OCTOBER 3, 2024
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BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
Nichols wins in landslide in District 3 Council incumbent returns for another term along with Jack Orris, Mayor Tyndall
PHOTO COURTESY OF OCEAN PINES ASSOCIATION
An elevated perspective of the Ocean Pines Racquet Sports Center shows the array of tennis, pickleball and platform tennis courts offered to members in the community.
Racquet sports proposes new plan Club officials say option’s lower price tag could lead to increased membership By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Oct. 3, 2024) Officials from the Ocean Pines Racquet Sports Center are proposing a two-sport membership option. The OPA facility offers tennis, pickleball and platform tennis. At a Wednesday, Sept. 25 OPA Budget and Finance Committee meeting, representatives Karen Kaplan, the president of the platform tennis club, and Donna Frankowski,
the pickleball club secretary, presented their proposal for altering the racquet center’s fee structure by adding two-sport membership options to be considered for next year’s budget. Currently, racquet participants may purchase a single-sport membership for either pickleball, tennis or platform tennis or an umbrella threesport fee structure and choose the family or individual package within those options. Players who wield their paddles for two sports have few options under this structure. They can purchase the individual combination three-sport membership for $440 or pay for two
packages, which may be cheaper or more expensive than the umbrella deal, depending on the sports. Ocean Pines resident membership rates for an individual in tennis are $295, $200 for platform, and $200 for pickleball. Currently, the three-sport combo option for an individual gives residents a discount of 36.6% off the total price of purchasing all three sports packages separately. If approved, the proposed twosport categories, which Kaplan described as pickleball plus tennis, tennis plus platform tennis, and pickleball plus platform tennis, would See RACQUET Page 8
By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Oct. 3. 2024) The Berlin Town Council will remain as is. On Tuesday, Oct. 1, some Berlin voters headed to the polls to cast their ballots for the town’s only contested race, a match between District 3 incumbent Shaneka Nichols and challenger Daniel Packey. Nichols held her District 3 seat with 62 votes to capture a second term. Packey received four votes. Nichols defeated Packey in 2020 for her first term. Nichols is a special education teacher at Worcester County Public Schools and a mother of six. Her roots run deep in Berlin, as 10 generations of her family have lived on Flower Street. Nichols said during the 2020 election that a priority of hers was the construction of a community center. The victor currently sits on the town’s steering committee to further the project. That community center is nearing fruition, as four parcels of Flower Street property have been combined to create a recreational building through a partnership with the Berlin Community Improvement Association, SHOREUP! Inc., and the Worcester County Commissioners. The site is the former home of Flower Street School, an African American education facility that operated in the first part of the 20th century. Nichols will now get to continue aiding these efforts as she captured a second term Tuesday night. “Thank you, Berlin, District 3, for your support,” she wrote on Facebook following the announcement of the election results. “Your votes are truly appreciated, and your voices are heard.” Challenger Packey moved to Berlin in 2019. He has a background in economics and has taught the subject as a professor in the United States and Australia. The District 3 match-up was Berlin’s only contested race. District 2 Councilman Jack Orris and Mayor Zack Tyndall were unopposed this year.
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