NOVEMBER 13, 2025
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BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
Whimsical marsh mural gets commission’s vote With its antlered deer/fox, and other fanciful images art earns majority support
BRIAN SHANE/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
VETERANS DAY CEREMONY Community members gathered this week at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial in Ocean Pines to honor those that served in the United States Armed Forces.
By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Nov. 13, 2025) The month-long debate over how well a somewhat fanciful mural fits into the historic downtown image the town works to maintain ended last week when the Berlin Historic District Commission issued its approval. At its meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 5, the commission voted 4-1 to allow local artist Evan Fitzgerald to depict a marsh scene on the side of the Poole Building at 10 South Main Street. The image includes a girl playing music surrounded by (mostly) native animals on the side of the Poole Building at 10 South Main Street. The
sole dissenting vote was board member Mary Moore. Fitzgerald said that the mural will likely be completed around late April, when warmer weather returns to ensure the paint dries properly. The commission’s vote comes a month after the body initially heard the proposal from by Ivy Wells, the town’s economic and community development director, on behalf of the municipality’s Arts and Entertainment Advisory Board. At that Oct. 1 meeting, Wells said the mural, which will feature an Eastern Shore marsh populated by a crab, a blue heron, a young woman in a headdress playing the guitar, and a fox/deer-like creature with antlers, strengthens the town’s commitment to artistry and local talent. Much of the historic district comSee COMMISSION Page 6
Tasers to be added to OPPD equipment Ocean Pines department currently only local agency not issuing them to officers By Brian Shane Staff Writer (Nov. 7, 2025) Police officers in Ocean Pines will be equipped with stun guns by the end of this year, according to Chief Tim Robinson. “In modern policing, our job is to make sure my officers have the latest and greatest things that are out there,
the industry standard. A Taser is the industry standard,” Robinson told OC Today-Dispatch. Colloquially referred to as stun guns, or sometimes by the brand name Taser, electronic control devices give police officers an in-between tool that’s not as deadly as a firearm and not as in-your-face as a hand-to-hand interaction. Robinson said stun guns used properly can prevent permanent injury to either a citizen or an officer. See PINES Page 3
SUBMITTED PHOTO/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
From the flower behind the non-existant ear on a blue heron to the antlers on a fox, the subjects in the mural proposed by local artist Evan Fitzgerald project having a little idiosyncratic fun.
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GARDNER PT of Ocean Pines 11204 Racetrack Rd, Suite 101 • Ocean Pines, MD, 21811 410-208-1525
GARDNER PT of West Ocean City 12472 Sea Oaks Ln, Unit 1 • Berlin, MD 21811 410-747-3522