Part II: The Sea Colony Junior Lifeguard program is offered during the summer to guests and owners at Sea Colony, located just south of Bethany Beach, Delaware. Because of what she learned, one of the students in that program recently saved her sister’s life.

The following article appeared in The (Salisbury) Daily Times on Sept. 8, 2008.

Junior lifeguard course pays off for Shore family
Worcester girl, 12, uses CPR to save baby sister’s life

By Candice Evans • Staff Writer • September 8, 2008
OCEAN CITY – During the three-minute drive to Atlantic General Hospital, Wendy Garliss-Griffith, 40, watched her 8-month-old daughter’s face turn a deep shade of purple.

“Her chest stopped moving up and down,” said Garliss-Griffith, who rode in the car with her mother, father and three other daughters. “After reading all of the baby magazines and even taking a first aid class years ago — my mind just went blank.”

Her oldest daughter, Morgan, 12, who learned CPR during a junior lifeguarding course at the Sea Colony Beach Patrol in Bethany Beach this summer, didn’t hesitate to step in.

“I did five chest compressions and five breaths,” said Morgan, a seventh-grader at Stephen Decatur Middle School. “I was shaking and really nervous, but I watched the life come back into her.”

CPR — or cardiopulmonary resuscitation — is a life-saving technique useful in many emergencies, including heart attack or near drowning, when a person’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped. Ideally, CPR involves two elements: chest compressions combined with mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing.

“Without that junior lifeguard course, my baby would not be alive today,” Garliss-Griffith said. “Morgan saved her.”

CPR training courses are available throughout the year at various organizations such as area hospitals, community colleges and the Lower Shore Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“Learning CPR is important for everyone,” said Valerie Ruark, Basic Life Support coordinator for Peninsula Regional Medical Center. “Studies have shown that most cardiac arrests happen at home, and being trained to perform CPR can mean the difference between life and death for a loved one.”

Next month, PRMC is offering a CPR for Family and Friends “one-time, three hour” course Oct. 8, which teaches rescuers skills in CPR and relief of foreign body airway obstruction for adults, children and infants, Ruark said. The course is designed for people who don’t need a course completion card.

PRMC is also offering a Heartsaver First Aid course that combines on-the-scene first aid training with CPR for adults, infant and children and the use of the Automated External Defibrillator, Ruark said.

This two-night course — scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16 or Dec. 10 and 11– will teach attendees the type of emergency and life-saving techniques they can administer between the time an accident occurs and professional assistance arrives, Ruark said.

Those encouraged to participate include law enforcement officers, firefighters, flight attendants, lifeguards, childcare workers, scout leaders or any concerned citizens, Ruark said. This course will assist employers in fulfilling their OSHA requirements.

Morgan’s junior lifeguard coach, John Zirckel, who has been teaching the summer course for about 10 years, said he’s not surprised that Morgan successfully performed the task.

“Her father is David Griffith, captain of the Sea Colony Beach Patrol,” Zirckel said. “But she always did well in class and just seemed to pick it up.”

During his 30 years of lifeguarding, Zirckel said he has only experienced that type of emergency situation a couple times.

“It’s pretty rare,” he said. “But I always tell the kids, if you do have a baby sister or brother, it’s a good thing to know just in case, especially if you have to babysit.”

The following letter to the editor appeared in The (Salisbury) Daily Times on Sept. 8, 2008.

Sea Colony Junior Lifeguard lessons saved infant sister’s life 

I would like to thank my hero. She is my 12-year-old daughter, Morgan Garliss-Griffith.

On Aug. 24, my 8-month-old baby daughter stopped breathing on the way to Atlantic General Hospital. After reading all of the baby magazines and even taking a first aid class years ago, my mind went blank from watching her turn purple.

While I was holding her, Morgan started to perform CPR for an infant, which she learned to do in a lifeguarding course at the Sea Colony Beach Patrol in Bethany Beach. The course was taught by John Zierkle.

Without that junior lifeguard course, my baby, Jewelian, would not be alive today. I want also to thank the team of doctors and nurses and Mr. Bunting at Atlantic General Hospital; I am so grateful.

I also want to thank the team of doctors who Medevaced Jewelian to Johns Hopkins and to all of their staff. I truly believe God and my recently deceased sister, Beth Garliss, was with me that day. To all parents and to everyone, including children: Please take some kind of general lifesaving course. Unless you are really comfortable with the procedure, your mind may go blank from panic and fear.

Once again, I am thankful to all of these people who teach children safety courses like the junior lifeguarding at the beaches, including through Ocean City and YMCAs. Send your children. It may even save your life.

Wendy Garliss-Griffith
Ocean City

In the chilly Atlantic surf east of the Bethany Beach bandstand late Monday afternoon, a group of 23 medical students completed a 3,700-mile journey that began 51 days ago in San Diego, Calif.

Ride for World Health is a national, nonprofit organization which advocates for improvements in the quality and accessibility of global healthcare. Each year, the group uses this cross-country bike ride as a vehicle of communication, R4WH addresses this issue through political advocacy, fundraising and its unique Coast-to-Coast Lecture Series.

They were our guests last night – as they were at the end of their trip last year. Four ResortQuest rental homeowners graciously donated their Sea Colony vacation rental units on the oceanfront to house these weary travelers – in cozy beds, as opposed to a gymnasium or a van, for one of the few times during their long trip.

Congratulations to these young people who put their feet where their mouths are – a bike ride from sea to shining sea is certainly a special kind of commitment.

I didn’t say it, but I wish I did.

That statement is actually a column headline from the May 6, 2008, issue of the Wall Street Journal.

Now that it’s official, there’s no place like the beach.

ResortQuest Real Estate is the resort real estate expert, specializing in properties at the beach and the surrounding communities.

Don’t let your coastal getaway get away.

Delaware is ranked #47 in the country for state & local tax burden, bested only by the low government takes in Tennessee, New Hampshire and Alaska. Just 8.8 percent of the average Delawarean’s paycheck ends up in the pockets of state and local government. The national average is 11 percent. In case you were interested, Vermont, Maine, New York, Rhode Island and Ohio top the burdensome list with 14.1, 14, 13.8, 12.7 and 12.4 percent, respectively.   

Interesting? Where did these numbers come from? 

The data was collected by the U.S. Department of Commerce, specifically the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau. The analysis came from the Tax Foundation’s April 2007 (No. 153) Special Report (page 3 of the 12-page report featuring graphs, charts, data and footnotes).

The Tax Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based non-partisan tax research group whose mission “is to educate taxpayers about sound tax policy and the size of the tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government. From its founding in 1937, the Tax Foundation has been grounded in the belief that the dissemination of basic information about government finance is the foundation of sound policy in a free society.” 

A state’s size – either in population or geography – apparently doesn’t make a difference when it comes to its governments’ appetites for culling cash from its citizenry.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest projections, Delaware is a small state by population, but there are five smaller and Wyoming claims the distinction as the nation’s smallest yet boasts just the ninth lowest state-local tax burden. According to the info-packed NetState.com, Delaware is a small state geographically too, but it’s also not the smallest – that’s Rhode Island and it’s on the other end of the spectrum – the fourth heaviest state and local tax burden. Alaska is really, really big, geographically speaking, and it’s got the lowest state-local tax burden (and they actually pay people to live there – honest, they receive a check every year).  

What makes Delaware so special?  

A lot of things, but from a tax burden perspective, the First State has no sales tax, no personal property tax, no real property tax and some other attractive tax circumstances (if I learned anything in real estate class it’s don’t even pretend to believe you can offer legal or tax advice, so contact a competent tax accountant to discuss your individual situation). Also, real estate hasn’t been reassessed here since 1974, so property taxes are low. How low? Frequently potential buyers think the ANNUAL taxes line on the property fact sheets is the MONTHLY rate. 

Sales pitch: It’s a pretty good place to live or to retire. 

Looking to call Delaware home? Visit ResortQuest Real Estate online for the latest Bethany Beach real estate for sale or the current availability of Sea Colony sales listings. 

Sea Colony? Located just south of Bethany Beach, Delaware, “The Premier Family Beach & Tennis Resort Community” offers homes ranging from oceanfront condos to spacious and secluded single family homes, plus a half mile of newly-widened beach, 12 pools (two indoor), world class tennis, fitness centers, activities for all ages, community shuttle and year-round security. For the largest selection of Sea Colony vacation rentals, visit us online for photo galleries, extended descriptions and more.

I found something – else.

I learned a little more about what most consumers already understand – real estate is local and performance varies from market to market. I found a headline (or two).

A great headline nationally: Average sales prices increase in nearly 80% of U.S. states

My local headline is: Delaware among 39 U.S. states posting increased average sales price

How can that be? Keep reading, please.

Last week, I heard something about Utah leading the nation in housing price appreciation, but I couldn’t remember where I saw it or heard it (if I knew, I’d credit them). But, I was positive some magical PDF loaded with facts and figures from a government office would give me the skinny.

You know what, I found the one I was looking for – and a couple others (check back in the next couple weeks to see them too).

I like to read (and I encourage literacy, by the way). This week’s tidbit comes from pages 25 and 26 of the 4th quarter Seasonally-Adjusted House Price Index for the USA, published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight – part of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The government oversight group’s mission is to use taxpayer dough to employ lots of really smart people to collect reams of data “to promote housing and a strong national housing finance system by ensuring the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).”

The full 88-page Q4SAHPI4USA-OFHEO report (sorry, I couldn’t resist the governmental acronym thing), complete with graphs and maps and tables and everything from national to market level data, is available on the OFHEA Web site.

What does it say? Well, among other things, in the last year, the overall U.S. house prices increased by 0.8%.

How can that be, you ask, because the media is preaching the end of times for real estate? Does that mean the average sales price actually rose over the course of the last year? Right, while real estate sales velocity has dropped (everyone will admit that), the average sales price of what is selling went up. Don’t believe me, ask the OFHEO.

Those stats cover the whole country – from sea to shining sea – and certainly aren’t reflective of average sales prices in every market, right? Right. In fact, this government oversight and research group found that Utah did, in fact, lead the nation in appreciation over the last year, with a 9.27% increase in the average sales price last year. Who knew that a state with 2.233 million folks that celebrates “Industry” (the state motto), the dutch oven (the state cooking pot), Dubhe (the state star) and the Spanish sweet onion (oddly, the state vegetable), would be the national leader in sales price appreciation.

I don’t live in Utah – and neither does most of the country. But … what Utah and 38 other states have in common, though, is each and every one saw home price appreciation in the last year. I work at the beach (in the First State: Delaware) and we do most of our real estate transactions in the resort community of Sea Colony. According to the report, Delaware’s average sales price increased 1.95% last year. It’s not Utah, but no other state is – at least this year. Delaware has miles and miles of beach and the fourth lowest tax burden in the United States working for it (that’s another report, check back next week).

Never heard of Sea Colony?

Located just south of Bethany Beach, Delaware, and known as “The Premier Family Beach & Tennis Resort Community,” Sea Colony features 2,202 homes ranging from oceanfront condos to secluded single family homes, plus a newly-widened half mile of private beach, 12 pools (two indoor), world class tennis, fitness centers, activities for all ages, community shuttle and year-round security. With 34 courts (including four indoor and 14 Har-Tru) and 25 teaching professionals, Sea Colony is ranked among Tennis Magazine’s “50 Best U.S. Tennis Resorts” – including #3 for families, #3 for match-ups and #1 for bargains – and #19 in the world by Tennis Resorts Online, published by former Tennis Magazine Editor Roger Cox.

ResortQuest Real Estate has been providing comprehensive real estate sales and vacation rental services to Sea Colony and the surrounding Quiet Resorts of Southern Coastal Delaware for 36 years … and counting. Visit us on the Web for more information about Sea Colony real estate sales or Sea Colony vacation rentals.

Sometimes what the media doesn’t report, or how they choose to report it, is important.  

Take today’s nugget from REALTOR® Magazine Online about a Reuters News story by Jonathan Stempel:

Wells Fargo Analysis: 200 Troubled Markets (the whole article is here)
Wells Fargo & Co., the country’s second-largest mortgage lender, says it has identified more than 200 housing markets nationwide where the mortgage crisis has spread. Wells Fargo tightened its lending standards in affected markets in 24 states and the District of Columbia.

Wells Fargo said California has at least 33 housing markets “at risk,” and that at least 20 counties, including Los Angeles and San Diego, face severe distress.

Florida has 33 at-risk markets, followed by Michigan and Virginia with 15 each, and Maryland and Ohio with 13 each, Wells Fargo said. Other at-risk markets are located in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

News is what it is, but sometimes it’s also what it’s not. Let’s rewrite this recap a little.

“Legions of researchers at lending giant Wells Fargo, charged with collecting and analyzing data to manage the risk of a successful long-lived publicly-traded company, have identified troubled markets in 24 of 50 states in the country.”

OK, maybe there’s more analysis here than straight editorial copy, but the point is Wells Fargo, a successful mortgage broker (and a notably conservative one at that), reigned in its lending practices for some markets in less than half of the states in the country. There is an old adage that real estate is local. Well, it’s not an adage, it’s the plain truth. In this case, Wells Fargo’s news didn’t name the First State, or any of its three counties, including Sussex.

We like this headline better for local distribution:
Sea Colony is not a troubled real estate market – and neither is any county in Delaware.

Neither Sea Colony, nor any other community in Delaware’s Quiet Resorts, is a troubled market, according to the criteria used by the country’s second largest mortgage lender.

Never heard of Sea Colony?
Located just south of Bethany Beach, Delaware, and known as “The Premier Family Beach & Tennis Resort Community,” Sea Colony features 2,202 homes ranging from oceanfront condos to secluded single family homes, plus a half mile of private beach, 12 pools (two indoor), world class tennis, fitness centers, activities for all ages, community shuttle and year-round security. With 34 courts (including four indoor and 14 Har-Tru) and 25 teaching professionals, Sea Colony is ranked among Tennis Magazine’s “50 Best U.S. Tennis Resorts” – including #3 for families, #3 for match-ups and #1 for bargains – and #19 in the world by Tennis Resorts Online, published by former Tennis Magazine Editor Roger Cox.

ResortQuest Real Estate has been providing comprehensive real estate sales and vacation rental services to Sea Colony and the surrounding Quiet Resorts of Southern Coastal Delaware for 36 years … and counting. Visit us on the Web for more information on Sea Colony real estate sales or Sea Colony vacation rentals.