Easton

Elizabeth W. Pierson, a homemaker who earlier in her life had been an educator, died Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease at William Hill Manor in Easton. The former longtime Roland Park resident was 87. Elizabeth Ives Wilcox was born in Baltimore and raised on Southway in Guilford. She was a graduate of Girls' Latin School. After earning a bachelor's degree in the history of art from Goucher College in 1942, Mrs. Pierson taught school for several years at St. Leo Parochial School in Little Italy and at the Chimes School in Mount Washington.

An article in yesterday's Sun transposed the names of two men involved in a fatal car accident on U.S. 50 near Rabbit Hill Road in Easton. Maryland State Police said Craig Lee Schatz of Delaware was driving a Ford pickup truck that was hit by a Buick Park Avenue driven by Halston Andre Tyler Jennings of Pennsylvania. Three separate serious accidents over the weekend on U.S. 50 in the Easton area left three people dead and nine others injured - including two Baltimore teenagers, Maryland State Police said.

Robert Barber of State College, Pa., will be walking around downtown Annapolis today with no touristy, leisurely gait. He'll be staking out an outdoor scene worthy of the top prize in the sixth annual Paint Annapolis competition. The artist, who has won the competition three years in a row, does not think it will be hard to find. "The thing that I enjoy about painting in Annapolis is that every block has 12 paintings in it," Barber said. The Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association will host the competition from tomorrow through Sunday in Annapolis.

On December 28, 2007, THOMAS J. HEALY JR., of Easton, MD, devoted husband of Nancy (Nee Cottingham) Healy, loving father of Donna Clem of Oxford, MD and Barbara Hope, Thomas "Mooch" Healy, III, Paula Broll and Shelley Chance all of Easton, MD. Also survived by a sister, Margie Mullaney of Baltimore, 9 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Services will be held at St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Easton, MD, on Thursday January 3, 2008 at 11A.M. Burial will be in Oxford Cemetery, Oxford, MD. Friends may call at the Fellows Helfenbein Newnam Funeral Home P.A., Easton, MD on Wednesday January 2, 2008 from 6 to 8 P.M. Memorial donations may be made to Talbot Hospice Foundation, 586 Cynwood Drive, Easton, MD 21601 or the Oxford Volunteer Fire Company, 300 Oxford Road, Oxford, MD 21654.

Charlotte Lee Wheeler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rexford Lee Wheeler, III of Baltimore was wed to William Sherman Gordon, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. William Sherman Gordon of Keene, Virginia on April 28th. The bride is a graduate of Calvert School, The Bryn Mawr School, Washington and Lee University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. She is the granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John T. King, III and the late Mr. and Mrs. Rexford Lee Wheeler, Jr., all of Baltimore. The groom is a graduate of Saint Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia and Appalachian State University.

EASTON --More than three years after winning a bitter fight to place a statue of Talbot County's most illustrious native son - abolitionist Frederick Douglass - here on the courthouse lawn, the grass-roots group that is leading the drive has raised only about half the money it needs. The sculptor who was selected to create the statue complains that he doesn't have a contract in hand or a check to reimburse him for money he's spent on travel and designing models. "I've been working for three years and haven't made a nickel.

Robert Reeser Shortall, a longtime Eastern Shore restaurant manager, died July 7 of cancer at Talbot Hospice House in Easton. The Royal Oak resident was 52. Mr. Shortall was born in Easton and raised in St. Michaels, where he graduated from St. Michaels High School in 1973. He was 14 when he began his career clearing tables at the Crab Claw Restaurant in St. Michaels. Other than a brief stint as a carpenter, he spent 38 years at the Crab Claw, where he was general manager at his death.

Eleanor F. "Ellie" Vernon-Williams, a retired librarian who restored an Eastern Shore home, died in her sleep Aug. 6 at the Caroline Home for Hospice in Denton. She was 83. Eleanor F. Dunham was born and raised in New Bedford, Mass., and earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in library science from what is now Case Western Reserve University. The former Roland Park resident was a librarian at the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Cathedral Street for 30 years until retiring in 1975.

On Saturday September 1, 2007, JAMES S. GENCEL Sr, age 86 of Hurlock, MD died in Easton, MD. Baltimore native and husband of the former and late Lillian Kruszewski. Loving husband of Phyllis Harrison Gencel of Hurlock, MD, adoring father of Mary Ann Jones (Albert) of Odenton, MD, James Gencel of PA, Cathy G. Prouse (Bob), Theresa McMahan (Gerald) all of Federalsburg, MD, Paul Gencel (Dawn) of Preston, MD, special uncle of John Gencel of Dundalk, MD, adoring step-father of Sharon Apple (James)

On May 30, 2007, FLORIAN T. "Phil" PHILLIPS, US Navy Veteran of the Korean War, previously of Milwaukee, WI, and current resident of Easton, MD, beloved husband of M. Virginia Phillips, loving father of Christopher Phillips, stepson Lawrence Marks, adopted sons, Stephen and Anthony Phillips, cherished grandfather of two grandchildren, and cousin of Linda of Milwaukee, WI. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 1328...

The Eastern Shore's second annual Chesapeake Film Festival kicks off at 8 tonight with Scott Teems' award-winning "That Evening Sun" (Teems, producer Laura Smith and cinematographer Rodney Taylor will all be in attendance) and ends with a 7 p.m. Sunday screening of the 1936 comedy "After the Thin Man." Other movies set for the weekend celebration of cinema include director Kimberly Peirce's 2008 "Stop-Loss," with Ryan Phillippe as an American soldier re-upped against his will for another tour in Iraq (12:30 p.m. Saturday, at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, with an appearance by screenwriter Mark Richard)

Arthur Eugene "Gene" Kohlhepp Jr., a retired salesman who earlier had owned and operated a vending machine company, died Sept. 3 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at The Pines Genesis Elder Care in Easton. The former longtime Monkton resident was 81. Born in Baltimore and raised in Homeland, Mr. Kohlhepp was a graduate of Boys' Latin School. He served in the Army near the end of World War II and was discharged in 1947. He worked with his father in sales at William Deitches & Co., a Baltimore tobacco distributorship, before establishing Colt Cigarette Vending in the 1960s.

When founding director Edward Stewart and the board changed the name of Ballet Theatre of Annapolis to Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 2001, they envisioned a professional company of national renown that would "represent and service the whole state," said artistic director Dianna Cuatto. This year the group is "taking steps to fulfill that vision" by creating partnerships across the state. Maryland's premier professional ballet company and dance school starts its 31st season with plans to perform in venues outside Annapolis and conduct classes beyond Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.

My track record isn't very good recently as far as restaurant news is concerned, although I have been able to keep up - barely - on my blog, Dining@Large. First I reported that Jordan Naftal of Jordan's Steakhouse was reopening oZ. Steakhouse in Maple Lawn with Carlos Venegas, an owner of the planned community's tapas restaurant, Ranazul. Then the next week I told you, oops, Jordan's had closed unexpectedly because of a rent dispute with the landlord, but Naftal was still going ahead with the Maple Lawn location.

EASTON - -The boy was near age 6 when he was abandoned in 1998. Police found him under a bridge in Luoyang, a city in eastern China. Unable to learn how he got there or where he came from, officers deposited him at a busy orphanage in town. That was the story Julia Norris heard two years later, in June 2000, when she visited the orphanage. That was still the story in April 2001, when she returned to adopt the boy and bring him to America. And it remained the story this spring as Christian Norris finished 10th grade at Easton High School, where he plays lacrosse and has a crew of buddies.

Plein Air Easton Where:: Throughout Easton (and Talbot County) When: : July 20-26 What:: Explore this Eastern Shore town's vibrant arts community as more than 50 artists abandon their studios to paint amidst the great outdoors. The Plein Air Competition & Arts Festival features a variety of events, including artist competitions, exhibits, workshops, children's events, demonstrations, studio tours, entertainment and more. How much: : Free; some events may require tickets. What's nearby: : The Academy Art Museum, 106 South St., hosts the exhibition and sale of works by the plein-air artists in addition to its many other exhibits.

Frank E. Mason Jr., an attorney and a former supervisor for the Baltimore Health Department, died Saturday at his home in Easton after what his family said was a long illness. He was 78. In 1974, Mr. Mason was a Republican candidate for Talbot County state's attorney, losing by a slim margin. He was born in Pittsburgh on March 21, 1931, to Dr. Frank E. Mason and Edna M. Mason. He showed an aptitude for academics, graduating in 1948 from Easton High School and from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1953, with a bachelor of arts degree.

Easton woman died of smoke inhalation A 43-year-old woman died of smoke inhalation after an apartment fire Wednesday in Easton, according to the medical examiner's office. Stacey Lynn Blake was the sole occupant of the apartment, the state fire marshal's office said. The fire broke out about 12:30 p.m. in an eight-unit, garden-style apartment building. Blake was found unresponsive by firefighters in a center bedroom and taken to Easton Medical Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Jennis Roy Galloway, a retired Union Carbide Corp. executive and decorated World War II veteran, died of cancer May 1 at Mandrin Hospice House in Harwood. He was 94. Mr. Galloway was born in Baltimore and raised on Lyndhurst Avenue. He was a 1932 graduate of Forest Park High School. After earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1937, he went to work for National Carbon Co., a division of Union Carbide. Mr. Galloway was sent to the Dutch East Indies, where he was plant manager of the company's Eveready battery plant in Batavia.

EASTON - Frances Kostkowski cried when Boater's World decided to close the Denton distribution center where she spent 14 years filling orders for boating accessories. The 57-year-old widow cried again while sitting inside a Panera Bread on Route 50 in Easton and contemplating an uncertain future in the face of an unstable job market. "I can't live on minimum wage," Kostkowski said. "I can't pay the rent, the electric bill, the car payments, the car insurance on minimum wage." That distress is gripping residents across the state as the recession's unabated sweep leaves an accumulation of closings and layoffs in its wake.