Opening Day - An American Tradition

Most of Wicomico County's elected leadership was in attendance at the annual Optimist Softball Opening Day in Salisbury. The league, run by the Wicomico County Parks and Recreation Department with sponsorship by the Optimist Club for the teams, held its Opening Day parade of teams at the Optimist Fields behind Prince Street School.



Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt, Wicomico County Council President John Cannon, Wicomico County Council Vice President William McCain and Maryland Delagate Norm Conway were in attendance and spoke, but it was left to Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton to throw the first pitch.



For the record, it did cross the plate, and on only 1 bounce. Not bad for a tennis player. Good form, though.

The Salisbury Optimist Club pays the fee for each team, and for its city teams, pays for uniforms as well. They supply announcers and scorekeepers for all games held at Optimist Field, which covers about half the league's games. The Optimist League will be holding a golf fundraiser on August 1st. Write the Optimist Club at PO Box 744,
Salisbury, MD 21803 for more information, or contact them on their website at http://www.salisburyoptimist.org/.

Thanks to Don Fitzgerald and all the people from the Optimist for their work in keeping this league alive. Now if we can just get the county to do something to improve the fields not in Salisbury....

Could we have a tie?

The latest on the Salisbury District 1 Council race, courtesy of delmarvanow.com:

SALISBURY — A count of absentee ballots this morning shows that Cynthia Polk and Shanie Shields are tied up in votes heading into the final count Friday.

The candidates for the District 1 Salisbury Council seat each have 130 votes. Heading into this mornings canvassing by the Wicomico County Board of Elections Office Polk led by 127 votes to Shields’ 126 votes. On election night, Shields had more votes.

Five votes are expected to be counted Friday afternoon, according to election officials. That number could increase if more ballots postmarked by the election date arrive before then.

One week.

In one week, Salisbury gets a new mayor. Just seven more days.

In one week, Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman will see her last term as mayor expire. Just seven more days.

In one week, Jim Ireton will become mayor, and deliver an inaugural address to the "five co-equal partners" he will have in running the city, namely, the City Council. 

In one week, the clock starts ticking on "Swimmable and Fishable in 10 Years." The plans for making Salisbury "The Safest City in Maryland" begin. And the actions needed to put "Neighborhoods First" begin in earnest.

In one week.

In one week, I hope you'll join me to attend the City Council meeting and see Jim Ireton sworn in as the city's next mayor. See you there.

Happy Brithday, Andrew

Happy 9th birthday to my youngest tax deduction, Andrew William Duck. 

Photo of the Day

Jason and Rob, kickin' it together at Metallica's induction ceremony for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Saturday night in Cleveland. All my Met fans know why this is important. As for the rest of you, well, trust me - it is.

With "friends" like these...

The Daily Times did decide to endorse a candidate. And, shockingly, it WASN’T Gary Comegys. They endorsed Jim Ireton for mayor of Salisbury.

I think.

Using some of the most twisted logic yet displayed in this campaign while simultaneously smearing Jim and praising Gary, they came to this conclusion:

          

    It's understandable how all of us might long for the days when inclusive-minded, big-thinking people who really understood what made a community special were in charge of our local government. Names like Frank Morris, W. Paul Martin, Sam Siedel and Elmer Ruark fit that mold. Can Jim Ireton demonstrate the type of leadership required to place his name onto such a list?

    A tall order, yes -- but he merits an opportunity to try.

So after spending, conservatively, 12 column inches accusing Jim of being “an impassioned but undisciplined neighborhood advocate”, of “employing the divide-and-conquer playbook”, and this gem, in the paragraphafter the Times says Ireton offers the best hope for the city...

There are questions about his temperament, as well as his ability to rise above the racket that will inevitably surround him. And, while some have been put off by his demeanor, there is ample hope that he can sufficiently stem any defensive tendencies and prove wrong those who doubt he has the people skills to lead.

...The Times editors decided to endorse Jim.

With friends like these, who needs enemies? I could spend lots of space and words proving the DT wrong on every charge, allegation and smear, in this endorsement, but we'd be beating our heads against the wall doing so. The Times isn't going to change, and there's no competition to force them to change.

So, gee, thanks, Daily Times, for endorsing Jim Ireton for mayor. I think.

In case anyone cares...

I'm not TwoSentz. Never said I was. Some people can't be bothered to read the author of a post on a blog with multiple contributors. Sad, really.

And so it begins in earnest...

It’s unfortunate Mayor Tilghman has lowered herself to engage in the politics of personal destruction again. In her press event today, she accused Jim Ireton of lying about crime and disparaging city employees.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

So what did Jim say Tuesday that has the Mayor so infuriated? Watch for yourself.

Crime Speech PART ONE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeDJ3yLkNMU  

Crime Speech PART TWO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTbcY9uJ5_c  

Here’s most of the data he cited Tuesday:
-----------

We stand here today in a city that was second in 2007 only to Baltimore City among municipalities in violent crime incidents. A city second only to Baltimore City among municipalities in forcible rape incidents. When looking at acts of violent crime per resident, Salisbury is actually ahead of Baltimore City. As of 3 weeks ago, we are still seeing more Part One crimes year-to-date than we have seen in the last two years in the same time period. 

What does that mean to us? Part One crimes, year-to-date for January and February: 2007, 495 and in 2008, 489 and now in 2009, 522.

----------
That’s what he said. EVERY WORD IS TRUE. Every. Single. Word. And the per capita statistics he cited were true, too. No apologies needed.

Changing "Maryland! My Maryland!"

From delmarvanow.com:

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller is suggesting that a state commission examine Maryland's state song and consider changing some stanzas.

Legislation that would have changed some of the words to "Maryland! My Maryland!" has failed in a House committee. A Senate version of the bill remains in a committee.

And why would the legislators of Maryland want to change such a historic state anthem? Well, let's take a look at a few of the lyrics:

The despot's heel is on thy shore, 

Maryland!

His torch is at thy temple door,

Maryland!

Avenge the patriotic gore

That flecked the streets of Baltimore,

And be the battle queen of yore,

Maryland! My Maryland!

So who's the despot whose heel is on thy shore? This guy:

Yeah, Abraham Lincoln.

Maryland's state anthem (sung to the tune of "O, Christmas tree", by the way) was a call for secession to the South in 1861. So I can see where some may feel it's just a little out of date.

Some other chocie lines from the state's official song:

I hear the distant thunder-hum,Maryland!The Old Line bugle, fife, and drum,

Maryland!

She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-

Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum!

She breathes! She burns! She'll come! She'll come!

Maryland! My Maryland!

So, uh, really - "She spurns the Northern scum?"

I don't need a tune like "Almost Heaven West Virginia" or "Hang On, Sloopie" (official state rock song of Ohio, really), but I do think we can do better than "She spurns the Northern scum!" Even if I agree with it whenever I get cut-off by a car with New Jersey tags on the Rt. 13 Bypass...  

Swimmable and fishable in 10 years

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090317/NEWS01/90317059&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

That's what Jim Ireton promised today. Within the next 10 years, we will see the Wicomico River swimmable and fishable again. 

On a day when Gary Comegys laid out his vision for the city, called "One Salisbury," all anyone is going to remember is "Swimmable & Fishable in 10 years."

Twenty one days until the election. Just sayin'. 

Three weeks left, and nowhere to go

DISCLOSURE: I'm now volunteering for Jim Ireton's campaign, so take my takes with a grain of salt. Or a whole salt mine. Whatever works for you.

So, The Daily Times decided there was sufficient news interest in the dirt being tossed around in the Salisbury mayoral race, and decided to address it all in one fell swoop.

My first reaction was, "Really? This is what you're covering? Admitted gossip and rumor?"

And after a few reads of the article on Gary Comegys and the article on Jim Ireton, I changed my mind. Slightly.

To its credit, The Daily Times did present each man with every known rumor, allegation and possible slander and allowed each to answer. They brought each candidate in and asked the questions to each man's face.  

I would have preferred to read their complete answers - it would have made for a great read on the delmarvanow.com site - but, if nothing else, each man got to answer the questions directly. And we get all this nonsense out of the way with three weeks still left to discuss the issues the citizens of Salisbury REALLY care about.

So, here's what we learned about Gary Comegys:

*Gary Comegys lost a child support suit with his ex-wife. He disputed the amount of time he needed to pay an increased amount of child support, and apparently reverted back to the original amount when the child reached 18. She sued, she won.  Next question. 

*Gary Comegys started a business with his 2nd wife and it failed. He declared bankruptcy. He says now he wished he hadn't declared bankruptcy. [EDIT: To be clear, they had the business declare bankruptcy.] [EDIT AGAIN: After re-reading the passage again, it's not clear if this was a personal banruptcy or a corporate one. I could only find online records of banruptcy in federal courts back to 2004.]

*Gary said he voted for zoning for the old mall under assumptions that later proved not true. I don't know enough about the whole mall mess to even have an opinion on the believability of this assertion.

*Gary didn't finish college. I don't know that Gary has ever said he did. There is some confusion over the use of the term "engineer" that I do think he glossed over.

*Gary says he really can do math. I'd point at Salisbury's city budget deficit and argue differently, but he's right in saying his job requires it. No argument there.

*He says he left the board of the Wicomico Humane Society on his own. I didn't know he was even ever on it.

*He and the firefighter volunteers don't seem to get along on the topic of seceding from city control.  Except that the paid firefighters just voted to endorse Jim Ireton. Make of that what you will. He did apparently abstain from the pension vote.

*The Sassafras Meadows mess, is, well, a mess. The way it reads, Gary had no idea his buddy Mike Dunn's family had been involved in the transaction. Right.

*And since the Cottages at Riverhouse campaign event never took place, everything's just hunky-dory. Right.

*And his infamous nap apparently happened while he was home recovering from shoulder surgery. Seems reasonable. And no, no sarcasm is intended there. I've had shoulder surgery, and the recovery is not fun.

And about Jim Ireton:

*He left the city council in 1999 to move away from Salisbury mostly over money, but some personal issues were involved, too. His time on the council doesn't come across as very pleasant. Since he left before the end of the school year, his certificate was "held" for a year by the state. Standard procedure in Wicomico County, by the way.

*His Open Meetings Violation was the results of a procedural mistake that he owned up to.

*He is going to serve his full term as mayor. Period.

*The $25 ticket in Rehoboth was addressed. Really, it's a non-issue. 

"I beat myself up now for being stupid and being out on the beach," he said. "Maybe if I thought at one point three years ago I was going to run for mayor of Salisbury, maybe I would have had my watch on."

*He's consistently said the city needs better control over the conditions of rental properties and that landlords need to be licenced.

*He supports impact fees, but did vote not to assess them on one project while he was on the city council. He does want an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.

*He was against the city's solution for Camden neighborhood flooding, because he says it didn't solve the problem, just create new problems.

*Jim is probably going to go half-time teaching.  The quote they used from Jim wasn't the nicest thing he's ever said, but then again, I didn't expect the Times to make him look good, either. 

*Jim hasn't asked that the mayor's salary be raised. He has questioned the timing of the mayor's Salary Commission report, which will be released after Barrie Tilghman is gone. How convenient for Barrie.

OK, now that THAT'S out of the way, can we talk about crime, neighborhoods and the river now?

Guitar Hero: Metallica

I just may need to take a day off of work to enjoy this one.  Street date is March 29.

And, I'm back: Reactions to Tuesday in Salisbury

Jim Ireton won, and won big Tuesday night in the primary of the Salisbury mayoral race. Disclosure: I volunteered on a couple of occasions and made a bunch of phone calls Tuesday for Jim.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at what we know from the results, what’s reasonable to extrapolate from the data, and what comes next.

First, the raw numbers:

=================
Registered Voters 12557 - Cards Cast 1394 - 11.10%
Total Votes - 2053

• Robert Caldwell - 522   /  25.43%
• Gary A. Comegys - 560 / 27.28%
• Michael Della Penna - 132 / 6.43%
• Jim Ireton - 839 / 40.87%

=================

A few reminders about Salisbury's primary process:
* It is a non-partisan primary - no one has party affiliations next to their names.
* Each voter can select two candidates, but it not mandated to - if you desire, you can vote for just one.
* Voters cannot give both votes to just one candidate. You can vote for one, you can vote for two, but you can't vote for one twice.
*Top two candidates proceed to the general election, conveniently held a month later, April 7.

WHAT WE KNOW:
Jim Ireton will proceed to the general election with 40% of the cumulative vote total.

Gary Comegys currently holds a 38 vote lead over Robert Caldwell for the second and last spot on the general election ballot.

Absentee ballots will be counted Thursday. There are 149 to be counted. Those voters may have voted for one or two mayoral candidates, and there's no way of knowing until they are physically counted Thursday. We may have an additional 149 votes or an additional 398 votes. If they break the way the general did, about 60% will vote for one candidate only, and the remaining 40% will have voted for two. In either case, some, and probably a majority, of those ballots will be marked for Jim Ireton, either alone or in additional to Caldwell and Comegys.

WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW:
Gary Comegys should, but may not, advance as the second candidate. Since there's only a 38-vote difference, it's possible, though not probable, Robert Caldwell could pass him. But I'd rather be Gary Comegys than Robert Caldwell going into the absentee ballot count.

As Joe Albero noted on SBYNews, some of the math from Tuesday isn't heartening for Gary Comegys. There were 1394 voters in the election casting a total of 2,053 votes. That means, as Joe points out, that 738 people cast just one vote for mayor. And that's more than half the people who voted.

WHAT WE CAN GUESS:

Jim's 13 percentage point victory is a problem for Gary Comegys, no matter how he chooses to spin it. Even if you take the favorite theory of Comegys' apologists - that his people just voted for Comegys while Ireton piggybacked on outsider support for Caldwell along with Ireton's base - the numbers don't work for Comegys. Those "Caldwell and Ireton, too" votes would have to break somewhere on the order of 65/35 in favor of Comegys for him to overtake Jim Ireton. And I can't foresee a circumstance where Comegys picks up a substantial amount of Caldwell supporters, let alone two-thirds of them. If they were voting for Caldwell, and adding Ireton as a message or a second thought, they aren't going to suddenly switch to the government incumbent.

A vote for Caldwell was a vote against the status quo, and the status quo is exactly what Gary Comegys represents and wants to continue. If he wants to run on his record, there will be some very happy people running the Jim Ireton campaign.

QUESTIONS THAT ARE LEFT:
Does Gary Comegys go negative? Some of his supporters certainly are. Just browse the comments on delmarvanow.com and other local blogs. Some of the stuff is vile, and most importantly, irrelevant. I won't even validate the smears by repeating them here. It may indeed get worse. I wouldn't read the Grapevine on delmarvanow.com if you're squeamish until after the election. And you might want to wait an additional week.

Does Gary Comegys run on his own record, or against the 16 months Jim Ireton served on the City Council 10 years ago? He's kind of between a rock and a hard place - if he harps on Ireton's votes from a time when Clinton was still president, he's wallowing in the past. If he runs on his own record, he's opening himself to charges of being beholden to landlords and other special interests with the evidence being contained in his comments and votes while on the City Council. Don't be surprised if he tried to wage a campaign focused on Jim Ireton 10 years ago instead of Salisbury 10 years from now.

How does Jim Ireton deal with his time on the council? The facts are there - he was elected, and well short of the end of his term, he resigned and moved. Now he's back, and wants to be mayor. People are going to have tough questions he needs to be able to answer.

Is The Daily Times guilty of bias? More disclosure - I worked for The Daily Times as a reporter and editor for 3.5 years back in the early 1990s, and enjoy good personal relationships with Erick Sahler, Managing Editor, and Greg Bassett, Managing Editor. They were great co-workers, and have been great professionals in all my dealings with them since I left. I've called concerning stories on my Wi-Hi Wrestling Team and also when I worked on the campaign to reject the 2000 Revenue Cap proposal.

But I am left wondering after looking over some of the coverage in the last week. Politicians always complain they aren't treated fairly, so I was pretty cynical. But here's a few quotes from stories the last week that made me say "Huh? Really?"

From the Voter's Guide on Sunday, questionable phrasings in bold and italic:

Ireton, 39, has been a teacher on and off for 17 years. He taught at St. Francis de Sales School in Salisbury from 1993-97 and at Northwestern Elementary in Mardela Springs from 1997-99. He served 17 months on the Salisbury City Council from April 1998 to August 1999 before quitting and taking odd jobs with Alternative Resources Corp. in Linthicum, Md., then came back to Salisbury to work at WBOC-TV for the remainder of 1999. From 2000-2004, he started a master's program at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and taught at Mount Royal Elementary/ Middle in Baltimore, then taught the next two years at Medfield Heights Elementary in Baltimore. He returned to the Lower Shore in 2006, teaching for two years at East Salisbury Elementary. His current place of employment is Westside Intermediate. Ireton is active in the Democratic Club and is chairman of the Wicomico Neighborhood Congress and a member of the city of Salisbury Recycling Committee.

Really, he's taught for the vast majority of those 17 years. Government officials traditional resign, not quit. And I have no idea why the writer used "taking odd jobs" as a description of his work in Linthicum. And why not note Jim's finished his mastered, instead of just saying he started it? And he's a teacher at Westside Intermediate. Current place of employment? What's that's about?

And from the article concerning Tuesday's results:

SALISBURY -- Former councilman Jim Ireton made it through the city primary Tuesday by a landslide vote, more than 300 ahead of City Council Vice President Gary Comegys.

Comegys said he was still delighted to get the support he did.

"I'm going to work extra hard between now and the general election to win this," he said.

Ireton gave a confident speech to a captive audience at Flavors of Italy on Main Street.

"I'm going to be the next mayor," he said.

Well, Jim said a lot more than that, but that's a great quote for a reporter. But "made it through"? How about, oh, I don't know, WON? There's a pretty short way of saying what Jim Ireton did Tuesday.

But, more importantly to me,  why does the man who just got beaten by 13 percentage points get the first quote? Everything I learned at the University of Maryland's Journalism school says most important first, then give facts in descending order of importance. So Gary Comgey's reaction is more important the the man who garnered 13 percent more votes?

Maybe I'm being paranoid, but there's a case to be made there's a pattern developing.

Life, it gets busy sometimes.

Sorry I've been, well, nonexistent on my own blog lately. No excuse except for the sheer busyness of life.

I had to run the Delmarva Classic in the Civic Center for the first time. That went well. Thanks to Joe Harbinson and all the crew at the WY&CC for that!

Ali and I went to see Metallica in Newark, NJ. That was awesome.

Ali and I went to NYC. That was awesome, too.

Throw in a couple of swim meets, a visit to Hopkins, and well, my day job, it's been a busy month.

I promise to have my thoughts on Kratovil's vote on the stimulus package at some point. Soon.

Rep. Kratovil (Md-1st) votes AGAINST stimulus bill

In addition to every single Republican member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md-1st) votes against President Obama's stimulus bill. He was one of 11 Democrats to do so, presumably after securing permission from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to do so. From the Washington Wire of WSJ.com:

President Barack Obama extended an olive branch to House Republicans in a Capitol Hill meeting on Tuesday, but not one member of the GOP conference voted in favor of the nearly $900 billion economic package approved 244-188 this evening.

After a day of spirited debate on the House floor, 177 House Republicans voted en masse against the proposal. Joining them were 11 House Democrats, including Reps. Allen Boyd of Florida, Bobby Bright andParker Griffith of Alabama, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Walt Minnick of Idaho, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Heath Shuler of North Carolina, and Gene Taylor of Mississippi.

Bright, Parker, Kratovil and Minnick are freshman lawmakers, while Boyd, Cooper, Ellsworth, Peterson, Shuler and Taylor are members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. [EDIT BY DUCKAROUND: Kratovil has previously announced his intentions to join that caucus. Not sure if he's officially joined yet.]

As a freshman Democrat in a largely Republican district, Kratovil could almost have been expected to cast this vote. I'm sure he does honestly believe in his vote against this bill, as he has stated he won't vote for any stimulus package that doesn't have much more oversight and accountability than the bailouts passed under Pres. Bush and this package proposed by Pres. Obama.

But, let's be honest, it does give him convenient cover against a run by Andy Harris in '10. He can say he stood up to increased Washington spending, and demanded more oversight. The first bill he co-sponsored would eliminate the automatic raised Congresspersons get adjusted for inflation. 

For someone just getting introduced into big-time elected office, Frank Kratovil seems to have learned some lessons very quickly.

And here's why I love The Sword

"How Heavy This Axe" from "Gods of the Earth".

It's like Black Sabbath got a new singer in 1972 rather than 1979. Their guitar tone is to kill for. I can't wait to see these guys.

Just 3 days 'till 'Tallica....

So my daughter and I make the journey north on Saturday to enjoy the musical stylings of The Sword (love that band! Lars was right about something!), Machine Head, and the mighty Metallica.

It will be the 7th time I've seen them, and the first for my oldest offspring. (Note to self - see The Offspring this year...) In celebration, I'll post a video a day of something Metallica has played this tour. Unless I forget one day. Or decide to post two in a day. You'll understand.

So, in installment #1, here's "Ride the Lightning" from Dutch TV last year.

From 1981 - Newspapers on Computers! Who Knew?

Saw this on DailyKos. 

"We're probably  not gonna lose a lot, but we're not gonna make much, either." - San Francisco Chronicle executive, 1981.

How right they were.

In other news, I finally join 2006

Well, I've finally taken the Facebook plunge. It's amazing how fast people find you - I've had about half a dozen people from my graduating class at Parkside find me in the last 24 hours. I'm listed as William Duck. Makes me sound older. :)

And the weirdest part? I didn't know my own sister was already on Facebook!

Words Fail Me.

Those who know me know I'm not a reticent guy. I talk. A lot. Usually too much. But faced with this yesterday, I didn't do much talking. The occassion simply called for silence.

Sure, it was cold getting in line for Silver Ticket Security at 5:30 a.m. Yes, it was cold standing from 5:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. No, I couldn't see very well.

But the sound I will remember is the sound of 1.5 million people listening to every word President Obama spoke. You could hear a pin drop on grass when his Inaugural Address began, and you could hear a pin drop on grass until moments after he finished.

There wasn't much grand poetry in his address. He didn't offer the lifting language of the campaign. You didn't want to run through a wall for him after listening to him like in the campaign. This was a speech full of hard realities, and a firm conviction to set things right.

This isn't the speech we wanted. But it was the speech we needed.

More later tonight.

Goin' to DC!

And in this case, I don't mean the Delmarva Classic...

I found out last night that I was one of five lucky constituents to be picked in Rep. Frank Kratovil's lottery for Inauguration tickets. These are the good ones, too - my wife and I will be right behind the Reflecting Pool, behind where Members of Congress will be sitting. When Kratovil's staff showed me on the map included with the invite where those without tickets would be standing, he pointed to an are three inches below the map on the counter. I gotta admit, I smiled a little.

I'll try out the functions of this new doo-hickey of a phone I have, and see if I can't do a little live-blogging from the Inaugural activities.

It's official - Metallica makes the Hall of Fame

Courtesy of EW.com:

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2009 inductees this afternoon, and the lucky five legends are Metallica, Run-D.M.C., Bobby Womack, Jeff Beck, and Little Anthony & the Imperials.

So Metallica basically made it the first year they were eligible. Black Sabbath had to wait WAAAAAAAAY too long, and don't get me started on the fact that KISS, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest aren't in. I mean, Rush isn't in. WTF?

Here's Metallica at their absolute best - 1985, Day on the Green in Oakland, with original bassist Cliff Burton.

Thank You, Salisbury!!!!!

In just 36 hours since word went out on SBYNews.com and in today's The Daily Times, we have commitments for ALL 14 weight classes, plus an additional $1,000 from the U.S. Navy Recruiting Office in Ocean City, who will be on-site for the weekend.

Those businesses and groups who stepped up to the plate include:

Common Grounds, a Fair Trade Coffee House opening in March at Mill Pond Village across from Toys-R-Us. They sponsored an incredible FOUR weight classes! Go drink some coffee in March! 

Delmarva Wrestling Club, under the direction of Homer King, will sponsor a weight class.

Harvard Manufacturing has committed to sponsoring two weight classes.

Atlantic Lighting & Sign has committed to sponsoring two weight classes.

Delmarva Auto Glass will sponsor a weight class, as will Tapman's Refrigeration, Capital Choice Financial Group, Fraternal Order of Police Wicomico Lodge 111 and the Wicomico High School Faculty and Staff.

I can't tell you how much this will help local high school wrestling. We're bringing in 17 teams from across two states, including 7 state-ranked wrestlers from MD and another 5 from Delaware. There have been 6 wrestlers who've won states the year they didn't win the Delmarva Classic - that's how tough this tournament can be!

I appreciate all the individuals, organizations and businesses that have come together to help high school wrestling on the Lower Eastern Shore. I do want to thank Wicomico County Tourism and the staff at the Civic Center - they are doing all they can to help, and are making this event's logistics a lot easier to manage. They will be one of the reasons this event will be so successful this year.

And thanks to SBYNews.com and The Daily Times for getting the word out. This would have not been possible without the interest and help of Joe Albero and Daily Times' Sports Editor Shawn Yonker.

Join us at the Civic Center starting at 2:30 on Friday, Jan 16th and again starting at 9:30 Saturday January 17th. Finals should begin at 6 p.m. Saturday. Varsity and junior varsity wrestling will occur through Friday afternoon and evening and just about all day Saturday. Admission is $10 per day or $15 for the weekend.

-Bill Duck
delmarvaclassic@verizon.net