EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER | MARCH 2025
Cover Photo by Carolinne Kahane, Administrative Specialist
MARCHING ON!
February is finally behind us — the shortest month that somehow always feels like the longest! As we move through the heart of winter, this month’s newsletter highlights some of the events and efforts that have kept our community engaged and our team hard at work.
While most people try to avoid the snow and cold, we have EPD officers who were willing to jump into frigid waters for a great cause at the Polar Plunge — a true testament to their dedication. We also saw the excitement of the Fire & Ice Festival which brought plenty of winter fun, including an incredible firetruck made entirely of ice just for us!
Congratulations, and thank you to our team of engineers who were recognized during National Engineers Week. We appreciate you and all that you do to keep our town running.
We tackled the second and third snowstorms of 2025! Our Public Works and Facility teams are snow removal pros and are wonderful examples of the great teamwork that helps us weather any challenge.
Thank you all for the work you do every day to serve our community. Stay warm, spring is almost here, and enjoy this month’s newsletter!
Megan
Click HERE to see Trevor’s video interview!
Employee Spotlight
TREVOR NEWCOMB | DIRECTOR OF BUILDINGS & FACILITIES
Meet Trevor Newcomb! Trevor serves as the Director of Buildings & Facilities for the Town of Easton. Trevor has worked with the Town of Easton for over 17 years!
Trevor and his team are responsible for all of the upkeep, maintenance, and general well being of all of the Town-owned buildings and facilities in Easton. This includes Town Hall, the Police Station, the District Court Building, the Visitors Center, the Fire House, and many more.
In his free time, Trevor enjoys spending time boating, mainly out on the Tred Avon and Miles Rivers. When he’s not out on the local waterways, you might find him on Rails to Trails, inline skating with his dog, Stella.
TAKING THE PLUNGE
EPD partakes in Police Polar Plunge at Sandy Point Park
Hats off to the 2025 EPD “Copsicles” who took the icy plunge into the Chesapeake Bay for the Police Polar Plunge fundraiser for Special Olympics Maryland!
While our entire team was unable to make the event, Cpl. Cody Bland, Pfc. Kyle Hardy, Pfc. Mark Schinault, and Records Clerk Jay Horner all
came out and braved the cold, wind, and rain just for a chance to jump into the frigid bay waters. All four were first timers for this event.
When asked about the plunge, Pfc. Kyle Hardy said, “With this being my first Polar Bear Plunge, I wasn’t sure what to expect — other than a little hypothermia. The event was a lot of fun,
“ I wasn’t sure what to expect — other than a little hypothermia . . .The event was a lot of fun, and I can speak for everyone from EPD here today when I say that we definitely want to do this again next year.
Pfc. Kyle Hardy
and I can speak for everyone from EPD here today when I say that we definitely want to do this again next year. It’s always good to represent the Town of Easton and our department, especially while raising money for such a good cause.”
Thank you to all of the officers who participated, both today and through fundraising, and thank you for all of the community support we received. Easton Police Department was able to raise $2,235 dollars in support of Special Olympics Maryland. We’re already warming up for next year’s event!
THE 2025 COPSICLES:
Sgt. Megan Coxon *Team Captain*
Det./Sgt. Heather Hanson
Cpl. Cody Bland
Det. Norman Sova
Pfc. Kyle Hardy
Pfc. Mark Schinault
Pfc. Cordero Proctor
Ptl. Andrew Roberts
Jay Horner
THIS ELECTION WILL DETERMINE OUR NEXT:
Council President
Ward 2 Councilperson
Ward 4 Councilperson
WHEN: Tuesday, May 6, 2025 from 7am to 8pm
WHERE: Easton Firehouse, located at 315 Leonard Rieck Drive, Easton, MD 21601
More details and a full schedule of events can be found on our page at: https://eastonmd.gov/616/GeneralElection---May-2025
Town of Easton residents can register to vote in the election by picking up forms in person at the MVA located at 9148 Centreville Rd, Easton, MD 21601, or online at: https://elections.maryland.gov/
ARE YOU CONNECTED?
Follow us on social media: @townofeastonmd
Town Office
FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Town employees wear red for women’s cardiovascular health awareness
February is American Heart Month, a time when all people—especially women — are encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health.
February 6, 2024, National Wear Red Day is the icon day of American Heart Month. On the first Friday in February, participants across the country wear red to help raise awareness of women’s No. 1 killer – cardiovascular disease.
Town employees participated in National Wear Red Day in order to show their support and to help raise awareness locally. Thank you to everyone who showed their support!
Our Town office staff proudly doing their part on #NationalWearRedDay in recognition of #AmericanHeartMonth. From left to right: Christie Spindler, Jill Sherwood, Shelby Ruf, Bev Williamson, Carol Callahan, Rick Farr, Lorraine Gould, Lynn Thomas, Laura Diem, Greg Mueller, Kathy Ruf, Mayor Megan Cook, and Joanne Drummer.
WEARRED
Discover
FIRE
&
Discover Easton’s annual winter festival
&
ICE
festival delights downtown Easton
Easton
Despite some rain on its second day, the 2025 Chesapeake Fire & Ice Festival was a fun-filled winter blast for everyone who attended.
Kicking off on Valentine’s Day, the streets of Easton filled with festival goers on Friday night ready to explore the magical landscape. Dozens of ice carvings lined the streets and walkways of Town, offering some very creative and beautiful ice art to admire while exploring the many exciting activities. At the Waterfowl Festival building, stations were set up for children to partake in festive arts and crafts. Across the street, there was live music, a beer garden, fire pits, and food trucks to entertain guests. This was one of the most popular areas with something for everyone.
In front of Town Hall, we had our very own ice sculpture carved live on Friday. The ice carver set up around 5:30pm and continued for several hours until our very own firetruck and firefighter were complete! Across the street from our carving, in the lot next to the visitors center were several more activities: a makeshift “ice skating” rink, a full sized ice luge/slide for children (and a few adults) to slide down, and new for this year was a a paintball range where you could shoot paintballs into a large ice target.
Last, but not least, was the return of Cascasding Carlos to Thompson Park. Cascading Carlos is an impressive juggler who juggles fire, knives, and more while performing an entertaining show including fun banter and audience participation.
Kudos to the Discover Easton/EEDC team for throwing such an awesome event. We already can’t wait for next year!
TEACHABLE MOMENT
EPD Honor Guard team trains Civil Air Patrol units
Earlier this month, the Easton Police Department Honor Guard team had a wonderful time passing along some of their knowledge to a great group of youths from the Maryland Wing (Group 5) of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).
The EPD Honor Guard team met up at the Easton Airport Manager’s Hangar to train participants from three local CAP squadrons: Easton Composite Squadron - Civil Air Patrol, Bowie
Composite Squadron, Maryland Wing - Civil Air Patrol, and Wicomico Composite Squadron - Civil Air Patrol. Each group was trained in several aspects of the Honor Guard, including marching, presenting/posting colors, rifle manual, and flag folding.
Once the squadrons wrapped up their training at the different stations. They put all they had learned to the test by marching with flags
and rifles for a mock ceremony. One squad leader would call out the orders and mark time during marching and the others would act in unison presenting colors and following a set path. Each team got a round of applause after successfully navigating the course.
After the demonstrations ended, each participant received a certificate of completion from EPD. Lt. Col. Archie DeJesus, Commander of Group 5 - Maryland wing of the CAP, also presented our officers with certificates of appreciation, and patches from their organization. We hope this training will serve them well at future events, and maybe even later on in their careers!
A special thanks to Easton Airport for hosting the team and giving them a place to train out of the cold.
EPD HONOR GUARD TEAM
Lt. Tim Larrimore - Commander
Sgt. Megan Coxon - Team Leader
Cpl. Joseph Schinault
Cpl. Ashley Bayne
Cpl. Chris Westerfield
Cpl. Cody Bland
Pfc. Norm Sova
Pfc. Nicholas Everngam
Pfc. Blair Barstar
Pfc. Kyle Hardy
Pfc. Mark Schinault
Pfc. Cory Schuch
Ptl. Cordero Proctor
FINELY ENGINEERED
Town Engineering team recognized during National Engineers Week
National Engineers Week (Feb 16-22) was a great opportunity to celebrate our fantastic Engineering Department!
Their plans, projects, and oversight help to keep Easton’s infrastructure strong, safe, and efficient. We are so proud of all the hard work they do to keep our Town at its best.
Luckily, during National Engineers Week we were also able to feature one of their biggest projects of 2025: The Harrison Street Storm Drain Improvement.
This project makes several significant upgrades to our storm drain infrastructure in the area, greatly reducing the risk of flooding.
Earlier this week Director of Engineering Kody Cario and Construction Inspector Aaron Sadberry were onsite as an 18,000(!) pound manhole installation was lowered into the ground via a crane.
Cario said, “We’re excited about this project, it will make a major difference in flood prevention and will greatly improve water flow through our storm drain systems in this part of Town. We’re replacing some aging infrastructure, specifically brick channels, typically 30” or so with a new, more robust storm drain system that boasts 48” pipes. It really is a significant upgrade.”
This project is estimated to be completed in April.
Click here to see video footage of the plowing.
READY FOR ROUND 2
Public Works pushes through the second major snowstorm of 2025
On the 11th and 12th of February, the Town of Easton was hit with its second major snowstorm of 2025.
While it initially looked like temperatures could rise and not much snow would stick, the conditions changed and snowfall quickly accumulated on the roads and walkways. By the time the snow had stopped in the evening, an estimated 9” had come down.
While the snow fell, our Public Works team went out with a fleet of snowplows and ran through their routes to keep the roads in Town clear.
As a result of that hard work, by the next morning when employees came in to work, the roads were more or less
completely cleared and safe to drive.
While the roads were taken care of, the cleanup efforts of Public Works were far from over. “Here at Public Works, we work through the storm to keep the roads clear — but the work doesn’t end there. Once the primary and secondary streets are cleared of snow, our crews head back out to clear alleyways, crosswalks, Rails to Trails, and all of the sidewalks connected to Town property.” said Director of Public Works Mike Dickerson.
“These guys have been working shifts all through the night to clear the roads, and then they put in another full shift of hard work today. We’ve got an incredible group of guys here on our team.”
WE HAVE A WINNER!
Congratulations to Mayor Megan Cook for winning the Employee Newsletter Cover Photo Contest!
Megan now has a $25 gift card to Taco Bell for her submission that landed on the February cover of the Town of Easton Employee Newsletter.
You could be the next winner by submitting your potential cover photos to gmueller@ eastonmd.gov. If your submission is chosen, you too will win a $25 gift card!
Birthdays
MARCH
Michael Dickerson
Megan Cook
Justin Jones
Brian Carroll
Stuart Coleman
Frank Creegan
Michael Salinas
Renee Pierce
Lynn Thomas
Justin Conaway
Mark Hrobar
Tyrell Pierce
Joseph Mayer
Anniversaries
MARCH
Gregory Hall - 2 years
Tyrone Perry - 3 years
Nicholas Johnson - 3 years
Mary Moyer - 26 years
IRISH BEEF AND BEER POT PIE
Recipe courtesy of “Cookin’ Savvy” Servings: 4-6
1 pound ground beef
1 cup stout beer
3 tablespoons flour
1 can (15 ounces) tomato puree
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 cup beef broth
1 bag (28 ounces) hashbrowns with peppers and onions
1 can (14 ounces) carrots, drained
1 can (14 ounces) peas, drained
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
Heat oven to 400 F.
In large skillet or Dutch oven, brown ground beef; drain and set aside.
Over medium heat, deglaze skillet with beer and whisk in flour. After thickening, whisk in tomato puree and add Worcestershire sauce.
Mix in ground beef, garlic powder and beef broth. Add hashbrowns, carrots and peas. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Place puff pastry sheet on cookie sheet. Beat egg and brush over pastry. Bake 10 minutes. Place hot puff pastry on top of beef mixture and serve.
BEEFY BREW
Make St. Patrick’s Day special with this savory favorite
(Family Features) While some St. Patrick’s Day celebrations call for green beer and large gatherings, you may instead opt for a cozy evening at home with comforting foods and close friends. Whether your shamrock spirit leads you out for a local parade or you’re more of a stay-at-home leprechaun, there is one tradition all can agree on: delicious Irish food.
If a quieter night cooking at home is up your alley, you’re in luck. You can put a meal worthy of gold on the table with these festive Irish favorites from “Cookin’ Savvy.”
A hearty home-cooked meal loaded with flavor and sure to fill you with cheer, Irish Beef and Beer Pot Pie is made piping hot to warm up any St. Patrick’s Day party. Full of hashbrowns, carrots, peas and beef, it’s a twist on tradition served with puff pastry topping the tasty stew. A cup of your favorite stout beer, of course, will come in handy for deglazing the skillet to ensure you enjoy every bit of beefy flavor.