Page 8 - September 2021 Issue.indd

still call the vicinity Jumptown, times on my bike, on a tractor,
as it was fi rst known.
• Once in Ridgely, the trail steers
hikers to Railroad Memorial
Park. Visitors, provided they • What has long been accepted
are passing through when the
campus buildings are open, may
tour the restored 1892 train
station and a 1937 telephone
exchange maintained by the
local historical society. While
the station was witness to the
bustling golden age of Ridgely
about a century ago when
strawberries were shipped in
refrigerated cars throughout the
Eastern Seaboard, I maintain
a special dedication to the
latter structure. Technological
advances led to the phasing
out of the original telephone
operator protocols, so the
building was moved down
the road from our farm to be
used for a time as a church and
schoolhouse. I passed it many
“Republican Candidate for Caroline County Sheriff
with over 25 years of public service.”
Elect Steve
Stouffer
SHERIFF
Facebook (Steve Stouffer for Sheriff) • www.stouffer4sheriff.com
8
latest WrestleMania VHS tape],
or in a farm truck as it aged, so I a pet store [bought a parakeet
am glad to see that it was rescued there], a tanning salon, and Sam’s
and repurposed. Pizza among other random
commercial ventures, as well
as the longtime location of the
as the widest main street in
town post office, bank, and the
Maryland escorts trail users out
United Methodist Church that
of town and towards Denton. I
features a stained glass window
am not nearly as nostalgic about
memorializing five of my
Central Avenue considering
relatives [my great-grandfather
its current lethargic condition.
was pastor there during the
People a generation older than
1920s]. Those glory days are long
me can name a plethora of
gone despite the fact that the
iconic businesses that graced
population of “Dream City” is
the center of Ridgely decades
approximately double what it was
ago, but my memory only goes
when I was a child; I might enjoy
as far back as the 1980s -- and
explaining the perceived reasons
modern Chad sees mostly
for the decline but personal
empty or underutilized and
decorum prohibits it here.
dilapidating spaces. Walking by
the storefronts between Railroad • The next landmark along the
and First Street stirred pleasant Caroline section of the ADT
images of Young’s Video [I still takes some time to appear on the
remember our member number horizon. Once hikers complete
as well as the excitement of the current Choptank River
when it was my turn to rent the bridge, a more modern span
Authority: Citizens for Steve Stouffer, Keli Jones,Treasurer