5 O’clock Somewhere, a tribute band that celebrates the music of Jimmy Buffett and others, is coming back to Frederick.
The show will be at New Spire Arts on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Key West Productions has brought the “5 O’clock” show to Frederick in years past, but with the death of Buffett on Sept. 1, 2023, the producers have infused the show with more Buffett classics and a heartfelt tribute.
“The show kind of morphed after Jimmy died. There had always been a few of his songs in the set list, but now we have eight or nine with great stories and pictures to really enhance the experience,” said Tom Kohlhepp of Key West Productions. “You’ll imagine you have a drink in your hand and a sea breeze in your face.”
The 90-minute show features soft-rock and country favorites in the first half from artists like The Eagles, America, the Doobie Bothers, Kenny Chesney and others — songs you want to hear when it’s 5 o’clock on a Friday and it’s time to let your hair down and have a good time.
The second half of the show is turned over to the music and stories of Buffett, the late troubadour of laid-back island soul.
Kohlhepp promises the band will play all of the songs that used to get costumed crowds on their feet all over the world, batting around beach balls and swaying back and forth in packed arenas.
The band will play “Margaritaville” (with a rarely sung last verse), “Come Monday,” “It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” “A Pirate Looks at 50,” “Volcano,” “Fins,” “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” and a few surprises.
The featured artists are Safe Harbor, based nearby in Jefferson.
Safe Harbor is made up of the award-winning married duo of Sam and Katherine Ott, along with backup artists from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. They count themselves as Buffett fans, playing all over the eastern U.S.
They performed the show recently in Key West, Florida, Buffett’s hometown.
“I can guarantee folks in the audience will come away with a better understanding of Jimmy Buffett, why he wrote each of his greatest hits and the great stories that are behind them,” Kohlhepp said. “Some people consider Buffett a country singer, others a pop singer. I’ve always considered him just a folk singer in flip flops. There’ll be good stories put to song with a drink in your hand. What could be better?”
GULF SHORES, AL – JULY 11: Musician Jimmy Buffett performs onstage at Jimmy Buffett & Friends: Live from the Gulf Coast, a concert presented by CMT at on the beach on July 11, 2010 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT)
Jimmy Buffett lived a life most of us can only dream of. By all accounts it was wacky, wild and wonderful.
We all know about his hugely successful music career. He recorded more than 30 albums, wrote and recorded a career-defining and endlessly entertaining song in “Margaritaville” and built a string of successful Margaritaville restaurants and resorts.
But did you know he was a best-selling author and a seaplane pilot?
He wrote three best-selling books: “Tales from Margaritaville,” “Where is Joe Merchant,” and “A Pirate Looks at Fifty.”
Piloting a seaplane was his way of escaping reality and inviting family and friends on his many adventures, fishing and otherwise, all around the Caribbean.
His early life wasn’t always easy, though.
He flunked out of college, flunked his draft physical and started a band in his 20s, but it got no traction, so it broke up soon after.
He was divorced twice, went broke once and survived not one, but two, devastating crashes: one by car and one by seaplane that he only survived due to some Navy training.
Later, he broke the same leg three times in one year, did a lot of dope and went into therapy.
But there’s no reason to focus on the negative stuff because Jimmy never did.
He spent his life looking optimistically for the next opportunity and he almost always found it. He was signed to a recording contract at ABC Records in 1973 to replace his recently deceased friend, Jim Croce.
Buffett died last year on Sept. 1 at age 76, from complications from Merkle cell carcinoma, a rare type of skin cancer.
Somehow, fittingly, he died on the last day of meteorological summer. If the “music died” when Buddy Holly died, could it be that summer died with Jimmy Buffett? We’ll have to wait and see this summer.
I was never a big Jimmy Buffett fan and certainly never a “parrothead”— the term reserved for his most loyal, diehard fans who could always be counted on to dress up in wild costumes at his concerts, perhaps with a parrot on their shoulder.
But I can appreciate the niche he carved out for himself in the music business, much to everyone’s surprise.
One can name no other artist (other than the Beach Boys) who so completely embodied a carefree, island-hopping, “strumming my six-string on my front porch swing,” summery persona.
Buffett may have described himself best when he said: “I’ve got a Caribbean soul I can barely control.” He and his Coral Reefer band toured the world for nearly 50 years, bringing joy wherever they set down.
My wife and I have been to a few of his concerts and always had a really good time.
Near the end, he wasn’t much of a singer. He was more like an affable host or a barefoot ringleader of one giant outdoor party.
Sometimes, you felt like he was phoning it in, not giving it much effort. But the more I thought about it, isn’t that the essence of Jimmy Buffett anyway, making it look easy and effortless?
Surprisingly, he started out as more of a country singer. His 1974 heartfelt ballad “Come Monday” was a big hit on both the country and pop charts. It has an unmistakable country feel to it.
But soon after, something changed. He was no longer country. He embraced what might be called tropical island or Caribbean music, with a strong influence of steel drums and simple melodies and lyrics. By all accounts, he went back to his roots.
When “Margaritaville” hit the airwaves in 1977, it was impossible not to like the song or the carefree-looking artist that penned and sang it. “Margaritaville” speaks not of a town, but of a state of mind when you use your favorite adult beverage to numb yourself to life and your inability to do much with it.
With exasperation but acceptance, Buffett sang “Don’t know the reason / stayed here all season / Nothin’ to show but this brand new tattoo. But it’s a real beauty / a Mexican cutie / how it got here I haven’t a clue.”
He then finished up plaintively “Wasted away again in Margaritaville, Searching for my lost shaker of salt. Some people say that there’s a woman to blame. But I know / it’s my own damn fault.”
To this day when I hear it, I can’t help but smile and sing along. Putting smiles on strangers’ faces — not a bad legacy to leave.
GULF SHORES, AL – JULY 11: Musician Jimmy Buffett performs onstage at Jimmy Buffett & Friends: Live from the Gulf Coast, a concert presented by CMT at on the beach on July 11, 2010 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT)
The most humble of federal holidays falls annually on the third Monday of February. It’s commonly known as Presidents’ Day – but it technically isn’t.
In 1971 Congress passed a measure that redirected many holidays to a Monday date, so that workers could enjoy several long holiday weekends throughout the year.
As part of this bill, Washington’s Birthday (Feb. 22), which had been celebrated as a federal holiday since the 1880s, was to be renamed Presidents’ Day to also honor Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (Feb. 12).
After much debate the name change failed but lived on as Presidents’ Day when retailers embraced the term for monetary and commercial reasons.
This year Presidents’Day in Monday., Feb. 19.
Presidents 45 and 46 (Trump and Biden) dominate the news cycle now, but it is quite interesting to look back and consider what an odd lot these presidents have been.
There are founding fathers, scallywags, scholars, and simpletons. And, for an office so sought after, more than a few were accidental presidents. Even a few more never wanted the job in the first place.
George Washington falls into this category.
He never wanted the job but took it at the urging of the other founders. He wanted nothing more than to retire to his plantation after leading the nation to independence. It’s hard to believe now, but it is well documented that he was largely reviled as president. No wonder. He was constantly charting new territory in this strange new job, to the consternation of most at the time.
But he gave a gift to the young republic struggling to disassociate itself from the English monarchy that cannot be repaid and has been brought into sharp focus on Jan. 6, 2021. He voluntarily and peacefully gave up power after eight years in office. This astounded not only the other founders but also most U.S. citizens and the world who assumed he would rule until death.
The behavior of presidents proves there is nothing new under the sun.
John Adams served one term and was so upset about his one vote loss to Thomas Jefferson in the House of Representatives in 1800 for his second term that he skipped Jefferson’s swearing in. Sound familiar?
Besides Mr. Trump and Mr. Adams, John Quincy Adams (sixth president and John’s son) and Andrew Johnson (17th president, Lincoln’s successor, and the first to be impeached) also skipped their successor’s inauguration. Each was a one-term president who lost a bitter re-election bid.
Then there is the enigma known as Thomas Jefferson.
He was a proud member of Virginia’s upper crust but also lived most of his life in heavy debt to the point of near poverty. He was a quintessential introvert. He wrote and reasoned brilliantly but had such a soft, unassuming voice that he struggled to be heard.
He was an eloquent defender of independence and liberty but was also an unabashed slaveholder. He was mostly aloof but was also the mentor of both Madison and Monroe, and helped usher in 28 years of what today would be called liberal Democratic policies.
Mr. Trump’s decision to run again in 2024 put him in sparce, but pretty good, company. Ex-presidents Grover Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt ran again years after completing their terms. Cleveland (22nd and 24th president) actually won a second time and is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Roosevelt split his party in 1912 with the incumbent president William Howard Taft, thereby handing the presidency to Democrat Woodrow Wilson, a stuffy scholar who ignored the pandemic of the day.
The case can be made that Taft actually went on to an even better job. After his presidency ended in 1913, he eventually became chief justice of the Supreme Court, the only former president to do so. John Quincy Adams was no slouch either. He went on to serve several terms in the House after his presidency, which would be unthinkable today.
Joe Biden is a healthy 81-year-old but has surpassed the life expectancy of males in the U.S. If he were to die in office, it would be sad but not unusual. Several accidental presidents assumed office upon the death of the president.
John Tyler assumed office in 1841 upon the death of William Henry Harrison, who died after only one month in office, reportedly from pneumonia suffered after giving an exceedingly long inaugural address in bitterly cold weather.
Harry S. Truman and Andrew Johnson assumed office in similar manners, ascending after Franklin Roosevelt died just one month into his fourth term in 1945 and after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated just a month into his second term in 1865.
Millard Fillmore became president in 1850 upon the death of Zachary Taylor. Chester Arthur assumed the presidency in 1881 after James Garfield was assassinated just months into his first term. Teddy Roosevelt became president the same way, after William McKinley was shot in 1901 and lingered on for days dying excruciatingly of an infection from the bullet wounds.
Warren G. Harding died in office of a heart attack in 1923 midway through his first term propelling Calvin Coolidge to the presidency. And, Lyndon B. Johnson became president in 1963 after John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Of these accidental presidents, modern day chiefs Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson all won terms of their own.
Only one incumbent president was denied the nomination of his party to run for re-election. Franklin Pierce was held in such low regard and was so inept as president that the Democratic Party in 1856 went with James Buchanan as its standard bearer instead of the sitting president.
That could not happen today. Buchanan won after all this chaos that would have shaken even the most hard-bitten of modern political operatives, and is renowned for only one thing: he was our only bachelor president.
Dwight Eisenhower was such a national hero in 1948 after leading the Allies to victory in World War II, both parties courted him to run for president. Incumbent president Harry Truman even offered to step aside if Ike would agree to run as a Democrat. Imagine that today. Instead, he waited four years and ran and won twice by landslides as a Republican.
Richard Nixon was the only president to resign the presidency, doing so in 1974 at the height of the Watergate scandal. His successor, Gerald R. Ford, was the only president not elected to either vice president or president and never wanted to be president.
Besides Ford, Jimmy Carter in 1977 may have been the most unlikely modern president. His Southern, born-again Christian and plain-folks demeanor was the perfect elixir at the time (and probably no other) for a reeling nation after Nixon resigned and was pardoned by Ford.
Modern presidents George W. Bush (2001) and Donald Trump (2017) won the presidency despite not winning the popular vote. Exhilarating or shocking, depending on your point of view, this was nothing new for the U.S.
Under the Electoral College system, five presidents have been elected despite the fact that their opponent won more popular votes. Along with Bush and Trump, John Quincy Adams won in 1824 over Andrew Jackson, who went on to win in a rematch four years later, as did Rutherford B. Hayes (1877) and Benjamin Harrison (1889) with the help of some Congressional deal-making shenanigans.
Andrew Jackson was the first president to use the power of personality to propel his ascension. He portrayed himself as the hero of the common man. He was gruff, flamboyant and downright mean at times. Again, sound familiar?
Gary Bennett of Frederick is an amateur presidential historian.
The Affordable Housing Council of Frederick County is pleased to see there is clear recognition by the Maryland General Assembly, as evidenced by the actions it is taking, of the massive shortage of affordable housing across all of Maryland.
When the 90-day 2024 session kicked off on Jan. 10, it had prefilings over more than 800 proposed bills, many of which overlap. Of these, more than 200 deal with housing, affordable housing or related subject areas. All will be heard in committees in which Frederick County is well represented.
Despite the Affordable Housing Council’s urging, no housing-related priorities made it into the Frederick County Council’s 2024 legislative package. However, the County Council did provide several position statements supporting affordable housing initiatives and particularly the landlord/tenant “just cause” eviction notice.
The Affordable Housing Council has identified the following seven bills as important to advocate for and actively track during their monthly deliberations.
• HB3: Expedited Development Review Processes for Affordable Housing — sponsored by Del. Vaughn Stewart of Montgomery County. It requires local jurisdictions to implement an expedited development review process for affordable housing.
This bill is especially attractive since it mirrors the governor’s wish to reduce the public hearing process used to delay projects or have them narrowed and a 2024 policy priority for the local Affordable Housing Council to streamline Frederick County’s and the city of Frederick’s permitting process to accelerate affordable housing projects.
• HB7: Housing Innovation Pilot Program and Housing Innovation Fund — also sponsored by Stewart. It proposes establishing a housing innovation pilot program at Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for providing loans for local housing authorities to develop mixed-income, cross-subsidized housing.
DHCD, the primary housing authority for the state, funds or insures loans for the purchase and construction of housing for low-income families; helps low- and moderate-income families buy or rehabilitate houses; and aids nonprofit organizations with grants or loans to house the elderly, developmentally disabled and homeless.
This bill dovetails nicely with Frederick County’s stated goal for its Division of Housing to expand further into the world of housing finance by prioritizing outside funding opportunities to create and preserve affordable housing.
• HB63: Property Tax Credit for Dwelling House of Disabled Veterans — sponsored by Del. Andrew Pruski of Anne Arundel County. It provides for a tax credit for dwelling houses of disabled veterans as declared by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• SB25: Disabled or Fallen Law Enforcement Officer or Rescue Worker Property Tax Credits — sponsored by Sen. Katherine Klausmeier of Baltimore County. It proposes a tax credit for disabled or fallen law enforcement officers or rescue workers.
• HB69: Live Where You Teach Program — sponsored by Del. Marlon Amprey of Baltimore City. It authorizes the Community Development Administration in the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development to administer a homebuyer assistance program and a rental assistance program for housing near schools where school employees want to live.
•SB90, sponsored by Sen. Antonio Hayes of Baltimore City, is proposing that $200,000 be appropriated for CDA to apply to the Live Where You Teach Program.
This bill, if passed, would only apply at this time to the school staff in Baltimore City, but the positive ramifications for teachers statewide could be huge in the future.
• HB154: Revaluation of Property on Transfer After Appeal — sponsored by the chair of the Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. It provides for a homeowner’s property tax credit for applications submitted within three years after April 15 of the taxable year for which the credit is sought. This means that if the assessment of the property is reduced upon appeal, the taxpayer pays the lower amount.
• HB138: Financial Literacy for All Act — also sponsored by Amprey. It proposes financial literacy requirements as part of required curriculum for students. Financial literacy is an important component for understanding prerequisites for buying, renting or financing a home.
All of these proposed bills are important building blocks for the creation, preservation or financing of affordable homes in the state of Maryland.
We are heartened that help is on the way for millions of Marylanders who can’t afford the home they need.
Editor’s note: Gary Bennett is a retired marketing executive. Hugh Gordon is the association executive for the Frederick County Association of Realtors and has decades of experience in the real estate world, including 24 years as a mortgage banker. They are longtime Frederick County residents and members of Frederick’s Affordable Housing Council.
It’s not often you find your life’s purpose after a lifetime of work, but that’s exactly what Advocates for Homeless Families executive director Ken Allread did.
Like most of us, Allread had been concerned with the welfare of homeless families his entire life but couldn’t do much about it. Then in 2009, he got an invitation to volunteer at Advocates for Homeless Families in Frederick. Now, he has been executive director for 15 years, and his passion for the mission of this somewhat obscure Frederick nonprofit has only grown.
After retiring in 2009 from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in Washington, D.C., where he was serving as section chief in the budget division, Allread sat around the house for three weeks and decided it was not going to work for him. Luckily, his friend Joe Case was the current executive director at Advocates in Frederick and invited him to volunteer. “It will be fun,” Case wryly told Allread.
Although “fun” may not have been the best descriptor for the difficult work, it was certainly fulfilling. Allread took to his volunteer duties at Advocates with the same vigor he approached his paid career. In 2010, Allread was recognized as Advocates’ volunteer of the year, spending countless hours writing grants and doing other administrative tasks, freeing paid staff for other work.
In early 2011, the executive director position at Advocates became vacant when incumbent Joe Case decided to reestablish his professional contracting career in D.C. and left Advocates. Throwing caution (and perhaps a comfortable retirement) to the wind, Allread applied for and got the job in September 2011.
He was thrilled, but taking the job turned out to be a tough decision for Allread. At about this same time, his former employers at the U.S. Courts came calling. They wanted him to go to Serbia and help get that former communist country into the European Union. To do so, they would have to show a separation of powers. Allread took a leave of absence from Advocates, traveled to Serbia and helped their newly formed independent judiciary write an operating manual.
From homelessness to homeownership. One of Advocates’ families recently moved directly from temporary housing to their first home!
“They wanted me to stay in Serbia for a lot of money. But at the time, Joe [Case] was leaving and Advocates probably would have failed. So, I had a choice to make, and I chose Advocates,” Allread said.
Because of less than stellar management prior to Case coming on board, Advocates had only $20,000 in the bank. Most of the other nonprofits and foundations no longer trusted Advocates. Allread had to work hard to rebuild that goodwill. And by all indications, he has succeeded.
Advocates for Homeless Families is a valuable but somewhat hidden asset in Frederick County.
Perhaps misnamed, Advocates does much more than advocate on behalf of homeless families in Frederick. It operates two successful programs designed to keep homeless families together, off the streets, and eventually in a reliably-housed, stable, working, tax-paying situation.
Allread said he sees Advocates as a holistic program first and housing-provider second.
“The housing is just a means to an end,” he said. “We are a program and not a shelter. We want our clients to stand on their own, and we do everything we can to make that happen.”
Advocates currently owns 12 apartments and townhouses in Frederick that provide families with an alternative to life on the streets. Aptly named, the transitional housing program serves as a transition from shelters to permanent housing. It features intensive case management that can last up to two years.
During that time, families pay a housing fee of 30% of their income with a cap of $300 per month. “There are no free rides,” said Allread. “The goal is to eventually get them standing on their own and into public housing or, at least, get them Section 8 assistance.”
Receiving the highly subsidized housing requires more than just paying the fee. The program mandates education, training and support services to help families find jobs or increase earnings so they can afford to live on their own.
Keeping families together. A newly married couple from Advocates’ transitional housing program now has a gateway to a better life!
Advocates works closely with Frederick Community College and Hood College to steer clients into degree programs and trades that will provide enough money to live on. If they are accepted into a program like nursing, they can be with Advocates for up to three years.
“We support them as long as it takes to get that degree and a well-paying job. This doesn’t mean they won’t struggle along the way,” Allread said. “They do.”
All clients agree to a personalized plan and must meet monthly milestones to assess their progress. The program is successful in moving five or six families a year into permanent housing.
Allread admits there is a real need to increase Advocates’ funding so they can help more people by purchasing or renting more properties. They have a waiting list of about 60 households.
Currently, one-third of Advocates funding comes from private contributions, which includes individuals, civic organizations and businesses. One-third comes from charitable foundations and one-third comes from state and federal grants. A falloff in any of the three can really hurt.
He realizes Advocates has kept a low profile over the years but would like to change that. “We would love to have a development manager to get the word out about Advocates, but we’re just not ready financially. It is necessary. Our peers such as the Religious Coalition and Heartly House have development managers.”
Finally, Allread hopes the organization continues to expand and keep up its high success rate. He’s excited to see where Advocates goes in the future but overall, he knows the program works.
“Our operating philosophy is that we give a hand up and not a handout,” Allread said, “and we really mean it.”
Gary Bennett is a longtime Frederick resident who spends his time hiking, biking, volunteering and providing childcare for grandchildren. He is married and retired from his career as a nonprofit marketing executive. He is a volunteer board member for Advocates for Homeless Families.
No stopping her. Andrea, a single mother of four, has overcome homelessness and is now a full-time student at FCC and working part-time at FMH!
