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Press Release:
9th Annual Swim for Life
July 8, 2000

The 9th annual fundraiser was held for the 2nd time on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and raised over $14,000.

The highest fundraisers were Marcia Smith, Mim Caris, Connie Bell, Ken Beier, Ellyn Vail, Shellieanna Tighe, John Vail, Richard Morris, Winifred Anderson, and Kristin Hegna.

The top winners in each wave were:

  • Janice Bonner, Kenny Chisholm, and Amanda Loudin for the 1 mile
  • Jenny Higgins, Rose Weller, and Larry Wissow for the 2 mile
  • Marcia Smith, Joseph Giitter, and Mona Guilfoil for the 3 mile
  • Jeff Vaughan, Maureen Rohrs, and John Brenner for the 4 mile.

    Two women Carin Michael and Lisa Villaneuve each swam 8 miles.

    The beneficiaries who will share Swim for Life funds are: the People with HIV/AIDS Coalition of Baltimore Inc, MD Community Kitchen, Kent & Queen Anne's Co AIDS Foundation, STAR (Sisters Together and Reaching), Quality of Life Retreats, Chester River Association and Chester Valley Ministers Association.

    Our long-standing top fundraiser, Bob Stein, could not be at our swim this year; but he swam 2 miles in 45 minutes on the Chester River in June and raised more than $7000. Last year's Chestertown event top fundraiser, 70 years young Ann Hennessy, didn't want to fight this year's currents, so she swam 3 miles in the creek near her Rock Hall home and raised $897.

    We co-sponsored the 5th Annual MD Eastern Shore Marathon Swim, an 8 mile current assisted course on the Chester River, with the Chester River Association on June 17. Next year the MD Eastern Shore Marathon Swim will be a 10-mile swim from the town of Sherwood out to and around the Poplar Islands and back again on Sunday May 20, 2001, for a limited number of qualifying long distance swimmers. Part of the funds raised will go to someday plant trees as part of the Poplar Island restoration project.

    Special thanks for support of the 9th Annual Maryland Swim for Life go to the event hosts, Chip and Sandy Dreibelbis, proprietors of Rolph's Wharf Marina and Country Inn, Kent School students for promotional artwork, Bittersweet the band for entertainment, and Caldwell's Tire for inflating our orange buoys.

    Thanks go to all who contributed to make this year's event possible: the American Visionary Art Museum, Copy Cat of 25th Street, David Hyatt and Creative Imaginations, Joanne Stolen and SOS Publications.

    Thanks for food and beverage donations from Andy's in Chestertown, Eddie's Supermarket of Mt Vernon, Optum Nutrition, Pepsi Cola, Springhill Water, SuperFresh of Chestertown, and The Feast of Reason.

    Thanks to those who provided support and security on the Chester River for the swimmers: the US Coast Guard & Auxiliary, Maryland Natural Resources Police, NOAA, Kent and Queen Anne's County, local fire, rescue, dive, police and ambulance teams, Chesapeake Paddlers, Chesapeake Bay Boston Whalers Club, and local boaters.

    The 10th Annual MD Swim for Life to Benefit People with HIV/AIDS will be held on Saturday, July 14, 2001 again at Rolph's Wharf in Chestertown. The event will feature 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mile courses on the Chester River. School students from the Kent School will again be designing poster art for next year's event.

    For information contact Swim for Life, POB 39464, Baltimore MD 21212, or call 410-243-4418.
    Email: cherylw@crosslink.net