Connecting With Community

What are they doing? It’s the 2008 Flagship Class of Leadership Anne Arundel doing a few stretches before starting a dance class.

It’s been a very rainy week and all week long I’ve been worrying and asking the fates, “Will it rain on Saturday?”
Saturday was Customer Appreciation Day at the Peter B. Crilly Nationwide Insurance Agency  in Annapolis. My husband Peter had scheduled a Moon Bounce, Satellite Glass was set to do free glass repair to damaged windshields and he’d bought lots and lots of food for a barbecue buffet.
The wind was blowing hard but the sun was shining. Associate Agents Kathy Gascon, Pamela Lewis, and Debbie Whittaker worked late

into the night making baked beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, and cole slaw. One of the customers brought home baked brownies. Fellow Nationwide agent Ed Owens and his wife Sharon were flipping burgers and hot dogs.
Our daughter Alex set up a face painting table and painted butterflies, footballs, kitty cats, and polka dots on the faces and forearms of at least 35 children. Debbie’s husband Chip volunteered to have a Nationwide symbol painted on his head. Over 125 people came by to enjoy the party. All I had to do was stand behind the tables and serve up the side dishes.
      My other “extra-curricular” project for the week, Leadership Anne Arundel Cultural Arts Day, was not quite a stress free—being an entire day of activities, but all went well. LAA  for those who are not familiar, is a program that mentors emerging leaders in the corporate, volunteer, and political sectors of Anne Arundel County by teaching them about some of the primary infrastructures—health & human services, education, criminal justice, government, environment, economics, the arts and how they are related to each other in a variety of ways. The flagship program, which I participated and graduated from in 2002, is a nine month program that requires a commitment of one to two days per month plus additional time for “homework” and the development of a community leadership project that you create and execute with some of your classmates. I have continued to volunteer with the program as a chair of Cultural Arts Day, the day that puts the focus on the arts and local history.
        This year my Co-Chair was David Jones, former Executive Director of the Chesapeake Arts Center and we worked with Davina Hill, the current CAC Executive Director, April Nynan Executive Director of the Arts Council and Linnell Bowen Executive Director of Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts to formulate a day that included artists workshops, round table discussions with some of the forty plus non-profit county arts groups, and culminated with a viewing “Pip and Zastrow” the local documentary film released earlier this year about the relationship between former Mayor Pip Moyer and retired Staunton Center Director Zastrow Simms. And it just so happened to be Zastrow’s birthday so we sang “Happy Birthday”.
         LAA participants learned drumming, drama, ceramics, dancing, and painting. Opening remarks from Lee Streby President and Executive Director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra kicked off the morning activities and the day ended with creative presentations from the ‘Core Learning Teams” (a term you’ll just have to learn about if you take the course) sharing what they’ve learned about the county and themselves with their classmates.
Of course I can’t blog about what we’ve been working on at What’s Up? Publishing because then I’d be revealing our plans for the July/August, September, and October issues but we’ve got some great articles in the works plus new items every day on our website www.WhatsUpMag.com. If you have suggestions, send your comments. Thank you for reading.

 

Mother’s Day, Mother Earth, and Conserving Our Energy

I was driving down the road today, Mother’s Day, a little over the 65 mile per hour speed limit, and I started to wonder why am I driving so fast? If I wanted to conserve on fuel, I should be driving 55 miles per hour. Everyone knows that once you exceed 55 mph your mileage goes down, or do they? I’m of that age that remembers the oil embargo close to 35 years ago when everyone was trying to conserve– keep the heat thermostadt at 68 degrees, carpool, and drive 55 mph. We reduced oil consumption by as much as 20 percent. What happened? We all became complacent and forgot, brainwashed by the energy companies and now we’ve done so much damage to our planet no one has time to care. We’re all too busy trying to get somewhere quickly.
I was on my way from Annapolis to Baltimore to visit my mother. I came bearing gifts, although I wasn’t certain if they were the “right” gifts. My mom has a talent for asking for things as gifts that I just can’t find, although they sound simple enough. She wanted a turtleneck (to hide her ugly neck she told me) but in May a turtleneck is not easy to find other than by going online. But I was running out of time so I bought her a red knit top. I thought it looked nice but she didn’t want it, so that’s another trip back to the store. She did, however love the flowering potted plant I brought her, even though she didn’t want a plant.(I figured the plant would last longer than cut flowers). “The color of the flowers are great,” she told me. Okay I did something right. Here I am, a middle aged woman still trying to please my mother.
My mom has lots of plants. Unlike me, she has a green thumb, and is always taking cuttings and creating more potted plants to populate her cluttered home. I made lunch rather than taking her out(Crabmeat and avocado salad), because with her arthritic hips she prefers staying in and headed home before the next onslaught of rain. (No I did not reduce my speed to 55 mph.)
Meanwhile I’ve received phone calls from both my sons and my daughter was working on my Mother’s Day gift –planting a garden with her dad and making me dinner. (Hope they can keep up that garden!) It doesn’t matter really, at least they put the effort in and as to what they’re serving for dinner? It’s a surprise. Whatever they prepare I’m going to love it!
For me the biggest gift is taking the time to slow down, enjoy the green earth while it’s still here, enjoy my family. So maybe it is time to see about getting those speed limit signs changed!

Women, Song, Mother’s Day, and More

If you’re casting about for something to do with your Mom on Mother’s Day and she happens to love musicals and strong women, take her to see Vanishing Point. There’s only one more show left, Sunday afternoon May llth at the Annapolis Unitarian Universalist Church, a production of the Dignity Players and directed by Mickey Handwerger with music direction by Mark Hildebrand. The story is about three famous women who vanished—Amelia Earhart, Sister Aimee , and Agatha Christie. Or did they? Agatha Christie, one of my favorite early 20th century mystery writers vanished for eleven days in 1926. That same year evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished for three weeks. In 1937 Amelia Earhart set out to fly around the world and disappeared on the last leg of her journey over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. How are their three disappearances linked?
All three actresses—Margaret Allman as Agatha Christie, Wendy Baird as Aimee Semple McPherson, Sheri Kuznicki as Amelia Earhart have lovely voices and incredible stamina as they perform this intense story that draws on historical record and the authors’ imagination.
Also opening this weekend is The Goat Or, Who is Sylvia by Edward ,Albee Winner of the 2002 Tony Award at the Bay Theatre Company in Annapolis directed by Lucinda Merry Browne., if you attend this Friday there is a Pre-Show reception.
Over at the Colonial Players in Annapolis is Hauptmann and you can read my review in the “Entertainment Blog” on the WhatsUpMag.com website.
And if you want to make a visit to Baltimore, The Color Purple is playing at The Hippodrome through May 18th and is excellent. Leading actress Jeanette Bayardelle has a phenomenal voice. While I loved the movie, the staged musical is completely different, equally as poignant and uplifting in a different way.
Yes, I am a theater junkie. Good live theater is inspiring and we have plenty of great opportunities to see a wide variety of plays within a small geographic area.
The May baskets around town are starting to wilt and fade, but many colorful azaleas and tulips are brightening up the Annapolis Historic District. My favorite time to walk downtown Annapolis is early morning, before it gets too crowded, but for those of you who may live further away, next time you’re planning a trip to your favorite downtown restaurant allow some time to stroll. Spring is a great time to soak up the local scenery.

May Day, May Baskets, and Maypoles!

We have a blackboard posted on the wall for inspirational messages at our office at What’s Up? Publishing. It’s the first thing you see when you walk in the door. Currently someone has inquired, “What are your favorite things about May?” The responses have included Cinco de Mayo, crabbing season, and warm weather. My entry on the board was May baskets and May Day.
My relationship with May Day goes back to elementary school. May Day was the big outdoor pageant we held every year and it was an important school tradition. Every year a theme was selected and each class performed with a song and a dance while siblings and parents watched from the folding chairs set out on the school lawn. The grand finale was the May Pole dance performed by the sixth graders. (This was back in the days before middle school and elementary school went up through sixth grade.) I would enviously watch the girls, with wreaths of flowers in their hair, dressed in pretty spring dresses, holding a piece of the maypole ribbon and weaving it in and out as they danced with their male partner around the tall pole bedecked with colored ribbons and topped with flowers. I couldn’t wait until I was in sixth grade and got to do the maypole dance. I can still hear the theme music in my head, the pianist would play on the old upright they’d wheel outside, as we proudly marched to our seats. After the pageant we’d enjoy refreshments that included peppermint sticks stuck inside of lemons, that tasted delicious and made your hands very sticky. After the picture taking, and the hugs from proud parents, we’d gather our costumes in large brown paper bags and go home, basking in the glory of our theatrical performance.
Unfortunately the theme the school picked the year I was in sixth grade focused on Nessie the Loch Ness Monster, recently sighted in Scotland. An exciting tale that included a giant prehistoric sea serpent, the Maypole dancers took the role of being the local Scottish lads and lassies. This meant that instead of wearing a pretty dress, the lassies wore drab plaid kilts as did the lads. Even less romantic then missing out on flowers in my hair was the fact that my dance partner was a girl, because we had several more girls than boys in my class.
Fast forward to my arrival in Annapolis where I encountered the tradition of May baskets
What a treat to walk downtown and feast your eyes on one after another of beautiful baskets of flowers placed on gates and doorways. I immediately had to make my own. Not that I do it the way you should, strictly with cut flowers. Most of the time, I cheat by placing a pot of geraniums or petunias in the center of the basket and then add sprigs of lilac, flowering cherry, and azalea from my garden. My short cut is of little consequence because I can’t officially enter into the yearly contest held by the Garden Club of Old Annapolis Towne. I live just outside the judging area. But I also hate to see flowers die so soon and you have to be very skillfull to keep the floral foam hydrated and your cut flowers living in sunshine and warm weather for more than a few days. For information about how to make your own May Basket.
Don’t have time to make a May basket of your own? You can buy one as early as 8:30 a.m. from the Four River Garden Club, in time to hang on your door before 10 a.m. when the Garden Club of Old Annapolis Towne judges start making their rounds. Locally grown perennials, sweet-smelling herbs, colorful annuals, and freshly baked sweets and breads will also be sold at the Four Rivers sale set up in the downtown City Dock area.
If you have a child under 12 , encourage them to make a May Basket and it they live in the Historic District along with parts of the Murray Hill neighborhood they will receive a pink ribbon and lollipop. In order to participate in the Old Towne Garden Club contest, all basket entries must contain a name and address card and children’s baskets should list age as well. Other contests and diisplay are now taking place in the neighborhoods of Eastport, Presidents Hill, West Annapolis. Take a stroll on May first and see what you find!

Farmers’ Markets and Poetry Flourish this Month in Annapolis

“What could you possibly expect to find this early in the season?” my family asked me, three weeks ago when I rushed over to the Farmers’ Market on Riva Road Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. It was opening day, and like junkie compelled to get my fix, I tore myself away from dog walking and laundry chores, jumped into the car and drove down to see what was for sale at the start of April.
I wasn’t disappointed. There were fresh new lettuces, bags of baby lettuce, kale, turnips, carrots, fresh eggs, and lots and lots of plants. This past weekend was week three and while the selection of lettuces has diminished, I purchased freshly picked asparagus and noted an increasing number of baked good stands.
The egg stand was already sold out by the time I arrived this week, but if you’re looking to start a vegetable or herb garden there’s plenty of selection to inspire and get you started now that the warm weather has finally arrived.
Last week I purchased what is called a “lettuce bowl,” a very large pot planted with a variety of greens that you can pick approximately four times. It has provided lovely fresh greens for my salads all week long, and as long as I continue to remember to water it, should provide us with added ingredients for fine salads for another few weeks.
After having work issues on my brain twenty-four/seven, it’s a treat to focus on the textures and colors of pale purple turnips and bright pink geraniums plus the farmers and vendors are fun to talk to. The Riva Road Farmer’s Market opens at 7:00 a.m. every Saturday. Click here to learn more about a Farmer’s Market near you and which items to expect to find each month as the booths become more crowded with the local harvest.
I stopped by the library to find some books of poetry because this month is national poetry month and learned about the Anne Arundel County Public Library poetry contest. Start with “The lightning flashed, the thunder rolled”… and add no more than 20 lines. You can email your entry into Rhyme.or.reason.08@gmail.com or drop your entry off at the Annapolis Library. Entries will be published in Library Happenings (first names only!) and there will be prizes. Don’t forget to state your age bracket (5-12), (13-19) or (20+). Visit our website story on who knows, you might be inspired.

Bay Theatre Glass Menagerie Brilliant!

There’s a reason they call a piece of literature “a classic”. No matter how many times you read a classic novel, poem, or play you learn something different. “The Glass Menagerie” is currently playing at The Bay Theatre Company in Annapolis through the month of March, and whether you’ve enjoyed previous play productions or one of the movie versions, it’s time to see it again.
First produced in 1944, “The Glass Menagerie” depicts a slice of time in the life of the Wingfield family. The three characters: mother, son, and daughter share a three-room apartment. They each have their means of escape. The mother, Amanda Wingfield–played brilliantly by Lucinda Merry-Browne, focuses on her social connections at the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter and imagines her daughter will take on a career as a secretary/stenographer and then marry one of the handsome gentlemen callers lined up outside their apartment door.
Laura Wingfield– played skillfully by Kristen Calgaro, the painfully shy and crippled daughter, takes refuge from reality by listening to old records and tending her menagerie of tiny glass animals.
Son Tom– played by Ben Russo, finds his adventure after toiling long hours at the shoe factory to suppport the family, by constantly going to the movie theater, sitting through hours of double features and newsreels.
“Where are you going?” his mother constantly asks him. “The movies!” she repeats incredulously. “How can you spend so much time at the movies?”
In many respects, the role of Tom, who is both narrator and a pivotal member of the family, is the most challanging to create and Russo does an admirable job. Struggling to fulfill his mother’s expectations that he continue on as the selfless breadwinner replacing his absent father, he dreams of escaping from her smothering grasp by joining the Merchant Marine.
This is a play with many memorable lines. Here’s one of my favorites. “Rise and Shine. Rise and Shine,” calls out Amanda in her artificially cheery voice.
“I’ll rise,” says Tom. “But I won’t shine!” he tells her and the audience. The first time I read the play, over 25 years ago, my focus was on Laura and her inability to leave the dreamworld she had created. This time after seeing various versions of the play over the years, the tug and pull between Tom and Amanda demanded most of my attention.
Hope seems within reach, with the arrival of an actual “gentleman caller”– played suavely by Judson Davis, but the hope in short lived. Such an easy solution to solve the family problems is not obtainable when the strategy is based on a fantasy perpetuated by Amanda.
A few choice items: the old phonograph, rotary telephone, and photograph of the absent father on the wall, create the sense of place in this intimate theater, along with the sounds of the old records playing intermitantly in the background at strategic times.The fire escape stairs and the shelf of glass creatures that reside in Laura’s glass menagerie complete the set designed by Dave Buckler. Nancy Robillard came down from New York City to direct this third production of the Bay Theatre 2007-2008 season, and she describes her experience as, “a beautiful dream!” While the subject matter of the play is sad, the manner in which it is depicted is thought provoking. Thus, its popularity has endured.
Playwright Tennessee Williams, born in 1911 and the son of a shoe saleman, clearly drew heavily on his own life when penning “The Glass Menagerie”. His older sister Rose, was diagnosed with mental illness and ultimately became institutionalized after undergoing a lobotomy in 1938.
For information about tickets and performance times the theatre can be reached at 410-268-1333, email reserve@baytheatre.org. Their web site is www.baytheatre.org
Want to find out about other live theater performances in Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington D.C., and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore? Read the lastest issue of What’s Up? Annapolis or What’s Up? Eastern Shore www.whatsupmag.com

Brown Thumb or Green Thumb?

The Christmas cactus in my kitchen window has a beautiful deep pink bloom. It gives me great satisfaction to gaze at it as I wash dishes because this is the same plant that almost died last month due to neglect. A number of my plants lead tenuous existences because even though I love having plants and flowers, I don’t always remember to water them.

My husband Peter says I have a brown thumb. I don’t like hearing him say that since I’ve always thought of myself as a nurturing sort of person, but nurturing takes time and there are so many hours in the day—the family, work, community responsibilities come first and well, for me the plants are further down the list.

Saturdays I actually have some time to look at the plants in the house, to check on them and give them a drink. Right now they are all surviving. When it starts getting warmer and they need more attention, they might not be so lucky.

The one star survivor is my giant cactus, also in the kitchen window, inherited from my first husband Cyril who died in 1989. Unlike me, Cyril had a marvelous green thumb, an intuitive knack for knowing what plants need, even when juggling multiple work responsibilities. The cactus was an old plant when we began dating in 1977 so I’m estimating it must be over 50 years old—not bad for a plant.

In my front window near my home computer, a cyclamen is sporting four blooms. A small stem is perking up out of the soil with a bud, what I hope will become another colorful dark pink bloom. That is if I take care of it. So now it’s time to break away from playing with words and sentences so I can pay some attention to this other plant, I’d forgotten about, and give it some water. Today the plants are looking good.

The Artic Blast Hits Annapolis

The wind blows bitter cold as we walk downtown, so cold it is almost painful. It’s one of those winter days when I actually want to run just to keep warm rather than just for the exercise.
Down a few doors from the Maryland State Teacher’s Association on Main Street, a new store called Shades of the Bay (must be planning to sell sun glasses) is taking shape. Maybe they’ll be ready to open by spring.
On the return up the street we take the West Street route all the way home towards Westgate Circle and I see that next to the Jerry’s Seafood sign that announces it will be taking over the elegant location once inhabited by Metropolitan restaurant, and I notice another sign on the purple building housing the gift shop “Object,” stating that building is for sale. The familiar landscape keeps changing as businesses come and go. Such is progress.

Saturday is the Day to Sleep Late

You know you’ve slept in when you walk downtown in the morning and some of the shops are starting to open!
What a luxury, for someone who is accustomed to leaving the house at 6:30 a.m. every morning with coffee money in one pocket and dog treats and plastic “pick-up” bags in the other, to stay in bed until 8:45. For a past published article on walking go to:www.whatsupmag.com/may06/walking/shtml

A crowd of Cub Scouts were gathered outside the front of City Dock Cafe, I surmised they were going on a field trip, and it took me back memory lane to when my two sons, now in their 20’s were Cub Scouts. For a few years, my husband Peter was a Pack Leader. Further back in time my mother Esta Maril, was a Den Mother when my brother David was in the Cub Scouts and as the younger sister I used to tag along on all the field trips. I remember we traveled by charter bus from Baltimore (where we lived) to the U.S. Naval Academy for a tour. It was late spring, a very hot day, and although I don’t have any memory of what we saw that particular day, I must have been only four or five years old, I do remember one of the Boy Scout “officials” reaching into a cooler and pulling out ice cream bars for everyone. I was so excited to get that ice cream. In contrast to the heat and stickiness it was refreshingly cold and delicious. Little did I know I would end up living years later in Annapolis.
As long as you remember to bring your driver’s license for identification, the U.S. Naval Academy is an outstanding place for a walk. Beautiful views of the water, expanses of green grass and athletic playing fields, and plenty of history surround you and give you the sensation of being in a completely different world which is both a college campus and a highly regarded military institution.

Bermuda and Vacations on the Mind

This morning, when I arrived at City Dock 7:00 a.m. sharp, owner Steve Duffy already had my coffee ready when I strolled through the door. He’d spied me tying Grace up to one of the iron chairs outside.
Today my only walking companion was Grace. Peter was already on his way to an early morning meeting.
Walking back up Main Street I tried to count the proportion of shops that are now empty, waiting for new occupants when the weather gets warm. This seems to be the cycle I’ve observed over the years. There is always a certain amount of attrition after the winter holidays, economic downturn or not. Tiffany’s Epiphany is now empty. Did the larger store beside them, Paradigm, that recently opened chase them away? I can only speculate the variety of reasons why a store may choose to close it doors.
At the top of the hill Barbara Cooper (wife of Orlando Rideout) and a friend are on their way down the stairs to grab a coffee in Starbucks, in the basement of Maryland Inn. I see Barbara walking almost every morning, going down Main Street as we are walking up. She has a nice smile.
“I’m enjoying that article about you and your husband in the magazine,” she calls out.
Article about me and my husband? I’m puzzled.
“The beautiful island. Your vacation.”
“Oh Bermuda!” I now realize she’s talking about the travel article I wrote on Bermuda in the February magazine. Once again the idea that people love looking at scenic pictures and reading about places they think they might want to visit is reinforced. Last year’s travel story on Costa Rica (February 07) elicited more personal feedback from acquaintances and friends then anything else I published last year. We all like to dream of where we’d rather be. Wouldn’t it be great to be in Costa Rica right now? I look at the window and see it’s started to rain, a cold damp rain.