Santa Night 2021
2021 Respect for Law Awards
The Optimist Club of Calvert and the Optimist Club of Solomons recently held their annual Respect for Law Awards Banquet.
Congratulations to Public Safety Dispatcher I Becca Haupt, Senior Corrections Officer Robert Scott, Maryland Department of Natural Resources – Natural Resources Police Officer 1st Class Benjamin Dorsey, Assistant State’s Attorney Tammy Lafferty, Calvert County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Gary Shrawder, and Maryland State Police – Prince Frederick Barrack “U” Trooper Brendan White. (Pictured L-R)
2021 Scholarship Winners Announced
Each year the Calvert-Prince Frederick Optimist Club, through our Calvert Optimist Community Parks Foundation, Inc., awards three (3) scholarships providing financial assistance totaling $17,000 to students graduating from Calvert County Public Schools.
Garrett W. Hurley of Huntingtown was selected as the winner of the 2021 Les Knapp Scholarship valued at $8,000. Garrett is a graduate of Huntingtown High School and will attend Towson University this fall majoring in Computer Science/Cybersecurity.
The 2021 Jim King Scholarship, valued at $6,000, was awarded to Dataya Resenois of Prince Frederick. Dataya graduated from Calvert High School and will be attending HowardUniversity this fall, majoring in Nursing.
Pictured: Dataya Resenois (l) and Garrett Hurley (r).
2021 Essay Contest Winners Announced
A Virtual Awards Ceremony for this year’s Essay Contest winners was held on Zoom May 10, 2021. President Krista Brezina welcomed the winners and their family members and the club members in attendance. Essay Chair Kimberly Imel then asked each student to introduce themselves and read their winning essay. The theme for this year’s Optimist International Essay Contests was “Reaching your Dreams by Choosing Optimism.” To read the essays, click on each contestant’s name to read their winning essay.
High School Division: 1st Place: Loralei Osterhouse – Calvert High School, 2nd Place: Giuliano Guttadauro – Huntingtown High School, and 3rd Place: Kelly Coulby – Calvert High School
Middle School Division: 1st Place: Courtney R. Cox – Plum Point Middle School, 2nd Place: Ryan Zolfaghari – Northern Middle School, and 3rd Place: Jessica Luiru – Northern Middle School
Congratulations to our 2021 Essay Contest Winners!
Congratulations to the winners of our Virtual Costume Contest!
17 mos
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2020 RESPECT FOR LAW HONOREE PRESENTATION
For over 50 years, our Club has honored some of the most hardworking personnel from local law enforcement agencies during our annual Respect for Law awards banquet. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s honorees were recognized during a virtual ceremony. The 2020 Respect for Law Award Recipients were: Ben Dorsey, Officer First Class, Maryland Natural Resources Police; Theresa Anderson, Public Safety Dispatcher, Calvert Emergency Communications; Kelsey Stull, Trooper First Class, Maryland State Police; Chip Ward, Detective, Calvert County Sheriff’s Office; Rebecca Cordero Assistant State’s Attorney, Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office; Michael Lanier, Corrections Deputy First Class, Calvert County Detention Center; and Katy Rosche, Animal Control Officer from the Calvert County Animal Control Unit.
F/Sgt. David Canning (l) with Calvert County Sheriff’s Department Honoree Detective Chip Ward
Maryland State Police Honoree, Trooper First Class Kelsey Stull
State’s Attorney Office Honoree, Assistant State’s Attorney Rebecca Cordero
Calvert County Detention Center Major T.D. Reece (l) presents Honoree Corrections Deputy First Class Michael Lanier with his plaque.
2020 Scholarship Winners Announced
Brandi E. Bohrer of Huntingtown was selected as the winner of the Les Knapp Scholarship valued at $8,000. Brandi is a graduate of Huntingtown High School and will attend the College of Southern Maryland this fall majoring in Special Education.
The Jim King Scholarship, valued at $6,000, was awarded to Natalie C. Flanders of Prince Frederick. Natalie graduated from Calvert High School and will be attending Towson University this fall, majoring in Secondary Education and Mathematics beginning in the fall.
Emily Peterson of Dunkirk was chosen as the recipient of the Career/Vocational/Technological Scholarship valued at $3,000. graduated from Northern High School. Emily is majoring in Baking, Pastry and Culinary Arts at Anne Arundel Community College this fall.
Les Knapp Scholarship
Essay Contest Virtual Award Ceremony
A Virtual Awards Ceremony for this year’s Essay Contest winners was held on Zoom May 26, 2020. President Kathryn Marsh welcomed the winners and their family members and the club members in attendance. Essay Chair Kimberly Imel then asked each student to introduce themselves and read their winning essay. The theme for this year’s Optimist International Essay Contests was “Is Optimism the Key to Achieving the Dreams you iMagine?” The students received their certificates, medallions, and award money via Priority Mail.
Junior Optimist Club News
The last project this school year for our middle school-aged Junior Optimists was preparing 20 Blessing Bags for clients of On Our Own of Calvert.
2019 Children’s Christmas Party
92 guests join us at the Harriet E. Brown Community Center in Prince Frederick to celebrate the upcoming holiday. The children played games, made Christmas-themed crafts, enjoyed snacks and had an opportunity to visit with Santa himself.
Youth Appreciation Week
The Club’s 50th celebration of Optimist International’s Youth Appreciation Week began on October 29, 2019, with the Board of County Commissioner’s Proclamation declaring ‘Youth Appreciation Week in Calvert County October 28 – November 4, 2019’. The Club, partnering with the Solomons Club, recognizes forty (40) high school seniors as the County’s Outstanding Youth and provides them with a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the County government and courts and a tour of the Maryland State Police Barrack in Prince Frederick. This year 33 of the 40 Outstanding Youth were able to attend and participate in the tour and Proclamation ceremony.
This year’s honorees are: from Calvert High School – Noah Breske, Michael Deffinbaugh, Kayla Dehetre, Angelique Gingras, Johnathan Gomez, Andrew Mason, Sydney Serena; Emily Shrieves, Vincent Sullens and Megan Williams; from Huntingtown High School – Jackson Blackburn, Brandi Bohrer, Marge Boleyn, Sarah Fox, Suzanne Fox, Abbey Galdieri, Blake Lehan, Sam Parrish, Dylan Pearman and Akhil Patel; from Northern High School – Courtney Anderson, Lauren Butz, Michaela Dorsett, Justin Evans, Tia Jackson, Diamond Lewis, Abigail Nguyen, Aaliyah Roach, Tiffany Taylor and Tyler Will; and from Patuxent High School – Bri Corbin, Mike Costas, Jacob Goedeke, Aidan Iberg, Cammy Izdepski, Niya Lancaster, Marissa Moseley, Kouassi Pone, Rachel Saenz and Garrett Witte.
Photo Courtesy of Calvert County Government
2019 Halloween Party & Costume Parade
Education Appreciation Week
The Optimist Club of Calvert, partnering with the Solomons Optimist Club, sponsored the 3rd Annual Education Appreciation Week recognizing and honoring the teacher and support staff nominees of the year from each of the twenty-four (24) Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS). The activities included a Proclamation by the Board of County Commissioners on August 27, 2019, naming ‘August 26 – September 2, 2019, as Education Appreciation Week in Calvert County’ and a luncheon for the honored teachers and support staff on August 28, 2019, at the CCPS Brooks Administration Building. Teacher and Support Staff attendees at the Education Appreciation Week luncheon. Photo credit: Calvert County Public Schools
Project Graduation
The Club provided the food, drinks, and snacks for the 153 Calvert High graduates who attended the Project Graduation event at Patuxent River Naval Air Station on the evening of June 5, 2019. As has become a tradition for Club members when traveling to Pax River, there were early evening showers, but fortunately, there was no thunderstorm or wind to contend with and the rain stopped just as the work of grilling hamburgers and hotdogs began. Many thanks to the Optimists and Club friends who helped with the preparation and serving of the hamburgers/cheeseburgers and hotdogs – Carol and Bob Young, Tom Parran, Natalie Moore, Debbie Horsmon, Larry Brown, Jack Brown, Krista and Kurt Brezina, Penny and Ed Dorsey and special thanks to Bunk Horsmon for getting the provisions needed to feed the new graduates. (Photos provided by Natalie Moore and Calvert Alliance Against Substance Abuse.)
