The original idea for the Mid-Shore-based Sprouts! to expand to Annapolis was neither original nor all that new. That’s because Ryan Groll, co-founder (along with his wife, Emily) of the locally prepared and ready-to-eat meal company, actually grew up there and had long planned to find a way to return to his home base, where many of his old friends had started their own businesses.

So Sprout’s move to a space right across from the popular Trader Joe’s near the Westfield Mall was a perfect spot to attract food-conscious customers who wanted to support local agriculture but did not have the time to make healthy meals for themselves and their families.

Sure enough, the Annapolis branch has turned out to be a remarkable success story. and one of their best customers turned out to be those working in the state house, either as elected officials or their staff, who perfectly describe Sprouts, customers, and a series of chitchats with those clients open the door for a totally unplanned invitation to be the primary vendor for the state of Maryland’s capital and office buildings downtown.

The Spy was intrigued by this unique pathway for Sprouts and asked Ryan to stop by this Spy Studio to talk about it a few weeks ago.

This video is approximately four minutes in length.

In historic Centreville, a unique small-scale environmental project is taking root, literally.  The Captain’s Houses Conservation Landscaping Project, located along the picturesque waterfront, has demonstrated that even these tiny efforts can have a big impact for history and the environment.

The project centers around the Captain’s Houses, a set of four frame houses built in 1880 by Captain John H. Ozmon. These houses, now on the National Register of Historic Places, have become the focal point of this innovative initiative led by the homeowners’ association. Recognizing the importance of environmental sustainability, the association agreed to install three conservation landscape beds in the common areas.

These beds are more than just a beautification effort. They serve multiple ecological purposes, such as enhancing the stream buffer to Mill Stream Branch, providing habitat for wildlife, and reducing stormwater runoff. The initiative is a perfect example of how local communities can contribute to the protection of vital waterways like the Corsica River and Chesapeake Bay.

The project also holds a special place within the community context. Adjacent to a public walking trail and the Captain’s Walk pier, the conservation beds will be a point of interest and education for both residents and visitors.

The Spy caught up with Sandy Huffer, who has been spearheading this effort with her fellow homeowners’ association members to talk about how this was done in Centreville and how it can be done in other communities.

This video is approximately four minutes in length.

The John and Janice Wyatt Foundation has a new director of programs in the person of Charlene Jones. In that role, she will work with partners to increase access to and improve the quality of early childhood education and out-of-school time services. Additionally she will develop and monitor strategies around school readiness and the successful achievement of attendance requirements. Perhaps most importantly, she will manage and lead Dorchester County’s Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

Originally from New York, Jones moved with her family to Cambridge when she was the age to begin school. Thanks to her parents’ influence, she developed a passion for helping and working with others.

“Through the course of my entire life, I cannot remember a time when my parents were not taking care of or helping someone,” said Jones. “However, early on they taught me and my siblings that the two most vulnerable groups of people in the world were the elderly and children because they were the two groups of people who, at that time, didn’t have a voice in this world.”

She learned how to advocate for herself and other young people. Her first organized experience with that was a “summer school” she created for her sister and her friends when they were in second grade and Charlene was in fifth. This school featured reading, math, spelling tests, lunch time, and field trips. All the parents were supportive and would sign handwritten permission slips for field trips around the neighborhood.

“My sister and I have spoken about this over the years, “said Jones, “and we are still amazed and laugh often.”

“long with my siblings, friends and my mom, we created a marching unit called Showdown,” which included members of all ages. Charlene’s role was choreographing routines, but she also helped plan fundraisers, secure transportation, and schedule practices. Showdown won several first-place competition trophies.

Jones’s family left the Eastern Shore when she was in high school, though she returned for graduation. Then it was off to Massachusetts, where her father was stationed in the military. At age 20, she was hired by Northern Educational Services, Inc, as the program advisor for the UNITY Afterschool program, which provided academic assistance, recreation, prevention, and summer programming for youths. She also served as youth advisor for the Protect Teen Health program, in which teens were educated and trained to bring awareness about HIV/AIDS to their peers. She remained with NES for nine years. Along the way, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Services and a Master’s in Human Service – Marriage and Family Therapy.

After moving back to Maryland, Jones worked for the Dorchester County Family Support Early Head Start program as a family advocate. She was the service coordinator for the Dorchester County Public Schools’ Judy Center and the executive director at New Beginnings Youth and Family Services. These positions required her to work with community sectors, coalitions, youth-serving programs, and community members. Each of these had important goals, such as getting children ready for school, improving academics, preventing underage substance abuse, and helping adults access medical treatment. As a result, she has developed personal and working relationships that she intends to maintain while at the John and Janice Wyatt Foundation.

The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which Jones will manage at J2W, is a national initiative that brings together foundations, nonprofits, business leaders, government agencies, and communities. Its focus—grade-level reading by the end of third grade—is an important predictor of school success and high school graduation. Jones believes that the process of the collective and the strength of community will allow the CGLR to succeed here. With more than 30 years of experience in human services, she will be a formidable advocate for the young people of Dorchester County.

Growing up in a town rich in the oral tradition of baseball, author Marty Payne recounts his journey from childhood to becoming a researcher of the game’s local history in his interview with the Spy. . Born and raised on the Eastern Shore, he first encountered the local baseball culture while working at his father’s drugstore, a popular hangout for teenagers. His academic pursuits led him to Washington College, where he earned a master’s degree before embarking on a career as a state bureaucrat. It was during this time that his interest in baseball history deepened.

Inspired by Bill Mowbray’s  The Eastern Shore Baseball League, he began to explore the origins of baseball in Talbot County. His research revealed a fascinating correlation between the sport’s growth and the expansion of railroads and steamboats in the region between 1865 and 1867. As transportation networks connected towns, baseball followed, attracting players from major cities and nurturing local talent.

Local newspapers became a goldmine for his research, revealing how baseball was more than just a game; it was a social cornerstone of the community. Throughout the early 1900s, the Eastern Shore produced notable players like Homer Smoot and Jake Flowers. By the 1920s, the minor leagues had become a breeding ground for future Hall of Famers, transforming local games into major social events that drew large crowds and fostered community connections. This historical journey through baseball on the Eastern Shore highlights the sport’s profound impact on local culture and community life.

Marty stopped by the Spy studio last month to talk more about his book.

This video is approximately minutes in length.

There are books we receive that are meant to be savored and revisited, books whose content reveals more with each reading. Small Craft Warning, an engaging collection of 20 small poems and 20 miniature paintings, is such a book.

Representing a first-time collaboration between two respected Chestertown artists—poet Meredith Davies Hadaway and painter Marcy Dunn Ramsey, Small Craft Warning grew out of the artists’ love for and close observation of the Chester River, beside which they live and work. The interplay of light, sky, and weather on the river’s ever-changing surface has given them an endless palette of images and emotional correspondences from which to draw inspiration and make meaning.

Safe home, soft bed, warm coffee—
the sameness of every day, precious
and slippery as the river.

The idea for the book germinated over several years (and many lunchtime discussions) during which the two artists came to appreciate how much their work paralleled each other in the way they see the world. While they both traditionally work larger scale, in longer narrative poems and full-size oil paintings, their vision for this project was to celebrate the river they love through small moments, captured in easy-to-understand Haiku-esque poems and small gemlike images. “We wanted the book to be small,” explains Hadaway, “not just because of the miniature theme, but because we wanted it to be accessible at every level.”

Indeed, though one can easily breeze through this deceptively simple book in one sitting, the true rewards come through reading it again and again. What they say about good things coming in small packages holds true here. There are magical points of connection between Ramsey’s lush images and Hadaway’s spare poems that somehow enlarge them both and offer the attentive reader something close to a revelatory experience. Ramsey has spoken of her art making as trying to capture “a small slice of the sublime.” This could be said of Small Craft Warning as well, which invites us to immerse ourselves in the infinitely varied qualities of the Chester River as well as the ebb and flow of life itself.

Between the light beyond us
and the gray we face, bright
edges of tenderness.

Those interested can purchase a copy of Small Craft Warning, published by Chester River Press, while they enjoy Marcy Ramsey’s work at the MassoniArt High Street Gallery in Chestertown during the month of December. A reception for the launch of the book, hosted by Carla Massoni, will take place at the High Street gallery on December 15, from  5-7 pm, when the artists will be available to sign their book. It is also available through amazon.com and at the following stores: Twigs and Teacups, The Bookplate, and The Finishing Touch in Chestertown; Flying Cloud Booksellers in Easton; and Chesapeake Trading Company in St. Michaels. 

Deidra Lyngard has spent most of her professional career in the communications and graphic design fields, working primarily for nonprofit art and educational institutions. She lives in Tunis Mills and is a working poet (Deidra Greenleaf Allan) with publications in print and online journals. In 2001 she was selected by former US Poet Laureate Robert Hass as the poet laureate for Montgomery County (PA).  Her poetry blog can be found here.