make a plan
of action to remain pure, but also
help those who have-n't waited to
understand forgiveness and healing.
It is crucial that our teenagers be e-
ducated about sex while clearly un-
derstanding God's morals because
people within our hedonistic world
have warped it with their search for
true love and happiness. "
The program is open to students
in sixth through 12th grades. It will be
held on Wednesday nights at 6:30 at
the SonRise church office on Wor-
cester Highway from Jan. 29 to Feb.
19. A ring ceremony will be held on
Feb. 19 for students who desire to
abstain from sex until marriage.
For more information or to enroll,
contact Robinson at 410-629-1901.
fortunately, teen pregnancy and
STDs continue to be an epidemic
throughout the U.S. and many teen-
agers among the millennial genera-
tion are expressing genuine interest
regarding the subject of abstinence.
In recent years, schools through-
out the U.S. have been emphasiz-
ing "safe sex" and "planned parent-
hood" upon youth by pushing free
government contraceptives upon
them rather than addressing the
real problem.
"God warns us against sexual im-
morality. He informs all of us that sex
is a beautiful and pleasurable thing,
but exclusively within the bonds of
marriage with no exceptions," said
Pastor Tim Robinson. "The highlight
of this series is that it will help stu-
Area Church's Abstinence Series Starts Jan. 29
January 24, 2014
Page 29
The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
By JOANNE SHRINER
STAFF WRITER
BERLIN U.S. Sen. Barbara Mi-
kulski this month announced a fed-
eral appropriations bill now circulat-
ing in Congress that would allow the
Eastern Shore's seafood industry to
stagger H-2B visa seasonal workers
to support harvests during peak
seasons.
Mikulski on Wednesday an-
nounced the Consolidated Appro-
priations Act of 2014 includes a pro-
vision which, if passed, would allow
the seafood industry on the Eastern
Shore and across Maryland to im-
plement a strategic timing plan for
the H-2B visas for seasonal foreign
workers to meet the demands of the
peak seasons for catching and pro-
cessing crabs, crabmeat and oys-
ters, for example.
For the last 20 years or more, the
seafood industry on the Eastern
Shore has brought in seasonal work-
and our way of life," said Mikulski
this week. "From harvesting crabs
to shucking oysters, temporary and
seasonal workers ensure Mary-
land's seafood industry continues to
prosper. By staggering the work
periods of these seasonal employ-
ees, businesses can get the help
they need when they need it."
Mikulski embarked on a jobs tour
on the Eastern Shore this fall includ-
ing a stop in Ocean City and heard
directly of the importance of the pro-
gram. Mikulski said the continued
use of H-2B visa workers on the
Eastern Shore has a trickle-down
effect for all workers involved in the
seafood industry.
"On the Eastern Shore, crab
pickers here on H-2B visas keep our
canneries operating, which saves
jobs," she said. "They save the jobs
of the watermen who catch and har-
vest the seafood, the canneries that
process it, the companies that ship
and those that sell it."
ers on H-2B visas at different times
during the season to match peak
harvest times. For example, seafood
processors along the Chesapeake
and across the Eastern Shore are
forced to rely on the H-2B program
for help picking crabs and shucking
oysters, for example, despite at-
tempts to hire domestic workers.
In recent months, federal law-
makers have considered legislation
to tighten the H-2B visa program,
but Mikulski has worked to include a
provision that would allow business-
es that rely on H-2B workers to
stagger the visas during peak har-
vest times.
Without the provision, Maryland
seafood businesses would be re-
quired to bring in all H-2B visa work-
ers at the same time, creating a bur-
den and prohibiting them from utiliz-
ing the workforce when it is most
needed.
"Maryland's seafood industry is
critical for jobs on the Eastern Shore
Senator Seeking H-2B Visa Program For Shore
By SHAWN J. SOPER
NEWS EDITOR
FROM PAGE 28
once."The recent recession im-
pacted county services severe-
ly, nowhere more so than in our
roads division," said Pollitt.
"While it is too soon to speak of
economic recovery, things are
better today than they have
been for the past few years and
I am delighted to begin restoring
our services to a level that is
affordable and reflects the prior-
ities of our community."
Tet Anniversary
Planned
OCEAN PINES A ceremo-
ny has been planned for next
Friday to mark the 46th anniver-
sary of the Tet Offensive at the
Worcester County Veterans Me-
morial at Ocean Pines.
On Jan. 31, 2008, the 40th an-
niversary of the Tet Offensive was
marked at the county veterans
memorial with a few solemn
words and the placing of a wreath
made by Rosie Garlitz recogniz-
ing those who fought in the his-
toric battle and those who did not
return. Every year since, a grow-
ing band of Vietnam veterans and
others have gathered at the me-
morial to mark the anniversary.
This year, recognition of the
46th anniversary of the Tet Offen-
sive will be held next Friday, Jan.
31, at 10 a.m. and again a wreath
will be placed at the Worcester
County Veterans Memorial to
mark the solemn occasion.
SU Group Aids Africa
SALISBURY A student-led
initiative that began with a music
festival at Salisbury University in
2012 is now providing clean
drinking water for a village of a-
bout 250 in Ethiopia.
In 2013, Salisbury University
student James Townsend found-
ed the SU Student Activism Club
as a way to combat student apa-
thy and raise awareness of global
issues. The organization planned
Gullstock, a campus music festi-
val, to raise funds to build a clean
water well for the African commu-
nity. The concert raised roughly
$800, starting the new club on its
way toward reaching the $5,000
needed for the well in Ethiopia.
Fundraising efforts received a
large boost when the club won the
SU Student Government Associa-
tion's "Be the Change" online vid-
eo contest, netting a $2,500 prize,
and additional fundraisers and pri-
vate donations helped the club
exceed its goals.
SU announced this week the
well is now up and running and
providing clean drinking water to
those in need in the community
in Ethiopia.
"By building a clean water
well in a village, we are giving
those in need the chance to use
the time usually spent collecting
water to raise their families, get
an education and even start
their own businesses," said
Townsend, whose initial visit to
Africa as an undergraduate in-
spired the initiative.
Regional Digest