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2.19.2008

(Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in an occasional series to give insight to readers of The Delmarva Farmer about seminars a typical LEAD Maryland class attends in its two-year schooling. Editor Kevin George has joined Associate Editors Sean Clougherty and Stephanie Jordan in sharing a fellowship spot for Class V and they have been taking turns attending seminars on a rotating basis. Every couple of months or so, one will write on the latest activities in which the class has just participated.)

By KEVIN GEORGE
Editor

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — LEAD Maryland’s latest session was one part hands-on civics lesson in state government and another part tourist trip in one of the more notable but unheralded cities in United States history.
For a nine-month span in the early 1780s, Annapolis served as the nation’s capital and — in a room in what is now the State House — was the site where George Washington resigned his commission on Dec. 23, 1783 as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army after the United States defeated Britain in the Revolutionary War.
Since the winning general of other revolutions often keeps power and made the new domain a dictatorship, many point to Washington’s gesture as the true birth of democracy.
LEAD Maryland’s fifth class also visited the ground floor of the Governor’s Mansion and took tours of the chambers of the State Senate and House of Delegates and talked with Speaker Michael E Busch, D-Dist. 30, and Senate President Thomas “Mike” Miller, D-Dist. 27.
While in the State House, fellows were encouraged to visit their respective delegates and state senators in their respective offices. They also sat in on committee hearings that affected the agricultural industry.
The process created a better understanding of state government for some and broke down intimidation that may have prevented them from contacting state lawmakers in the past.
Steve Isaacson, a grain, forage and beef farmer from Cecil County, said he had turned down invitations from Maryland Farm Bureau to participate in Farm Bureau Day in Annapolis in past years. He said that won’t be the case in the future.
“It certainly made the whole political legislative process more transparent,” Isaacson said. “A comment made by one of the legislators was that we shouldn’t be afraid of them.”
He said the experience helped him understand the method of state government.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Isaacson of the government-themed trip. “I knew the parts of the legislature, but I never knew the pathway. This made the whole process more clear and it’ll be easier for me to follow the ag-related bills.”
Kenny Bounds, LEAD Maryland’s president of its board of directors, said the Annapolis trip has proven to be one of the more rewarding and memorable sessions for each class.
“I try to come with every class to the Annapolis seminar because I get something new every time I come,” he said. “It’s a great seminar. This one and the Washington, D.C. seminar are really good ones.”
A couple members of LEAD Maryland Class V even played cameo roles. Jeannie Haddaway is a delegate for three Eastern Shore counties, and Yates Clagett, a beef and hay farmer from Prince George’s County, spoke to a group of state senators on behalf of establishing the Prince George’s County Agricultural Preservation Easement Program.
“The connections that we have are wonderful,” Bounds said. “We really have a wonderful group of leaders in this class. To have those leaders scattered throughout the agricultural community helps to tell our story.”
The class also attended the Maryland Agricultural dinner on Feb. 7 in Glen Burnie.