Thursday, March 12, 2009

"My Town" Shoot Out Day - People!

Albert Einstein said, "Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value." In Crisfield, the two go hand-in-hand.

With this being Friday, it is "My Town Shoot Out" day, where several of us showcase the good things that make our towns special. We chose "people" for this week's shoot out.


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Tommy Shore is a native of Crisfield. He is a retired bank branch manager (39 years). Not only does he give freely of his time helping out with town events, he plays a 1929 bell chime organ at Asbury United Methodist Church. Tommy also plays the organ at Mt Pleasant Asbury Church, where he is a member. You can check out the church photos that I posted on last Friday's shoot out.



Tommy playing the 1929 bell chime organ.




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Jay Tawes. Around here, I need say no more. It would take a lot of blogging to describe all the great things Jay has done for Crisfield.

In short, Jay is the owner of Tawes Insurance. He is past-chairman of the fund raising committee for the Alice Byrd Tawes Nursing Home and past-chairman of Somers Cove Marina. Jay was recently named Humanitarian of Year.

Thanks, Jay! We all appreciate your endless work and your good heart. Jay is humble, so I won't embarrass him too much. Every town needs a Jay!


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Speaking of Somers Cove Marina, meet Lloyd Tyler, Executive Director of Somers Cove Marina, a beautiful marina with 515 slips.

Lloyd spent 38 years in public education before he took on the job as director at Somers Cove.

Lloyd was born on Smith Island, and is an 11th generation islander. Lloyd's bloodline goes all the way back to John Evans and John Tyler, the first two settlers on Smith Island, somewhere back in the 1600's. Lloyd has bay water running in his blood, so we are in good hands.

Ahoy, matey! When ye be bringing yer boat to our marina, be sure and sit awhile with our captain. Argggh!


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Meet Valerie Howard. She has been the director of our Chamber of Commerce for 15 years. She keeps the wheels turning, and keeps everyone on their toes. Valerie is married to Tim Howard, the curator of the J. Millard Tawes Historical Museum. That makes them a winning team for our town!

Oh, and I think it is important to note that Val was crowned Little Miss Crustacean in 1965. Now that might not sound too fancy to some of you, but around here being named Little Miss or Miss Crustacean is just as good as being named Miss America. And no matter what year it is, Val is always our Sweetheart!




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Meet Cheeseburger. Anyone who has been to Crisfield knows all about Gordon's.

I posted Cheeseburger's photo on an earlier post, but I could not have a post about people and not include Cheeseburger. He is a fixture at Gordon's and is active in softball and other activities.

So to sum it up: Gordon's = Cheeseburger (and Kevin, who was not there). Go eat there.


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David Price, of Tull and Price Real Estate isn't just seen selling real estate, though he will gladly sell you a house when you are ready to move to our fine town.

David is a good citizen who cares about our community and stays active. I like to kid him that I see him everywhere I go. He says the same about me. See you at the next event, David.

UPDATE, June 2009: David recently passed away. He was still so young. I was going to remove him form this post but decided not to. He will forever be a part of Crisfield. Please read my tribute to David.


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Mama Mia! A pizzeria in Crisfield? You darn tootin! We love our crabs, but you can only eat so many.

This is Billie Chandler carrying a tray of fresh made dough and hand tossing a ball of dough for one of her yummy hand-tossed pizzas. Click on the photo of that hand-toss. She's good.

Billie has been making pizzas at her restaurant, the Pizza Shoppe, for 16 years. She also runs a catering business.

Billie is a hard worker who gives back to her community in many ways.

Now, do I get a free pizza?

Seriously, when you visit Crisfield, eat lots of crabs, but check out Billie's pizza. It is really good.



This is Doris Good and Fizzy. Doris has worked for Sea Mark Marine since 1972. She is 82 years old, and I don't think I have ever not seen her at work.

Fizzy is 2 years old. When Hurricane Ernesto came through, Fizzy, a tiny kitten at the time, was caught up in a whirlpool of water, headed towards a drainpipe. His life was saved by the kind people at Sea Mark, and Fizzy is now a full-time employee, greeting everyone who comes through the door.

I wonder if he get benefits with his cat chow?


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Mike Harrison lived on Smith Island for 68 years. His wife learned how to make the famous Smith Island cakes there. She learned it from her mother who learned it form her mother who...well, you know the drill.

Here, Mike is delivering one of his wife's cakes to a customer.

Smith Island, like Crisfield, has a history steeped in religion. And almost as old as their religion are their Smith Island cakes, now the official Maryland State dessert.

I won't go into to all the details, but the cakes are made from up to 10 layers of cake. Real layers, that you bake (not from a box) one by one, not cut with a knife. The most traditional cakes are yellow cake with chocolate icing. Coconut is a favorite, but they now come in many flavors.

All you cooks out there can look up the recipe, but I doubt you could ever make a "real" Smith Island cake. If it don't come from around these parts, it's just a cake. Besides, it has to be in your blood.


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Now who could this be?


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"I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar." - Robert Brault

Sounds a little like Brault once lived in a town like Crisfield.

30 comments:

HalfCrazy said...

Hi! Unfortunately, I can't join as my camera is not that good and it will be very unusual if I take pictures of my neighbors and tell them it's for a blog LOL. They would think it's odd! Plus, I don't mingle with them often hahaha! Thanks for the invite, though!

That's very interesting to know your neighbors in Crisfield! I'm intrigued by Mr. Lloyd Tyler for his ancestors are the first 2 settlers in Smith Island! Now ain't that cool!

And Ms. Doris is already 82 years old? Really doesn't look like it! She only look like she's around 60!

It's really nice to know the Crisfield people! :)

Barry said...

I loved seeing the faces of Crisfield, and I am overjoyed to learn that somewhere in the world there is a Little Miss Crustacean award! That is a great portrait of Allison and those Tiger Bars sure look good enough to eat!

Darned if I can figure out who that cute chick is leaning against the car in the last photo? Looks like she might be a great photographer though!

Vanessa Bates said...

What a great idea Patty! Great Job!

With me working a lot and driving an hour both ways from work its hard for me to get to know people in my community. I would love the small town atmosphere to get to know people!!

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Awesome photo's Patty!! I got a little hungry, lol!!
Oh and showing Cheeseburger at Gordon's!! As I told you in an earlier comment I have eaten there several times and I could almost smell that bacon he was cooking in the snapshot and ohhh my!!
Love, love, love the pics and....
Now, I'm starvicating so I gotta run have a lil something to eat :)
Hope your weekend is filled with love, joy and laughter........

Steady On
Reggie Girl

Robert Brault said...

Actually I once did live in a town like Crisfield. Delighted to have said something that hits home with you. Brault

The Pink Birdhouse said...

wow, you not only put the pictures in, but also a little write up about the people pictured here. I have to admit to loving the picture of Debbi and her chocolates! Yummy, and about the best possible picture for a chocaholic like me!! :-) You and Reggie Girl both did a fabulous job on these post, just getting the pictures would have been very time consuming, and the idea is just so original! KUDOS to you both.

Loida of the 2L3B's said...

Thanks for sharing to us the good people that makes Crisfield complete. Please forgive me, I will try to do my people's photo soon.

In a meantime, please accept the FRIENDSHIP AWARD I had sent your way, whether you like it or not.. Kindly pick it up in my site. Thanks my friend and have a lovely weekend.

GingerV said...

Great commentary - yes every small town has this support staff - they make the town run for us. I especially like the chocolates which I can get here but always worth trying another flavor, one thing I don't get here is hamburgers - oh they are on the menu but just taste BAD! will be state side in May and first thing I find is a good hamberger.

aurbie said...

HalfCrazy: Thanks again for visiting all the way from the Philippines. Keep coming back for more history. We have a lot of it here!

aurbie said...

Barry,

You make me blush. Actually, I have been trying to teach my husband how to take photos. That photo went a little dark, but I liked the sunset.

Tell everyone in your photos that I enjoyed meeting them.

Yes. We are quite proud of our Miss and Little Miss Crustacean. I did not mention that we also crown a little Mr. Crustacean at the same time.

Barry, it snowed today. Are you responsible for that?

BTW, you get to pick our shoot-out assignment for next week.

I think Valerie should send me a photo of when she was the Little Miss.

aurbie said...

Robert Brault: Wow! You really did live in such a town. Tell us where it was? I see you are in Connecticut. A beautiful place!

aurbie said...

Nessabates: Thanks. Just come on to our town and set up shop! We would love to have you.

Reggie Girl: You did a great job,. Cheeseburger is a great guy. I will tell him to save you some bacon. I guess you would want some of that Tiger Bar candy, and a little Smith Island cake, too. And don't forget a slice of pizza.

Now I am hungry.

We got snow here today. I think Barry sent it. So I am sending it to you.

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Loida: How about you? You want some snow?

Thanks for the friendship award. I will pick it up later. I have a few more to get. I have one for you.

Let me know when you put your people up and I will link you at the top. We wanna see people!

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Pink Bird House: Yes. That candy was good. Yum. Hope you will be out and about soon so you can join us.

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GingerV:

Everyone liked the chocolates! I will have to tell Debbi and Lou.

Enjoyed your photos, too. I think it is nice that we all did our assignments a different way. That is what makes photography so much fun.

I like the "no rules" part. We all did our own thing.

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Patty, you and I had already agreed to do houses next Friday and I've already started on that so that's what I'm going to do next week. I didn't know that the project had changed.......Oh well :)
Hope you and Huey have a weekend filled with love, joy and laughter.......

Steady On
Reggie Girl

aurbie said...

Shucks, gal, I ain't got no sense.

Barry, you get a whole extra week to come up with an assignment.

It is houses for next week!

Not fair that I forgot and you got a jump on me. I knew something was in that jam you sent me.

Old houses? New houses? Mix 'em up houses?

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Let's do mix'em up houses gal!!
Whatever strikes our fancy as interesting or unique in it's own way. Whatta think??
I love that we do "NO-RULES"....that way everyone has their own perspective and interpretation on things.
Is too fair about the jump start!! I stop and take photos all week every week while I'm out delivering my Brwon Bag Lunches and while I'm on a run to pick up an animal that is about to be put down.
All's fair in love, war and "Friday Shoot-Out's" lady :)

Steady On
Reggie Girl

Barry said...

I'm perfectly fine with "houses" for next week and "graveyards" the week following.

aurbie said...

Reggie Girl: I like the mix-em up theme, a grab bag kind of assignment.

Photography is all about interpretation and perspective. You sure you never worked for a newspaper? I gotta watch you.



Save that animal!

aurbie said...

Barry: I love the idea of graveyards! That is going to be a fun assignment. Are you going at night?

Bagman and Butler said...

Hi, Patty...Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm adding yours to my follow list as well and am jealous of the cameras around your neck. Bagman -- you'll get to know him in my blog -- just likes your neck. Butler -- the other half of Bagman apologizes for Butler's insensitive flirting and bops him in the head. I worked for the Boston Phoenix...also the Globe but only as a copy boy. Mostly I pretended to be a productive newsman and photographer and really just drank alot. See you around Blogspot.

HalfCrazy said...

I can't wait for more History of well.. almost everything, hahaha. Thanks for being a window and letting us see Crisfield and its wonderful people.

J9 said...

Way cool images of your town Patty! I can do houses next Friday and graveyards the week after that - but I may have to sneak in some of my published work - is that ok? I'll mark it as such and it isn't from my town, but I think you'll all like it anyway.

I especially like that you also have a Cheeseburger, only ours we just call Cheese!

Barry said...

Patty, check out J9's blog. She's posted some excellent photos of people in her community.

I've tried pulling together a list of people who are participating at the bottom of my post. But I think we need to find a better way of listing so others can them all.

aurbie said...

"Hi, Patty...Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm adding yours to my follow list as well and am jealous of the cameras around your neck. Bagman -- you'll get to know him in my blog -- just likes your neck. Butler -- the other half of Bagman apologizes for Butler's insensitive flirting and bops him in the head. I worked for the Boston Phoenix...also the Globe but only as a copy boy. Mostly I pretended to be a productive newsman and photographer and really just drank alot. See you around Blogspot."
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B&B: I look forward to reading your blog. Sunday is my day to catch up with all my blog reading. Kind of like curing up with a good book. And it is even going to be a rainy day tomorrow. I think I will make a Mint Julep in honor of Reggie Girl, or just swig down a spoonful of old Georgia moonshine, just for medicinal purposes, of course. I think Hemingway would have preferred the latter, so that will be in his/your honor.

Glad you liked my...cameras. Bagman, you dirty boy you!

So you hung out in Boston? I worked like a salve for a Boston photographer for a year (lived on Kirkland Street near Harvard). That is where I got my training. He was one busy free-lancer. One day we would be shooting for someone like IBM, the next day we might be packing up for a one week shoot for the Smithsonian magazine. I never knew where I would be from one day until the next - It was a wild ride.

I miss the good old days around the newspapers when everyone would go out after a 10 hour day, and drink and complain about how their day went. Now, I just shoot an assignment, go home, and upload my photos. Darn computers.

See you around cyberspace, my friends.

aurbie said...

Barry: You are right. We need to need find an easier way for to maneuver from site to site in order to visit our towns.

aurbie said...

J9: You can do it any way you like. No Rules! This is all for fun. I think this is going to spread - everyone seems to enjoy their little trips without having to get all gussied up and spending money.

HalfCrazy: You should join us, too. No need for fancy cameras. Just shoot what you see.

To all those who are participating: We have a new shooter whose first name begins with the letter "B" and "B". That would be you Butler and Bagman.

Since we are letting bloggers pick assignments based on their user names, I think Butler and Bagmen will get to pick the assignment following Reggie Girl's "houses" and Barry's graveyard assignment. The question is should we let Butler or Bagman go next? Or should we give them both a whirl? That might be fun, but it could be risky.

We just started the alphabetical rule, so we need to know who is interested in participating?

Loida, where were you this week?

I think we need to come up with some kind of rule as to how to go about assigning new bloggers their turns. Any ideas? We want to make this as simple as possible.

Renie Burghardt said...

What a great tribute to some of the good folk of Cristfield, Patty. Nice pictures, too. My fav of course is the one of the 82 year old lady with Fizzy! My special kudos to the kind hearted people who made the effort to save Fizzy. Bless them!

Great post!

Hugs and blessings,

Renie

aurbie said...

Thanks Renie. Fizzy is my favorite, too.

Anonymous said...

What a cool post, and great photos. Thanks for the invite to join you, and I would love to accept! :)

Your town looks like a great place to live, with so much character!

Michelle said...

What a great introduction of the fabulous folks in your small town. It must be fun living in such a small community?

I wanted to get a people shot up but I just didn't have time! Drats. I wait and see what this Friday will bring. :)

aurbie said...

Jen and Michelle: Thanks. We all enjoy visiting your blogs, too.