Comptroller Franchot to Honor WDS Award Winners in Worcester and Dorchester Counties

–  Berlin Couple Who Volunteer and Cambridge Mayor Named  –

WHO:             Comptroller Peter Franchot

State and local elected officials

WHAT:           Comptroller Franchot will present the fourth and fifth William Donald Schaefer Helping People Awards to recipients in Worcester and Dorchester counties today.

In Worcester, the Comptroller will present the award to Mike and Helen Wiley who made Berlin their home after retiring nearly a decade ago. They have been instrumental in keeping a thrift shop run by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church open and continue to serve as volunteers. Mrs. Wiley is a committee chair for the Berlin Main Street program, while Mr. Wiley is Berlin’s official ‘sign poet,’ coming up with unique phrases for the sign board on U.S. 50 to attract people to events and to the downtown area. He is also chairman of the parks commission and helps set up events like the Fiddlers Convention and Berlin Christmas Parade. Mrs. Wiley was a sign language interpreter for Anne Arundel County Schools, while Mr. Wiley is a Vietnam War veteran and retired Anne Arundel County firefighter. Mayor Gee Williams nominated the couple and calls them, “Berlin’s Coolest Couple in America’s Coolest Small Town.”

In Dorchester, Comptroller Franchot will present the award to Cambridge Mayor Victoria Jackson-Stanley who is the first woman and first African-American elected to lead the city.  Believing that civic involvement is the key to a community’s success, the mayor has been an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Chesapeake Bay Girl Scouts, Dorchester County Democratic Club, Salisbury University Alumni Association, and the NAACP. She works full-time as Assistant Director for Organizational Development and Training for the Dorchester County Department of Social Services.

WHEN            Today, April 4, 2015

    &                   

WHERE:        Noon                                                               4 p.m.

                        Berlin Visitor’s Center                          City of Cambridge Office-Chamber

14 S. Main St.                                                  410 Academy St.

Berlin, MD 21811                                            Cambridge, MD 21613

CONTACT:    Barbara Sauers 410-260-7438 (office), 410-212-9414 (cell)