PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. - On November 2, 2006, Sharon Eskins was recognized by the State’s Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) as a Maryland You are Beautiful finalist at the Marriott Waterfront in Baltimore.
Eskins, of Prince Frederick, was selected from among 14 Calvert County nominees for recognition as Maryland’s Most Beautiful Person for Calvert County in September. The Baltimore event was intended to recognize all the Maryland winners who help make the State better through volunteerism. Maryland You Are Beautiful was launched in 1987 under the direction of Floraine Applefeld and, once a year, Marylanders nominate individuals in each county and Baltimore City who represent the State’s volunteer spirit. After community selection, local elected officials recognize the nominees at their county or city awards ceremonies. One outstanding volunteer from each jurisdiction is then selected to represent their county at the statewide ceremony.
As an Emergency Medical Services volunteer for more than 30 years, Eskins currently serves as the Chief of Calvert Advanced Life Support (CALS), an organization that has benefited thousands of lives in Southern Maryland. Eskins’ skills as a volunteer paramedic, her ability to provide leadership and support to her fellow volunteers and her determined efforts to promote EMS work throughout the County led to her nomination.
In addition, she organized a team of EMS volunteers who spent 36 hours in a non-stop caravan to travel to the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Eskins’ team provided on-site emergency medical services to the thousands of sick and injured people whose hospitals and clinics had been destroyed by the Hurricane and storm surge.
While Eskins is proud of the work she does, she admits being a bit overwhelmed by all the attention she has received this year. “It has been a lot of fun,” she says, “but like most volunteers, we don’t do our work with the expectation of being recognized. I know there were a lot of other people who were nominated and deserving of this award; I feel very special to have been given the award.”
The other nominees of the Calvert County Maryland You are Beautiful program were celebrated in a local ceremony on September 19, 2006. They include Gladys Bowers, Darryl Hansen, Anne Lusby Harrison, Jacquline Justice, Marcianna Kreamer, Hagner Mister, Michael Parrish, Anna Mae Posey, George Richardson, Eugenia Ridgley, Guffrie Smith, Jr., and Marcy Wills.
For more information on the Maryland You are Beautiful program, you can
visit the
Md. is Fun website.