When I first was driving in the 7th District on a back road near my home, passing motorists would lift their hands to me. I wondered what I had done to earn the ire of the finger. I later discovered they were waving to me.
Such is the 7th District.
Such lovely people for the most part and we do have wonderful friends here and those we greatly respect.
There are only a very few individuals in the 7th I consider decidedly disagreeable and unworthy of association as a matter of character, and unfortunately all are highly associated with the 7th District Optimist Club (Club). As a matter of betrayal of trust, I resigned as Chairman of the Blessing of the Fleet and the Club, first due to the failure of Club leadership in all its negativity acting with unrighteous dominion to follow the tenets of its own organization primary among them being Civility, that upon which the 7th District was founded, and second but more fundamentally in its Breach of Honor.
In the page section entitled Descriptions & Ratings of 7th District Community Service Organizations and Businesses, in Speaking Truth to Power, given my disappointment in, disenchantment with, and disenfranchisement from the Club, you shall find a PDF attachment entitled Update On The Decline of the 7th District Optimist Club and The 2020 7th District Optimist Club with Tough but Fair detailed explanations of the reasons I separated myself from the Club should you desire a more fuller explanation, and another PDF attachment that provides descriptions and ratings of 7th District Community Service Organizations.
I also included a Critique of the 2019 Blessing of the Fleet citing its pitfalls and shortfalls, and the Comprehensive Review of the 2019 Blessing of the Fleet that chronicled the 2019 Blessing of the Fleet actual shortfalls.
I provide these as attachments rather than webpage sections that you may access this information as an option rather than compulsory reading.
I hesitate to criticize Club leadership no matter how egregious its untoward behavior. However, based on rumor and innuendo, I have heard the most outrageous depictions for the reason(s) behind my Club departure including of all things being a member of an ISIS drug cartel. Being on the right side of this, acting to protect and defend the Blessing of the Fleet, these false misrepresentations assailing my character require a public response. Thus, I am using a small bit of this webpage space to provide my side of the matter to set the record straight. In so doing, I hold Club leadership to account for its wrongful and harmful actions against the Blessing of the Fleet, its Chairman, and the Club. I also trust this counsel may move the Club towards a reversal of the culture of Club leadership embedded in negativity acting with authoritarian arrogance.
It appears the beginning of my downfall was when I became of some notoriety in the County when I appeared on the cover of the County Times as the Chairman of the Blessing of the Fleet.
It appears Club leadership has had some difficulty adjusting to my high standards of personal conduct.
I have great respect for the Club and its many fine members for the grand things they do for our community. This is not to besmirch the Club and its membership, but to defend myself, and inspire the Club to rededicate itself to the Optimist Creed. I modified this post for 2020 when new leadership took office as I respect the incoming president and expect better from him hopefully with the assurance of a change in Club Culture and disposition towards rectitude.
What Club leadership must come to understand is that it must treat volunteers like gold, not dirt, lest beware;
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Volunteer Scorned.
God speed the 7th District Optimist Club.
St. Mary’s County and the 7th District have changed in the twenty plus years I have been coming here, and since spouse Nancy’s parents with her father a prominent medical doctor in Alexandria VA purchased their waterfront property in the 1970’s as a place from which to sail and live also later retiring here and farming apples. The main change is the buildup of the Patuxent Naval Base with an increase of personnel and contractors increasing travel congestion and changing County politics where it has flipped primarily from solidly Democratic to Republican. The other big change is the influx of retirees and the affluent bringing in more people of expansive educational backgrounds, work and life experience, and financial means. The combined effect of the buildup of the Base and the influx of retirees and the affluent is an increase in area wealth with the encompassing enhancement of 7th District property values and shopping & service choices.
However, this also has been a challenge for some in the 7th interacting with the influx or people of differing backgrounds and vice versa as noted above. Historically, those living in the 7th District were connected to one another by family ties, employment, and/or business interests. Thus, they were beholding to one another such that they were cognizant of their interactions with one another within their spheres of influence. Those now coming into the 7th to live are no-nonsense self-sufficient retirees, those with considerable financial means, or connected to the Patuxent Naval Base such that they are not beholding to anyone and thus are independent of those concerns. Therein lies the challenge in assimilation.
As you shall see in the business section of this website, there is an extensive business presence in the 7th District. Almost everything one may need is available in the 7th District with the exception of building materials, household appliances, clothing, medical service offices, and legal assistance. These are available close by in Leonardtown and beyond.
To place Community Service and in Memorial notices, business notice, and paid business advertisements, all with pictures, please email me at richardllord@gmail.com. or call at 301-769-3125.