Simmons, driving instructor, steered help to good causes

THIS ‘N' THAT

Friday, Feb. 13, 2009

Simmons, who died last month at the age of 72, recalled in an interview about two years ago his career as a math teacher for St. Mary's public schools, during segregation and after integration, and his work as a driver's education instructor. As many as 10 pupils at a time would ride around on a course behind what was then the St. Mary's Technology Center, as he shared the finer points of vehicle control.

"I had a bullhorn. It was loud enough, and they had the windows down," he recalled during the conversation at his Leonardtown home.

Just as enduring may be Simmons' quieter contributions, as a member of the Public Action Committee of St. Mary's County who played a major role in its fundraising efforts to provide financial support to various nonprofit organizations and needy individuals. The committee raises funds by holding events that attract people paying to attend.

"You have to get out and sell tickets. I'm not good at selling to strangers," he said, but he was more successful in getting friends to pitch in their support. "I'll be real humble with them and ask them if they'll buy some tickets," he said. "I'll sell maybe a hundred or two."

Even more low key was Simmons' willingness to haul trash from older couples' homes and take them on errands or to a doctor's appointment, often with little notice beforehand. "I just put things aside and take them," he said.

Simmons also helped out with construction work related to a tutorial program at his church, First Missionary Baptist Church in Lexington Park, and did not let his limited carpentry skills deter his participation.

"I'm not a skilled person. I'm a helper," he said. "They say, ‘Hand me that board,' and I can do that."

Judge's paroles land on another's docket

It's inevitable that as judges retire from their fulltime work and their successors remain, the convicted criminals who received penalties from one jurist could wind up before another in the case's aftermath.

St. Mary's Circuit Judge C. Clarke Raley routinely starts his day on the bench with a visit through the magic of closed-circuit television to the county jail, where he talks with a lineup of newly arrested inmates and sets the bond requirement, if they're deemed entitled, for their pretrial release. The detainees recently have included some convicts who allegedly violated terms of their probation imposed by Judge Marvin Kaminetz, now in active retirement.

Raley has used the occasion to note differences in sentencing theories between him and Kaminetz, particularly the latter's practice of imposing a prison sentence, suspending a portion of it and warning that the full balance would be imposed if any infractions occurred after the prisoner's release.

A robber sentenced in 2002 to serve 18 months in jail with work-release privileges now faces more than 13 years in prison, as he appeared last month on Raley's television screen from a 2004 bench warrant alleging he failed to report to the division of parole and probation. The judge didn't accept the former Bushwood resident's explanation that he'd dutifully complied with his probation transferred to Prince George's County, but the judge commented on the complications that follow the "unbelievable breaks" Kaminetz gave at the onset of the sentence.

"I don't agree with the way he sentenced, but that is his business," Raley said. "I hammer you up front, and you do your sentence."

On Monday, Raley said Kaminetz's "tripwire kind of sentencing" could leave a convicted rapist who served 15 months in jail with work-release privileges facing a far greater 18 years' incarceration in backup time, because of a recent arrest for impaired driving and possessing marijuana.

"This case is a perfect example of why I don't believe in this kind of sentencing," Raley said. "You wind up with a ton of time because of a relatively minor [subsequent] violation."

Kaminetz, who handled a series of civil-case scheduling meetings Wednesday at the courthouse, said later from his home that he is grateful for the help with his past criminal caseload.

"I greatly appreciate their taking care of my cases," he said. "I have full faith in their ability to do what's right."

Kaminetz recalled handling up to "hundreds" of probation violations and other post-trial matters from Judge John Hanson Briscoe's cases after his retirement from the court. Kaminetz said he still handles the sentence reconsiderations sought from his own career as a trial judge, and would honor his successors' requests that he handle specific probation violators.

"If it's one that none of them want to handle," he said, "I'm glad to come back and do them."

Old boat came in handy for dog on ice

Edward Marshall Green's 12-foot aluminum boat, "The Green Machine," just sat in his backyard in Golden Beach after he died in December 2007, but it recently proved very useful to rescue a stranded dog.

Dorothy Lee Green, his widow, was on the phone with a granddaughter during St. Mary's Jan. 27 snowstorm when she saw the mixed-breed retriever sitting on ice off shore from the Bay Drive residence, and the granddaughter called 911. As Mechanicsville volunteer firefighters and the county's animal control officers headed toward the scene, Bob Green, the couple's son, got the boat into service to rescue the dog.

"It was like a polar bear out on an iceberg," Green said, and although an initial venture out with the vessel fell short of accomplishing the mission, the responding emergency crews used it to finish the job.

Animal control officer Mark McLean donned a firefighter's ice suit and used the boat to get out close to the dog, before also getting out onto the ice. "I did a low crawl," McLean said, "with a tether line to shore, in case [the ice] broke."

The dog moved over to a pier, where animal control officer John Miedzinski retrieved it safely to shore. The dog had broken free from its chain at a home about a block away, and was returned to its owner.

Green, 49, said the boat has been in his family since he was 10 years old when it was purchased by his father, who did estimates on gutter installations for the son's siding business in Clements.

"It's just been sitting there. We couldn't get rid of it because of sentimental reasons," he said, and it showed its value last month. "It came in real handy," he said.

Valentine's musical shows begin tonight

The Newtowne Players are celebrating five years with a musical Valentine titled "Go-DIVA! — of Song, Silence, and the Abuse of Chocolate," to be performed tonight, Saturday and Sunday at the Three Notch Theatre on South Coral Drive in Lexington Park.

Songstress Jennifer Anne Cooper will be accompanied by pianist Michael Santana in the multi-media event, created for Cooper by award-winning playwright and director L.B. Hamilton. Performances today and Saturday begin at 8 p.m., and at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Following Saturday's performance, audience members can join the production's artistic team for a special "Sweet & Sinful" chocolate and champagne reception with a silent auction, for an additional $5 at the door on the night of the show.

Reservations are recommended. To reserve tickets, call the box office at 301-737-5447 or go online to www.newtowneplayers.org.

Host families sought for foreign students

World Heritage will hold an informational meeting at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, for prospective host families for visiting foreign high school students, starting in August.

The meeting in the Leonardtown library's meeting room will include information on the local program, which expects to bring high school students from Germany, Russia, France, Italy and Denmark. Call 410-326-2889 or go online to oann.butler08@comcast.net.

NAACP to change meeting time

The St. Mary's County NAACP is changing the starting time of its monthly meeting, effective next month. The group will continue to meet the last Wednesday of every month at the SMECO building in Leonardtown. As of March 25, however, the monthly NAACP general membership meetings will meet from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Call 301-863-3011.

School to host play on neurosurgeon

Black History Month events planned in St. Mary's include a presentation of the play "Ben Carson, M.D.," about the world renowned Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the auditorium of Great Mills High School.

The play will be presented to the school's students earlier that day, and between performances, the cast will conduct a workshop for the school's dramatics club. Students in St. Mary's public schools' after-school programs will demonstrate various activities from 6-6:45 p.m., as part of a Lights On After School celebration. The first 100 people to arrive at 6 p.m. will be treated to a free dinner from the Bear Creek barbecue restaurant in Callaway. Call 301-475-5511, ext. 137, or send e-mail to mgsmith@smcps.org.

Tourism officials coming to briefing

Supervisors of Maryland's official welcome centers will visit St. Mary's on Feb. 23 and 24 for briefings on local events and activities planned in celebration of Maryland's 375th anniversary.

The group will join members of the tourism and hospitality industry at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 for dinner and networking at Lenny's restaurant in California, an event organized by the St. Mary's County Chamber of Commerce Tourism Council. Restaurateur Dan Rebarchick will present a stuffed ham demonstration. The next morning, the welcome center supervisors will tour local sites and attractions.

The welcome centers are visited by more than two million travelers each year.

Local members of the tourism and hospitality industry who wish to attend the dinner should call the St. Mary's County Division of Tourism at 301-475-4200, ext. 1404. There is a $10 cover charge.

jwharton@somdnews.com