Alcohol is a particularly serious problem in Talbot County where it is deeply entrenched in our social and cultural norms. Talbot County’s alcohol-induced death rates lead all of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions.

Talbot Partnership for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention would like to provide these reminders for everyone planning to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday:

· Talk to your kids. Know where your children will be and how they will be getting home.

· Be responsible party hosts.

· Don’t drink and drive.

· Remember, beer and wine is just as intoxicating as hard liquor. A 12-ounce can of beer; a five-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce wine cooler and an ounce and a half of liquor contain the same amount of alcohol.

· Never serve alcohol to someone under the legal drinking age, and never ask children to serve alcohol at parties.

For additional information on what you can do to help avoid the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, contact

 Talbot Partnership at 410-819-8067 or visit their website at www.talbotpartnership.org.

A Chocolatier samples chocolate. People smile. They savor, smile some more. Then they buy some chocolate. It’s almost that simple. A Chocolatier asks a friend to be a host and invite people to a Chocolate Tasting party.
Do you love chocolate?
Now you can have a DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ Tasting party and invite your friends to try deliciously decadent new ways to enjoy everyone’s favorite flavor. From chocolate smoothies and martinis to 5-minute chocolate mousse, a Chocolatier will help you discover a whole new world of chocolate
Hosting a Chocolate Tasting party is as easy as saying, “Chocolate.” Your friends will come running. All you have to do is set a date with your expert Chocolatier. They’ll supply the invitations and all the decadent chocolate goodies. You do the inviting, by mail or e-vite. Your party could be a playdate or a girls’ night out. Your Chocolatier will suggest some dippables that you’ll provide like fruit, marshmallows or pretzels. You might want to have some soft drinks or water on hand to prevent chocolate overload (highly unlikely). While your Chocolatier demonstrates the latest chocolate yummies, you just sit back with your friends and enjoy (or inhale) the chocolate. You can even get some tasty chocolate perks for your efforts.

 
Phone 1 443.600.1986

Email PetrasChocolateParties@live.com
Website http://www.dove-chocolate-discoveries.co…

Click here for DRIVER EDUCTION CLASSES

MVA Approved Driver’s Education 2012 Schedule Classroom location: 8673 Commerce Dr. Easton, Md 21601 First left off of Glebe Road

MVA Approved Driver’s Education 2012 Schedule
Classroom location: 2919 Ocean Gateway, Rt. 50, Cambridge. (Just past 82 mile marker, east bound)

MVA Approved Driver’s Education 2012 Schedule
Classroom Location: 18 Legion Rd. Denton,Md 21629 In Denton Plaza next to Rose’s
Office location:
8673 Commerce Drive suite #15
Easton, Md 21601

Office hours:
Mon-Thurs 9:00a-3:00p
Fridays by appointment

Mailing address:8673 Commerce Drive Suite#11
Easton,Md 21601

Phone:410-822-4411

Email:bayside@goeaston.net

Website:www.baysidedriving.com

“I’m ecstatic to welcome women and families to Choices Pregnancy Center,” said Executive Director Sharon Finecey.  “Our new center is equipped with an ultrasound machine to provide sonograms, and we also can provide audible heartbeat detection.  We are ready to empower women to choose life.”

Choices Pregnancy Center, a non-profit ministry serving the Midshore, provides free and strictly confidential support for women in need, including sonograms for pregnancy verification, audible heartbeat detection, and pre-natal care referrals.

 “Our vision is to provide hope, help and healing so that each woman we serve is empowered to choose life for herself and her unborn child,” said Pastor Eric Olson, Choices President.

 In addition to limited medical services, Choices Pregnancy Center also offers one-on-one mentoring, support groups, and pregnancy, infant care and parenting classes.  The Baby Boutique at the center provides material resources for mom and baby from birth through age one.

 The medical center is located at 822 Teal Drive, #408.  The community is welcome to tour the center and meet Finecey, Olson, Medical Director John T. Hurley, M.D., and other board members and staff.  Light refreshments will be provided.

 Originally established in 1991, Choices Pregnancy Center was formerly a 24-hour a day, seven days a week hotline and pregnancy help and information service with offices in Federalsburg, Cambridge and Easton.  The new center consolidates the former offices.

 Choices Pregnancy Center relies solely on community support for all programs.  Current development efforts include the Walk for Life, golf tournament, annual banquet, and Baby Bottle Campaign.  Choices is affiliated with Care Net, Heartbeat International, and National Institute of Family and Life Advocates.  To volunteer or make a donation, contact Finecey at director@choicesinpregnancy.org or 410-822-3311.

 About Choices Pregnancy Center
Choices for Life Pregnancy Center is a compassionate Christian ministry that offers life-affirming choices to women and their families who are faced with an unplanned pregnancy.  We offer free and confidential services in a supportive environment which include pregnancy confirmation, information about pregnancy options, material assistance, education in pregnancy, parenting and sexual purity as well as post-abortion recovery resources.  We seek to be a positive force for life within our community.

Choices Pregnancy Help & Resources 29556 Brant Ct # 1, Easton, MD 21601-7155  (410) 822-3311   Directions

Caption: Students from Saints Peter and Paul Elementary School recently collected baby gifts for CHOICES.

 Their collection coincided with the Right to Life March in Washington, DC.

How can people find out more about the Better Body System? Our first local get together will be on January 22, 2012 at 2:00pm at the Elks Lodge in Stevensville, MD. This will be a casual get together for people already on the system and those who want information on how the system works and how to order the system.

Most people wait until the new year to make weight loss resolutions. One local woman decided she couldn’t wait for the new year to make a change. Loretta Arscott, of Queenstown, started her health transformation in October and ended up with amazing results by the new year. She lost 27 pounds in just over two months.

 Loretta answers questions on why and how she made the transformation.

 What made you decide it was time to make a change in your health? There were a number of reasons. I was overweight, tired all the time, and feeling aches and pains in my back and legs. I thought to myself this can’t be what 45 is supposed to feel like. I also started thinking seriously about my family history. Both my mother and grandmother had diabetes. If I continued on the same path I was sure I would also be diagnosed. I thought about my daughter and felt I owe it to her to take care of myself. My daughter is still very young and I want to be around to take part in all the special milestones in her life. I also saw many people who struggle to get around and thought, “I have to do something before I get to that point.”

 How did you choose the system you use to loose weight? I found the system as a result of looking for a natural energy drink. I was doing the traditional things to try to lose weight. I joined the gym, was working out and trying to eat right. I was still very tired and not seeing weight loss. I thought maybe my coffee addiction was part of the problem. I was drinking at least 32 ounces of coffee a day. I read labels on 15 plus products both at the store and online. I was getting frustrated because I couldn’t find an energy drink without artificial sweetener or types of sugar I did not want. Finally I came across Yoli’s Passion energy drink sweetened with stevia, which is not an artificial sweetener. I knew I had found what I was looking for. However, the only way to get Passion was to buy a new weight loss system from Yoli called the Better Body System. I read the labels on the other products in the system to be sure they were something I was comfortable using. This system was a new product release in October so I stumbled upon it at the perfect time. I ordered it right away.

 What type of results did you see using the system? After using the system for seven days I lost nine pounds. A nine pound loss was truly motivating. I knew I could stick with the system because I was seeing great results. I continued using the system through the holidays. By the end of December I had lost 27 pounds. It is truly life changing and it happened so quickly. And, I was still able to eat at Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as other occasions. I’ve lost inches and I’m down 2-3 pant sizes.

Have you tried other weight loss programs? I’ve tried many diets. I have diet books, weight loss video’s, and I’ve tried online programs. I tried counting points but that’s just too much work for me. I knew I needed something simple to follow. I didn’t want complicated recipes, I didn’t want to have to prepare a lot of foods ahead of time, and I didn’t want prepackaged meals. With the Better Body System I can make something simple that I’m familiar with or I can try recipes. I don’t have to be afraid to eat out. I don’t have to shop for food I wouldn’t normally eat or foods I’ve never heard of. I don’t consider the Better Body System a diet but rather a lifestyle change that helps me understand how my body burns fat.

What’s your favorite part about using the system? There have been so many rewards. Obviously the weight loss is exciting. Sharing it with others and  hearing their results is very rewarding. Not feeling hungry all the time is a definite advantage. Having more energy and less aches and pains is great. Just feeling more healthy all over is such a great feeling. And I can finally enjoy shopping for clothes, which is something I put off for years. I use to say, “I’m not going to buy anything until I lose weight.” I’ve also learned about sugars, carbohydrates, fat, and body acidity. It’s a simple system so I don’t find it hard to follow or incorporate into my lifestyle.

 How can people find out more about the Better Body System?  Our first local get together will be on January 22, 2012 at 2:00pm at the Elks Lodge in Stevensville, MD. This will be a casual get together for people already on the system and those who want information on how the system works and how to order the system. I’ve partnered with the company and I hope to get some fun and supportive weight loss teams started. It’s much more fun when you have group support. Those interested in attending can email me at loretta@lorettaarscott.com or leave me a message at 410-690-4980. 

You can also follow my story and progress on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/betterbodyweightloss or visit my website at http://www.GoBetterBody.com.

 

Environmental Concern Announces its 40^th Anniversary on

World Wetlands Day

 Locally Based Non-Profit Continues Living Shoreline Work and Kicks Off Milestone Anniversary Year on an International Day to Promote Public Awareness of Wetlands

 Easton, Maryland – January 16, 2012 – Environmental Concern starts its celebration to honor its 40^th anniversary year on February 2, 2012, a date that coincides with World Wetlands Day.

 Environmental Concern is a non-profit headquartered in St. Michaels, Maryland. With ties up to the international level, the organization’s main work focuses on wetlands around the Chesapeake Bay. Dr. Edgar Garbisch who was a chemistry science teacher at the University of Minnesota started the non-profit in 1972. He turned his attention to wetlands during a time in the U.S. when Americans began to put the environment at the forefront. In 1972 he returned to the place of his youth, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and founded Environmental Concern. Unlike water and air, two subjects that the public understood and valued as important, wetlands suffered from a legacy of false perceptions. Swamps, bogs and marshes were seen as undesirable components of the landscape good only for conversion to usable land. This perception manifested itself in the widespread destruction of millions upon millions of acres of wetlands.

 Dr. Garbisch and his team worked over the years to both perfect the restoration of damaged wetlands while at the same time educating his peers in the scientific community and the public at-large as to the importance these critical habitat areas of the environment played in the larger ecosystem. He pioneered a successful restoration method in which he mimicked nature. This method required a steady supply of native marsh grasses to support all restoration projects and as no commercial nurseries grew these plants, Dr. Garbisch created a nursery at Environmental Concern where the seeds he collected in local marshes would be brought back and propagated so required plants would result. His propagation techniques are now used throughout the world as a best-practice. Today, Environmental Concern’s native plant nursery, the first of its kind in the nation, grows over 120 different species of native plants. These plants are used in projects as large as the restoration of Elliot Island on Fishing Bay in Dorchester County on the Chesapeake Bay (over 400,000 plants), to projects as small as a homeowner’s backyard rain garden or a wildflower meadow.

 Over the years Environmental Concern grew in size, scope and staff with the mission to promote public understanding and stewardship of wetlands with the goal of improving water quality and enhancing nature’s habitat. This is accomplished through wetland restoration outreach and education, native species horticulture, and the restoration, construction and enhancement of wetlands.

 Dr. Garbisch retired in 2002 and Suzanne Pittenger-Slear became the organization’s second-ever president. In addition to creating a leading knowledge-based campus for wetland restoration, education and establishing the first-ever native plant nursery in the nation; Environmental Concern was also the first organization to offer teachers wetland training workshops nationwide and published a number of books that became widely adopted by state and federal agencies. Further, the non-profit was awarded a project on Poplar Island, the largest wetland planting project of its kind ever awarded by the Baltimore District Army Corp of Engineers. The project crew planted about 550,000 wetland plants in less than two months. 

 Suzanne Pittenger-Slear, Environmental Concern’s president remarks, “The impact Environmental Concern has made on the scientific community and the public at-large has been tremendous. We are proud that our wetland services has directly improved the overall water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and it tributaries. We have been able to share best-practices in wetland restoration and enhancement with our scientific peers as well as the community-at-large up to the international level.” Further, she comments, “We are excited to enter into our 40^th year on the significant date of February 2^nd, which is World Wetlands Day. On February 2 in 1971, the Convention on Wetlands Intergovernmental Treaty was adopted. Each year wetland learning centers, government agencies, non-government agencies and concerned citizens take advantage of this opportunity to reach out to the wider community – raising public awareness of the benefits of wetlands, and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.”

 The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands outlines that the over 160 member countries must commit to designating Wetlands of International Importance and to implementing the “three pillars” of the Convention: to designate Wetlands of International Importance; to work towards the wise use of wetlands through land-use, appropriate policies and public education; and to cooperate internationally concerning transboundary wetlands. Pittenger-Slear is the immediate past president of the U.S. National Ramsar Committee and currently serves as the national Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) Focal Point, a volunteer position that is responsible for public outreach in the U.S. for the wetlands of international importance.

 Environmental Concern encourages the public to celebrate World Wetlands Day by visiting the Environmental Concern campus in St. Michaels on February 2^nd to learn more about the importance of these microsystems in person; learning more about the work of Environmental Concern and wetlands online at www.wetland.org; visit “World Wetlands Day” under the “Activities” page at Ramsar.org to download educational materials and children’ activities; or taking the time to plan and clean up a local wetland of litter, debris and other potential contaminants.

 About Environmental Concern

Environmental Concern is a public non-profit established in 1972 that exists to promote public understanding and stewardship of wetlands with the goal of improving water quality and enhancing nature’s habitat. The organization accomplishes its mission through wetland outreach and education, native species horticulture, and the restoration, construction and enhancement of wetlands. For the last 40 years, Environmental Concern has been known as the leading expert in the field of wetlands restoration, horticulture and education. Further, the public non-profit established the first native plant nursery in the nation. Environmental Concern’s campus is located at the head of San Domingo Creek in St. Michaels, Maryland, which is located on the Chesapeake Bay on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. To learn more, please visit www.wetland.org or call Suzanne Pittenger-Slear, president at 410.745.9620.

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Independent Demonstrator, Stampin’ Up!
Website: www.sherahlweadon.stampinup.net
Blog: www.sherindipity.wordpress.com

Talbot Partnership for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention would like to remind parents who allow their teens to have friends over to drink, thinking it’s a safe way to keep them off the roads, that they are subject to liability laws that make them vulnerable to lawsuits, fines and jail time.

It is a criminal offense in Maryland to host an underage drinking party and it is punishable by law. The social host may be prosecuted by the State under a criminal statute and face fine or imprisonment for the criminal violation. If you break the law, you can be fined up to $2500 and others can sue you if you give alcohol to anyone under 21, they hurt someone, hurt themselves, damage property, or even if no harm comes to anyone. According to the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism (www.niaaa.nih.goc), alcohol is the drug of choice among children and adolescents. Annually, about 5000 youth under age 21 die from motor vehicle crashes, other unintentional injuries, and homicides and suicides that involve underage drinking.

For further information on these laws or about how to monitor your teen, visit www.talbotpartnership.org or contact Talbot Partnership at 410-819-8067.

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Easton, MD – December 13, 2011 – The Country School has enacted a new fun and unique approach to exercising this fall. With a varied program and strong encouragement, Cougar Fit has truly changed how the kids look at physical training. It is a new program that not only emphasizes warm up and fitness, but injury prevention as well. Special attention is paid to building upper body strength, as kids these days are much weaker in their upper bodies than generations prior, due to all the time inside and not enough free play. Specialized equipment has been purchased to enhance the program, like abdominal mats, pull up bands and weight bars. Cougar Seals Training has also been introduced to third and fourth graders. This workout creates group cohesion, as all participants in a squad must finish various physical tasks or missions, together, prior to moving on to the next one.

Because the program is different everyday, it provides structure, teaches a child to be a self-starter (as they are responsible to start their exercises on their own after changing into gym clothes) and commitment. Susan Bohaker, athletic director, and physical education teacher and coach says, “The Country School has made a HUGE commitment to further developing the physical wellness of a child through a strong physical education program. Creating and implementing the Cougar Fit program is a reflection of that.”

About The Country School
The Country School is an independent, coeducational, Kindergarten through eighth-grade school founded in 1934. Its mission and philosophy is to offer a challenging program in a nurturing environment with small classes, individual attention, and outstanding teachers as its hallmarks. A traditional, structured, responsive, and age-appropriate curriculum focuses on building basic skills and serves a range of student abilities within a family school context. The school strives to educate the whole child in an atmosphere that fosters high academic standards, instills a love of learning, and provides a solid foundation for future education. Enrichment in the arts, athletics, and co-curricular activities offers additional arenas for individual achievement and leadership. By emphasizing the importance of strong values and character, the faculty consistently reinforces responsible behavior, self-discipline, and positive attitudes. Working in concert, Country School teachers and parents help students develop confidence and competence and reach toward their highest potential. To learn more about The Country School, visit http://www.countryschool.org or contact Liz Connors, Director of Advancement, at 410.822.1935, ext. 190 or econnors@countryschool.org.