THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2008
VOL. 13 NO. 32
News TURKEY TRIO - Guess who’s coming to dinner and why now is not a good time to show up. Page 2 VICTORIAN - Candlelight tours and the chance to win a one-week stay in Williamsburg or Myrtle Beach are part of the Victorian Christmas 2008. Page 5 SANTA TAG - Delaware Motor Vehicles has sold almost 1,000 centennial plates and even Santa got into the act. Page 8 ENCORE - Laurel man makes second appearance on ‘Millionaire’ and walks away with another modest bundle. Page 9 SANTA FOR SENIORS - Sue Savina, manager of the Rose’s department store, is happy to have a Santa for Seniors Christmas tree in her store. Page 11 INSPIRATION - Delaware artist Ellen Rice will unveil the third painting in her inspirational Strength of Woman Series. Page 15
Sports FOOTBALL - This week the Star features photos of the Western Sussex varsity football players named first team all-conference. Page 41 FIRST SEASON - Seaford High grad Trevor Lee recently completed his first season of college soccer at Messiah College. See story on page 41. WINTER - The varsity winter sports pre-season is under way. The Western Sussex winter sports schedules begin on page 43. See next week’s Star for exclusive winter sports preview stories.
Index AUTO ALLEY BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD CHURCH CLASSIFIEDS EDUCATION ENTERTAINMENT FINAL WORD FRANK CALIO GAS LINES GOURMET HEALTH
39 6 17-20 22 32-35 30 28 55 50 50 14 26
LETTERS MOVIES OBITUARIES OPINION PAT MURPHY POLICE PUZZLES SNAPSHOTS SPORTS TIDES TODD CROFFORD
51 7 23 54 21 35 20 52 41-47 7 51
50 cents
Seaford artist surprised when her first try at painting turns out well By Lynn R. Parks Tammy Kearney was searching for something. Her only child, a daughter, Brooke, had left home for college and Kearney wanted a hobby to fill the hours. “I had always liked art,” said Kearney, 51, of Seaford. “My mother had painted when I was a kid and I had always liked the look of watercolors. I decided I would try to paint.” Kearney, who had never had a class, who had never even been told in school that she had any talent, bought a techniques book, some paints, paper and brushes. She set up a table in her home’s sunroom and started painting a picture of two quaking parrots. To her astonishment, the painting turned out well. “I was really surprised that I could do it,” she said. “I thought, ‘I think I really like this.’” That was in 1999. Today, Kearney has a well-lit studio on the side of her house, transformed from a garage by her husband, Mike, in a three and onehalf year project, where she creates her watercolors. In the corner of her studio is the only portrait she has ever done, an oil of Brooke. She accepts commissions and has works hanging in a gallery in Corolla, N.C. And she couldn’t be happier. “I just feel very blessed that I have found this in my life,” she said. “Painting is a great joy.” Kearney grew up in Greenwood and graduated from Woodbridge High School in 1975. She went to work for the Justice of the Peace court system soon after graduation and retired as operations manager of the Superior Court in Georgetown in 1992. She works part-time as an assistant at Century 21 Tull Ramey real estate, Seaford. Kearney takes classes with Nancy LaPrad, Seaford, and with Kurt Plinke, Greensboro, Md. Her focus is on nature-inspired paintings, in particular landscapes and birds. Lying on her painting table on a recent late-fall morning was a just-finished painting of a red-tail hawk standing on a weatherworn wooden post. A single Continued to page e four
Sitting in her studio at her drawing table, Tammy Kearney is shown working on a painting of a blue bird. Below are paintings she completed of an old stone barn in Odessa and a blue jay. Photos by Lynn Parks
Hometown Heroes Banners Delaware’s Hometown Heroes Banners honoring Delaware’s fallen heroes, which include six local heroes, will be presented for display at this year’s Caroling in the Park event on Monday, Dec. 1. The 30-plus banners were put up on Monday, Nov. 24, and will be on display until the end of January 2009. Tom Daws, president of the state chapter of Veterans Affairs and Judy Campbell, Display Organizer, will be
in attendance during this year’s Caroling in the Park to welcome the banners to our community and give a brief back ground on their creation We hope that our entire community will come out to honor the memory of those who gave their lives for our freedom. For more information, or to pass on details about someone who was killed in action, call Judy Campbell, (302) 539-5991 or Tom Daws (302) 738-8875