Monday, Oct. 13, 1980 --

• Salisbury’s “Bicentennial Tree,” a stately white oak near Parsons Cemetery, will fall victim to the woodcutter’s ax sometime this winter, after failing to recover from a lightning bolt. On Monday, the City Council gave blessing to a Wicomico Historical Society proposal to use the wood for souvenirs and memorabilia to be handed out during the city’s 250th anniversary celebration in 1982. According to society president John E. Jacob Jr., the rescued wood will be used to make decorative keys, gavels and possibly a conference table. Experts have determined the tree took root in 1727, five years before the city’s founding.
• Salisbury’s controversial ambulance bill practices came under fire again at Monday night’s City Council meeting. Edward J. Winship, Director of River Walk Manor, said the city Fire Department has begun sending bills in which patients were transported to Peninsula General Hospital Medical Center directly to the nursing home. Winship said the bills for non-emergency services should be sent to the patients, not his center. He said he and Chief Francis S. Darling have been unable to reach an agreement on the billing procedures.
• Stung by an admission that he engaged in homosexual activity, 1st District Robert Bauman said he will remain a candidate for re-election but will redirect his campaign. Bauman said that because the new media has been so aggressive in covering his travails and painted his campaign in a negative manner, he will cut off all interaction with reporters. Bauman has been quietly campaigning on the Lower Shore in recent days, but has not told the press about his presence.
• The United Way has named its committee chairman for the 1980-81 Wicomico County drive which has just begun. The chairs are: Margaret Yow, special events; Robert Ayotte, publicity; Gordon Gladden, training; and W. Howard Hayman, budget. Hayman is also a past president of the local United Way.
• The Wicomico County Council has allowed new zoning that approves family day-care centers in the county. Residents can now open a center to care for four children or fewer, without having to first receive Planning Commission approval. The change has been in the works for more than a year, with opponents maintaining an expansion of day-care homes would potentially disturb the exclusiveness of their neighborhoods.
• Twelve young women will compete this Saturday night for the title of Junior Miss Salisbury. The competitors are: Lisa Culver, Jan Wright, Valarie Bohler, Sherri Emerson, Mimi Harkins, Betsy Nielson, Joe Ellen Harrison, Faith McClaflin and Susan Fox. The winner will travel to Baltimore in December to compete in the state’s Junior Miss program. WBOC radio announcer Ed Buras will serve as emcee of the event, which will be held at the Wicomico Senior High School Auditorium.