The Spy - Cambridge Spy

Demystifying Palliative Care with Shore Regional Health’s Christina Ball

December 3, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

In a recent Spy conversation, Christina Ball, MS, AGACNP-BC, the director of UM Shore Medical Group-Palliative Care, broke down one of the most confusing corners of modern medicine: the difference between palliative care and hospice.

Palliative care, she explained, is support that begins while patients are still pursuing treatment—helping them manage symptoms, stress, and the emotional weight of serious illness—hospice steps in later, when someone decides to stop aggressive treatment and focus entirely on comfort.

Ball stressed that palliative care isn’t just about the patient. It’s also about caregivers, who often carry the heaviest load. Her team builds long, steady relationships, checking in on caregivers privately, helping them navigate barriers such as finances, transportation, and burnout, and offering coaching and resources that many don’t realize they’re entitled to.

She also spoke openly about preparing families for what lies ahead. Palliative teams often introduce hospice early—not as a defeat, but as another layer of support when goals change.

This video is approximately 12 minutes in length. For more information about palliative care at Shore Regional Health, please go here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The Top 5 Things to Get Excited about Waterfowl Festival 2025 with Deena Kilman

November 12, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

Not surprisingly, Deena Kilman, executive director of the Waterfowl Festival, wants to break all records when this time-honored weekend of Eastern Shore culture begins its 54th celebration on Friday in Easton. That would match Deena and her board’s innovative new ways that are making Waterfowl the “It” place to be for families and, yes, their dogs in the Mid-Atlantic. We asked Deena to walk over to the Spy studio yesterday and share with us the top five things to get excited about the festival. It wasn’t hard for her to list them off in rapid fire.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about this year’s Waterfowl Festival, please go here.

November 14 –16, 2025
Friday & Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Lets Talk about It with Beth Anne Dorman: Making Sure Our Veterans Get the Help They Need

November 11, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

For many veterans, coming home means facing a different kind of battle, one that unfolds quietly, within families and communities. And on the Mid-Shore, one in five veterans experiences post-traumatic stress or related challenges, and acknowledging that truth has become the first step toward real support.

That support now looks broader and more coordinated than ever. Mental health teams are partnering with the Veterans Administration, VAMSA in Stevensville, and state agencies to ensure access to care without long waits. They’re focusing not just on veterans themselves, but on spouses, children, and caregivers—everyone affected by the transition from service to civilian life.

This conversation for The Spy features Beth Anne Dorman, the CEO of For All Seasons, discussing how that network is being built, the progress made in understanding post-traumatic stress, and what it takes to help veterans feel seen again.

remedy and an essential building block in bringing joy back into our lives.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about For All Seasons, please go here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Dracula Reimagined: Cambridge’s Groove Theatre Returns with a Feminist Twist

October 30, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

The Spy sat down with director Lz Clemons and cast member Lily Sanford behind Dracula—a bold reimagining of Bram Stoker’s classic that brings a new kind of bite to the Avalon stage this Halloween weekend. The production, revived by Groove Theatre after a yearlong hiatus, flips the familiar tale by casting women in traditionally male roles and exploring what happens when the power dynamics shift.

Lz and Lily shared their thoughts about the play last week at the Spy Studio.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For tickets, click here

The Groove Theatre Company Presents: Dracula

Avalon Theatre
Thursday, October 30 – Saturday, November 1
Doors: 6:30 PM | Show: 7:00 PM

Showtimes
Thu 10/30 – 7:00 PM
Fri 10/31 – 7:00 PM
Sat 11/1 – 7:00 PM

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Honoring Talbot County’s Uncle Nace Hopkins: The Day Freedom Came in Trappe

October 29, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins was born enslaved on the Eastern Shore, served with the U.S. Colored Troops, and came home to help build churches, schools, roads—and Maryland’s first Emancipation Day celebration in 1867. This tradition still lives on in Trappe from that moment on. In this Spy interview, volunteer leaders Dale Kevin Brown and Paul Callahan talk about why his story matters now and how the community is keeping it alive.

They preview this year’s events: Saturday, November 1, in Trappe—10:00 a.m. service at Scotts United Methodist Church, a library dedication at Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins Park, food and activities, a 1:00 p.m. parade, and the 2:00 p.m. living-history performance, Uncle Nace: The Day Freedom Came. A second performance follows Monday, November 3, 5:30 p.m., at the Oxford Community Center (free; RSVP at oxfordcc.org).

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about The Day Freedom Came events please go here.

Saturday November 1st

10:00 am – Service at Scotts United Methodist (UM) Church – 3748 Main Street, Trappe
11:30 am – Library Dedication at Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins Park
12:00 pm – Food, Vendors and Activities at Scotts UM Church Grounds
1:00 pm – Parade – Main Street, Trappe
2:00 pm – Theatrical Performance: “Uncle Nace: The Day Freedom Came”- Scotts UM Church

Monday November 3rd

5:30 pm – Theatrical Performance: “Uncle Nace: The Day Freedom Came” – The Oxford
Community Center, Oxford – Free but Please RSVP at www.oxfordcc.org

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

So Happy Together: Waterfowl and AAM Team Up Again this Fall

October 27, 2025 by The Spy
1 Comment

The Academy Art Museum and the Waterfowl Festival have been creative partners since 1971, a collaboration so long-running that Director Charlotte Potter Kasic jokes they’ve been “married” since the beginning. This year, she and Festival Director Deena Kilmon are bringing the partnership back to its roots by filling the AAM with true “Masters Gallery” works, high-end sporting art from national galleries like Copley Auction House, the Sportsman’s Gallery, and Red Fox Fine Art in Middleburg, Virginia.

They’re also adding something new: two pop-up shows that link past and present. One, in partnership with Salisbury University, highlights historic waterfowl carvings and paintings, including a rare collection of swans. The other presents contemporary wildlife-inspired art, from Spencer Tinkham’s abstract feather carvings to Tina Affiero’s glassworks that blend art and science. It’s a festival moment that honors tradition while keeping the art — and the story —alive in a very new way.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For information about this year’s Waterfowl Festival, please go here, and for the Academy Art Museum, use this link.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Benedictine’s Next Chapter: A Chat with Executive Director Scott Evans

October 23, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

It can never be said enough times how lucky the Mid-Shore is to have such a remarkable place as Benedictine in our region. And that is the reason we continue to invite Scott Evans, its Executive Director to stop by the Spy Studio at least once a year for a check in session.

Benedictine is one of the Eastern Shore’s most impactful yet quietly integrated institutions. While many know it as the long-standing school in Ridgely, Evans reminds us it is far more than that. With nearly 400 employees and a $30 million annual budget, Benedictine is one of the region’s largest private employers—anchoring not only a school for children with developmental and intellectual disabilities but also a broad network of adult residential and employment programs across Talbot, Caroline, and Anne Arundel counties.

In our chat review, Scoott discusses how Benedictine’s mission extends beyond its classrooms and campus—helping people live, work, and thrive as part of their local communities. He also talks candidly about the challenges of staffing and funding a mission-driven organization tied to public education and state support, as well as the optimism surrounding Benedictine’s $14 million capital campaign, now nearing completion. The project, years in the making, represents a major investment in modern residential facilities designed to meet the evolving needs of students and adults with autism and developmental disabilities—an undertaking that Evans calls “the next chapter” in Benedictine’s 65-year legacy.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length. For more information or to donate to Benedictine, please visit this page.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Profiles in Spirituality: A Chat with Rev. Mark Tooley on Lutheranism and the Reformation

October 19, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

Rev. Mark Tooley’s journey began in Owensboro, Kentucky, where he was raised as the youngest of six in a large Catholic family. Surrounded by cousins, music, and small-town gatherings, he was well prepared for the close-knit communities he now serves as pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Easton. His intellectual curiosity led him across several denominations before he discovered that Lutheran theology offered, as he puts it, “the place of the most grace.”

That insight guided him to seminary, ordination, and ministry as a family pastor, and in 2022, he accepted the call to Emmanuel, where he now serves his congregation with warmth, intellect, and a touch of humor.

As part of our ongoing Profiles in Spirituality series, The Spy spoke with Rev. Tooley about the Lutheran Church’s deep connection to the Reformation and why Immanuel will celebrate it at the Talbot Agriculture and Education Center next Sunday.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length.

Reformation Celebration
Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025
Location: Talbot Agriculture and Education Center, Easton, Maryland
Time: 10:30 a.m. – Divine Service, followed by family activities, a free bluegrass concert by Flatland Drive, and concluding with a Vesper service and free chicken dinner. Contact: Immanuel Lutheran Church 315 North College Avenue, Easton, MD 21601 Phone: (410) 822-5665 Email: [email protected] Website: www.immanueleaston.org

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Tred Avon Players Goes Hot n’ Cole in Oxford: A Chat with Director Marcia Gilliam and TAP’s Sammie Adams-Mercer

October 17, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

Tred Avon Players keeps its 2025 season swinging with Hot ‘n’ Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration, directed by Marcia Gilliam. A familiar face to TAP audiences, Gilliam, in our short Spy interview, notes why this light, witty tribute to one of America’s greatest songwriters will be a big crowd-pleaser when it opens next weekend. More than forty Porter tunes—sharp, romantic, and clever as ever—fill the stage in a mix of new arrangements and classic charm.

The show also comes as TAP welcomes its new executive director, Sammie Adams-Mercer, who highlights the logistics of the production.

Hot ‘n’ Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration! runs for eight performances, Thursdays through Sundays, from October 23–November 2 at the Oxford Community Center, 200 Oxford Rd, Oxford, Md. Showtimes: Thursday–Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students, available at tredavonplayers.org or by calling (410) 226-0061

This video is approximately two minutes in length. For tickets and more information, please visit the TAP website.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

A New Direction for Chesapeake College’s Todd Center: A Chat with Professor Robert Thompson

October 9, 2025 by The Spy
Leave a Comment

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about the Todd Performing Arts Center at Chesapeake College, please go here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Sections

More

The Groove Theatre Company Presents: Dracula