Dew Tour Could Be Back In 2014

OCEAN CITY – The Dew Tour’s construction is underway with the event getting underway next week, and discussions over dates for the Dew Tour next year have already begun.

The Recreation and Parks Commission went over several private event requests on Tuesday evening before the events were passed on to the Mayor and City Council for approval.

As the list came to a close, Private Event Coordinator Lisa Mitchell mentioned the department has already been in discussion with Vice President of Events for Alli Sports Chris Prybylo over next summer’s dates for the Dew Tour to return to Ocean City for the fourth year.

Prybylo proposed for Dew Tour 2014 in Ocean City to occur Thursday-Sunday, June 26-29. However, with the breakdown of the Dew Tour usually taking about a week, staff is concerned over the interference with the 4th of July Fireworks downtown.

The commission was in consensus to further investigate, along with the Fire Marshal’s office and Dew Tour officials, on the time frame and if the Dew Tour site will infringe on the safety regulations associated with the fireworks before moving forward in accepting the proposed dates. The Dew Tour is taking place next weekend, June 20-23, and will have almost two weeks to break down before the 4th of July fireworks go off.

As far as Dew Tour this year, Assistant Recreation and Parks Director Susan Petito had good news, announcing the addition the Ocean Bowl Bash will take place at Ocean City’s Ocean Bowl Skate Park on Wednesday, June 19, starting at 2 p.m.

For the last two years, a Dew Tour kickoff event has at the Ocean Bowl has been organized by an independent organizer who was unable to return this year due to a conflicted schedule. In the organizer’s absence, the Ocean Bowl staff has decided to take on the event.

Mike Rogers of Grind For Life will be returning to the Ocean Bowl to help kick off the Dew Tour. Rogers, who is a life-long skateboarder, founded Grind For Life in 2003 after his second battle with Sarcoma Cancer.

The mission of Grind For Life is to provide financial assistance to cancer patients and their families when traveling long distances to doctors and hospitals. In addition, educate and inspire patients and families concerning cancer survival and recovery.

Ocean Bowl Bash will feature local vendors, the U.S. Army with playground equipment, a Hummer demo, a photo display of Ocean City’s history, skate competitions and live radio. The Ocean Bowl will be open for free. Live music is also being booked.

Former OC Police Chief Passes

OCEAN CITY — While the search continues for a new Ocean City Police Chief, a former chief largely credited for being the architect of the modern-day Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) passed away last weekend at the age of 90 surrounded by his family.

Former Ocean City Police Chief Frank G. Pappas passed away last Sunday at the age of 90. Pappas was considered a law enforcement icon by many of his contemporaries and was a career public servant. He took over as chief of police in Ocean City in 1980 after a 30-year career with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

In 1980, the OCPD had a staff of 80 officers and 10 civilians. As a former DEA officer, he is credited with stepping up the fight against drugs in the resort and launched a crackdown on other serious crimes in an effort to preserve Ocean City’s “family image.” Pappas also established the OCPD’s Quick Response Team (QRT), a group of specially trained officers called upon to provide tactical support during incidents that require special resources.

Before he retired from the OCPD in 1986, Pappas established a completely new police administrative system and essentially rewrote the department’s general orders along with the operations and conduct policy manuals. Acting OCPD Chief Greg Guiton said this week Pappas was a monumental asset to the department during his time as chief.

“Chief Pappas was an essential part of the current success of the Ocean City Police Department,” he said. “Many of the initiatives and policies that he established are still in place today.”

Pappas was recalled as a dedicated public servant who not only served the Ocean City community as its chief of police, but also spent 30 years with the federal government as a DEA official. He began his DEA career as a special agent before finishing as Special Assistant to the Deputy Administrator. After Pappas retired from the OCPD in 1986, he served as a parole commissioner for the state of Maryland from 1988 to 2002. 
Pappas also served in the military and was a decorated World War II veteran, serving in the Army Air Corps and later in the Air Force Reserves for over 20 years. 


Berlin Might Help Fund Community’s Flooding Project

BERLIN — After struggling with stormwater issues for years, the Decatur Farms Home Owners Association (HOA) reached out to the Berlin Mayor and Council this week for assistance funding a $60,000 stormwater construction project.

“We have a water flow problem, a flooding problem and an erosion problem,” said HOA President Frank Siano. “And at this point we have an unsafe area in the community because the water has made its own way. The water, when it rains, heavy rains, steady rains, it backs up into people’s yards underneath their foundations and it stands there for a long time,” said Siano. “It’s been inconvenient and, like I said, has become a safety problem.”

Decatur Farms is proposing a $60,000 construction project that would target the trifecta of water flow, flooding and erosion. The HOA is asking that the cost of the project be evenly divided between the town and the homeowners.

Mayor Gee Williams supports the venture in the interest of building partnerships in the community.

“I know we’re kind of breaking some new ground. Stormwater management is a totally new business,” the mayor said. “I feel comfortable with sharing the cost because this is not the only time we’re going to be dealing with stormwater issues with a home owners association. In an ideal world, it would be a lot less complicated.”

However, Williams did acknowledge that the council would be setting a precedent if it agreed to split the cost of the project with Decatur Farms. If the town went to bat for one HOA, Councilman Troy Purnell pointed out that it would be taciturnly agreeing to do so for all such associations in Berlin. Those communities that have already privately addressed their stormwater issues without aid from the town might be upset, he added.

While it was a good point, the town is trying to make a new start with stormwater, replied Williams. In years past, the council had actually been asked to stay out of stormwater as it related to private property. Public opinion seems to be swinging in the opposite direction now, according to the mayor, with the town adopting a stormwater utility this year. If a precedent is going to be set, he asserted that it should be a positive one that is not weighed down by how things worked years ago.

“I think this is a good precedent because it shows a shared commitment to fixing the problem,” Williams said.

Councilwoman Lisa Hall took a few moments to clarify who she believes is to blame for Decatur Farms’ stormwater woes.

“Obviously, the elephant in the room is that this developer did not do something right with this development and has left this problem, amongst other problems, in that development,” she said.

Hall called the work done at Decatur Farms “a crime” and requested that the town take a closer look at developments in the future while in their early stages.

“Just as much as sticking a gun to somebody, it’s a crime,” she said. “This is unacceptable and I’m very sorry you folks have had to deal with this and now it’s being pushed onto the entire town.”

Because of the cost and scope of the project, no vote was taken on whether the town should help fund the work at Decatur Farms. Several council members promised that they would visit the area in question this week with Siano before making a decision. According to Siano, the contractor can start within two weeks and expects the project to take about that long to complete. Siano told the council that he hopes up to $2,000 can be shaved off the project’s cost.

Juvenile Seal Returns To Ocean After Completing Rehab

OCEAN CITY — A juvenile grey seal named “Ponyboy,” who was found on the beach in Ocean City on Easter Sunday with a severely injured left front flipper, somewhat reluctantly shuffled out of his crate across the crowded beach and swam into the surf on Wednesday morning.

Ponyboy’s release on Wednesday was the latest in a recent string of releases of injured or ill seals back into the wild after graduating from the Marine Animal Rescue Program’s (MARP) rehabilitation unit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. On May 23, the MARP crew, led by director Jen Dittmar, released another seal, “Sodapop,” from the beach at Assateague after an extensive rehabilitation program.

On Wednesday, a large crowd gathered in anticipation on the beach just north of the Fishing Pier for the release of Ponyboy and the rehabbed grey seal did not disappoint, although he certainly appeared reluctant to leave the safety of his keepers and the high life he enjoyed at the National Aquarium for the last few months. When MARP staffers opened his crate on the beach, Ponyboy shuffled out, looked around and attempted to go right back in.

MARP staffers attempted to nudge him toward the sea with plexiglass barriers, but Ponyboy was successful in getting back into his crate. MARP staffers lifted the back end of the crate to encourage Ponyboy to move out, which he eventually did. Ponyboy then began a rapid descent down the beach to the waterline before entering the surf and splashing away.

Even after Ponyboy entered the ocean, he still appeared to be not quite ready to leave his recent family and frolicked in the waves close to the shore and looked at times as if he would come back onto the beach. At one point, the young grey seal was spotted in the face of a nice waist-high wave as if he was taking a page out of the book of bodysurfers nearby. After several minutes, however, Ponyboy was seen with his head bobbing now well offshore and his return to the sea was complete.

Ponyboy was admitted for rehabilitation at the National Aquarium on Easter Sunday after being discovered on the beach in Ocean City with a severe injury to his left front flipper and a mild respiratory infection. The cause of the injury is not known, however. The injury healed well with minor surgery and routine wound treatment. Recent X-rays of the affected area showed that the bone had healed with no signs of infection and Ponyboy was using the flipper normally.

According to MARP staffers, grey seal pups present unique challenges during rehabilitation because they often are required to be taught to eat solid food. Grey seal mothers nurse their young for about three weeks, then typically abandon the pups. The pups are then left to learn to eat, navigate and be social. According to Dittmar, Ponyboy was no exception and challenged the staff.

“We were patient through the learning process and supplemented his diet with fish smoothies while he learned,” she said.

In many recent releases, rehabbed seals released back into the wild have been equipped with a tracking device that allows MARP staffers and even curious well-wishers to follow their progress via the National Aquarium’s website. Although Ponyboy had a square patch shaved onto his back, he was not equipped with a tracking device. MARP staffers explained much of their funding comes from donations and grants and equipping a rehabbed animal with a tracking device has become expensive.

According to MARP staffers, Ponyboy was named for one of the lead characters in the novel by S.E. Hinton turned popular 1980s move “The Outsiders.” Incidentally, “Sodapop,” the name of the rehabbed seal released from Assateague in late May is also a character name from “The Outsiders.” A catch line from the book and movie is “stay gold Ponyboy,” which was the prevailing sentiment from the well-wishers that gathered on the beach just north of the Fishing Pier on Wednesday.

Fager’s To Host Weekly Paddle Featuring Live Music, SUP Sessions

OCEAN CITY – Grab a drink, watch the sunset and take up the free opportunity to try out Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) with OC SUP & Fitness at Fager’s Island on Thursday evenings during happy hour.

The Pacifico Paddle Party kicked off last Thursday evening during Fager’s Island happy hour. The event will take place every Thursday from 5-9 p.m. where OC SUP & Fitness and Fager’s Island will be hosting free paddleboard sessions from the pier and gazebo. Happy Hour specials will be offered, including $3.50 Pacifico beers, which include one free raffle ticket to win a beach cruiser.

Entertainment will also be happening simultaneously on the deck. Last week The Bullbuckers performed and in the weeks to come entertainment will be provided by various bands, such as Rob Fahey and Nate Clendenen.

Fager’s Island General Manager Kevin Myers explained it was three years ago when Fager’s partnered with OC SUP & Fitness owner Dawn Ehman to bring the restaurant’s view and atmosphere together with  the sport of paddleboarding.

“Paddleboarding has really taken off and it is a perfect thing for us here at Fager’s because we have the perfect set up for it with the natural beauty of the bay … it is such a cool visual,” Myers said. “You could have nothing to do with paddleboarding but you’re sitting at the bar having a drink and enjoying the sunset, and when the paddleboarders go by it has a timeless quality to it that is enjoyable … so we are trying to accomplish both of those things, something for people to enjoy but also something for people to come and try out.”

Ehman has worked in the fitness industry for the past 23 years and three years ago she decided to expand her skills from land to water.

OC SUP & Fitness operates out of two locations, Fager’s Island off the pier and at Ehman’s Yoga studio, YogaVibez, in Ocean Creek Plaza where SUP takes place on Herring Creek.

At Fager’s Island, OC SUP & Fitness operates seven days a week being weather dependent and is for all ages. Ehman has had paddled with all ages, sometimes as young as 6 to 80.

“It’s very easy,” Ehman said. “If you have never been able to surf, this is the next best thing.”

Besides rentals and lessons, OC SUP & Fitness provides a number of classes. There is Paddle Pilates and Flowga, which uses the paddleboard as a yoga mat, and combines SUP with yoga routines on the water to develop better balance, coordination and strength by linking breathing to poses.

Other classes include SUP Total Body Workout that combines paddling, plyometrics and strength training, and incorporates high intensity intervals with low intensity recovery periods, as well as Core Paddle that fuses yoga, pilates and strength training to challenge the midsection and increase body balance and muscle tone.

Ehman also hosts two SUP races a year. The first, Surf Swap, was held on June 2 at Fager’s Island and included a five-mile, 2.5-mile, and a team and kids SUP race. The next race is coming up in August and will include a six-mile, three-mile and kids SUP race.

OC SUP & Fitness has also taken on birthday parties, bachelorette parties, anniversaries, girl’s night out and even paddle bar crawls. Ehman and Myers invite anyone seeking more information on SUP to attend one of this summer’s Thursday parties.

Dew Tour Kicks Off Third Year In Ocean City Next Week

OCEAN CITY — Alli Sports, a division of the NBC Sports Group, announced this week the confirmed athletes for the Dew Tour Beach Championships in Ocean City on June 20-23.

Over the course of four days, the top names in skateboarding and BMX will grind, grab and flip their way in the quest for the coveted Dew Cup. Fans can see the Dew Tour on NBC, NBC Sports Network and Dew Tour.com, June 22-23.

The Dew Tour Beach Championships will debut the Skate and BMX “Battle at the Beach” street sessions. Top skate and BMX street competitors will hit a 10-stair rail and hubba set-up on the beach, for a high energy jam format contest. Past Dew Tour champions Ryan Decenzo and Greg Lutzka will contend with Manny Santiago, Dave Bachinsky and others in the skate battle while Garrett Reynolds, Chad Kerley and Jeremiah Smith are set to face off in the BMX Battle.

The Dew Tour will bring the concrete bowl to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, where Pedro Barros will go for his third straight Dew Tour Skate Bowl win. He’ll have tough competition against Baltimore native Bucky Lasek and young gun Tom Schaar.

Schaar and Lasek will split their time between the bowl and the vert ramp, where there is no shortage of talent. Mitchie Brusco and Schaar are both on their way to impressive seasons and will have to keep it up to defeat veterans Lasek, Bob Burnquist, Pierre-Luc Gagnon and others.

The bowl will also host the Legends competition, highlighting the pioneers who wrote the book on transition skating. Steve Caballero, Christian Hosoi, Duane Peters and Chris Miller will compete against their longtime friends for a Dew Cup title.

The BMX Park will be the hottest place on the sand with the top talent in BMX bringing their best to the rider-designed course. New Jersey natives Scotty Cranmer and Garrett Reynolds will join Kyle Baldock and Drew Bezanson in the fight for top honors. Fans will also have a chance to see living legend Jamie Bestwick compete against Chad Kagy and Steve McCann in his attempt to win his ninth consecutive Dew Tour BMX Vert title.

BMX Flatland makes its return to Ocean City with Terry Adams and Matt Wilhelm among the athletes defying the laws of physics on the Dew Tour stage.

The 2013 Dew Tour will be available on NBC, NBC Sports Network, Dew Tour Live on DewTour.com, NBC Sports Live Extra and the NBC Sports Live Extra App, the NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets. In addition, all telecast hours will be distributed internationally across NBC’s global distribution partners.

The Dew Tour Beach Championships will be free to attend. Premium passes, offering the ultimate Dew Tour fan experience, are available for purchase. Premium Passes include guaranteed seating at all events, a souvenir credential and a Dew Tour Swag Bag. Passes for Thursday, June 20 will cost $35; Friday through Sunday will cost $80 for each day.

After Ocean City’s stop, the Dew Tour will continue with the Toyota City Championships in San Francisco on Oct. 10-13 and then the iON Mountain Championships in Breckenridge, Colo. on Dec. 12-15.

Boardwalk Hotel Tapped For TV Makeover Show

OCEAN CITY — A proud, old Boardwalk hotel dating back nearly 90 years is getting a literal and figurative facelift of sorts this week, thanks to the intervention of the Travel Channel’s “Hotel Impossible” show and its host and noted hospitality “fixer” Anthony Melchiorri.

The Lankford Hotel and its associated cottages and apartment buildings on 8th Street and the Boardwalk opened in 1924 and has been owned and operated by the same family ever since for nearly nine decades spanning several generations. While the hotel has retained its early 20th Century charm and has attracted many of the same visitors each summer for decades, the facility has found it difficult to compete with the newer, more modern Ocean City and its sparkling big hotel chains with the latest amenities, particularly in the often-tough shoulder season.

To that end, the family reached out to noted hotel guru Melchiorri and his crew from the hit Travel Channel show “Hotel Impossible” to provide a new set of eyes and ears on some of the issues, both aesthetically and from an operational standpoint. The “Hotel Impossible” show follows Melchiorri as he rescues struggling hotels, some which are down to their last hope and at risk of closing, and others, like the Lankford, for example, that need a nudge into the 21st Century.

Each of the show’s episodes features a hotel either not living up to its potential or on the verge of closing. Melchiorri assesses each property and identifies its biggest problems. He then meets with the staff, from the owners to the front desk receptionists to the housekeepers to determine the key operational issues.

The three-and-a-half-story Lankford Hotel, with its familiar Tuscan-column façade, is a Boardwalk landmark at 8th Street. The hotel was built and operated by Ocean City pioneer Mary B. Quillen, who named it in honor of her aunt, Amelia Coffin Lankford, from whose inheritance she funded the project. It has remained in the family ever since with current owner Sally Rutka and her family now operating the hotel.

Rutka’s great aunt was Mary Quillen, who sold it Rutka’s parents in 1962, just four days before the famed Ides of March storm devastated much of the resort area. Rutka bought it from her parents in 1988 and has run it ever since with her family. Rutka said this week she reached out to the Travel Channel and the “Hotel Impossible” show on the advice of her children.

“We’re not a modern hotel,” she said. “This is about getting an outside person’s thoughts on what we can be doing better. We’re kind of stuck in the traditions of how this is run. The girls have made updates and upgrades, but we’re a little stuck in our ways and it doesn’t hurt to bring in somebody from the outside to look at it from a different perspective. We can say ‘well, our father did it that way and his father did it that way before him,’ but it doesn’t work that way in the modern world.”

Melchiorri and his crew look at properties from a variety of angles, from aesthetics to operational issues and make the changes necessary for continued survival. With its familiar early Ocean City architecture and its wide porch fronting the Boardwalk and ocean, the family and the “Hotel Impossible” crew are striving to retain the property’s charm.

“He’s cognizant of that,” said Rutka. “He didn’t come in here and say you have to tear this down or do this a completely different way, we just need to bring this up to date. We’ve always been under constant renovation with projects being done all the time, but we can’t afford to do a major 100-percent renovation. This will allow us to do that somewhat.”

Rutka said residents and visitors should not expect a complete overhaul or remodel of the hotel, but instead tweaks that make it more modern and enhance its rich history. Perhaps more importantly, Melchiorri and his crew will implement 2013 operational changes on the early 1920s hotel.

“It’s not necessarily all about the aesthetics,” she said. “It’s about looking at a different way of doing some things. We’re not opposed to change, in fact, we’re ready to embrace it. We’ve been doing things a certain way for a long time and one of the kids will say ‘let’s try to do this or that differently’ and we’re open to that.”

While the family is open to change, one area in which Rutka said she would be reluctant to budge is on the published rate schedule. She said this week she has resisted the urge to spike her rates when the town’s demand exceeds supply in the past and won’t likely be convinced to change that policy.

“One of the things we’ve discussed with the kids is why we don’t do discounts in the shoulder seasons,” she said. “We publish our brochure and our rates are available on-line and our guests are going to pay that rate whether we’re 99 percent full or there are just three rooms rented. The last thing I want is for families on the beach to discuss how one called ahead and booked for $200 per night, while the family right next to them walked in and booked for $400 a night.”

In general, however, Rutka said she is open-minded to Melchiorri’s recommendations and hopes his famous magic touch can help turn around the Lankford and bring it into the 21st century.

“The older it gets, the more archaic it seems sometimes,” she said. “We can’t compete in today’s world by doing the same things we’ve always done, so we’re ready to embrace the change.”

The “Hotel Impossible” crew arrived in Ocean City on Sunday and by Tuesday morning, scenes were already being filmed around the property. The Travel Channel and “Hotel Impossible” use local contractors for their projects all over the country and the Lankford project in Ocean City is no different.

For this project, “Hotel Impossible” has enlisted the services of local contractor Joseph T. Dashiell Builders, Inc., which is tackling the task of a major remodel in the span of less than a week.

“We hope to turn it around in four days,” said Joe Dashiell this week. “The timing creates a lot of challenges. This is a project we would normally take a month to finish at least, but we’re taking it on in four days.”

Dashiell said the timing of the project on the cusp of the busiest time of the year in the resort also creates challenges.

“It’s also our busy season, and a busy season for contractors all over the area,” he said. “We’re acting as the facilitator for the project, so we have to coordinate plumbers, electricians and outsourced stuff, so we really have to make sure we’re on top of everything.”

Dashiell said thus far the Lankford project and working with Melchiorri and the Travel Channel has been a pleasure.

“We’re tickled to be involved,” he said. “This is a great experience. The Travel Channel people have been great to work with and they’re using all local contractors and workers. The hotel staff has been a joy to work with also.”

The renovations and filming of the “Hotel Impossible” episode began on Monday and are expected to be completed by Friday.

“Hotel Impossible” starts airing its third season in August, although the episode featuring the Lankford will likely air several months down the line.