No record of Chesapeake Center would be complete without first tracing our early history.
The Chesapeake Center was formed for the purpose of serving a more detailed region of Maryland than the organizations that were being made available for the disabled in the times before Chesapeake Center. It was in the fall of 1966 when it had first been brought to attention, by Mr. George Wagner, the need for a developmental center that would eventually become what we are today. Mr. Wagner requested a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mid Shore A.R.C. (Association for Retarded Citizens). At that time it was announced that Mr. Wagner and Mrs. Minerva Freeland had met with Mrs. Alton Jones to discuss the possibility of a workshop. Mrs. Jones agreed to donate the sum of $10,000 to start the project and would give more help, as it was needed. The project was named the Vocational School for the Retarded, Inc.
This became a busy time for the members of the Mid Shore A.R.C. The Board at that time would become the Board of Directors of the Sheltered Workshop. Mr. Joseph Krenan was hired by Mr. Wagner as Director of the Workshop to develop plans and get the shop started.
As most of the Mid Shore funds came from the United Fund, the officers met with Mr. Lloyd Beaty to ascertain how much of this money could be used for transportation of Mid Shore clients to camp and social activities and also to be used by the workshop for the transportation of clients. Any money not needed for Mid Shore activities was funneled to the workshop for equipment's, supplies, traveling expenses, etc.
A building was rented and everyone pitched in to help renovate it to get ready for clients. In the spring of 1967 the Vocational School for the Retarded was opened with ten clients ten clients. It was a confusing, stormy time consuming undertaking for everyone involved. The Vocational School opened with ten clients and a budget of $7132.50.
Mrs. Jones then purchased the present building on Dover Road and commissioned Mrs. Anne Lockhart to renovate it and make it satisfactory for the workshop. With more room and better facilities, the major problem was obtaining enough work for the clients. Cash flow was non existent, but somehow the shop kept going.
When Mr. Keenan resigned to return to the State Hospital in Cambridge, MD Charles Novak, then a member of the Board of Directors, became the temporary acting director until a suitable one could be hired.
The next Director was Mr. Mansoor Sedarat, who charmed us all into believing that he would do great things for the workshop. However, he proved to be unqualified and unsuited for the job and was terminated. Leander Thomas filled the gap as temporary Director.
Mr. Jack Smith was our next Director and instigated our first greenhouse. Not the most successful venture in the world, and certainly our poinsettas were not the most lucrative, but Jack did a good job with the clients and the workshop went forward under his management.
When Mrs. Jones asked Miss Mary Straughn, her secretary what she wanted for Christmas she answered that she wanted another building for adults. She was given not only the funds to build the Developmental Unit, the Center, but also the American store building to use as a future Endowment Fund for the Center. This is the building that housed the Lowes organization and currently Auto Zone. The Developmental Unit was dedicated in June 1974.
Anne Lockhart, Gertrude Berry, and Catherine Beltz were part of an auxiliary that operated, The Center Shop, a second hand store that accepted used goods to raise money for the Chesapeake Center.
In 1975 Jack Smith resigned and John H.S. Wright was recruited by Walter Hairston from the Episcopal Church to apply for the Director's position. Under the direction of Mr. Wright the Center's program grew to include:
It would be impossible to list all of the individuals who gave so freely of their time and talents to the Chesapeake Center. Therefore we are acknowledging Mrs. Alton Jones who gave us the means to start and continue the Center and also those who are no longer with us.