CPT Names Kansas City Chiefs John Dorsey NFL General Manager of the Year

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Earns Prestigious "Golden Crab" Honor

for Survival & Exceptionalism

In a rare move for the Coltons Point Times, so rare it never happened before, we have initiated the first "Golden Crab" honor and bestowed it upon John Michael Dorsey for the incredible success he had his first year as General Manager of the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team.

There are many parts of John's story, the stuff legends are made of, that the world needs to hear because this is not just a story of success in football, nor about landing a critical position in one of the best franchises in professional football after two decades at the most legendary franchise in professional football history, the Green Bay Packers.

I mean how many professional jock stories can say the subject has direct ties to the 1634 landing of English settlers in Maryland?  How many can say his family is one of a handful of original pioneers, get this sports fans, from the oldest continuously occupied chartered community in the original 13 colonies?

It gets better.  Not only can John's ancestry be traced back to the landing at St. Clement's Island in 1634, that was 380 years ago for those of you short on math, but his family has lived there the entire time since.  Since St. Clements was just the 3rd settlement in America (only Jamestown and Plymouth Rock preceded it and both of them disappeared by the late 1600's) this apparently qualifies John Michael as a true Colonial Blue Blood.

Fast forward to the 20th century.

Phil, Helen, Walt & John Dorsey 

John was born in 1960 in Leonardtown, Maryland into a family headed by patriarch Walter B. Dorsey.  When his father died in 2009 it was the end of a tumultuous yet golden era in Southern Maryland and statewide politics as this third generation public servant put his indelible stamp on history and left a rich legacy of service, a shrewd record of political survival and a mosaic of interwoven personal experiences that made Walter bigger than life.

Then again, it was only appropriate that Walter, the son of a son of a son of an Irishman would use his Irish wit, his Leprechaun mischief, his command of language and gift of storytelling to mesmerize juries, outwit the opposition and more likely than not aggravate the judges while amassing a stunning record of victory in court and politics.

Walter was first and foremost a people person with a love of knowledge, a hunger for defending the little people and a panache for competition and controversy.  He came from two generations of political activists, a heritage in Southern Maryland transcending centuries and a desire to fight for what was right.

Before that the ancestral family came from Ireland by way of England, France and Nordic countries with the name changing from D'Arcy in France to Dorsey in Ireland.  It was Ireland where John Dorsey, NFL football star met the Mayor of Dublin, John Dorsey, on a trip.

Fate put him in a family where politics ran in the blood.  His great, great grandfather was Philip Dorsey, born in Calvert County but an adventurer who was part of the 1849 gold rush in California.  Walter once told me family lore says his great grandfather Philip found gold and once owned a claim to what became San Francisco.  Then he caught a ship for home that sailed around South America

Family legend has it the ship wrecked rounding Cape Horn off Chile and Philip was lost at sea and given up for dead.  More than two years later he showed up in Maryland saying he walked all the way up the Amazon through South, Central and North America to St. Mary's County, Maryland.  As for his claim for San Francisco, he probably lost it in a poker game.

John's great grandfather, Walter B. Dorsey, was first elected to the Maryland House of delegates in 1911 while his grandfather, Judge Philip H. Dorsey was a Circuit Court Judge who was elected Senator in 1926 and to the House of Delegates in 1930 and 1934.  His father Walter was first elected State Attorney in 1954, then elected to the State Senate in 1958, the third generation Dorsey to serve in the state legislature.  He was then elected State Attorney again in 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994.  From 1962-66 he served as Assistant Attorney General for the state and in the 1970's he served as the Deputy Maryland Public Defender.

During the three generations of Dorsey politicians Southern Maryland became a hotbed for statewide politics and many a weekend was spent at the Dorsey home with whoever the presiding governor of Maryland might be.  You see, in those days the Democrats controlled the Baltimore area and the Republicans controlled the Washington suburbs.  To win you often needed St. Mary's County and that meant the Dorsey family.

Needless to say the Dorsey DNA from the swashbuckling colonial pioneers to the rough and tumble world of Maryland and national politics was well suited for young John Michael Dorsey as he excelled in football in high school then was off to the University of Connecticut.

At U Conn he was a four year starter at linebacker while he earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Economics.  Twice John was named Yankee Conference Player of the Year and capped his collegiate career by being named NCAA Division 1AA All American.

As if there was any doubt as to his talent, he was drafted in the 4th round of the NFL draft by the storied Green Bay Packers and played five years before knee injuries ended his playing days.  His thirty-five special teams tackles for the Packers in 1984 is still a team record. Dorsey totaled 130 tackles and two fumble recoveries during his five-year career.

After his playing career ended, Dorsey chose to remain in football, taking a job as a college scout for the Packers in May 1991. He was later promoted to Director of College Scouting for the team in February 1997.  In January of 1999, Dorsey followed former Packers coach Mike Holmgren to the Seattle Seahawks assuming the role of the team's Director of Player Personnel but after just over a year in the Pacific Northwest, Dorsey resigned and returned to the Packers.

He served as Director of College Scouting and remained in that position through 2011 when he was named Director of Football Operations for Green Bay. Dorsey is credited with making the Packers one of the best drafting teams in the NFL, helping choose star players like Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Greg Jennings.

John left behind an amazing history with the Green Bay Packers where he was part of a group that made 15 playoff appearances and won two Super Bowls in 21 years.

On January 13, 2013, news broke that Dorsey had agreed to become the new general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs.  The move reunited Dorsey with new Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

Talk about challenges.  The year before John arrived the Chiefs were 2-14 and that was the team the new GM inherited.  In his first year Kansas City partisans were stunned when the Chiefs won their first three games, more wins than the entire previous season.  They were the only team in NFL history to win 2 or fewer games the previous season and then win the first four games the next season.

On October 13, 2013 Chiefs fans broke the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd roar at an outdoor stadium with 137.5 decibels, a record later reclaimed by the Seattle Seahawks, but the Chiefs record was a precursor of good things to come.  When the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Payton Manning led Denver Broncos in week 7 of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs were the final undefeated team in the NFL.  As if that was not enough, the Chiefs clinched a playoff berth but lost to the Indianapolis Colts in one of the wildest Wild Card shootouts in playoff history 45-44.

When the dust finally settled the Chiefs had a season record of 11-5, finished 2nd in the AFC and made the playoffs.  All in all it was an amazing first year as General Manager after inheriting a team that was 2-14 the previous year.

John has another connection to Kansas City besides being GM.  He first met his wife Patricia in Kansas City while on a scouting trip for the Packers and married her after a couple of years of dating.  Patricia Sexton-Dorsey already had ties to the Kansas City area prior to her husband's hiring as the Chiefs General Manager. She is an attorney and partner in a large Kansas City-based law firm who worked from her Wisconsin home while they were in Green Bay.  She is a native of Abilene, Kansas and attended both the University of Kansas and Washburn University in Topeka were she earned her law degree.

As for living in middle America, John had this response to a reporter's question if there were similarities between Green Bay and Kansas City.

“Absolutely. In the people. It’s the Midwest. Work ethic is huge. Principle is big. Those traditional Midwest values that I have grown to love and respect.”

For a lifetime of professional football experience at the highest levels of the sport, a stunning first year as General Manager of the Chiefs, for returning to Kansas City so his wife didn't have to commute from Wisconsin and for recognizing the value of living in the Midwest (the CPT publisher is from neighboring state Iowa), John Michael Dorsey is awarded the CPT "Golden Crab" honor and is forever a member of the Secret Society of Golden Crabs but please don't tell anyone.

What's the story on the Golden Crab?

Since hardly any of my readers are from Southern Maryland you should know Maryland is the Mecca for Atlantic crabs along with oysters, clams, eels, and all that other stuff you find in the Atlantic, the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay where John was also big in swimming, fishing, boating and water skiing.

The crab, or crustacean as it is known to the local Watermen, is the most valuable species harvested from the Chesapeake Bay.  As a result it is the state "Species" whatever that means since I never got past state mottos, songs, flowers and animals.  Technically the Blue Crab or Callinectes sapidus Rathbun is the official Maryland State Species.

By the way, John did leave behind on the East Coast a brother, Phil and sister, Helen to preserve the family ties to the Colonial Blue Bloods.

Congratulations John Michael Dorsey for giving hope to the Chief's fans and don't forget to drop by your family roots on the banks of the Potomac when you can where you can still catch your own blue crabs.  Hummm...  Blue crabs and Blue Bloods...

John, your "Golden Crab" will be delivered as soon as we can get it back in the truck.  

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Through the Looking Glass at The Vintage Source - Another Lost Weekend

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I took my monthly outing to see the ladies at The Vintage Source, the Fine, Funky Home Decor and Social Club of Southern Maryland where nothing is as it seems and not the least the four ladies who never seem to lose their thirst for living or good wine.

Of course there were the bargains, hundreds of them, and hundreds more had already been purchased before I got there. If you are not waiting in line before daybreak the third Saturday and Sunday of every month you lose out on the best buys. I tried it once but prefer to wait until the crowd thins and I can get the latest news from the most unusual proprietor and partners on the East coast.



If you haven't made it there you are missing out on great bargains, great conversation and the opportunity to see the world through their eyes, from the back side of the mirror, and a most bizarre view it can be. You see there are no rules when it comes to creative thinking when this gang gets together.



There is Michelle, who set out on a dream to build a business from a tent in her front yard and wound up building a spectacle where people line the street before it opens waiting to get in the doors. She actually thought she could be successful being open one weekend a month and did it. Outside running the Hotdog Wagon serving the best dogs this side of Manhattan is Tyler, her husband, a vice principal during the week and dawg hawker on weekends.



Then there is Cathe, the blueblood of Philadelphia and debutant of the Pocono Mountain resorts who shattered all the strictures of the Philly upper crust and ran off and married a Sicilian who joined the Navy. This girl was so sheltered that when she got married she had never driven a car (why when you had a chauffeured limo), cooked a meal or even seen a washer and dryer. From Dirty Dancing to Navy housewife it was a heroic transition.



The third wheel of the original gang is Cheryl, Miss perpetual motion from the Texas panhandle who also married into the military and used it as a stepping stone to learn every craft there is related to furniture, homes and unusual things. Cheryl took hands on experience to a whole new dimension with a desire to understand how everything is made, repaired or reconditioned in the world of antique furniture.



Finally there is Joy, the survivor of a vaudeville family upbringing who was once lost as a child in her mother's collection of over 600 antique dolls. I have never seen her not laughing about life even though she is also married to yet another military dude. But then I had the pleasure of meeting her rather eccentric mother and I could see how Joy was so full of joy with a mother like that.



So this month it was a little like joining Alice in Wonderland as they showed me their newest marketing gimmick. There were four antiqued postcards about The Vintage Source, each with a photo of one of the ladies when they were quite young. I was supposed to match them to the ladies. Nothing is as it seems.



You try it if you think it is so easy. Match the kid shots with the grown up shots in this story. I was okay with Joy (the weird dog), then Cheryl (the red hair), and finally Cathe (who else climbs out of a Pocono Mountains resort pool with dry hair). But Michelle, now that was a stretch no matter how hard I studied the photo.



Either the ladies were playing a joke on me and it was not her, or she had been the victim of an alien abduction and they returned the wrong body to her home. Since that happened to me once between second and third grade I was suspicious. You look at these photos and tell me you don't agree.



The little Michelle looks like a midget football player in drag with a strange hair style, a large soup bowl cut, and nothing at all like the rather stunning specimen remaining today. On her worst day of the year she could not look like the little curmudgeon of yesteryear on the postcard. I know when a person was replaced and if that was her back then we need to look for her on Mars today, not at The Vintage Source. In the meantime we will keep the alien.



You really should experience the place one of these days. Maybe you will meet Michelle's mother and you can ask her for the truth about her daughter. Was she abducted and was she returned or replaced? See you at the true Source, The Vintage Source.

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Joe Orlando - Fenwick Street Used Books & Music - Leonardtown

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Joe's Place - Where Time Stands Still

Another of our great finds in the Leonardtown area is the Fenwick Street Used Books & Music Emporium and proprietor Joe Orlando, who just might be Tony Orlando's brother but he isn't. You see the funky, eclectic, jam packed store with books, records, movies and who knows what else might be under the stacks piled all over the place, is a mere reflection of the eccentric owner.




To get there you find your way to the old Leonardtown town square, turn left at the Cafe des Artistes, a wonderful French Cafe, and turn right where the carts of books are out front blocking the sidewalk with the super specials of the day. At this point you have no idea if you have entered the bohemian Left Bank of Paris or just followed the white rabbit down the hole to Alice's Wonderland.




Joe the Used Book Proprietor

Searching through the stacks of books and things is a great way to spend the day in Leonardtown because there isn't a whole lot else to do most days. Somewhere in there you can find all the classics, even first editions, if you are patient or ask Joe for help. He knows where everything is in that most unusual store. If he doesn't have it this computer savvy bohemian can find it on the Internet as he scours the private libraries and collections from around the world.



Joe the Reverend

Then again he should be able to help you because he is also an ordained or certified Reverend who can even design custom weddings for you. Now that is a class act. You can get a great deal on some old book and get married while you are there although most of his weddings are performed in much more intriguing locations like in boats, on islands, in the water or whatever you want.




Joe the Choreographer

Still that is not all in terms of service diversity that Joe has to offer for he is also a world class dance choreographer who has staged shows throughout the nation and taught at the most prestigious dance schools in the country. So now you can buy an old book, get married and have a dance choreographed for your bridesmaids and grooms men, maybe even the entire wedding party and family.




Joe the Jazz Guitarist

You think that is all? This throwback to Shakespearean days does it all for he can also provide the music with his jazz guitar playing and he can bring along the gang he jams with whenever he isn't selling books, choreographing the wedding and doing the marrying.

Joe the Community Organizer

Now if Obama knew what he was doing he would have been using Joe as an example of someone who unselfishly devotes many hours to helping his community of Leonardtown get out of the dark ages with promotional events nearly every week that bring live entertainment to stores and the town square. I get so many notices of events I am convinced his restless mind has designed an event for every conceivable possibility from the 4th of July to his mother-in-law's birthday and she isn't even from Maryland.




Joe the Husband

If you think he is cool you should meet his wife Joanna, the Spanish teacher in our local college. Put them together and you have an exhibit for the Smithsonian of the more sophisticated bohemian couple of the "70's, hippy couple from the '60's, or beatnik of the "50's, but computer literate, educated, artistic, savvy and deboner. Not what you might expect to find in the shadows of our nation's capitol where time stopped long ago and most residents are probably in the witness protection program. Down in Southern Maryland, St. Mary's County we measure history in four centuries.

Joe and Joanna got here the long way making the circuit from the Big Apple to the rain forest of South America, from dancing in the likes of Carnegie Hall to the wide open prairies of Texas. I could go on and on but I think you have enough talking points to strike up a conversation with Joe next time you are in Leonardtown.




Fenwick Used Books is the top St. Mary's County archeological site and you can really dig it so bring a shovel and time to converse because behind the stacks is Joe who can quote Plato, dance like Fred Astaire, preach like Billy Graham and still have time to help his community. A Proprietor, Preacher, Philosopher, Poet, Picker, and Prophet, Joe's book store is a must see stop on your journey back through time.

Balbi Meyers - Spanish Artist and Actress - Our Homespun Spinner of Fine Jewelry

Art In Wire - Leonardtown

We don't allow ads in the Coltons Point Times so occasionally we venture out of the safety of the infamous 7th District in Maryland to check out the rest of the world. The nearest town of any substance is Leonardtown also in St. Mary's County, about 20 minutes down the road, and in this quiet and ancient town you can find Spanish transplant Balbi (short for Balbina) Meyers just off the square.

She is proprietor of the Art in Wire shop and is one of the finest custom, one-of-a-kind jewelry artists in America. Before talking about her collectible pieces let me first give you a thumbnail sketch of this fascinating personality who was born in Switzerland to Spanish parents who then moved back to southern Spain where she was raised.





When you think of Spanish women, especially actresses, you see images of fiery flamingo dancers and beautiful heartthrobs who can dominate a movie and light up a crowd. Balbi is no exception. She got her start roller skating in a giant supermarket in Spain handling customer service calls from cashiers for price checks and whatever else might come up. These European stores make Super Walmart stores look small so the skates were necessary for the assistants to get around in a timely fashion.

It was in the store where she met an American Navy man who became enchanted by her personality, looks and dreams at age 19 and not long after they were married. She worked her way into the Spanish Tourism office where she became quite gifted in developing unique events to attract the tourists of the world. It was this knack for marketing that served her well when she arrived in America with her husband and son.





She also dabbled in dancing and acting and was cast in a Bruce Willis Die Hard movie where she appeared on film next to our favorite New Jersey tough guy, after Jack Nicholson that is, in the action packed final scenes of the movie. So it was a small part, have you ever acted in a Bruce Willis hit movie?

Somewhere along the way Balbi got interested in gold, silver and precious stones and decided she didn't like what she found in the exclusive stores in the USA and decided to design and make her own line of jewelry. As with everything she does, she jumped in feet first and promptly began scouring precious stone dealer shows around the country and then decided she needed to go and work the mines to see where the stones were found. Imagine her with a hard hat, hammer and chisel deep down in the bowels of the Earth in search of the perfect stones for her new line of jewelry.

In time she became exceptionally talented in the art of wire weaving gold and silver with her many precious stones, and the necklaces, bracelets, ear rings and ensembles she designs and makes that are stunning, dazzling, intricate, and fit for a queen. This is not the cheap craft shop junk but pieces you expect to find in Tiffany's or Neiman Marcus on 5th Avenue in NYC and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

Soon enough Tiffany will discover her and suddenly her unique pieces will become the rage of Paris, Hollywood and London and we will never be able to afford them again but for the moment she is working away in Leonardtown and the prices are incredibly reasonable so my advice is invest in her jewelry now as family heirlooms are not easy to come by.

She has the perfect gifts for Mother's Day, Christmas, birthdays or whatever for the mother, wife, daughter or girlfriend you want to really impress. People even order their own custom work by her and get to pick out the stones from her vast collection.

Wire working is an art form that can never be replaced by machines and you owe it to yourself to check out this most unusual find right here in St. Mary's County, Maryland. You can even find her online if you are too far away to stop in at http://artinwirejewelry.com.

Do your patriotic part to get the world out of a recession by dropping a few hundred at the Art in Wire shop while acquiring for yourself or loved one a virtual classic piece of jewelry. Look for Balbi at the Drury Building, 41625 Park Avenue in downtown Leonardtown. Call her at 240-538-4571 or email http://artinwirejewelry.com and you will not be disappointed.

IN SEARCH OF GENUINE AMERICANA

“THE VINTAGE SOURCE”

By Jim Putnam

I went in search of a needle in a haystack. You see, I love old things starting with my late grandparents, cars, furniture, clothes, houses, and anything associated with them. Make no mistake I am an All American Baby Boomer, and not just any old Baby Boomer but one born in the very first year of the Baby Boomers, 1946. It is truly MY generation.

The 1950’s were my education, the 1960’s my graduation, and things have pretty much been down hill ever since. To be born in an era when people took pride in their work, when a work ethic was really a work ethic, when the things you needed were supposed to last, and when honesty prevailed seems like such a long time ago. I grew up when extended warranties weren’t needed because what you bought lasted.

So I set out to find those things. My journey has taken me from the Great Plains to California, New York to Canada, Mexico to Ireland and Scotland to Russia. I searched the world over for the magical combination of quality and service, pride and competence, the things we used to find in the 5&10, the soda fountain, the auto dealers, and the repair services, things that lasted and people who cared.

Well one day I found it in the strangest of places. You see, after driving through the entire continental USA, Canada and Mexico over and over staying off the super highways and scouring the back roads I was about to toss in the towel and give up. It was when I came to a sleepy fishing village in southern Maryland where time seemed to have stood still that my hopes were finally raised.

How many of you live in a place where there are no sidewalks, no streetlights, no stoplights, no water lines, no sewers, no cops, no politicians, no strip malls, no Wal-Mart’s, no through streets, no plethora of bars and churches, and no fast food joints? Somehow the Potomac River front in St. Mary’s County, Maryland has survived the so-called advance of civilization and remained frozen in time, a time long ago.

One day while driving the country roads and avoiding the Amish and Mennonite horse drawn buggies I came across a remote intersection with a softball field, a lively bar and eating place, and lo and behold, a little store called The Vintage Source. I pulled in, got out, and found the door locked with a sign that said open the third weekend of every month.

This is the 21st century; no one is only open one weekend a month! Stores stay open 24 hours a day to bleed you out of every last buck. Looking through the window of the old storefront I could see there were interesting things inside, everywhere inside, and was determined to come back and see what treasures lay within. Since we were still in the metropolitan Washington, DC area I was also determined to see what outrageous price might be on these treasures.

I returned that 3rd weekend and was in for the shock of my life. It was as if I followed the White Rabbit down the tunnel into Alice’s Wonderland where nothing was as it seemed as I stepped out of my car back into the 1950’s, or 1940’s or earlier. The Vintage Source was no 21st century antique store but a trip in H G Wells Time Machine to an era of ice cream socials, people helping people, no stress and wonderful artifacts of the past to take home with you.

The little store was packed with people but there were no fights over the bargains, no pushing and shoving to get a deal, and no arguing over prices. People were happy, were friendly, courteous and all the other things you no longer find while shopping. This was not a shop full of grandmother’s antiques, those things so uncomfortable they could only be used for display. There was a lot of vintage stuff in there, but it was all things that could be practical in your home.

Now I had often heard that when it come to antiques, Americans have a Neiman Marcus taste and a Sears & Roebuck imagination meaning they love antiques but have no clue how to incorporate them into their homes. They need someone to tell them what to do. If you did not have the imagination to figure out how to use the vintage items, there were pictures all over the place showing how to incorporate them in a home.



The Vintage Source is the brainchild of Michelle Combs Radez, and if central casting ever showed up she would be cast as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. Her ancestors came from England about 200 years ago and she is the modern reincarnation of the beloved Scarlett O’Hara. Tough, she was the only girl with five brothers; the Iowa farm girl background of her mother influenced her.

After back packing around the country her first job at 15 was working in an antique store. It was there and traveling with her mother she began to appreciate the need for primitive antiques with character, maybe aged and bruised even, because they could be used for practical purposes without fear of losing their value. She did not fall in the trap of focusing on high value antiques, the items that remain in shops without selling. Appeal to people with high taste but limited budgets and you could succeed she believed.

Like Scarlett, she set out to learn all there was to learn and Michelle set up a tent one weekend a month on her front lawn to chase her dream. It was a wedding tent she found at a sale. A year later she leased an old storefront not far from her family home, then bought the old store, and three years later the business is booming. She still sets out for auctions, garage sales and estate sales in search of the items her clientele is seeking with her trailer and the tireless help of her husband.

She also realized if some minor repairs were made to the items the people were more likely to buy them and she learned wood repair, stripping and painting old items, and became so good at repairs she was asked to teach classes on restoration at college. In the store they tell you how to make repairs and sell items to help you. Michelle never stops learning about antiques or how to use them and never stops trying to find new ways to recycle old items.

But even Scarlett O’Hara could not do it alone so Michelle invited two people to be in house dealers in her shop. One is Sheryl Tort, from the Texas panhandle where life is tough; ingenuity is essential and self-sufficiency the lifeblood of survival. If you were to imagine the star of the story O Pioneer by Willa Cather about the pioneer woman who saved the family farm it could have been Sheryl rather than Jessica Lange.

Married to a Navy man, her story is one of creativity, hard work, a love of salvaging and recycling furniture, and a heritage of packrats. Her uncle back in Texas was a collector and salvager of furniture and her sister also has an antique store in Texas. It was a way of life down there and a passion she would never lose. First she built up a business of sewing slip covers for furniture and then became a dealer in Michelle’s store specializing in finding prized antiques on the Internet through eBay and Craig’s List.

The other dealer invited to join the store was Cathe Chiomento, the Auntie Mame of The Vintage Source who hailed from a comfortable Pennsylvania family whose father was one of the first Arbys franchise holders on the east coast. While Michelle and Sheryl may seem quiet and thoughtful at times Auntie Mame is a fireball of energy and activism. She was also a Navy wife but her journeys throughout the world left a wealth of programs behind that she helped organize to aid military wives and families in fighting drugs and alcoholism, and addressing the many other problems of military dependents.

This same sort of activism and energy was directed toward her obsession with antiques and once she settled in Maryland she decided to give it a try as a leisurely side job. After a couple of starts exploring the waters she came across Michelle’s store and decided this was the place she want to be.

So Scarlett O’Hara let Auntie Mame and the O Pioneer woman be dealers in her store and the result is a store they describe as classic to funky, eclectic to non-traditional. The atmosphere is like a social event or a happening and the once a month opening gives it a mysterious quality unlike most commercial traps.

Make no mistake, this is a very successful business but it is far from typical with very reasonable prices, being environmentally sensitive as it seeks to restore and revitalize furniture thus saving the unnecessary destruction of trees for new and cheaper furniture, and it shows people how to use the antiques and collectibles in ways they never knew.

You owe it to yourself to make the sojourn to The Vintage Source on the 3rd weekend of the month. It is so unlike the crass commercialism, the unfriendly service, the inferior product quality and the stressed out shoppers you encounter every other day it is like therapy for the soul and just might restore your faith in the forgotten quality of American entrepreneurs.

The Vintage Source is located at 22080 Newtowne Neck Road, Compton, Maryland.

From the DC area: Take 495 to Rt. 5 south, towards Leonardtown. Turn right at Rt. 243 (at the McDonald’s and Dash-In stores). Travel three miles. We are on the left, just past the BackRoad Inn Bar.

From the 301 Potomac River Bridge or LaPlata area: Take Rt. 301 north to Rt. 234 south (at Whitehouse Motel). Exit onto Rt. 5 south. Turn right at Rt. 243 (at the McDonald’s and Dash-In stores). Travel three miles. We are on the left, just past the BackRoad Inn Bar.

From South of Leonardtown: Take Rt. 5 north towards Leonardtown. Turn left at Rt. 243 (at the McDonald’s and Dash-In stores). Travel three miles. We are on the left, just past the BackRoad Inn Bar.

From Calvert County:Take Rt. 4 south over the Solomon's Island Bridge. Continue straight on Rt.4 towards Leonardtown. Exit onto Rt. 5 north through Leonardtown. Turn left at Rt. 243 (at the McDonald’s and Dash-In stores). Travel three miles. We are on the left, just past the BackRoad Inn Bar.

Lost?? Call 240-925-1060