Join the Northampton County Chamber of Commerce for the 1st Annual Bay Creek Holiday Tour. The event begins at the Bay Creek Beach Club for a Holiday Shopping Pop-Up and refreshments.

Saturday, December 7 9 a.m. to 12 Noon

Then, get an inside look at six beautifully decorated homes in the Bay Creek Community.

Tickets are $25/person (free admission for children under 12). Available for pre-purchase here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1st-annual-bay-creek-holiday-tour-tickets-77329824587.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Enjoy a holiday cabaret with vocalists and instrumentalists Kemi Adegoroye, Bruce Gittinger and William Neill. Piano, horn and voice will delight the audience with yuletide favorites with its jazzy beat! Join our festive PARTY at the beautiful art deco theatre.

Historic Palace Theatre
Saturday, December 7, 2019
7:30 p.m.
Adults: $18; Students: $8

ONANCOCK, Virginia – Back in 1988, Ruth Gaskins, now 74, felt drawn to volunteer.

She had a love for people, and after her first day as a hospital volunteer, realized she’d found something special.

It’s why, all these years later, Gaskins is celebrated as Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital’s longest serving volunteer having logged 5,819 hours (and counting).

In her 31 years volunteering, “I’ve done it all,” said Gaskins. “I’ve done the mail, greeted people, carried flowers, carried food, escorted people…whatever had to be done, I did.”

She did it just wanting “patients to know they are loved and cared about and that we are doing all we can to help them,” she said. “I just want them to leave with a smile.”

Today, as Riverside continues its 2019 celebration of its 10-year anniversary of serving the Eastern Shore community, Gaskins hopes to recruit more new volunteers and continue the strong tradition of the hospital’s 61-year-old volunteer program.

A History of Service

Established in 1958 by a women’s auxiliary group called the “Pink Ladies,” the volunteer program was created to address a nursing shortage at the hospital – then named Northampton-Accomack Memorial.

At that time, a group of 30 women would split shifts seven days a week, first helping out at the information desk and then taking on more responsibilities as the years went by. When more volunteers were needed, they would spread the word in newspaper articles.

Though no longer “Pink Ladies,” Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital’s volunteer program is still a collection of dedicated men and women looking to help out in any way they can.

Volunteering is a Gift

The Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital Auxiliary is another dedicated group of volunteers. Comprised of 100+ members, Auxilians raise funds for special projects and events at the hospital as well as run the Althea Shelton Carousel Gift Shop inside the hospital.

Deborah Cooley is president of the Auxiliary and oversees gift shop operations. She said volunteering at the shop is a “way to give back to the community and the hospital.”

Volunteers open and close the gift shop, stock merchandise, and assist with any customer needs.

“Sometimes people come in just to get a break from visiting a family member, and we can be that person that makes a difference for just a moment,” said Cooley.

All proceeds from the gift shop are given to projects needed at Riverside Shore. Most recently the Auxiliary paid for a vascular echocardiogram machine.

Hospice Volunteers

In addition to nurses, physicians, social workers and occupational therapists, volunteers are an integral part of the Riverside Shore Hospice care team. Trained in hospice care, volunteers focus on the patient and the family instead of the disease.

“Many of our volunteers have personal experience with loved ones in hospice care and it allows them to make a special connection with patients and families,” said Maegan Smith, Hospice volunteer coordinator.

Smith said her favorite part of the job is meeting with patients and learning about their interests and hobbies. This helps her match them up with a volunteer with whom they can really connect.

Steve Borgess has volunteered with the hospice program since 2017. Though it can be heart wrenching at times, Borgess said the work also includes “much good humor, warmth and friendship.”

“Riverside Shore Hospice isn’t work for me; it’s a privilege, a privilege I’m grateful for every day I have the chance to serve someone in need,” said Borgess. “I also get to work with some of the sincerest, kind, professional caregivers I’ve ever met…the staff at Riverside Shore Hospice.”

Cancer Center Volunteers

When the Cancer Center in Nassawadox was built in 2003, volunteers were needed to help transport medications, specimens, mail and meals back and forth from the hospital via golf cart.

Since then, the program has grown to include a more personal interaction between patients and volunteers.

“Cancer Center Volunteers are quite often our former patients,” said Jane Duer, Cancer Center registrar. “They appreciated the kindnesses given to them during treatment and look at this as a way to give back. Cancer treatment can be difficult, and frequently patients will talk to a volunteer instead of burdening their loved ones.”

Become a Volunteer

Currently, “we have 42 volunteers who help out in many areas of the hospital,” said Jennifer Stanhope, human resources specialist and volunteer coordinator.

Volunteers range in age between 20 and 83-years-old and typically volunteer one day a week – either a four- or eight-hour shift.

“We work around their schedules,” she said. “We appreciate any time they can give to us.”

To become a volunteer, candidates must be 18-years-old, pass a background check, provide references and complete an interview process. Volunteers are required to have flu and TB shots as well as attend annual safety/infection control training.

“Having the volunteers really helps our team members focus more on patient care,” said Stanhope. “Our patients and team members really look forward to them coming – they just help out so much.”

In addition to volunteering at the front desk or doing administrative tasks, volunteers can visit patients’ rooms and monitor customer satisfaction, help transport patients and their families from the parking lot to the hospital, help with pet therapy or music therapy, answer the phones in the emergency room or intensive care unit as well as help discharge patients.

Both Chairmen of the Republican Units on the Eastern Shore of Virginia are in full support to declare both Accomack and Northampton counties 2^nd Amendment Sanctuary Counties.

“To accomplish this task we urge residents to attend their respective Board of Supervisor’s meeting and request it be adopted by the Board” states Chairman Wesley Edwards. “The Accomack BOS next meeting is December 18^th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. We need folks to attend, call or write their Supervisors. There is great concern that with the new session there will be many changes made to our gun rights, including red flag laws. We see this as a by-partisan issue that affects us all. ” states Chairman Rob Stubbs. “The Northampton Board of Supervisors next meeting is December 10^th from 5:00 to 9:00pm.”

To date 15 out of the 95 counties in Virginia have adopted Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions with many more counties in various stages of adopting the resolution.

You can learn more on Facebook by visiting “Accomack and Northampton Republican Units” where a petition is posted with over 900 signatures along with other pertinent details.  

Ukraine, one-time Soviet nation and now Russian adversary, has a complicated history that most in the West have little understanding of.

While it is was once primarily known as a major agricultural region, it also has leverage in other, more surprising sectors–that is, defense.

In southern Ukraine, along the Dnieper River, is the city of Zaporizhzhya, which is home to more than 800,000 people. The city is a heavy-industrial center for Ukraine, with manufacturing spanning steel, aluminum, autos, transformers/substations, and oddly, Aircraft Engines.

Zaporizhzhya hosts the headquarters of Motor Sich, a company designated by the Ukrainian government as a “strategic enterprise”.

A remnant of the Soviet-era occupation of Ukraine, Motor Sich is a manufacturer of engines and components for aircraft and drilling equipment. Motor Sich engines power an estimated 80% of Russian-built helicopters, including:

Mil Mi-2
Mil Mi-8/17 and variants
Mil Mi-24 (in the Hind F configuration)

There are many others, but these are the critical ones. The Mil Mi-2 “Hoplite” is a small close-air support/multirole helicopter. It carries troops, can be armed with rockets and machine guns, or fitted with reconnaissance equipment.

Fifteen countries (including the US), have active inventory of one or more variants. The Mil Mi-8/17 “Hip” is one of the most-produced helicopters in the world, with more than fifty countries holding some version or other in active inventory.

Like its little brother, the Mi-2, it can be configured in any way, with more than 20 different variants. The Mil Mi-24 “Hind” is a legendary gunship that can also carry a small complement of troops.

It has been used in more than 30 conflicts going back to 1977.

While the original powerplants were Russian-made, a newer variant , the Mi-24P “Hind F”, uses Motor Sich engines. Motor Sich powerplants were also used on the famous Antonov An-225, the largest airplane ever built, which was originally built to transport the Soviet Buran space shuttle.

More recently, China has come up with an even bigger plan for the mega-plane: Launching satellites.

Due to sanctions related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict going back to the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea, Motor Sich can no longer provide sustainment for the Russian military’s massive fleet of helicopters.

However, Motor Sich has basically ignored that.

From 2014-2017, the Russian-born president of Motor Sich allegedly continued to sell components to Russia via Belarus, using a sanction-dodging technicality.

In April 2018, investigatory agents from the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) raided Motor Sich. In the background, however, was China.

For years, China had quietly increased its ties to Ukraine. Where Ukraine had been dependent on Russian buyers pre-2014, it struggled thereafter.

Motor Sich, especially, needed cash and new markets. China offered both.
Through a synthetic web of offshore companies, China managed to acquire a significant stake in Motor Sich between 2013-2016, rumored to be as much as 56%.

A separate SBU investigation revealed that a single man, Wang Jing, controlled all of these shell companies. In 2017, one of Jing’s companies, Beijing Skyrizon, stepped forward with a bid to take control of Motor Sich.

The ongoing investigation and sudden Ukrainian public awareness of control of a “strategic enterprise” by China sparked backlash. The deal has been iced for the time being.

Jing is an unknown player in the West, except for one project: He was the founder and public face of the effort to bypass the Panama Canal and build a larger canal joining the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through Nicaragua. The project has since been mothballed.

Relative to China’s missile program, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) derives an enormous amount of “black box” funding through its network of shell companies. Aerospace and telecom are two such industries where the PLA is rumored to be highly active in ownership of commercial enterprises.

Wang Jing, especially, is considered by outside observers to be a direct proxy for the interests of the Chinese Communist Party and PLA.

Further, it directly benefits the CCP and PLA to have a larger canal that cuts off North America from South America, and allows for passage of much larger commercial and military naval vessels.

As with Motor Sich, Jing seems to be acting as a proxy.
The Motor Sich deal, and the known players, fits a Chinese operational pattern of years-long gamesmanship and multi-layered strategic planning servicing many needs at once.

Having established Jing as a proxy for CCP/PLA efforts, focus on his main holding company, Xinwei Technology Group.

While it is involved in a great many activities, let’s zero in on a specific sector:

Satellites- In 2016, Xinwei began a $285m purchase of Spacecom, an Israeli satellite manufacturer. The deal was contingent on the successful launch of Spacecom’s Amos-6 satellite.

On 1 September 2016, Amos-6 was the payload on Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

Then the Amos-6 (whose primary user was to be Facebook), went up in flames, as did Spacecom’s deal with Xinwei.

Jing pulled his firm from the deal, and was back to square one on his efforts to acquire better satellite R&D and manufacturing capacity.

In Feb 2018, CASC disclosed that it was planning to deploy a massive global network of LEO satellites, codenamed “Hongyan” (translated, “wild goose”).

And at the heart of it, Xinwei’s satellite tech.

With more than 300 satellites deploying by 2025, the Hongyan constellation is China’s attempt to completely break free from the traditional fiber optic cable model that powers the global telecom industry. China understands that Cable is vulnerable to breakage or sabotage, and they demand a better and more secure network.

Hongyan will connect directly to China’s 5G network.

In a nutshell, China wants to dominate telecom infrastructure of the 21st century. The Communist Party intends to control 90% of the most advanced industries in the world, including robotics, biotechnology & artificial intelligence. In order to be able to dominate the economy of the 21st century, Beijing has urged its officials & companies to obtain US intellectual property. 5g is fought for the world’s economy. By 2024, around 40 percent of the world’s population — and 22 billion devices, from cars to refrigerators to cellphones to traffic lights, will be on the 5G network.

Now, back to Ukraine.

Why is Jing and his Xinwei subsidiary Beijing Skyrizon tied so closely to the acquisition of a troubled, sanction-riddled company like Motor Sich?

First, the massive sustainment requirements for the global fleet of helicopters using Motor Sich engines (including China and Russia) is a durable base of revenue and R&D. Ukraine is a key node in Belt and Road (see Mirror http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/the-threat-of-chinas-new-silk-road/).

Ukraine also supplies a great deal of grain to China.
Most importantly, is the Antonov An-225.

All of the intellectual property relating to its unique engines belongs to Motor Sich. In 2016, China inked a deal for Antonov to complete the second unit. As of 2019, it is 70% done. The Antonov An-225 was designed to airlift the Energiarocket‘s boosters and the Buran orbiter for the Soviet space program. The An-225’s original mission and objectives are almost identical to that of the United States’ Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.