Story Category: The Bay Net Exclusives »

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Bateman are now the proud owners of a new home on Medley’s Neck. And what a home it is. Over the past year students from the James Forrest Career and Technology Center, supervised by teachers and volunteers from the local building industry, and with materials donated by many local businesses, have constructed a home for everyone involved to be proud of.

After a decade-long dormancy, the St. Mary’s County Building Trades Foundation was reinvigorated under the leadership and persistence of Jim Bacot, president of Brooks Run Builders. The vice president of the organization, Adam Stiffler, owner of Meadow Valley Carpentry, was also instrumental in getting things up and running again. Stiffler is a tech center graduate and worked on the last house constructed by the students.

During an open house Thursday, visitors donned shoe covers to protect the new floors, and toured the new home, exchanging praises for the quality of the construction and the gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside and the Potomac in the distance.

Frank Taylor, president of Taylor Gas, was one of the people touring the home. His company donated the underground tank and connections. He said the tech center program is very worthwhile to the community and a help to those in the building industry as a source of new workers.

Margaret Taylor, a member of the foundation and a realtor with Century 21, arranged for the Batemans to purchase the home. They had hoped to build a home nearby on land owned by a relative, but the land didn’t perc. Taylor told the Batemans about the home about to be constructed by the tech center students. The Batemans were on hand for the open house and received a symbolic key to their home from School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano, and Theo Cramer, the school system’s director of College and Career Readiness.

The huge community undertaking was underscored when the large number of participants were honored during the ceremony. Names of 53 businesses and individuals were read. Awards were given to: T.N. Bowles Heating & Air Conditioning, Joy Bowles, president; Great Mills Trading Post, Bubby Knott, president; 84 Lumber, Dave McDougall and Mike Raley; Downs Plumbing & Septic, Charles Downs, president; Buckler Electric LLC, Dennis Buckler, president; and St. Mary’s Lighting & Electrical Supply, Keith Fairfax and Richie Tippit, owners.

Members of the Building Trades Foundation are; Bacot, Stiffler and Margaret Taylor;  Gerald Buckler, president of Efficient Home Designs; Bill Higgs, president of Little Silences Rest, Inc.; Bill Scarafia, president and CEO of the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce; Charles Downs, president of Downs Plumbing and Septic , Inc.; Charles Roach, CFO of Cedar Point Federal Credit Union; David Shapiro, outreach coordinator of Shapiro & Duncan Inc.; Maggie Heeney, president of the Appraisal Shoppe, Inc.; Mickey Sullivan, president of Smart Homes Plus, LLC; Pat Woodburn, president of Woodburn Cabinets; Sean McGowan, CPA; and Tommy Bowles of T.N. Bowles Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.

During the ceremony St. Mary’s County Commissioner Cynthia Jones (R: 1st) said the completion of the home was personally special for her. She said when she was growing up her father decided to put an addition on their home, and being conservative, did it himself with her help one summer, banging nails and putting up drywall.

Martirano said he came from a family of coal miners in Western Maryland who later became bricklayers and stone masons. He jokingly told of his somewhat unsuccessful attempt to help with the construction. “We are all about college ready and career ready,” he said. “This is a top notch home,” he said proudly.

During the ceremony Bacot said his organization was planning on doing another home next year. Monies raised from the sale will be plowed back into the organization to purchase land and for other needs.

Students from the culinary arts class at the tech center provided the refreshments for the event.