Back in the 1940s, we had an aptly described and capable Department of War. The name has since been changed to the much less descriptive and less appropriate Department of Defense. In earlier days, the Department of War accomplished the fighting of wars, the winning of wars, and the stopping of wars. Since then, we have managed to get ourselves bogged down in the fighting part with no end in sight.

Medomak Valley Senior Citizens met on Monday, July 18 at the VFW Hall on Mill Street in Waldoboro. We had 21 members present, and four guests and one new member.

A big “thank you” goes out to Bob MacDonald, who did a fabulous job as grill master for our community barbecue on July 20. Also thank you to all the members who helped with the setup, cooking, serving, and cleanup that evening. Everyone in attendance had a good time and we are now looking forward to our next community supper on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 5 p.m., which will feature baked ham with mac-and-cheese. Please call 882-8230 at least two days in advance for meal reservations. Chicken is always available as an alternative to the featured entree but must be specified with the meal reservation. All are welcome!

Rising waters are usually followed by an eroding sand beach. This is the case at eastern Maryland and Virginia coasts. More specifically, Wallops Island and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, and the Assateague Island National Seashore, off the coast of Maryland, are the present cases with sand beaches.

There have been a few things that I have written about over the years for the newspaper that have surprised me, but I have to say that I never thought I would be writing about a black bear in Round Pond, let alone one in my own backyard!

“Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.”

During my 15 years of working as a financial arbitrage trader in Chicago and London, more often than not I found myself glued to the trading desk when lunchtime rolled around. Our runner, Jack, knew all of my favorite sandwich shops.