TOWN COUNCIL
Veber, Bannon Back; Bay Creekers Not Flushing Enough

Larry Veber was off Town Council only 13 days before being reappointed.

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

July 13, 2012

Cape Charles Town Council last night appointed Larry Veber to fill the vacancy created by the death of Councilman-elect Donald Clarke last month, and also re-elected Chris Bannon as vice mayor.

Veber was an incumbent Councilman, but lost his re-election bid. His appointment to Council will last until a special election can be held.

Council is requesting the Northampton County Circuit Court to set a special election for the seat on the same day as the November 6 general election.

In other Council news, MaryAnn Roehm announced that Arts Enter has received a $50,000 “Our Town” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Cape Charles and Roanoke were the only grant recipients in Virginia.

Our Town grants support projects to transform communities into “lively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core,” Roehn said.  The Our Town project will complement the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, Community Trail master plan, and the Harbor Plan.”

Other reports to Council were not so sweet. During Dave Fauber’s Public Works report, he was asked what can be done about the strong smell at the Town’s new sewage treatment plant.

“It is what it is — a sewage treatment plant,” Fauber said. “You can encapsulate it, but at some point you have to let it out into the air. To stop the smell completely is probably cost prohibitive.”

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Bernice DeJarnette Wendell, May 10, 1926 – July 11, 2012

Click here to view a family video tribute: http://video.mbdkeepsakes.com/video/45721334

Bernice DeJarnette Wendell, 86, wife of the late Francis Edward Wendell, Sr., and a resident of Cape Charles, passed away July 11 at Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital in Nassawadox. A native of Nathalie, VA, located in Halifax County, she was the daughter of the late Henry and Virginia D. DeJarnette. She was corporate secretary for Wendell Distributing Co. and a charter member and former treasurer of the Young Women’s Club of Cape Charles.

Mrs. Wendell is survived by three children, Virginia Wendell Gibson of Ashland, VA, Francis Edward Wendell, Jr., of Cape Charles, and Elizabeth Wendell Harman and her husband, Brian, of Cape Charles; and four grandchildren, Jonathan Gibson, Gregory Harman, Andrew Harman and Katie Wendell. [Read more…]

Once-Wealthy Volunteer Ministering to Migrant Workers

The Angels, a local family of musicians, assisted by St. Charles Catholic Church volunteers, at an outdoor Mass for migrant workers and their families.

Hector Amortegui coordinates the migrant ministry at St. Charles Catholic Church in Cape Charles.

By KAREN JOLLY DAVIS
Cape Charles Wave

July 12, 2012

Hector Amortegui and his wealthy family fled their home in Bogota, Colombia, after they were threatened by guerilla fighters. Now he’s on the Eastern Shore for a third summer, ministering to migrant farmworkers and encouraging local people to have compassion on them.

“The people have been the ones that made me love this place,” Amortegui said about the Eastern Shore, and parishioners at St. Charles Catholic Church. “They are so transparent, loyal and loving.”

Amortegui didn’t speak a word of English in 2008 when he arrived at St. John Vianney Seminary in Miami. Now he translates the Mass into Spanish during the priest’s visits to Northampton County migrant camps. He organizes the collection and distribution of donated items, keeps an eye open for trouble, transports people to healthcare, and coordinates the local volunteers.

“It would be hard to do it without him,” said Chris Bannon, one of the St. Charles volunteers. “We come in with the fluff but don’t have the ability to touch the people. Our ministry would limp without him.”

The Eastern Shore has the highest density of migrant farmworkers in Virginia. Sixteen years ago, there were five tomato-growing companies and 120 camps accommodating 5,000-6,000 workers and family members.

Last year, there were only three growers and 50 camps.

This year, only two agribusinesses have planted tomatoes — Kuzzens/6Ls, and Pacific Tomato Growers — with 1,800 farmworkers in 25 camps. Pacific Tomato Growers does not house children, forcing workers to either look for housing in the community, or leave their families behind.

Jim Albright, coordinator of migrant ministries for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, says the situation is unjust. “If we need their sweat so badly, and we rely on foreign labor, then we ought to welcome them into our society and let them bring their families,” he said. “Otherwise they become just a tool.”

Albright recruited Amortegui at the Miami seminary in 2010. By then, he was studying English five hours a day. He said he learned easily because, having studied as a youth in a Jesuit school, he had a good background in Spanish, French, and Latin grammar. His father is a judge and his mother a professor of philosophy.

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