The Chester River Bridge at Chestertown on Rt 213. 

The Maryland  State Highway Administration, as part of the State’s Bridge Preservation Program, will have a contractor performing routine maintenance operations on the Route 213 drawbridge over the Chester River on Monday, December 18.

According to an email from Bob Rager, SHA District Community Liaison, work will be done from 9  a.m. to 3 p.m. and may include test openings of the draw section of the bridge that should last no longer than those needed for an average vessel’s passage. Travelers between Kent and Queen Anne’s counties should allow for possible delays or plan alternate routes.

Traffic should be able to cross during the maintenance work except for short intervals when the draw-bridge is being tested.  Closures of one lane are also possible.

  Work will be performed by Covington Machine and Welding, Inc. of Annapolis, Rager said.

Sara McGill and Hunter Hague, employees at Harborview Farms, make a Project Protein delivery at Saint Martin’s. Since its inception last year, the program has provided more than18,000 pounds of bulk chicken from Mountaire Farms, thanks to the generosity of 12 business sponsors.

RIDGELY, MD –When you live in a rural community surrounded by farms that grow food, the idea that there are families right in your community who need food seems illogical. So when Trey Hill of Harborview Farms of Rock Hall learned that Saint Martin’s Ministries (SMM) of Ridgley was having a hard time keeping up with the demand for food in its pantry he brought together his team and people he knew in the agricultural community to create Project Protein, which is completing its first year.

Now Saint Martin’s Ministries says “thanks” to local volunteers and donors as the local agricultural community unites to complete the first year of Project Protein!

Project Protein is a monthly sponsorship program that has provided more than 250 Caroline County families with over 18,000 pounds of bulk chicken from Mountaire Farms. The way it works is that a business commits to a donation to SMM to cover the cost of purchasing the chicken. Hill and his team pick up the chicken from Mountaire Farms and deliver it to SMM food pantry for distribution to their clients.

For Hill, it is very much a united effort with the local agricultural community. “I am in a very fortunate position that I work with and do business with great people who were all alarmed by the fact that we live in an area that grows an abundance of food and yet we have people who are going hungry,” he says.

“When I mentioned this dilemma to my immediate Harborview team, I received a positive response and their support to use our agricultural connections to help these families in need. I then called twelve of the business partners that I work with and had each of them “sponsor” a month of chicken. Currently, the demand is just over 2,000 pounds per month and has been quite manageable given the great teamwork that exists within the community,” he adds.

In addition to Project Protein, the program has branched out to provide Thanksgiving dinner to 250 families with vegetables, fruit, bread and whole 6-pound roasters. Mountaire has agreed to provide Christmas dinner for 250 families as well.

For SMM the project is a great example of generous community response to a need. “Saint Martin’s is the place where the families who are struggling can go when they need help and hope,” says Deborah Hudson Vornbrock, executive director at SMM. “While we celebrate this season of giving, we want to say thank you to those who support Saint Martin’s 365 days of the year. Our volunteers, donors, and people like Trey Hill, his team at Harborview Farms, and the 12 businesses that committed to Project Protein are helping us make a difference in the community,” she adds.

Harborview Farms employee Gene Leonzio loads boxes of chicken into the Saint Martin’s freezer during a Project Protein delivery.

Project Protein has already received commitments for sponsors for 2018.  Hill is encouraged by the positive response. “The support from everyone has been overwhelming. I am very proud to be surrounded by such a compassionate and generous group of people,” he adds.

            The 2017 sponsors include Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit of Chestertown, Willard’s Argi-Service of Worton, Air-Ag, LLC of Laurel, DE, AET of North East, Binkley & Hurst of Seaford, DE, Joe Hickman Farm Management of Chestertown, FAM & M Insurance of Chestertown, Crop Production Services, Inc. of Centreville, William Loller Farm of Rock Hall, Atlantic Tractor with a combined effort for their stores in Cecilton, Queen Anne, Chestertown, and Clayton, DE, Pioneer Seed of Rock Hall and Hoober of Middletown, DE.

Saint Martin’s Ministries (SMM) of Ridgely, MD, is a non-profit organization that has provided a safety net for individuals and families living in poverty for more than three decades. SMM’s mission is to help meet basic human needs for impoverished people on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, to respect and affirm their dignity, and to address the root problems that perpetuate the cycle of poverty. SMM provides an array of services through a single point of entry, with a dignified case management approach, to address immediate and long-term needs. Its four assistance programs are its Food Pantry, Homelessness Prevention, Transitional Shelter and Thrift Store.

To learn more about Project Protein, please contact Deborah Hudson Vornbrock at (410) 634-2537 x 102 or by email at DHVornbrock@StMartinsMinistries.org. You can also visit StMartinsMinistries online or connect with them on Facebook (St. Martin’s Ministries).

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One of the six lighthouses created by Dick Swanson to be auctioned off at this year’s St. Martin’s Ministries event.

“America the Beautiful, From Sea to Shining Sea” is the theme for this year’s 12^th annual St. Martin’s Ministries’ Arts Dinner and Auction to be held on Friday, October 13, 2017 in the Chesapeake Room at the Rock Hall Firehouse.  This year’s event will include silent and live auction items donated by local artists and businesses that represent various regions of the United States.

Master craftsman Dick Swanson’s  Wood Lighthouse Series will take center stage at this year’s event as featured live auction items.  Representative of the evening’s theme, Swanson has chosen six American lighthouses, which once functioned as nautical landmarks in six different regions of the United States.  All still proudly standing guard over American’s vast network of waterways and coastlines. These are not your standard lighthouses that feature a tall white column with a light on top; these historic beacons each have their own particular personality.  Swanson’s unique creations are beautifully wrought in a variety of native woods and are truly one-of-a-kind treasures.

Dick Swanson was raised in New York state, in a furniture making family and trained early on in furniture and cabinetry making, though he became an electrical engineer by profession.  However, for the past 40 years he has continued his interest in furniture history, design and construction. Dick currently resides in Chestertown with his wife Nancy.

Swanson’s Wood Lighthouse Series will be on display at the Finishing Touch in Chestertown prior to the event.  Stop by and check out these unique pieces of art.  If you are interested in bidding on one or all of them and/or attending this year’s event you can visit www.smmartsevent.wordpress.com .

All proceeds benefit St. Martin’s Ministries.  St. Martin’s Ministries helps low income mid-shore families meet basic needs of food, clothing and housing.  In its 32nd year in Ridgely, Md. the Ministries is a non-denominational, non-profit organization.  Saint Martin’s House, a 2 year residential program, helps women and their children transition from homelessness to stability.  Saint Martin’s receives support from United Way and United Fund.   Numerous women and children in Kent County have benefited from the work of St. Martin’s Ministries.  For more information about St. Martin’s Ministries and this year’s Arts Auction visit www.stmartinsministries.org.