Employee Newsletter - January 2023

Submit your best photo to gmueller@eastonmd. gov for a chance to win a $25 gift card. The winning photo each month will be featured on the next cover of the Town of Easton Employee Newsletter. Please submit high quality jpg, png, or tiff files, no later than the 15th of each month. Employees can submit multiple photos. Only 1 photo/winner will be chosen per month. Photos do not need to be of the Town of Easton, but photos featuring the town will be given some priority in the voting process.

Cover Photo by Scott Messick, IT Director

WELCOME,

To the Town of Easton Employee Newsletter. My name is Greg Mueller, and I am the new Communications/ PR Specialist for the Town of Easton. I come from a background of Marketing, Magazine Design, Creative Direction, and Video Production, both at APG Media of Chesapeake and freelance. I currently live in Stevensville with my wife Laura and two daughters, Josephine and Beatrice.

It is my hope that through this newsletter each of you will get a chance to be recognized for your contributions to the town, and that you will get a better understanding of how others are contributing as well. It is important that the hard work each employee is putting in gets recognized, not only by the town but also by colleagues and peers across different departments and fields. We all work together to make Easton a better place, and we all have our own unique ways to contribute with our own stories to tell.

I will be working to tell your stories through social media, this newsletter, and with photos and videography, but I encourage each of you to take a part in this as well. If you have a project you are proud of, an interesting story, or even if you know of a coworker who deserves to be recognized, please feel free to reach out to me at gmueller@eastonmd.gov so that we can get the word out.

Thank you all for the warm welcomes and I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely, Greg Mueller

Employee Spotlight

SAMANTHA SMITH | PLANNING AND ZONING

Meet Samantha Smith!

Samantha is pleased to be the new Administrative Specialist for Easton’s Planning and Zoning Department.

Samantha has a professional background in administrative and other client-facing roles, and she received a Bachelor of Music in 2015 from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. She most recently worked in banking for the last three years.

Click HERE to see Samantha's video interview!

She currently lives in downtown Denton and in her free time enjoys working out, attending theatre/live music events, and spending time at home with her three "tri-pawd" cats.

Public Works/Engineering

CELEBRATION!

Easton’s Public Works team enjoys their annual staff party

On Thursday, December 8th, the Town of Easton’s Public Works and Engineering departments gathered together for their end of year party at the Easton Firehouse and Bingo Hall. The party was catered by Mission Barbecue and featured speeches of encouragement and appreciation from Mayor Robert C. Willey, Town Manager Don Richardson, Superintendent of Public Works Mike Dickerson, and Town Engineer Rick VanEmburgh.

By the time the speeches were over, the Mission Barbecue catering had caused the entire firehouse to fill with the smell of delicious barbecue. Pulled chicken, pulled pork, smoked brisket, ribs, mac n’ cheese, and green beans were stretched out across a buffet for all to enjoy. Sodas and water round-

ed out a beverage table to wash it all down with.

After dinner, the whole team pitched in to put away all of the tables and chairs and the entire hall was cleaned in a matter of minutes. Once everything had been put away, door prizes (1 day of PTO!) were given out to 13 lucky winners.

All in all, the party was a fun event that ended with lots of smiles and full stomachs. The Town of Easton is very appreciative of our Public Works and Engineering teams and can’t wait to see their successes to come in 2023!

New hire Matt Haines wins a free day of PTO to be used in 2023!

Information Technology

> > > > > >

Google cloud migration nears its successful completion

The IT team is coming to a close on the final phase of the Google cloud migration. The first stage was our exchange to Gmail migration which transferred successfully across the board. Most of the team has adjusted well and been receptive to the change. The reasoning behind this first phase of the migration was to cut maintenance costs, and to protect us from spam, viruses, and other cyber attacks.

Phase Two is migrating our file shares from our on-premise Athena server over to Google cloud. The reasoning behind migrating was for the same reasons as the Gmail migration: less money the town has to spend long term in maintaining and buying equipment every 5 - 10 years, and less vulnerability to ransomware attacks which have increased over the past couple years. In addition to continuous backups of our data, Google cloud also gives us the ability

to collaborate simultaneously on documents. Most importantly the ability to access files from a remote location gives us the freedom to work remotely if another pandemic ever occurs.

The IT team is happy with the migration and the SADA Google team that has been fully involved with the migration from start to finish and we would like to thank them for their expertise. We would also like to thank you, the users, for being patient during this migration process and receptive to this big change.

In the weeks to follow the IT team will be offering a brief training to the users who need it and will also be making office visits to each department to ensure that there are no problems and everyone’s expectations are met.

Regards, IT Team

STEPS TO SUCCESS:

• Environment scans of our existing shares to ensure all files can be migrated.

• Setup migration servers and workstations (on premise equipment and virtuals) for the migration process.

• Run a second round of environment scans and start the migration process.

• Upon scan completion, start the Delta batches to ensure the files on the old Athena shares match exactly to the new Google shares. (current stage)

• Assign user permissions to the new Google shares and remove user permissions to the old Athena shares.

• Remove old Athena shares and fully start utilizing the new Google shares for all users.

• Google share training for users

“LIKE” & “FOLLOW”

The Town of Easton gets new social media accounts across multiple platforms

The Town of Easton is now fully operational on social media! Accounts have been created for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube all under the handle @townofeastonmd.

We will be using social media to quickly push out information pertaining to the town, as well as to promote positive stories and content from our many departments.

If you have any ideas about types of content you’d like to see promoted, or have a departmental function or an important update to release, please contact Greg Mueller at gmueller@eastonmd.gov

If you are on social media, please be sure to Like/ Follow/Subscribe to our channels and share the content that you enjoy to your own circles!

WRITE IN TO THE NEWSLETTER:

If you or someone in your department would like to send something in to be featured in an upcoming newsletter: Please email text and photos to gmueller@eastonmd.gov.

Submissions deadlines will be the 15th of each month (or the closest following business day).

**Please note that space is limited and not all submissions may make it into the newsletter**

Click

the YouTube logo to see our holiday lights video!

Town of Easton Office

HOLI- D A Z E

The Town of Easton office enjoys the holiday staff party at Headwaters Grille

The town of Easton offices closed early on Thursday, December 8 to host their annual holiday staff party at Headwaters Grille. The staff all gathered together to enjoy food, drinks, and good company. Menu choices included Burgers with Tots, a House Salad, a Crab Cake Platter (a popular choice), Chicken Chesapeake, and Butterfly Shrimp. Following the entrees, a dessert spread consisting of cake, cookies, and brownies satisfied any sweet cravings that lingered after dinner.

Once the food was enjoyed, the staff engaged in fun games and activities. Several employees donned their best ugly sweaters for the ugly sweater contest, but it was Nick Johnson who came out on top with his threads taking the top spot. Congrats, Nick!

An employee trivia contest that featured random facts about Town of Easton employees proved to be a challenging but fun way to learn new things about colleagues. Scott Messick ended up taking the grand prize here correctly guessing 10 random facts about Town of Easton employees! Great job, Scott!

Next came the door prizes. A faux Christmas tree fashioned out of red Solo cups and green tissue paper hid gift cards from numerous local businesses (Easton Premiere Cinemas, Bagery, Tradewhims, Rise Up!, etc.).

One by one, numbers were called until all of the cups and cards had been revealed. Shelby Ruf won the grand prize, an outdoor firepit/stove. Congrats, Shelby!

For the last game of the night, all the employees gathered around in a circle to play pass the present. Two presents were passed around the circle while a story was read featuring numerous iterations of the words “left” and “right” which the presents had to follow. After many twists and turns the story ended and Don Richardson and Nick Johnson were “left” with the presents in hand. Well done, Nick and Don!

With all of the great fun and games, along with the delicious food from Headwaters Grille, the Town of Easton holiday party was a great success. The Town of Easton is proud of our staff and is very much looking forward to what 2023 has to offer!

Easton Police Department

NEW TO THE FORCE

Easton Police Department welcomes two new officers

On Thursday, December 15, 2022, Easton Police Department welcomed two new officers to the force: Officer Cordero Proctor and Officer Mitchell Reeley. Officers Proctor and Reeley graduated from Wor-Wic Community College’s Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy after six months of training, and were immediately sworn in by Mayor Robert Willey following their commencement ceremony at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean CIty, MD.

Now that the officers have taken their oath of office, they must successfully complete a three-month Field Training program to satisfy the requirements for full certification as a Maryland law enforcement officer.

Prior to starting with the Easton Police Department, Officer Cordero Proctor worked with a plumbing company in Severn, Maryland. He is an active member of Maryland Air National Guard. In addition to receiving his badge and certificate, Officer Proctor was also awarded for expert marksmanship with a pistol at the commencement ceremony.

Officer Mitchell Reeley attended Easton High School and went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps from 2017 to 2021. He received a combat meritorious promotion to the rank of corporal in 2020. Prior to starting the police academy, Officer Reeley was attending Montgomery County Community College.

New officers Mitchell Reeley (left) and Cordero Proctor stand proud after their commencement ceremony at the

E.

in Ocean CIty, MD

The Easton Police Department is excited to have both Officer Proctor and Officer Reeley join our team!

The Easton Police Department has been serving the community with pride since 1906. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life in our community by maintaining a positive working relationship with our community that inspires trust and confidence in our ability to preserve the peace, reduce crime, the perception of crime, and to protect life and property within the framework of the United States Constitution. Please visit https://eastonmd.gov/196/Police for more information.

Roland

Powell Convention Center

Town of Easton Office

OPERATION TURKEY DROP!

On December 20, the Town of Easton had its annual turkey giveaway, handing out over 200 turkeys at 3 locations! Turkeys were given out to town employees, volunteers, and retirees at the main town office, the Public Works building, and at the Easton Police Department.

We hope that all of our employees had a safe and happy holiday season, and that they enjoyed their turkeys!

Easton Police Department

EASTON PD TOY DRIVE DELIVERS THE GOODS

The Easton Police Department's annual Toy Drive was a massive success. Thanks to generosity of our community, the conference room looked like a real toy store! This year's Toy Drive provided toys for 211 children from 92 families.

A special thanks to the hundreds of members of our community that donated toys or money this year, it could not have happened without their generousity.

Community partners who assisted with this project include: Andersen Wealth Management, The Bagery, The Bryan Foundation, Best Western, Cracker Jacks Toy Store, Doc’s Downtown Grill, Dr. Nicholas Dibendetto DDS, Hobbytown, Petsmart, The Quality Inn, the Talbot County Sheriff’s Department, and Walmart.

Anniversaries Recipe

Human Resources

KICK WINTER’S CHILL WITH HEARTY CHOWDER

Colder, shorter days call for a little comfort. Cozying up with a hearty meal on brisk winter evenings can help fight off the chill while savoring favorite flavors alongside the ones you love.

Avoid venturing into the cold for a trip to the store by turning to a pantry staple like sweetpotatoes. As one of the most versatile veggies, they’re easy to add to a variety of recipes while enhancing both flavor and nutrition. Perfectly suitable for both simple and elevated dishes, they can be baked, microwaved, grilled, slow cooked or prepared on the stove so their sweet taste never goes out of style.

Their long shelf life — up to four weeks if stored properly in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area away from heat sources — means you can rely on sweet potatoes throughout the winter as an on-hand ingredient. Additionally, as a “diabetes superfood” according to the American Diabetes Association, they’re rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber, all of which are good for overall health and may help prevent disease, making them a key source of nutrients during wintertime.

When your family needs a warm-up on those frosty days, put sweetpotatoes at the center of mealtime (with an added kick) in this Jalapeno Sweetpotato Chowder. Loaded with the flavors of winter comfort, it’s a filling meal that makes enough for a crowd so no one goes hungry.

(Family Features)

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO!

Jalapeno Sweet Potato Chowder

Recipe courtesy of the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission Servings: 6 2 large sweetpotatoes, baked 1 small onion, 1/4-inch diced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed 1 1/2 cups whole corn kernels 2 teaspoons minced jalapenos 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon salt chopped scallions, for garnish

Peel baked sweetpotatoes; discard skin and puree. In soup pot, saute onion in butter until softened. Add pureed sweetpotato and stock, as desired. Bring to boil, reducing liquid slightly.

Add chicken, corn, jalapenos, heavy cream and salt. Simmer 10 minutes. To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped scallions.

DECEMBER

Jason Dyott

Joshua Merrick

Eric Kellner

Greg Mueller

William Haines

Jason Brown

Scott Messick

Zachery Christ Barry Slaughter

George Larrimore Howard Maxwell Catelin Clopein Nicholsa Lange Brian Carrol David Ramey Cory Schuch

Jessica Plugge Tyquan Beckett Anthony Cullings Justin Reibly

JANUARY

Gordon Lee

Michel Thume

Rick Farr

Tim Tarrant

George Paugh

Tracey Lednum Jeff Olds Joe Mayer Kathy Ruf Brian Doyle Barbara Mooney

Birthdays

DECEMBER

Jessica Plugge

Anthony Cullings

Cody Gaertner

Clarence Gould

Rick VenEmburgh Joey Faulkner Brandon Watkins

JANUARY

Tyrone Perry

John Tripp Nick Johnson Jacob Towers Garey Fike Megan Coxon

Heater Hanson Michael Witby Mitchell Reeley Colin Jones

Catlin Clopein Samantha Smith Brandon Miles