Special Holiday greetings to:

Jay Lodge Sr., Natalie Neal Whitefield, Arthur Hastings, Margaret Edwards, Monique Edwards, Monique Rea, David Sushet, Tommy Durkin, Tommy Lee Seward, Joni Robin, Melinda Douglas, Linda Hentman, Chuck Jenkins, Jason Brennan, Emma Haxton, George Ramsey, Dimples Dinwiddie Prichard, Ann Hilferty, Judy Palmore, Mattie Palmore Gloria Wright, Gloria Hicks, Gloria Bannister, Jean Hardcastle, Jacqueline Levy, Christopher Foyle, Michael Kitchen, Dave Sachs, Michael Lee Pope, Carla Branch, Charlie Bragale, Bill Starks, Brian Grenadier, Jim Suthard, Glenn Harris, Jim Asendio, Timothy James, Duke Short, Lawrence Simpson, Aaron Kennard, James Gordon Meek, Paul Maxey, Andy Maxey, Max Patkin, Stephen Mackey, Charles Poarch, Archie Doering, Calvin Scott, Fred Hayman, Joe Madagan, Russ Stephenson, Russell Griggs, John Griggs, Susan Kellom, Chris Marston, Jim Waller, John Romaine, Mike Cole, Tom Dumproff, Joe Pankey, Paul Plott, Ron Clarke, Mark Lowery, Ann Beer, Veronica Mitchell, Jim Moon, Craig Smith, Ed Semonian,

Skeeter Swift, Becky Moore, John Porter, Dana Lawhorne, Anne Mary Ingraham, Calvin Honeycutt, Cecil Taffer, Mark Weaver, Frank Simmons, Rose Abilmona, Audrey Davidson, Michele Evans, Beth Stevenson, Tim Brant, LaToscha Pierce, Safija Jusupovic, Rick Snider, Chris Core, Freeman Klopott, Andrew Watt, Chris Davenport, Charlie Aschmann, George Delimba, Doug Schuler, Thomas Rawles Jones, Larry Jones, Larry Hunter, John Poffenberger, Tim Gleeson, Bernie Lloyd, Matt Herzberg, Blaine Corle, LaShawn Knox, Randi Reid, George Vecsey, Astrel Vincent,  Ben Carter, Erica Waasdorp, Alex Botha, Pat Minetti, Walt Travers, Jeremy Horner, Hendrik vande Roos, Periwinkle Jones, Debra Defreitas, James Cullum, Phil Streeter, Michael Collins, Randy Sengel, Frank Fannon, Pat Troy, Brian Moran, Tony Davis, Tony Castrilli, Austin Danforth, Myrtle Barnes, Laura Sikes, Gerald Files, Honeysuckle Weeks, Ray Duff, Walt Travers, Ramone Brooks, Michael Lieberman, Narian Rajan, Carlton Dewberry, Mickey Marcella, Dan Reber, Tom Coble, Carl Armstrong, Deanna Capps, Chip Watkins, Erik Barnett, Ruth Egert, Chris O’Leary, Paolo Gonzalez, John Geissler,

Julie Carey, Van Dalton, Paul Duckworth, John Thompson, Craig Fifer, Don Davidson, Jacqui Jones, Rose Stewart, Louise Krafft, Linda Lawhorne, Connie Maguigan, Barbara Campbell, Barbara Walker, Jennifer Harris, Luis Santano, Jason Richmond, Mark Powers, Ed Valentine, Bernadette Golinowski, Vera Spicer, Marvin Miller, Gene McGuire, Jerry Markon, Hunt Burke, Scott Wash, Cindy Catlett, Cindy Cavalieri, Lucinda Biker, Susan Crow, Adam Thiel, Ted Grosser, Mondre' Kornegay, Paul Devin, Dale Race, Gregory Zedalis, George Ball, Richard Benderoth, Lynn Oliver, Keith Crane, Nolan Dawkins, Steve Mason, Alan Fleming, Bill Euille, Tonya Moss, Dorothy Pope, Peggy Reiber, Mavis Thomas, Taiwo Akimbami, Marla McCormick, Nick Pettingale, Richard Mollison, Jim Clark, Ricky Brosius, Charlie Wornam, Rita Haxton, Hassan Aden, Lindsay Czarniak, Jarrod Overstreet, Frank Milano, Gabriel Allon, Candra Callicott, Steven Mauren, Matt Danielson, Cleveland Spruill, Christine Hall, Tony Di Cesare, Andrew Simpson, Andrew Evans, Michelle McCarty, Kevin Briggs, Timothy Baldwin, Gary Becks, Lisa Kemler, Claude Beheler, MaryBeth Sheridan, Bob Coulter, Ken Crow, Wendel Cover, Ashley Ehrhart,

Jane Watrel, Willard Scott, Andrea Blackford, Allison Klein, Marleen Venter, Bill Starks, Trina Graves, John Henrehan, Earline Pierre, Don Haddock Jr., Rony Wise, Lana Stearnes, Alex Haxton, Robert Jones, Daniel Fairfax O'Flaherty, Ian O'Flaherty, Butch Ward, Bob Watkins, Dave Baker, Dave Gambale, Elizabeth Jia, Eric Murray, Charlie Winstead, Elizabeth Laskar, Bryan Porter, Eileen Hessek, DeAnn Rosson, DuWayne Morris, George Wooden, Sean Powers, Dan Zak, Hunter Todd, Carol Buckley Harty, Jerry Harden, Harry Greene, Natalie Duffy, Donald Haddock, Sr., Robert Giammattorio, Neal Augenstein, Lenny George, Eddie Reyes, Adam Willard, Alex Haxton, David Rocco, Roger DePriest, Christina Richardson, Anthony Gorham, Leia Clark, Charlie Judd, Earl Cook, Carlotta Cook, Bill Dudley, Bernard Baldwin, Mary Wadland, Alison Browne, Wendy Webb, Myron Contee, Myron Augsburger, Garry Ground, Alan Diamonstein, Alfred Swersky, Greg Bell, Maria Wasowski, Phil Van Gorp, George Burnham, Erwin Burnham, Brian De Souza, Larry Correia, Brent Stevenson, Eric Woolley, Carl Goodson, Andy Greenwell, Shennell Coit, Todd Stubblefield, Jim Heim, Arlene Davis, Tena Hensel, Krista Sofonia, Krista Boucher, Dale Gibson,
And, most of all, our faithful readers. ●

Bribery: When it counts . . .

Humanitarian relief workers are often asked about paying bribes. Do they always have to grease the palms of foreign officials, starting with Customs? Do the supplies, both medical, food and clothing really get to the people?

Fair questions, of course, especially from donors, large or small, who provide the money to send the aid.

Speaking for myself, I can tell of the time when I gladly volunteered a “payoff” in The Sudan.

My excusive online column in the Dec. 10 Frederick (Md.) News-Post tells the rest of the story…

Read more at the link below:

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/online_exclusives_display.htm?StoryID=98850

The vast wasteland known as Somalia is back in the news almost on a daily basis. Lawless pirates, mostly young people, have found some success in the business of capturing huge freighters, kidnapping crews and extracting millions of dollars in ransom.

Fourteen years ago, Rev. Paul A. Maxey, then the pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ in Woodsboro , played a big role in gaining release of seven Americans and 16 other humanitarian relief workers held as hostages by Somalis in Baidoa, a small town 275 kilometers west of the capital, Mogadishu. It was no easy task either.

Dr. Maxey was part of a group that had been asked to visit General Mohammed Farah Aideed, then warlord of southern Mogadishu. Paul and me along with former U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Frank Crigler, his daughter Loren, a professional photographer, and Dr. Harold G. Marcus of Michigan State University were together. Our visit was arranged by Aideed’s special Washington envoy, Ali Gulaid. He was asking for humanitarian assistance.

My exclusive online column in the Nov. 25 Frederick (Md.) News-Post tells the rest of the story…

Read more at the link below:

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/fnp_display.htm?storyID=104518

Photos: 'Homes" in Cite Soleil (right)

Below, left, armless teenager writing in class with pencil in her toes; Below right WER-UK CEO Alex Haxton and the writer distribute lunch to students, their only lunch for the week.

By Harry Covert
Cite Soleil, Haiti.

I was on a working visit to Port au Prince, Haiti, a few weeks ago. The people are so poor they make “DIRT COOKIES” and sell them for 2¢ each. I saw how they are made — with dirt, salt and butter or lard. Then put on cardboard to dry in the sun. We went to the community in Cite Soleil, the poorest, the dirtiest and the neediest place in the world, bar none. I've been sending containers of food and clothing for a long time. I've been seeing first hand our facilities. Taken lots of photos. I had a picture taken with a 108 year-old woman at the Sisters of Mercy sanitarium. She was spry and talkative–Sister Charles vouched for her age. She had been married in 1920 at 19. Others there were elderly and crippled, truly infirm and it was spotless. The other facilities are indescribable at the moment. I am worn out emotionally and exhausted physically.

There are so many street children, from one year up, which it makes you cry. Tiny infant crawling around the dirt and mud while other older children just run around in the muck and mire and the open-air sewer. Our visit was to inspect the Good Samaritan Foundation, a church of about 400 poor as can be people and with a school for boys and girls from ages 3&4 to 17. The pastor is only able to feed the children once a week and it's usually the only meal they get — rice, beans. On Monday, fried chicken legs were included, one to each child. You have never seen such orderly classrooms — cute kids in uniforms quiet as mice and minding the teacher. We helped pass out aluminum bowls of food to 600 children — at one point, we were scared there wasn't going to be enough to go around. At the end, we distributed a cup of fortified milk. They all were fed in 95-degee plus heat.

In a combined effort of World Emergency Relief-United Kingdom, Stichting Wereld Nood Hulp (World Emergency Relief-Holland) and Ripples of Hope, a project of International Relief Federation, we're going to raise enough food so these kids can eat every day at school. Otherwise, they won't be eating but once a week.

A one-time gift of $650 will feed the 150 school children for one month.

The six-piece church band, made up of the school's boys and girls, played The Star Spangled Banner, first to welcome me, then the U. S. Army anthem, the Caissons Keep Rolling Along, and then several others. The band had two trumpets, trombone, drums, guitar, and saxophone. It was motivation.

Our team included Alex Haxton, WER-UK chief executive, Russell Griggs of Cross International, Haitian Pastor Astrel Vincent and myself. We had dinner with the German Ambassador to Haiti. He was delightful. He had been Germany's ambassador to North Korea. That was an interesting experience he said. I'll be writing more about this shortly.#

A one-time gift of $650 will feed the 150 school children for one month.
 
The six-piece church band, made up of the school’s boys and girls, played The Star Spangled Banner, first to welcome me, then the U. S. Army anthem, the Caissons Keep Rolling Along, and then several others. The band had two trumpets, trombone, drums, guitar, and saxophone.  It was motivation.
 
Our team included Alex Haxton, WER-UK chief executive, Russell Griggs of Cross International, Haitian Pastor Astrel Vincent and myself. We had dinner with the German Ambassador to Haiti.  He was delightful.  He had been Germany’s ambassador to North Korea.  That was an interesting experience he said.  I’ll be writing moe about this shortly.#
 

Jumping into World Series week, it’s almost sacrilege not to mention Charlie Keller. He happens to be one of the greatest players of all time for the storied New York baseball franchise.

Of course, everybody knows of the Yankees’ fabled first baseman Lou Gehrig and the Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio. They’ll also know a host of other players. But few today recall the heroics of the late Charlie Keller, Middletown native, Frederick horsebreeder and University of Maryland graduate.

Read more in my column exclusively for The Frederick News-Post with this link:
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/online_exclusives_display.htm?StoryID=97108

I don’t know what others have been doing during the Redskins off week but I’ve been going back over football history. I’m certain Redskins’ owner Mr. Dan Snyder is pushing ahead in his financial conglomerate. — Read more at http://allhailredskins.com/?p=4124.

Blacksburg's Lane Stadium/Worsham Field with 66,000 Fans

There’s something about the excitement of college football that regenerates us. Not only is the game fun to watch but being in the stands with the students who look younger and younger and the alumni who celebrate a fall Saturday in the mountains.

The tailgaters are something. Many have satellite television setups and don’t have to go inside the stadium.

Here it is another weekend. Colleges, large and small everywhere, are on the fields as thousands watch and cheer, laugh and cry. Cheerleaders have become athletes and acrobats. The game is something else, too, nowadays, the one-minute breaks for broadcasters’ commercials, are also minutes for the marching bands and all sorts of enjoyable time fillers.

The games on the gridirons are million-dollar-plus enterprises for the universities. The players may be considered amateurs but everyone else is a pro. One of the happiest days I’ve spent recently came as I sat in the south end zone of the Lane Stadium/Worsham Field in Blacksburg, home of what we once called the Gobblers. Sitting in Section 102, Row P and Seat 11, the view was sensational. The video scoreboard was more than gigantic. I was politely told Tech is not the Gobblers anymore even though the school symbol is a Turkey.

“We”re the Hokies,” my surrounding seatmates bellowed.

The game involved the now No. 4 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies hosting the Boston College Eagles in an Atlantic Coast Conference tussle. Everywhere you turned there were maroon and orange tee shirts and hats and all sorts of football paraphernalia — 66,000 people packed the stadium. It was fun everywhere, young and old alike.

What made it more fun was listening to my longtime friend Steve Maguigan, a Tech grad from 37 years ago. He knows every player on the team. He pointed out the Tech long-snapper wears his old number 63. Maguigan was a great football player in those days, recruited by the late Jerry Claiborne, a former head coach at Maryland and a respected coach from the 60s and 70s.

Steve acquitted himself well in his playing days at offensive guard and was named an Academic All-America at Virginia Tech. He has a right to be proud of that.

Last Saturday, Tech whipped Boston College easily, 48-14. Going into this game, Virginia Tech was the fifth-ranked team in the country. They’re awesome. The crowd didn’t leave the stadium until the last second of the fourth quarter ticked off the clock. No one wanted the exciting day to end.

Maguigan gave a running account of the game while keeping up ongoing conversation with surrounding alumni and friends. Collegiate players today are bigger and stronger than from days past, he said. Almost everything is different about the college game today. The number of players offered scholarships today are limited to 25 while in the ole days it was unlimited. Not only are the players more gifted, the coaches are probably better, too, and there are more assistants and coordinators. They have more money to play with and the radio and television coverage and the internet seems to overshadow the print media.

Football as we know it today brings multi-millions to the collegiate purses and enables other collegiate sports to enjoy a prominence. #

* * * * *
This column also appears at www.allfootball247.com