Val Cavalheri

Special Report: Family Violence and Protection on the Mid-Shore

March 29, 2021 by Val Cavalheri 1 Comment

Meet ‘Sara.’ It’s not her real name, but this is what she described happened to her last spring. “He was leaning into me, red-faced with anger, yelling at the top of his lungs. I was petrified. It wasn’t the first time this happened, but something about that night felt different. I’ve never been so scared. So, I took just a few belongings, and I fled.”

Her experience was not unusual, but her timing was. As stay-at-home orders went into effect throughout the United States in 2020, it left many domestic violence victims trapped with their abusers. It became the pandemic within the pandemic. But here’s what was puzzling to domestic violence experts: Although reports of abuse were increasing across the nation, calls to violence hotlines decreased as victims felt they could not safely connect with needed services (many of which were closed).

Sara was aware of that. She had heard about Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence (MSCFV, but commonly referred to as Mid-Shore) in Easton from a friend. She didn’t even call but ran to them anyway, hoping they could protect her. Someone happened to be in the office that day, and they let her in.

Mid-Shore was precisely the place where victims, like Sara, could typically find refuge. Created in the 1980s, it serves the counties of Kent, Queen Anne’s, Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot offering a 24-hour hotline, counseling, advocacy, and legal services. Of course, as it had for everyone, the pandemic presented new problems to the organization that they hadn’t experienced before. This included finding ways to get protective orders for their clients.

Once courts started to reopen in June 2020, the number of hotline calls and clients increased significantly. Most notably, Mid-Shore received the highest number of calls they had ever had in a single month since the program’s beginning.

Mid-Shore’s Executive Director Jeanne Yeager

Mid-Shore’s Executive Director Jeanne Yeager is unphased. After 25 years on the job and being a survivor herself, she and her staff knew they would do whatever needed to be done—and more—to safeguard those who came to them.

“It’s a unique and successful model that we’re implementing,” says Yeager, “Probably the only one in the State where we see getting to safety as the beginning of the journey. We’ve evolved over time to move from not just aiding victims in crisis to now helping them with their journey all the way to self-sufficiency.”

Sara: “They assigned me a psychologist, who I met with, virtually, once a week. They assigned me a social worker to answer all questions and who accompanied me to my attorney. They helped me find an attorney, and they helped me with having the attorney fees reduced.”

A considerable part of the expansion that Mid-Shore has seen over its years as a service organization is its panel of attorneys. Since economic independence is a critical factor in violence prevention, their lawyers now assist not only in protective orders and divorces but also represent the victim in financial debt, bankruptcy, landlord/tenant matters, consumer issues, etc.

In Sara’s case, this help was invaluable. Sara is a successful freelance designer who, throughout her 20 years of marriage, never knew how much money she had. “Mid-Shore made me feel validated,” she said, “because there were names for all the things I had gone through. I didn’t know there were different types of abuse. I didn’t know that what I had gone through was verbal abuse. I didn’t know there was such a thing as financial abuse.”

As Sara realized, and many people are not aware, the absence of physical violence does not mean the abuser is any less dangerous, nor that the victim is any less trapped. Emotional and psychological abuse often is just as extreme as physical violence. According to the CDC, an estimated 10 million people, primarily women, are affected every year. (Although Yeager added that 5% of clients seen at Mid-Shore are male victims.)

Nationwide, numerous programs support victims of domestic abuse. But there are some unique aspects to the counties that Mid-Shore covers. “We’ve become an expert and a leader in working, not just with domestic violence victims, but specifically rural domestic violence victims,” says Yeager. “Their challenges, their barriers are unique and different in some ways, from those experiencing abuse in urban settings. For example, we don’t have a transportation system. So, you can’t say ‘jump on the A-line to come to our office or go to court.’ Instead, we have a transportation person who picks them up to get them to court, to a shelter, or appointments. We have to help facilitate them accessing services rather than giving them a ‘here’s where you go’ kind of a referral.”

There is another quality exclusive to rural areas—familiarity. Yeager explains: “There’s a lot of great things about being socially connected, but when you’re a victim of abuse, those social networks can also be a barrier. For example, your abuser went to high school with the local sheriff. Or you don’t want to go into the courtroom because the cousin of the abuser is the Clerk of Court. Or your sister-in-law is employed at the hospital.”

To provide confidentiality in situations such as these, Mid-Shore works with local community partners to provide special accommodations. These may include housing their clients in a different county, providing a private entrance to the courthouse, or even having their case heard at Court in another county.

These are just some ways that the organization wants to make sure they’ve thought through all possibilities that would prevent a victim from seeking them out. They also make it easy to reach them. Besides a 24-hour hotline, Mid-Shore’s website has immediate online chat access to an advocate and information on how and where to get help.

“Mid-Shore is action-oriented,” says Yeager. “We’re providing housing, food, legal support, and you can also meet with our therapist (we have a bilingual therapist if needed). We’re helping you with the basic stuff that you’re going through because you can’t be successful if you don’t have a safe place to live for you and your family.” And that family may also include pets. “70% of our clients have pets, and they won’t leave unless they can bring them as well. And so, we have a pet sheltering program. We’ve partnered with the Banfield Foundation and the American Kennel Club. We can place clients at hotels that are pet friendly.”

Washington College’s GIS (geographic information systems)

The partnerships Mid-Shore have been able to make within the community have also led to significant decisions and innovations. Working with Washington College’s GIS (geographic information systems), Mid-Shore took part in crime mapping to identify domestic violence incidents reported in each of the five counties. Their finding led them to open up an office in Dorchester County that has been extremely busy.

The GIS technology has even gone further, creating a resource and housing dashboard. Says Yeager: “Our case managers, at a glance, can see what housing is available for, say, $600 a month, that’s pet friendly, that includes no security deposit, that has internet capabilities. You put that into a search engine, and it links right to the website. The whole notion of applying technology to victims services work has been amazing.”

Yeager admits the work she and her staff do is hard, but the rewards are immense, especially knowing they’re responsible for saving people’s lives. “It’s been an incredible personal and professional experience, not just for me, for the entire staff. The people who work here come to this because of their love of others. Everybody is from the Shore; it’s a beautiful place to live, but we also get the realities.”

The reality is that, despite all of the resources available to them, a lot of victims return to their abusers. “A victim leaves five to eight times before they actually leave, “says Yeager. “If they leave, it doesn’t always mean they’re ready to go. Sometimes, they’re testing the waters; they’re seeing if they can trust us. We don’t see leaving as success; that’s not our gauge. It’s leaving and shifting from being a victim to being a survivor; that’s the success. And that’s the hard work. And that takes a long time.”

Looking back now, Sara remembers the fear. “I had the courage to go when my fear of staying was bigger than my fear of leaving.” But it wasn’t easy. “I had to be willing to give up everything–my home with a beautiful view of the water, my beautiful belongings, and all that stuff because when you get down to it, it’s just stuff. I have a whole different outlook on what the priorities are in my life.”

Sara was granted a divorce at the beginning of this year. She’s still living on the Eastern Shore. She’s lost some friends and gained others but has learned a lot from her experience. “I understood that I was living with a mentally unstable person for a very long time,” she says. I didn’t recognize the signs and tried to hide them from the world. I kept praying that I could fix him if I was nice enough, if I was kind enough, if I did enough. What I realized was that you can’t fix people. The people at Mid-Shore helped me in so many ways. Every woman knows a woman who will need this service, and they need to know it exists. As women, we need to protect each other, and I pray that I can do for someone what they did for me.”

If you need help call 1800-927-4673 or go to: https://mscfv.org/. There will always be someone there to speak to you.

Val Cavalheri is a recent transplant to the Eastern Shore, having lived in Northern Virginia for the past 20 years. She’s been a writer, editor and professional photographer for various publications, including the Washington Post.

Hello and Thanks Dolly: Imagination Library on the Shore

December 8, 2020 by Val Cavalheri 1 Comment

What comes to mind if I ask you to describe Dolly Parton? If the only thing you can think of is big hair, big voice, and that the song Jolene gets stuck in your head whenever you hear it, then you’re missing a lot. And it’s beyond the massive library of songs she’s both written for others and recorded for herself, her multitude of awards, and her acting successes. What hopefully might also occur to you is her humanitarian efforts, including this year’s surprising connection in helping to fund Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.

But even that would not cover the largeness of this (5’0) diminutive woman’s efforts in creating one of the largest non-governmental literacy-focused non-profits in the world, the program known as the Imagination Library. What began as a gift for the children of her hometown of Sevierville in 1995 is now active in all 50 states and five countries and delivers monthly more than 1.5 million free books to children from birth to age five.

The program is simple: Sign up at imaginationlibrary.com. Get free books.

Parton’s Dollywood Foundation provides the relationship with the publisher to make the program affordable and take care of mailing the books to the affiliates in various counties. The affiliates then send them to the registered children. Books are chosen by the Foundation using a prestigious committee of educators, publishers, and authors. They pick about a dozen new books a year so that multiple kids in a family don’t receive the same set of books, except for the first book every child gets, The Little Engine that Could, and the last book in the month of their fifth birthday, Look out Kindergarten, Here I Come!”

Francesca Wiseman, the Executive Director of Imagination Library of Talbot County, explains how this initiative is funded: “As big-hearted and generous as Dolly is, she does not personally pay for the 1.5 million books being sent out around the world each month. We are so grateful for the grants and individual donations we receive that allow us to bring the joy of reading to our children. It costs just $25 to mail 12 beautiful new books to a child over the course of a year!” Currently, the Talbot and Caroline County affiliates provide books for about 2,500 children each month. The Easter and Mid Shore are well represented. Other counties in our area who are involved include: Caroline, Queen Anne, Kent, & Cecil. The United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore is also the affiliate for Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester Counties.

“It’s really run by the community,” says Parton, “that’s why it’s so great. Because this is not just for poor children — this is for all children.” Parton started the program in honor of her father, “My father never learned to read or write, and he felt very handicapped by that,” she said. She hopes that the library gives children from all countries and all walks of life a chance that her father never had.

Dolly Parton, and the people who helped make her dream possible, are now the focus of a feature-length documentary that, like her program, has been years in the making. It was initially scheduled to be shown during a nationwide event this past spring, but now “The Library That Dolly Built” has been reimagined as a one night only free live stream event screening for Facebook on December 9, 7–9 pm.

There will probably be a lot this documentary will uncover about the contributions Dolly Parton has made that go far beyond her musical talent. It will more than likely show that her Imagination Library will be remembered as the most significant contribution of all. As Parton says: “You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children.” Together, as a community, we can try.

Exclusive Facebook Premiere of “The Library That Dolly Built: Celebrating the People Who Made Dolly’s Dream Come True.” A feature-length documentary covering the history, impact, and future of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library on Dec. 9, at 7 pm EST. The film features the music of Dolly Parton and is narrated by actress and author, Danica McKellar. Following the screening, Dolly Parton will be live for fan Q&A and a very special acoustic performance. https://www.facebook.com/events/791609808054853/

Mid-Shore Food: Simmons Market Still Beating the Odds in Cambridge

November 16, 2020 by Val Cavalheri Leave a Comment

This is no ma and pa business, yet it is. It’s located in Cambridge, yet most people, even those outside of Dorchester County, know about Simmons Center Market. Customers speak of parents or grandparents who brought them to this market when they were young and continue the tradition with their children or grandchildren.

Owner Ricky Travers attributes the success of his business partially to what this grocery/meat/produce/greenhouse/gift shop has chosen to carry in their inventory, partly to their willingness to change with the times, and partly in that they have served the area for the past 83 years.

But it’s not only their longevity that is of note. It is also that this business has been family owned and operated since Jimmy and Elizabeth Simmons, back in 1937 and on a shoestring budget, launched a small grocery store at 600 Race Street. The fact that Center Market is still around and prosperous is no small matter. According to Family Business Alliance research, family businesses account for 64% of U.S. gross domestic product. Yet, only 30% transition into the second generation, 12% into the third, and only 3% will be operating at the fourth-generation level and beyond.

Despite what the statistics say, at Center Market, it’s not unusual to find multi-generations working together on any given day. Travers, the grandson of the original Simmons, said he’s been ‘in the business’ since he was six weeks old, watching from a playpen as his mother worked. He and wife Rosi raised their four boys in the store, sending them off to an office/playroom when they got tired. Now grown, three of the four children work with their parents, making up the elusive fourth generation. Travers proudly jokes, “As Governor (William) Schaefer once said: You should grow your own help. To that, I say, ‘yes, that’s what we do.'”

Travers is also proud to keep the traditions established by his grandfather while still appealing to the needs of his current customers. The store carries typical grocery items such as milk, bread, fresh fruits, and vegetables, as well as hard to find or popular things like King Syrup or Old Bay hot sauce. But it’s their selection and attention to meats that keep customers coming back. Says Travers, “If you come in wanting a half-inch thick steak, it’s cut while you’re waiting. Same for ground beef. We fresh grind ground beef multiple times a day. We make our own pork sausage. Our pork loin is fresh, antibiotic and hormone-free. You’ll never have to worry about it being frozen somewhere along the line.”

Freshness is why the store local sources for eggs and produce and why they rely on 25-30 Amish families from the Pennsylvania Lancaster County area for some other popular items. “I have a group that has a cheese facility,” says Travers. “I’ve got another that makes spaghetti, sauces, and noodles. Then there are the ones who can or jar apple sauce, peaches, pears, pickles, and jellies.”

That’s not to say that Center Market hasn’t made changes throughout the years. A gift and garden center was added next door to the store, which carries plants, birdhouses, wrought iron products, holiday gifts, and decorative crafts.

Grandpa Simmons would have approved.

Innovation has been a reason for its longevity. Center Market in 1945, became the first modern self-service grocery store on the Eastern Shore. It was a new concept and new way of shopping for people who, until then, were used to going in with an order and have it fulfilled by the person behind the counter. And it wasn’t exactly a hit. Gentlemen who didn’t appreciate the shopping carts and thought it made them look like they were pushing baby carriages would often pull the carts behind them.

The pandemic might just bring them back to a pre-1945 time where orders will, once again, be fulfilled by the person behind the counter. The family is currently working on a website that will allow customers to order and pay online for over 2,000 products from the store and then arrange for their delivery or pick up. “My grandfather, since he started, has always done home delivery. They used to do it on a bicycle. But this will be on a much larger scale. I’ve had our customers tell me, ‘I didn’t know you did this,’ or ‘why would I ever go spend another hour in a grocery store when I don’t have to because I can give you my credit card my order and you’ll bring it to the house.'”

The pandemic has also exposed the importance of years and years of establishing and cultivating relationships. “During the war,” Travers said, “my grandfather had to be resourceful to find products. It’s like that today with COVID. Certain items are extremely tight and hard to get, and you have to be resourceful. Vinegar was extremely tight. Recently, canned pumpkin was hard to find. At the beginning of the COVID crisis, we probably used ten or more different sources to find good items because the demand was high, and people were buying and in a panic mode. We were able to reach out and find other sources and continue to keep products in-house.”

One thing that will not be lost, at least not yet, is that this giant of a store is still just a country general store at heart. Enter, and you will take a step back in time and be surrounded by antique memorabilia. Jimmy Simmons was a collector who envisioned someday opening up a museum. Travers said his grandfather told him he’d been saving all of all these mementos and thought when Center Market was celebrating their 50^th anniversary in 1987, it would the perfect time to display them. “So, we did,” says Travers, “and there were so many comments on it that we decided to leave it up. Everything here is original. There’re no reproductions. It was bought and used in the store, sold in the store, or has some connections to the store.”

Now, the market prepares for the holiday season. “For Thanksgiving, we do awesome fresh turkeys,” says Travers. “We’re the only one on the Eastern Shore that carry Honey Baked hams. We’ll have fresh sausage to serve for breakfast when the family is home. Then we transition to Christmas. In keeping with tradition, Center Market will be heavily decorated and festive, carrying everything from gifts to decorative crafts, from poinsettias, Christmas cactuses, and wreaths to vintage candy.

Grandpa Simmons would be proud.

————

Simmons Center Market is located at 600 Race Street in Cambridge and is open Monday-Friday 9 AM -5 PM, and Saturday 9-3. They deliver to Cambridge six days a week, North Dorchester twice a week South Dorchester once a week, the Neck district once a week, and Trappe, Easton, and St. Michael’s once a week. Contact them for additional information. 410-228-4313 or check them out on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Simmons-Center-Market-111650152235098)

Mid Shore Mediation Weathers COVID and Finds Way to Resolution

November 10, 2020 by Val Cavalheri Leave a Comment

Thinking outside of the box is how Jenn Williams, Executive Director of Mid Shore Community Mediation Center, wants the public to consider the services her organization can offer. “This is a really stressful time,” she says. “and during times of stress, conflict is often more toxic, more prevalent, and more intense.” This is why mediation, conflict resolution using a trained third person, may be a perfect solution you may not have thought about.

Jenn Williams, Addie Eckardt, Lorig Charkoudian, and Johnny Mautz

No situation is too big or too small to be handled by a trained mediator, she said, and when asked for examples, Williams mentions a few recent ones. These included an unsightly boat problem, property line disputes, barking dogs, custody and visitation plans, divorce asset division, and a new roommate agreement. They even had a situation with some trespassing chickens, where the humane society had been called, and they recommended that the neighbors come to mediation to have it resolved.

So, we wondered, what recommendation would a mediator give when dealing with neighborly disputes such as this?

That’s not quite how it works, Williams told us. “Our process is participant-driven, and the resolutions that are developed out of the mediation process are completely of the participant’s own imagining. Mediators don’t give advice or suggestions, nor do they get people to agree to things. Self-determination is the key, and no one’s ever forced to do or say or agree to anything they don’t want to. The outcome of every single mediation is different and unique to the people involved.”

There are other reasons why mediation works, besides that it’s customized to fit everyone’s unique lifestyles. Even ones that are court-ordered have a better compliance success rate.

After all, judges usually have 10-15 minutes per case, unlike mediators who have the time and qualifications to create a sustainable plan.

Each mediation session is typically two hours long, and Mid Shore Mediation will work with clients for as many sessions as needed. “For instance,” says Williams: “we have a family who first came to us when their children were very young. They’ve come back yearly to update and revise their parenting plan as their children’s and their family’s needs and circumstances change. We also work with our state’s attorney’s office on criminal misdemeanor cases such as trespassing. We’re mediating those cases in one or two sessions.”

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, mediation sessions are free. There is no income verification nor any paperwork that needs to be provided. The service wants to remove as many obstacles as possible.

As to why it’s free, Williams says they have a lot of really generous supporters. “We’re very fortunate that there’s a culture of collaboration as a priority in the Maryland judiciary. The Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution office, a branch of the judiciary, is our primary funder. The Department of Juvenile and Family Services also offers us a significant amount of funding to work with our family courts with children and adult guardianships. So elder care, adult guardianship mediations also fall under the Department of Juvenile and Family Services.”

Like everywhere else, COVID has impacted the types of conflict the Center is used to seeing. Courts are diverting eviction petitions to mediation to help landlords and tenants create arrangements that prevent homelessness. Family problem cases, drug use, suicides, and domestic violence are also on the rise.

Of course, the pandemic has affected how mediators do their work, as well. Since March, they’ve been using the Zoom platform to consult with clients, and despite concerns, it has been a successful experience, one they continue to encourage. Last week, they began to phase in in-person mediation, with lots of safety protocols and protective equipment, of course.

Another area being affected is the school programs. Mid Shore Mediation, which covers Talbot, Caroline, and Dorchester Counties, have mediators in these school systems working with students, teachers, and parents to reduce violence and resolve conflicts. To do that, they need to be physically in the buildings and working with them in real-time and face to face. COVID challenges that. “I have many volunteers who are completely uncomfortable with meeting in person, and I respect that entirely,” says Williams. “So, we’re identifying the folks who are comfortable and what kinds of things they need to be in place to feel safe. But we’re also watching the CDC for guidance.”

The school program is one that Williams knows a lot about. Williams, who grew up in Talbot County and received an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Hood College, went on to a conflict resolution graduate program at Salisbury University. She joined the Center in 2012, and after partnering with the Dorchester County Public School system, created the Peace Team, a nationally recognized school-based mediation program. Since 2019, Williams has served as the Center’s Executive Director.

Mediators who work for the Center are, for the most part, volunteers who have gone through an extensive 50 hours of basic mediation training through them. Thirty volunteers handle approximately 600 cases per year. As Williams indicated to us, becoming a mediator is a significant investment of time and requires a commitment to growth and development of those skills. “The work that we do is challenging, and in many ways, it’s controversial, and we need to know is this something that’s really going to work for you. Can you help a same-sex couple devise a plan about how they’re going to spend time with children without any bias coming through in that conversation? We do a lot of diversity training and cultural competency training, and we’re asking our mediators to reflect on themselves and their own biases so that they can better show up for our clients.”

Despite the focused training, no additional education is necessary for those interested in learning this skill. “You don’t need a high school diploma to become a volunteer mediator,” says Williams. “You can be a volunteer mediator even if you’ve experienced incarceration. We want community members with a variety of life experiences to be represented in our volunteer pool. Diversity is everything to us, and it’s not just diversity in terms of age, race, and gender; it’s diversity of life experience.”

It is this range of experience in the mediation team that Williams hopes translates to the statistics found on their website, which is 70% of conflicts achieved resolution through mediation. “We’re here for every stage of whatever conflict you have,’ she says, “and it is a completely private non-judgmental space to say what you need to say, to be heard, and make a plan that works for your life.”

Before we ended the interview, we just had to ask: Whatever happened to the chickens? “I wish I could tell you, I wasn’t the mediator in that case,” said Williams. “I do know that the neighbors had a couple of meetings with us, and they did reach an agreement.”

So, there you have it.

Mid Shore Community Mediation Center is located at 8626 Brooks Drive, Suite 204 in Easton. For more information contact them on their website (https://midshoremediation.org/) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/midshoremediation) or call 410-820-5553

Chesapeake Arts: The Poetry of Rodney Carroll’s Work

November 2, 2020 by Val Cavalheri Leave a Comment

There is poetry in Rodney Carroll’s descriptions of things he’s passionate about. But you won’t find his words in a book. Instead, you can experience them in his 30-60 feet tall three-dimensional sculptures that are erected in front of buildings, universities, and museums. His works, some of which take a year or more to complete, have mostly consisted of soaring interpretations of abstract concepts. But even those take on life when his explanation for what inspires him takes us on a trip from the conceptual to the romantic:

Birth of the American Flag

“I’m interested in the spatial relationship of elements and the negative space between them,” he says. “That gives me a notion of the wind coming through on the coast in a hurricane, forming the waves and shaping the sand dunes. And that also translates to the relationship two people may have, and the sense of how close they stand together and the energy between them and how that energy flows.”

You might have come across Carroll’s work around the country. There’s Couple in Arms in Norfolk, VA, Tango in Cary, North Carolina, or Meridian in Cleveland Heights, OH. Closer to home are the Three Muses and Apollo in Bethesda, Firebird in Baltimore, or Birth of the American Flag on Massachusetts Ave in DC. They’re large, expressive, poetic. You can’t help but be in awe of the vision behind them.

Space Betweenus

The manufacture of these massive steel structures is also impressive. Carroll explains that he doesn’t use a computer to create the sketches for his design. Instead, he works three-dimensionally, sculpting smaller models of his concept. Working with his own crew or a metal fabricating shop, he is inextricably involved in the whole process of cutting, welding, bolting, and erecting the pieces.

Not surprising given his talent, three years ago, Carroll was invited to create a sculpture for the lobby of The Hotel at the University of Maryland in College Park. Also, predictably was when he turned to the Chesapeake Bay as a muse for his design. Even though UMD’s mascot is the terrapin, Carroll knew there was a more powerful statement to be made. “Look at the salt marsh islands,” he said, “especially in Dorchester County around Blackwater that are the most fragile. These land elements and ecosystems are going on and going under because of climate change and sea-level rise. So, these salt marsh islands are, in a sense, temporary because in 30 years, they’ll be flooded and gone.”

Blackwater

So that’s what he made for The Hotel, a tribute to these tenuous marshlands. Called Blackwater, the three-dimensional 18×40 foot 2-panel curved wall sculpture is made of steel and copper. CODAworx, the art and design website, describes the piece as “brushed ripples in the stainless steel (which) represents the reflection of the light on the water while the copper-nickel salt marsh islands are shown as they rise and sink into the Chesapeake Bay.”

Meridian

But Carroll explains the poetry behind the steel: “With the marshes, there are no two groupings that are the same. The way the water cuts through them with the tide running in and out… It’s all kind of magical how little mud bank with some grass stays there with the wind, the waves, and the tides and hurricanes, and all the fish, turtles, and birds lay their eggs there and grow. It’s a wonderful sense of the beginning of nature.”

After the installation of the panels, The Hotel expanded its design theme to encompass the idea of ecology and the Chesapeake Bay. The project also changed Carroll, who, besides residing and having a studio in Baltimore, bought a home close to the marshes that have become his inspiration.

“That’s pretty much why I came over into the Cambridge area,” says Carroll, “because Cambridge came down to the Dorchester and Dorchester has Blackwater, and they have all the salt marsh islands, more so than probably any other place on the Chesapeake Bay.” It didn’t hurt that he also found CK Lord, a local metal fabricating company that was able to work on his pieces after the fabricator that did his work for 30 years, closed their business.

But it’s the marshes that keep him coming back.

“I walk around,” says Carroll, “I boat around. I get the skiff, or I drive around looking at places. It’s almost to the point where I come down here, and I think I could just quit making my big sculptures. I could just spend my whole life making sculptures about salt marsh islands, instead.”

Although he probably won’t ever stop making the large-scale sculptures that are his trademark (he’s currently working on one for a town outside of Chicago), he’s now creating a series of smaller wall pieces based on the salt marsh islands. He’s also considering finding a place to display them. Not just for himself as an artist, but in the hope that it will be an inspiration to others.

“I feel that’s so important to draw attention to this ecology and this disappearing thing that we’re not going to see it anymore. I’m not a scientist or photographer documenting these, but drawing attention to the importance of them is a worthwhile endeavor. I feel good about the effort, and it makes me feel very good about my work too.”

For see more of Rodney Carroll’s work, check out his website here.

Chesapeake Arts: Maryland Federation of Art Coming Back Strong

October 5, 2020 by Val Cavalheri Leave a Comment

“Art doesn’t do anybody any good in the artist’s basement.”

With those words, Executive Director Joann Vaughan explained the reason for the existence of the Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) and her commitment to a community that extends beyond her local Annapolis, to a nationwide audience. MFA currently exhibits, on an annual basis, works by around 600 different artists from 40-50 states.

Under Vaughan’s guidance since 2008, MFA has not only grown in membership, but its annual Paint Annapolis competition has become a signature event drawing ever-increasing numbers of artists and the public. Despite being one of Annapolis’s art scene drivers, Vaughan is not an artist herself; her background is in non-profit management. Before coming to MFA, Vaughan founded and ran the successful Annapolis Book Festival.

Located at Circle Gallery in Annapolis, MFA has been in existence since 1968 and is considered the oldest continuously operating non-profit gallery in the state. That’s important to Vaughan. “As a non-profit gallery,” she says, “we don’t have to show commercial art, and we can expand the community’s idea of what art is and what art can do. Yes, art is decorative, but it also tells a message. It’s an expression of the artist that’s been interpreted by the viewer. And anything that adds to the conversation in the community strengthens the community. What MFA does it bring a different type of conversation to the table.”

Typically, an art gallery’s function is to incubate and support artists through exhibitions, shows, etc. It would make sense, and you might even think that COVID19 has put a stop to that role at the MFA. But you’d be wrong. As it turns out, this is not Vaughan’s first catastrophe. “I started my job on July 1st of 2008, and then the stock market crashed, and it took us two years to see ourselves out of the problem. And I thought, ‘wow, it will never be this bad again.’ Obviously, I suffered from a tremendous lack of imagination.”

On the contrary, Vaughan’s imagination is what’s turning the potential disaster of COVID19 into an opportunity. She began by identifying the challenges facing MFA. “First, if we are not open as a gallery, how do we connect with our constituents. And as a non-profit, how do we keep that commitment to the community? The second and simultaneous challenge, obviously, was money. Like everybody else, I needed to know how I was going to keep things doing, pay rent, pay my staff.”

The second part was the easiest. Vaughan learned all she could about grants, such as the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), that helped answer the needed cash flow. The first challenge? Well, that was a bit more complicated, and for that, they needed social media.

MFA relied on various approaches. They requested their artists to do a video tour of their studio and put those online. They asked Wil Scott, an art historian who recently retired from the National Gallery, to interview MFA members about their works. Those were put on Zoom and YouTube. They held virtual receptions and posted juror talks about MFA exhibitions. “We threw a lot of stuff up there, and then evaluated: were we accomplishing the outcomes we wanted? And what we wanted was engagement, not just content.”

So, were they successful?

“We had a brief dip in our finances,” says Vaughan. “And then everything has come roaring back. We just finished Paint Annapolis, which is our biggest event of the year, and we’re going to have a 50% increase in net return off that event from last year.”

The reason, she says, is that because of the pandemic, people needed something to do. This plein air event, which had been rescheduled from June to September, featured over 80 artists worldwide, an MFA record. With artists painting outdoors, the slogan: “art looks better from six feet away,” became appropriate on many levels.

“After hospitality,” says Vaughan, “the art industry has been the second hardest hit with this pandemic, and people’s opportunities to experience something outside of themselves is limited; you can only watch so much Netflix on TV. People need to get back to something that approaches a normal interaction with their community. That’s what Paint Annapolis was able to provide.”

Executive Director Joann Vaughan

The interaction between art, artists, and the public is an essential component at the heart of everything the MFA does as it promotes its members and helps them get their work known. Vaughan came up with another way to accomplish that. “A lot of artists use art as a way to communicate with themselves as well as the public. So, we set up an online topical gallery where the public can vote for their favorite art piece. Our first exhibit was called Six Feet of Separation, followed by Art in Protest, and Black Art Matters. We’ve just launched one called Money, Money, Money, which is about our country’s income divide. All this lets people use visual art as a means of expression and as a means of interpretation.”

These ideas are ways that the gallery has had to change in response to the pandemic. Sure, says Vaughan, they could have had a robust online presence with virtual tours and interviews in 2019. But they didn’t have to consider all that then. “COVID forced us to re-think about new ways.”

What about after COVID?

Vaughan sees the value of keeping the online gallery, as it gives the person who is unable to attend physically a way to engage with both the art and the artist. “It doesn’t matter if you paint or if you do aerial photography,” says Vaughan, “you’re trying to tell the world something. Being able to use the online presence to expand that conversation with the community has been important. I think it’s as much a part of our mission as is an exhibition.”

For now, MFA has three exhibitions coming up that will take them to the end of the year. The first, a Member Show that allows any MFA member to exhibit their work. Typically, these will be local artists. A National Painting Show will follow that, and then a National Small Work Show, featuring artwork under 11 inches by 11 inches.

It’s a lot of work and a lot of commitment for an organization that makes it all happen with an extremely small staff of one part-time and three full-time employees. But Vaughan is used to working hard. She does, however, take time to enjoy her family, which includes four kids, seven grandchildren, and a husband. She also likes to dance, in particular belly dancing.

“The neat thing about belly dance,” says Vaughan, “is that it’s unlike being a Radio City Rockette where everybody does exactly the same thing and interprets that as exactly the same way. In belly dance, it’s the sense that every woman is built differently. Every woman has different experiences, and every woman will interpret the music differently. So even in a group activity where you have the same choreography, you don’t have the precision that you would in ballet or other kinds of dance.”

Kind of like her life and commitment to the artists and her community, Joann Vaughan has chosen to interpret the music of her surroundings differently. And it works.

For more information about the art and artists of MFA please go here. Photography by Mark Cassino

At the Cade Gallery by Val Cavalheri

September 17, 2020 by Val Cavalheri Leave a Comment

Ask people who have seen an exhibit there, and you’ll be told: Cade Gallery, at the Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), is a special place. Speak to gallery director Teddy Johnson, and you’ll easily get caught up in the excitement he feels about selecting the new and unique artwork that will be part of the museum. Lucky for him and Cade Gallery fans, he gets to do that seven times a year. The key to the success, says Johnson, is the gallery’s mission to making sure the exhibits are a part of a broader dialogue. “It is really satisfying to bring great art from the region and all over the country into the gallery and then to host a class there or to allow it to be the catalyst for new conversations.”

Encouraging dialogue was clearly planned when this past February Cade presented, “Grey Matter: A Response to Blackness,” curated by Thomas James from the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. The exhibit studied how blackness is perceived by America’s society throughout history, including the educational and law enforcement systems, as well as public policies. The artworks explored how these responses have affected those who identify or are classified as black.

Art Rosenbaum Rakestraw’s Dream Oil on Linen, 78 X 106 in, 1993

Johnson hopes to continue having conversations with this month’s showcase, which centers around music, “Call Back: Artists Inspired by American Musical Traditions.” Each of the award-winning featured artist in this exhibit has been motivated by a variety of musical muses, including popular music, ballads, blues, jazz, and gospel. They were chosen because they offer a unique interpretation of converting music into their medium, and as their press release says: “Through their own particular vision, each artist pulls us into a conversation with American song.”

The artists:

Art and Margo Rosenbaum live and work in Athens, Georgia. Art is a painter, muralist, and illustrator, as well as a collector and performer of traditional American folk music. Margo has collaborated with her husband in documenting American traditional music through her painting and photography. Says Johnson, “The couple has been working in a similar field for a long time, but they’re capturing very different elements. One is translating music into the Southern kind of grand vision, and the other portrays intimate photographs of actual people in the moment of music creation.”

Margo Rosenbaum, Doc and Lucy Barnes with Kids Singing, Photograph, 1977

Michael Ananian is a portraiture artist and self-identified old-time music enthusiast and banjo player from North Carolina. “He’s been doing these large-scale paintings of people in a communal activity of playing music,” says Johnson. “We’ve got one very large painting of his, and then several small drawings of people just jamming to traditional music.”

Larry Winston Collins from Ohio will be showcasing his memorable woodcuts of jazz musicians from the immortal Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday to the more contemporary John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis.

Florida artist, Dean Mitchell, is known for his figurative watercolors. “Mitchell is a very successful and high selling artist. We’re lucky to have gotten his work here into the gallery because they’re exquisite as far as the craftsmanship,” says Johnson.

Baltimorean Katherine Fahey uses ‘storytelling machines,’ known as crankies. Being displayed almost as a sculpture element, her work features a large paper scroll on which there are shadow paper cutouts. As the scroll is unwound, Fahey either sings or tells you the story.

David Driskell, the legendary artist and distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, recently passed away from COVID. “He’s got a really beautiful painting in the show of a bass player that’s colorful and vibrant,” says Johnson. “We felt very fortunate to have the Driskell center lend us one of his pieces for the exhibit.”

Besides the accomplished artists, this show is also somewhat unique. It has been a curated and gallery collaboration between Johnson and Matt Klos, both of whom teach at AACC. Klos also owns Exeter Gallery in Baltimore and, until last week, featured the same artist with different works. “The idea,” says Johnson, “was to give more play to the artists by having them represented in two places and also to build some buzz around the exhibit by having it in two locations.”

According to Johnson, it ended up being a great partnership, with each bringing in artists they admired. “I had studied with Art Rosenbaum as a grad student and found his connection to music memorable,” says Johnson. “And Margo is a great painter as well, but the for this particular exhibit, I was super excited to have photographs that have been published in so many different, great books and also represented in different collections around the country.”

Klos brought in Michael Ananian and Larry Winston Collins with whom he had worked with for a short time. “From there,” says Johnson, “we started saying ‘how about this artist or that one?’ We were trying to represent a variety of different musical and visual mediums. So, we’ve got paintings, photography, the crankies (which have this tremendous three-dimensional form to it), printmaking, drawings, etc. And then also we were trying to think about how some of the artists might represent folk musicians or blues musicians, while others are representing jazz musicians and gospel musicians. We wanted to pay homage to the musical traditions out there.”

Crankies by Katherine Fahey

“Call Back: Artists Inspired by American Musical Traditions” is open by appointment. Masks are required, and thorough cleaning of all exposed areas that could become contaminated will be done between visits. Contact: tjjohnson9@aacc.edu to make an appointment.

If you miss this exhibit (and we hope you don’t), Cade features seven exhibits a year, with each exhibit focused by theme or medium. Recent shows included:

“AACC Sabbatical Exhibit: Dawn Bond and Lindsay McCulloch”
“Newsprint: The Medium that Launched Comics” – Curated by Warren Bernard
“New Works: A Showcase of AACC Visual Arts Faculty”
National Juried Show – ” Visualizing the Word” – Juried by Jon West-Bey
“Summer Online Showcase: Works by AACC Adjunct Faculty”
Regional Curated Show – “Grey Matter: A Response to Blackness” – Curated by Thomas James

Upcoming exhibits:

October 2020: “A Showcase of AACC Visual Arts Faculty”

November 2020: “National Juried Art Exhibition”

The Cade Center for Fine Arts Gallery is on the western side of AACC’s Arnold campus, 101 College Parkway. Follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aaccvisualarts/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cadegalleryaacc/ to receive up-to-date information.

Chesapeake Film Festival: Director Claudia Myers on “Fort Bliss”

September 10, 2020 by Val Cavalheri Leave a Comment

Claudia Myers is a screenwriter, director, and producer (Fort Bliss, Kettle of Fish, Above the Shadows) and an associate professor in Film & Media Arts at American University’s School of Communication.

Fort Bliss (Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWLtr0xYI7E), released in 2014, is a film about Staff Sergeant Maggie Swann (Michelle Monaghan), a decorated U.S. Army medic who returns from Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to civilian life and to rebuild a relationship with her young son.

In her interview with Spy, Myers discusses the film, the personal story behind how the movie evolved, and her approach to writing and directing.

Val Cavalheri (Spy): Why did you have to write this story?

Claudia Myers

Claudia Myers (CM): I was working on a training film project for the U.S. Army about junior officers and decisions they have to make in difficult situations. In the process of interviewing a group of infantry sergeants, I spoke to a single dad who had been deployed twice to Iraq for 15 months each tour. At the time, I had a little boy that was roughly the age of the sergeant’s son, and I remember being really compelled by his situation. I asked him what he did with his son while he was away, and he said the mom was not in the picture, so he left him with his neighbors. That floored me, and it made me realize how little I understood and knew about the complexity of the military experience and what we’re asking our soldiers and their families to do when a country goes to war.

It was also was memorable to me that I was the only one who was really surprised in the room because all the other soldiers were like, ‘yeah, it happens all the time.’ I looked into it, and 40% of women in the military are mothers, and that was both humbling and compelling to me because on some visceral level, I had been wrestling with my own kind of work/life balance. I had a two-year-old son and had been away from my family for three months, filming an interactive training project. I found that I was viewed differently for leaving my kid to go to work, than, for example, my husband was when he left on extended business trips.

Spy: How long did it take you to write Fort Bliss?

CM: While I kind of stumbled on this story that I wanted to develop, it quickly went from being about a single father to being about a single mom. However, I felt I didn’t have the knowledge or the experience to write the script that I felt deserved to be written. So, I actually spent about four years seeking out additional work with the military.

I worked on a documentary about the experience of the evolution of women’s roles in the military since World War II, and I had the opportunity to profile a female army medic. I also did a documentary about severely wounded soldiers coming back from Iraq and their paths to recovery from wounds both visible and not. That was added to the film.

I also went to Walter Reed and did a big project for the army medical department about posttraumatic stress and combat stress and a survivor’s guilt and many other things that I also then incorporated into the film. So that was kind of how the script developed.

Spy: In the movie, there are several scenes in Afghanistan. Did you film there?

CM: It was actually all filmed in California and Texas. The military supported the film and allowed us to shoot at the actual Fort Bliss. The topography of Fort Bliss, if you don’t know it, has vast amounts of desert. It’s also the size of Rhode Island and the largest or second largest military post in the U.S. We filmed in Afghan training villages at Fort Bliss that replicated the geography of Afghanistan. Sometimes we outfitted actual buildings to make them look like we were overseas.

Spy: How long did it take you to shoot the film?

We shot in 21 days. As I said, you’re filming in a location, that’s the size of Rhode Island in some cases. There was a lot of the civilian part of the story that was more straightforward, but something on a military post was more challenging to shoot. We got lost a few times looking for specific locations.

There’s one scene in the movie where the soldiers come home from deployment. It was really important to me that we do justice to how emotionally powerful these events are. I also wanted to show how the community rallies in support of the soldiers who are coming home. We went to the person who was our point of contact, and I asked him if we could put the word out into the Fort Bliss general community to have them come out and act as unpaid extras.

We ended up with more than a hundred people who showed up and made ‘Welcome Home’ signs. We even had some extras who were off-duty soldiers that came in their uniforms. So, we were able to create a wonderful thing. And I think it was one of the more powerful experiences for Michelle, as well.

Spy: Speaking of Michelle, Michelle Monaghan was a fantastic choice to play Maggie. How did that come about?

Her agent thought Michelle would respond to the script, and she did. I flew out to LA, and Michelle and I had quite a substantive discussion about my vision for the script and the character. We went through the script page by page, and I made certain adjustments based on her input. So, it became a collaborative and thoughtful process from the get-go. We also organized a special training for her at Fort Bliss, where she spent a week learning basic medical techniques and got to spend time with soldiers learning from them.

Spy: I think the movie is a very unusual accounting of a very strong woman because she’s not a superhero, but a real woman with real choices. You’re asking us to experience, through Maggie, many different types of emotions. What did you want your audience to take away from this movie?

CM: It’s such an interesting comment because that’s exactly right. I didn’t want people to take away just one thing. I wanted people to question certain assumptions, but what I wanted more than anything was for people to root for her and understand her, even though they may not always approve of her choices. As a writer, I wrestled with the ending. As a writer, that’s when I knew that I had a really good script because I didn’t think there was an obvious way to end this story. And I tried a lot of different things and settled on the one that felt the most truthful, because, like very often in life, there are no good choices.

I feel the film does that. I think it shows how she’s evolved. I hope people come away with different views on whether or not she made the right choice, whether or not she changed, and whether or not she and her son will have a different kind of relationship in the future.

Spy: You’re a writer, producer, and director. Is there one role that you look forward to over the other?

CM: I think writing and directing are my two favorite things and where I’m most comfortable. I think producing, as an independent filmmaker, just comes with the territory because it’s really hard to find people that are as passionate about it as you are.

Spy: What’s next for you?

I have another project that I’m passionate about that I’ve been working on for about five years. It’s based on a true story about a death penalty case in Virginia, which is considered by some people, one of the most surprising cases in Virginia’s criminal history. I’ll just leave it at that for now.

Maryland Women’s Museum Redux

August 20, 2020 by Val Cavalheri Leave a Comment

It was all very hush, hush. “Meet in the center parking lot in Centreville,” the email said, “and we will lead you to the destination.”

The email came from Mary Margaret Revell Goodwin. Her efforts to fulfill a dream and create the Maryland Museum of Women’s History at the Bloomfield Manor at the County Park was documented in a story the Spy wrote last month.

Even as we published Revell Goodwin’s amazing chronicle, there were hints of problems between those in favor of the Museum and some on the town council who were opposed. It soon became evident that it wasn’t going to work out, and Revell Goodwin made the painful decision to move on. Within hours she began receiving comments on social media, phone calls, and emails from people across the county angry with the Commissioners. Besides explaining what had occurred, there was a lot to take care of, including moving everything out of the house that was not to be. It was past 10 PM that evening when Revell Goodwin fired up her computer and found one concise message: “Mary Margaret if you think the house would work and you would be interested, call me.” THE house turned out to be Locust Hill, and the message was signed by Jack Ashley, who, together with his brother Phil, owns the property.

Which brings us back to the email, and the people gathered at the parking lot who learned that this was to be a dual celebration, as it also was Revell Goodwin’s 83rd birthday. They had been invited because they were the first believers in the mission that Revell Goodwin had set out to accomplish in opening her Museum. “In December of last year, I decided to sell the first memberships to the Museum,” she said. “I did not push it but sold quite a few even though I explained how there would be limited events for the time being. But so many wanted to show their support, including almost all of the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Queen Anne’s County who purchased memberships.

So, these supporters, caravanned to the new building which would house the Maryland Women’s History Museum. As they looked around, one of the attendees, Mary Ann Jackson, said, “My family has been farming in Queen Anne’s County for over 100 years. To turn this into a museum is just beyond words.” Her sentiment echoed the feeling held by others in the group. However, no one was surprised that Revell Goodwin was able to make it happen. After all, as we learned in doing her story, she is quite a powerhouse with a remarkable history of her own.

As for the Museum, the plan is to present their first exhibit around January/February in the Slave House on the property. Thanks to a donation from the previous owners, it will feature 1900 pictures of Locust Hill and the young girl who lived there with her family. “We will also be honoring the former slaves and servants who kept all the major houses here working,” says Revell Goodwin. “We know most of the names of those who worked at all those houses and even have photos of some of them. Some of their descendants are still here in the area!”

The Museum will also have responsibility for the graves and cemetery and the garden, which are both extensive and historic. Before the house itself can fully open to the public, there is much to be done. Fire suppression will need to be added, and an ADA (American Disability Act) wheelchair accessible bathroom will need to be built. But, unlike Bloomfield Manor, the house does already have water, sewer, electricity, and solar power. “All in all, we have a whole lot of wonderful work ahead of us,” says Revell Goodwin. “Give us time to get our breath and watch what will emerge! We have more surprises in store for everyone.”

Believe her.

Shore Food: A Master of Cakes Opens Up in Easton

July 16, 2020 by Val Cavalheri 1 Comment

Six years ago, Ruby Vanags knew nothing about making cakes. This month, she opened Ruby’s Cake Shoppe & Pastries at 415 B, East Dover Road, in Easton. If the long lines at her business are any indication, she not only succeeded in learning, she’s mastered the art of baking.

To get to today, you have to go back to six years ago, when Vanags received a special birthday cake her husband bought from Desserts by Rita in Ocean City. It was a mixture of mangos and strawberries, flavors that reminded her of her Philippines heritage. She became obsessed with it, hoping that a bakery closer to the Eastern Shore could replicate it (and preferably make it cheaper as well). Her search was unsuccessful, and Vanags decided to learn how to make it herself. When store-bought cake mixes didn’t give her the results she wanted, she went online and tried variations. Each attempt was a failure.

Fortunately, at the time, Vanags was working for the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge and asked for help from her pastry chef friend. “I want to master chiffon cakes,” she told him. “But my cakes keep overflowing. So, he said to me, ‘honey, you have to find a deeper pan.'” That was the beginning. “I failed nine times,” she said, “but I got it right on the 10th try.”

Vanags suddenly found herself a new hobby. Friends and family began to ask her to bake for special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, and even weddings. And she got really good at it. “Every time I wanted to create something, it just clicked. Every time I wanted to learn something different, I wouldn’t stop until I got it right. Baking is very time consuming, and you need to be patient, and I was patient.”

Even though Vanags was willing to remain patient as she learned all she could about baking, some of her friends urged her to open up a store. One, in particular, asked her to explore how much it would take to start a business. “I can’t afford it,” she told him, and he said, ‘You know what? Get your s— together and come back to me. I will help you out.'” And that’s how Ruby’s Cake Shoppe & Pastries came to be.

In January, Vanags left her job at the Hyatt and began construction on her shop. And then COVID-19 hit, and everything was put on hold. Everything except the rent she had to pay. That was difficult, she admitted. Recently, after she got final approval from the health department, she was able to fulfill a promise she made. “I’m going to bake a lot of cupcakes and bring it to the hospital and the frontline workers. So that’s what I did.”

On July 11th, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, and as Vanags admits, she’s been slammed ever since. She thinks she knows why. “You cannot find around here, what I’m selling. People haven’t tried the kinds of flavors that I make. Some of them are Asian based flavors, like fruits that you would find in an Asian market.” There is the Purple Yam cake, the Mango Cake, the popular Strawberry Pretzel, the Mocha pie, and a version of the Tiramisu. She says she also makes a great carrot cake. Sure, you can find your yellow cake with buttercream or chocolate frosting, but don’t expect it to be just average.

What she enjoys are the custom orders for items not on her regular menu. “I ask the customer to name me the flavor they want,” Vanags said, “and then I look for ways to make it. It has helped me improve my skills.

One cake she learned to make is the classic Tres Leches, a cake popular in the Mexican community. Vanags first made it for a birthday party. She recalls how a few days later, a new customer came in talking about a cake she had tasted, hoping that Vanags could replicate it. When Vanags realized what she was describing, she showed her a picture of the Tres Leches cake on her cell phone. “Is this the cake that you’re talking about? The customer jumped up, spun around, slapped her forehead. and said, ‘Oh my God, you made that cake!’ I now get slammed with orders for Tres Leches.”

Since all of her cakes are made from scratch, and since she’s had requests, Vanags is working on a dairy-free and gluten-free version of her desserts. “It’s not a big deal for me, and it’s going to happen. I want it to be fair for everyone.”

For now, you will have to stop by the shop to buy a slice or a pie from her display cabinet. There is no written menu. You can also call ((443) 205-3979) and place an order. Ruby’s Cake Shoppe and Pastries has a Facebook page, but no website yet. They’re open Tuesday – Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM.

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