Even though Team East (Berlin’s Intermediate Little League All Stars) were eliminated from World Series play, I think the team’s success is part of the town’s holistic success story this year.
Bayside Gazette writer Josh Davis, who has been reporting on the team, told me that after the All Stars were eliminated they changed clothes and went out to a nearby baseball diamond to play whiffle ball with players from all over the world. Just an informal game of whiffle ball. No TV cameras no live Internet streaming.
Certainly we hear it loud and clear when one group doesn’t find favor with another.
We don’t hear quite enough when the children of the world use a game like whiffle ball as a common language.
This year we of course know that Berlin was named Coolest Small Town in America. While the votes were important, those of us who have watched Berlin especially for the past year have seen a town be the backdrop for so much to be proud of.
Many of the members of the Worcester County’s two high school robotics teams, which each received national recognition, are Berlin residents or attend Decatur High School.
The tragic accident that happened on Rt. 113 where two brothers were struck by an oncoming, unmarked State Police vehicle, resulted in one of the siblings dead and the other needing a great deal of time to recover from his injuries. Still, what did Berlin do? It created a pedestrian safety committee that didn’t just meet a couple times and talk about what could be done. The group succeeded in implementing measures to slow traffic down along the 113 and provide better, safer crossing opportunities for pedestrians. The accident will always remain a tragedy. Yet, town residents have done their best to make sure that this sort of accident will never again happen.
Even Berlin’s utility company was called on by the State of Maryland to help Baltimore Gas and Electric when power was down earlier in the year. So there in Baltimore suburbs like Pikesville and Mt. Washington, Berlin’s Utility Manager Tim Lawrence and his crew were way out of their surroundings, but there to help restore power to communities they may have never known existed.
Certainly we know that the town has also seen its share of economic development as well. The “Coolest Town in America” label has already been impactful, and will be that way even when the next town gets the title from “Budget Travel” Magazine.
It would have been really something had the Intermediate All-Star baseball team had won the Little League World Series.
But the excitement of the team brought a mid-summer jolt of energy into the town and the entire lower Eastern Shore for that matter. Many people watched every pitch provided by online streaming.
We’ve all seen Mayor Gee Williams running in a high-heeled race, riding his bicycle during a parade and participating in bathtub races. Then we read in today’s Bayside Gazette than when a new restaurant opened up, Mayor Williams stopped in and asked if he could grab a paintbrush and help paint.
It’s all real.
Did we mention that when the funds that Berliners and even town agencies gave to groups for robotics tournaments or baseball competitions, there was always this shared feeling.
We are in the dog days of summer. Tourists are still crowding in.
Berlin gets it.
It knows how to be not only cool, but also intelligent and compassionate.
The year is hardly over, but already there’s been so much accomplished.
Congrats to both the Intermediate Berlin All-Stars and the 9-10 Berlin All Stars for incredible seasons.
There is no doubt that your success as well as the hard-charging 9-10 teams brought us all together this summer. You made us all proud of you and know well that you were just a run here, an out there from making it even further into this most difficult of tournaments.
Safe to say, it’s a year to be proud to be from Berlin.
Bayside Gazette writer Josh Davis, who has been reporting on the team, told me that after the All Stars were eliminated they changed clothes and went out to a nearby baseball diamond to play whiffle ball with players from all over the world. Just an informal game of whiffle ball. No TV cameras no live Internet streaming.
Certainly we hear it loud and clear when one group doesn’t find favor with another.
We don’t hear quite enough when the children of the world use a game like whiffle ball as a common language.
This year we of course know that Berlin was named Coolest Small Town in America. While the votes were important, those of us who have watched Berlin especially for the past year have seen a town be the backdrop for so much to be proud of.
Many of the members of the Worcester County’s two high school robotics teams, which each received national recognition, are Berlin residents or attend Decatur High School.
The tragic accident that happened on Rt. 113 where two brothers were struck by an oncoming, unmarked State Police vehicle, resulted in one of the siblings dead and the other needing a great deal of time to recover from his injuries. Still, what did Berlin do? It created a pedestrian safety committee that didn’t just meet a couple times and talk about what could be done. The group succeeded in implementing measures to slow traffic down along the 113 and provide better, safer crossing opportunities for pedestrians. The accident will always remain a tragedy. Yet, town residents have done their best to make sure that this sort of accident will never again happen.
Even Berlin’s utility company was called on by the State of Maryland to help Baltimore Gas and Electric when power was down earlier in the year. So there in Baltimore suburbs like Pikesville and Mt. Washington, Berlin’s Utility Manager Tim Lawrence and his crew were way out of their surroundings, but there to help restore power to communities they may have never known existed.
Certainly we know that the town has also seen its share of economic development as well. The “Coolest Town in America” label has already been impactful, and will be that way even when the next town gets the title from “Budget Travel” Magazine.
It would have been really something had the Intermediate All-Star baseball team had won the Little League World Series.
But the excitement of the team brought a mid-summer jolt of energy into the town and the entire lower Eastern Shore for that matter. Many people watched every pitch provided by online streaming.
We’ve all seen Mayor Gee Williams running in a high-heeled race, riding his bicycle during a parade and participating in bathtub races. Then we read in today’s Bayside Gazette than when a new restaurant opened up, Mayor Williams stopped in and asked if he could grab a paintbrush and help paint.
It’s all real.
Did we mention that when the funds that Berliners and even town agencies gave to groups for robotics tournaments or baseball competitions, there was always this shared feeling.
We are in the dog days of summer. Tourists are still crowding in.
Berlin gets it.
It knows how to be not only cool, but also intelligent and compassionate.
The year is hardly over, but already there’s been so much accomplished.
Congrats to both the Intermediate Berlin All-Stars and the 9-10 Berlin All Stars for incredible seasons.
There is no doubt that your success as well as the hard-charging 9-10 teams brought us all together this summer. You made us all proud of you and know well that you were just a run here, an out there from making it even further into this most difficult of tournaments.
Safe to say, it’s a year to be proud to be from Berlin.