Portal Highlights - ARCHIVE Chestertown Spy

In Memoriam: Kent County Philanthropist Rosalind Havemeyer

March 11, 2017 by Spy Desk

Rosalind Everdell Havemeyer, age 99, died peacefully at home in New York City on March 8, 2017. Rossie, as she was known, was born on August 8, 1917 in Watch Hill, RI and was the daughter of Rosalind and William Everdell and the wife of the late Horace Havemeyer, Jr. She was looked after, these past few years, by a group of wonderful caregivers – the Magnificent Seven. She went to Foxcroft School and later in life received honorary degrees from Hofstra University and Washington College. She was devoted to her family, opera, the sea and gardening. She was a great sailor who started a small yacht club in Islip, Long Island; a strong supporter of Planned Parenthood; an historic preservationist in making two 17th century farmhouses into homes with beautiful gardens – first in Dix Hills, NY and then at The Reward in Chestertown, MD.

It was in Chestertown where, in 1997, she helped start the Sultana Education Foundation by supporting the building of the schooner Sultana, a full-scale reproduction of a vessel that sailed the Chesapeake in the years before the American Revolution. Rossie said she had “a love affair” with Union Theological Seminary in NYC where she joined the board in 1965 and then became the Chair of its board in 1970, the first woman to chair the Board of a Seminary in the US and she continued to serve on that board until 1982. In 1988, she received the Seminary’s highest honor for her service “because she embodied the prophetic role of women in theological education…”

Rossie was predeceased by her eldest son, Horace Havemeyer, III (survived by Eugenie Cowan Havemeyer) and by her youngest granddaughter, Emily Roosevelt Foehl (survived by Peter Foehl), as well as her two brothers, William and Romeyn Everdell. She is survived by her children Rosalind Havemeyer Roosevelt (Christopher duPont Roosevelt), William Everdell Havemeyer (Jane Litzenberg Havemeyer) and Christian Havemeyer, also her grandchildren Kate Roosevelt (Caroline Maillard ), Christopher Havemeyer Roosevelt (Christina Luke Roosevelt) and William MacGregor Havemeyer (Rebecca Schulman Havemeyer) and also her six great grandchildren Noah and Wiley Roosevelt, Mason and Liam Foehl and Nellie and Nate Havemeyer.

The interment will be private and a Memorial Service is being planned to take place in the late Spring at Union Theological Seminary in NYC. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Union Theological Seminary utsnyc.edu or to Sultana Education Foundation sultanaeducation.org

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Mid-Shore Public Affairs: Kent Center’s Board President Randy Cooper Looks Forward

February 6, 2017 by Dave Wheelan

Randy Cooper is perhaps best known for the highly successful renovation of the Radcliffe Mill just north of town for the new home of Radcliffe Corporate Services, which he founded in 1987, but it’s clear from his recent interview the Spy that he’s not yet done with building things.

After a long career in accounting, including top positions with Arthur Andersen & Company, Bank of America, and the Mellon Bank, and the success of Radcliffe, Randy’s new challenge comes with his appointment as president of the board of Kent Center, Inc, Kent County’s highly respected organization serving the region’s needs to help and support adults with developmental disabilities.

In his Spy interview, Randy talks about the extraordinary contributions Kent Center has made to help close to seventy clients and their families with a staff of over one hundred staff, as well as increasing the number of those living independently. He also talks about the unique challenge that parents have to ensure their adult children are taken care of after they pass away.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about the Kent Center, please go here.

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Stories in Service: Adam D. Jacquet

February 3, 2017 by

Editor’s Note: The Chestertown Spy, in partnership with the Garfield Center for the Arts, will be honoring Kent County resident veterans over the next few weeks as part of the Garfield’s production of the classic WWII era production of Mister Roberts. The full Stories in Service series will be on display in the Kohl Lobby at the Garfield Center for the Arts during the three weekend run of the play.

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Best of the Spy: Frank Rhodes Remembers Leo Hicks

October 9, 2016 by

em>The phrase “Only in Chestertown” comes to mind when trying to describe a friendship between a crusty old timer and a young college student based on a particular brand of automobile. What started as a chance encounter at a local bar turned into a special bond between Leo Hicks and Frank Rhodes; one considered to be the best Chrysler mechanic in the region, the other the great grandson of the car company’s founder. As a testament of Frank’s fondness and respect for Leo, he commissioned his own video biography a few years before Leo’s death in 1989.

This is a story about a good friend of mine, Walter Leo Hicks, known as Leo (1913-1989). His old repair shop on Cannon Street was an eyesore for some and a treasure trove of collectable auto parts for others.

At the center of this shop was Leo who could repair anything. I remember him rebuilding a straight eight on a 1950 Chrysler Town and Country. He was known for welding a leak in your gas tank with gas in it! Sounds crazy, but he did it without an explosion.

His wife Libby was the manager of the shop and Nubby was the assistant. There were piles and piles of stuff in the work area and outside. All of the old cars and trucks in the yard were full of older parts: carburetors, fuel pumps, axles, distributors, rims, and gauges. You named it, he had it.

If you asked Leo for an old part he would say “I HOPE SO.” He would think for a bit and would know where to find it.

Leo would drive all around Chestertown in his rusty old Dodge pickup. The dashboard, passenger side and floor were completely filled to the brim with junk. He would wave to everyone.

While attending Washington College in 1978, I went to a fraternity gathering at Newts Bar on High Street. An older gentleman wearing glasses and well-worn green overalls sat beside me at the bar; his greasy hands holding (of course) a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon). He would always crush that empty can with his bare hands when it was empty.

We got to talking and the subject quickly went to Walter P. Chrysler. I had never met this man before and he kept bringing up the subject of my great-grandfather WPC. Leo would say that he was one of the greatest and the most well respected engineers of motive power the world has ever seen.

I heard stories for well over two hours and when leaving showed Leo my Dodge Charger. Leo lit up and I had to tell him about my connection with WPC. You would have thought the world had rolled over. We went back inside and that is where the friendship began.

I do want to share an auto story. It is said that years ago the mayor of Chestertown, who had previously sold Fords, came to Leo one day and said “Leo, you need to clean all of this junk off your yard.” Leo apparently said in response, “The Fords are already gone!”

Leo passed away in early January, 1989. It was a packed house at Willis Wells Funeral Home on High Street and someone had placed a blue banner on his casket with the words “The Chrysler Man.”

I had this video made of Leo in 1985 with the hope of continuing his legacy. To all of the mechanics, auto part dealers, farmers, and friends, this video will hopefully bring back memories of the man we had knew as Leo. I would also like to thank Tyler Campbell for his help in organizing this story.

By Frank Rhodes with Photography by Tyler Campbell

Editor’s note: This was originally published in the Spy on September 18, 2012

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When Chestertown Becomes Pottertown

October 3, 2016 by Spy Desk

The next time the Chestertown Town Council meets they might want to consider the possibility of renaming Chestertown “Pottertown” after last weekend’s Harry Potter Festival. With over 3,000 children and parents hitting the streets, despite some rain and overcast skies, and participating from Friday evening to Sunday morning, it has become one of Chestertown’s flagship celebrations after only three years of being in existence.

The Spy took particular note of the event this year and followed the crowds as they flocked to the kick off party at Hogwarts, and later to Ollivanders Wand Co-op, Professor Sprout’s Mandrake demonstrations, and numerous Quidditch games. It was also hard to ignore the packed lines at the town’s restaurants, food trucks, and gift shops during the weekend. And last but not least, there was at least one marriage proposal that was documented (see the video) on Friday night as Patrick Kumpf dropped to one knee to offer an engagement ring to Harry Foster co-organizer Marva Jones.

Not only was it a good weekend for families that have enjoyed Harry Potter over the years, the event directly benefits the Garfield Center for the Arts and the Mid-Shore Community Foundation’s Kent County Fund.

Here is the Spy’s full report, complete with the surprise proposal at the Garfield on Friday night, for our readers enjoyment.

This video is approximately three minutes in length

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The Gang of Four: KCPA Organizes to Fight Wind and Solar to Protect Open Space in Kent County

September 19, 2016 by Dave Wheelan

The founders of the Kent Conservation & Preservation Alliance are the first to say that their new organization walks in the footsteps of some remarkable Kent County citizen committees. From Chestertown’s own little tea party prior to the Revolutionary War, to Kent Preservation’s stunning victories in turning back nuclear power plants and waste incineration plants in the 1970s and 80s, and more recently grassroots efforts to save the local hospital from downsizing, this small region on the Eastern Shore has had over 300 years of pushing back on what it considers to be threats to its special way of life.

But Kent County farmers Judy Gifford, Pat Langenfelder, and Janet Christensen-Lewis joined by heritage consultant Elizabeth Watson; all believe that their cause to prohibit large-scale wind and solar land use rises to the same level of concern as these other causes.

In their Spy interview, the organizers behind KCPA make their case that large corporation plans currently under consideration for new solar and wind farms in Kent County will permanently and negatively impact the region’s most precious asset, its open spaces.

This video is approximately twelve minutes in length. For more information about the pending case (Case No: 9411) mentioned in the inverview please go here. For previous stories related to the use of wind turbines, please go here

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Spy Eye: An Outdoor Campus Opens at the Middle School

September 12, 2016 by The Spy

Kent County Middle School unveiled its new outdoor campus today in a brief ceremony. The new facilities include tennis, basketball and wallboard courts, a 1/3 mile paved walking track, exercise stations, sports’ fields and landscaping. New fencing (meeting ADA standards) encloses the area, and additionally, provides easy access to the community. Project costs exceeded $250,000, which was funded via grants through Maryland DNR ($230,000), the Town of Chestertown, Kent County Commissioners, and Kent County Public Schools. Chestertown Rotary Club arranged for the placement of seven granite benches at the exercise stations around the path.

Officiating at the ceremony were Janice Steffy, KCMS Principal, Dr. Karen Couch, KCPS Superintendent, Chestertown Mayor Chris Cerino and Carrie Lhostky, representing DNR Community Parks & Playgrounds. KCMS students Deondre Blake (8th) and Thomas Goldsborough (7th) spoke of their appreciation and intended use of the improvements. Mayor Cerino stood among a large group of KCMS students in cutting the ribbon.

Janice Steffy, KCMS Principal

Dr Karen Couch, KCPS Superintendent

Mayor Chris Cerino

Thomas Goldsborough (7th grade)

Deondre Blake (8th grade)

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All In: Chestertown Organizations Form Coalition to Save Town Marina

September 7, 2016 by Dave Wheelan

The push is on to save the Chestertown Marina, and downtown leaders are organizing a fall campaign for State funding to make it all happen.

The funds is question would come from the State of Maryland’s capital project budget,which falls under Governor Larry Hogan’s responsibilities. Each year, dozens of towns cue up for critically important infrastructure grant money for Maryland’s downtown and suburban communities. And for the last two years, the town of Chestertown has been in that line for its deteriorating marina and waterfront public space but without much luck.

But this year things are different. The Chestertown Marina project has a couple of things going for it that were absent in the last two funding cycles. The first is that’s now “shovel ready,” which is bureaucratic speak meaning that all the permits and other potential roadblocks that would prevent construction have been resolved. In short, it’s ready to go.

The second, which cannot be underestimated, is that this time around Chestertown has gotten organized. A coalition of nonprofit organizations, from the Downtown Business Association and Kent County Chamber of Commerce, to the Greater Chestertown Initiative to the Sultana Education Foundation, all representing hundreds of members, have started an aggressive campaign to secure $1.5 million in state funds to not only provide initial infrastructure improvements to the slowly deteriorating waterfront, but rescue the site from a fate of being beyond repair.

The Spy spoke to Loretta Lodge, Drew McMullen Mc Kristen Owen, and Lani Seikaly, representatives of the Chestertown Waterfront Coalition, yesterday at the town’s Visitor Center to understand better their motives behind this significant collaboration, the high stakes involved, and what the citizens Kent County can do to join the cause of saving Chestertown’s only public waterfront.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length. For more information about the letter writing campaign please go here

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Spy Eye: It’s all Happening at the Kent County Fair in Two Minutes

July 23, 2016 by The Spy

It seems that a rural county fair is a perfect match for toddlers. With farm animals that are approachable, carnival rides that are not too scary, and the right amount of good old American food, young children (and their parents) find, as the Spy witnessed yesterday, an ideal summer break.

Located off of Tolchester Beach Road, the annual fair sponsored by Kent Ag Center brings together these elements while also highlighting the achievements for 4-H members through a variety of projects from the farming of perfect produce to photography.

The Spy tried to capture a few of these special moments yesterday just before the crowds descended on the fairgrounds.

This video is approximately two minutes in length. The Kent County Fair ends today so catch it when you can.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Women Working on the Water: Jennifer Kuhn at the CBMM Boatyard

July 15, 2014 by Dave Wheelan

It’s hard not to notice how happy Jenn Kuhn becomes when talking about her job running the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Boatyard. In a field that has historically been heavily defined by men, Jenn is becoming a new role model for girls and women as she leads dozens of volunteers to reproducing some of the Chesapeake Bay’s most beautifully designed wooden boats. In many cases, it is the first time many have worked with wood and tools.

In her chat with the Spy, Jenn talks about her relationship with boats and wood, her building projects, and her enjoyment at mentoring others eager to protect the cultural heritage of boat building on the Chesapeake Bay.

The video is approximately four minutes in length

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

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