Earn a free subscription!

We have been told by many of our readers that the CSM Mailbox is the first thing they read when they open a new issue. We certainly love getting swamped with tons of your letters and consider every one for publication. We want to hear from you so keep those letters coming! While you’re at it, include a photo and we’ll publish it along with your letter. Be sure to include your phone number and complete mailing address. If your letter is chosen for publication in a future issue, you'll receive a free one-year subscription to Cecil Soil Magazine.*

Sincerely yours,
Ed Belote Sr, Publisher

P.S.— We've provided a simple and convenient form that you may use, if you wish.

November/December 2011

Dear Friends of Special Olympics Maryland,

On behalf of the thousands of Special Olympics athletes who train and compete throughout the year here in Maryland, thank you for your $1500.00 contribution received on 9/19/11 to our organization.

Your gift is making a tremendous difference in the lives of Maryland’s children and adults with intellectual disabilities, allowing them to share their unique gifts and skills with their fellow athletes, family members, and the community at large. By participating in one or more of the 28 sports programs we offer, SOMD athletes are developing the skills necessary to succeed both on and off the playing fields, and your donation is what makes this dream a reality.

There are many ways to become more involved, from volunteer opportunities to special events, to corporate sponsorship programs. You may want to come out and see for yourself the impact of your contribution – with 11 statewide competitions each year and more than 120 local events, there is sure to be one near you. For more information on SOMD events and competitions, please visit www.somd.org or call us at 410-789-6677.

Once again, thank you for your continuous and generous support! Thanks for being a fan of possibilities!

Sincerely,
Patricia Fegan, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Baltimore, Maryland

To whom it may concern:

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your donation to Special Olympics Maryland. Please know your contribution will go a long way in helping us with our mission. If you have any questions about SOMD or on how to become more involved, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Best,
Katie McDevitt
Baltimore, Maryland

Dear Ed and Staff,

Thank you and Ranger Rick for the story about Bethel Farm, especially the kind words from Rick.

I enjoy Cecil Soil Magazine very much and read it from cover to cover the day it appears. Keep up the good work.

Sincerely,
Clifford England
Rising Sun, Maryland

Dear Ed and Carol,

We received the new issue of Cecil Soil Magazine today and really enjoyed the articles about Dean Sapp (our cousin) and all the information about the Nottingham Lots.

Our farm “Cloverly” borders both Joe Mahoney’s and Sam Orr’s farms and is in between their farms and the Lieske farm so we are pretty sure it is a part of the Nottingham Lots. We’ve just never known which number lot it is a part of. We would be very interested to find out as we have done a lot of research into Cloverly’s history. Any information you can give us would be much appreciated.

Thank you for all the work you put into Cecil Soil – it never fails to bring us a great deal of pleasure!

Sincerely,
Kenny and Dottie Miller
Rising Sun, Maryland

Dear Cecil Soil,

Where have you been all my life? I’m a herrin’-snatcher, born and raised, but one who’s been living in Elkton since I got married back in the ‘90s. My heart is still in good old North East, though.

I love the articles in your magazine, and the pictures, and the letters to the editor. In fact, there’s nothing about your magazine that I don’t love. Your graphic designer is awesome; what talent you’ve found there – layouts are truly inspired. I don’t know who comes up with the topics of your stories, but God bless whoever it is. I enjoy so many of them; your writers are great, too.

Imagine my delight and surprise to read in one of the letters to the editor that there had been an article about the Holt family farm! My mother married Charles Holt Sr. in 1974, so I knew a lot of the Holt family. Carol Belote was kind enough to dig through and find me a copy of that issue so I could catch up.

And then, just yesterday, the latest copy came in the mail, but I didn’t have time to look at it before choir practice. A fellow choir member asked me if I’d seen the latest Cecil Soil, that there was an article about Lois Bannister, my first cousin. I couldn’t wait to get home and read it.

Gosh, I miss Loie. Another cousin, Brenda Henson, and I used to go to Loie’s house in Fair Hill for a week every summer, and Aunt Lucille would take us to the 3-Day Fair, as it was called back then – long before it became the Cecil County Fair. Wonderful memories of a beautiful home on the DuPont estate, complete with horses!!!

Cousin Sue Ann (Lois’s younger sister) and I would watch in the morning for Mr. Hicks to drive to the barn and saddle up a horse; then he’d go up the drive and be gone for the day, out in the fields. He’d come down that drive in the late afternoon, and we’d meet him at the barn and help brush the horse down and feed him. Such idyllic conditions for kids! A beautiful old covered bridge to play in, a creek to swim in (and a yellow jacket nest nearby when we were picking blueberries!), fields to roam in and lie in the grass and imagine shapes in the clouds (yes, we did that). Lois and Sue Ann would catch tree toads, and then we’d have to stun flies to put in the box with the toads to feed them. Kids just don’t do things like that anymore. As you said in the article about Lois, they lived right down the drive from what is now known as the Nature Center; Miss Elizabeth lived in that particular house.

Well, enough ramblings from me. Suffice it to say I love your magazine; I’m so glad I have a subscription now. The copy that featured Bugsy Purdie rode back and forth with me to Wilmington Hospital when my husband was there for a couple weeks; I knew he would enjoy seeing that article, as well as his own picture in there in the high school ‘then and now’ section! My sincere compliments to your staff – it’s such a treasure to have a magazine that features things close to home – people we know now or we knew when we were kids, places we’ve lived or visited. I know I’ve missed many copies; I couldn’t always find them in my travels. Have you done an article on the Beech Street gang in North East? Their numbers are dwindling fast.

Thanks again, Cecil Soil. I’m taking this latest copy with me tonight to show a few of my husband’s friends, and I’m planning to e-mail Lois’s daughter, Kate, and her sister, Wanda, to let them know what a lovely tribute you’ve done. Thank you again.

Cheryl McKeown (daughter of Betty Cameron Feehly Holt,
one of the Perkinsville Cameron girls; granddaughter of George and Olive Feehly
of the Providence General Store)

Dear Ed,

Next time you chat with Herb ask him about the blond that showed up at his shop on the 3rd of June. I graduated with him and was home for a reunion so I decided to show up at his shop to surprise him.

When I walked into the shop he recognized me right off and we had not seen each other for ten years. I hate people that have that kind of memory, but we had a nice chat and I was glad I did stop by.

Even though I live here in California I do receive the Cecil Soil Magazine and really do enjoy Herb’s column; sometimes I even recognize some names in his column. Look forward to the next issue coming out. Keep up the good work.

Gertrude McMillan Stewart
Lemoore, California

Hi Neeley,

Thanks for the beautiful layout and work on the Martha Finley story. Also, for the General Kirk story, if I forgot to say so. You are a jewel!

I loved the story by Brett Spotts about Lois Bannister! Sounded just like one of my teachers of the past. They’re so rare. I’m glad he used the quotes of so many to commemorate her.
I had my favorite teacher for four years, since she taught in a one-room schoolhouse. I wanted to honor her role as a teacher by putting it in print. Wrote a story of her love, concern and contribution as a teacher and published it in her hometown paper. They read it at Senior Citizens Groups she was connected with — and there were a few.
So happy to see others with a heart of gratitude for the great ones!

Ava Voshell
Elkton, Maryland

Please send your letters to: Cecil Soil Magazine, P.O. Box 645, Rising Sun, MD 21911. You may also fax them to 410-658-3242 or use this handy form. All letters become the property of Cecil Soil Magazine and Back Porch Publications, LLC, and may be edited for clarity or space. All letters received are given due consideration for publishing. Writers of letters selected for publication in future issues will receive a free one-year subscriptions to CSM, or extensions to their existing subscriptions, when applicable.
* IMPORTANT: YOU must call 410-658-3244 to claim and arrange for receipt of your free subscription!!

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