Cause for Celebration

First of all, let me say I love, love love this promotional illustration from the Visit Howard County folks:

They’re inviting you to enjoy December in Downtown Columbia. And they’ve created the first recent iconic skyline portrait of Columbia in quite some time. It does my heart good to see the Chrysalis featured. 

From Chrysalis Views, Village Green/Town², April 4, 2017:

There is nothing in Columbia like it. The Chrysalis will forever transform Columbia by changing how we engage with the Symphony Woods land around Merriweather. It will host performances of varying sizes and gatherings of all kinds. Some will take place directly under its outstretched arches. Some will spread out into the surrounding landscape--picnics on quilts, children dancing on the lawn.

This shared community space speaks to what Columbia was meant to be, what it is, and what it can be. As time goes on, our memories will become peopled with recollections of times we spent here. The Chrysalis will become as intertwined with who we are as fireworks at the Lakefront or summer concerts in the shadow of the People Tree.

Wintertime, too. With last year’s Celebration in the Woods and this year’s Ice and Fire Festival, Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods is making a place for itself in Columbia/HoCo’s busy world of Winter community events. My daughter and I went to the opening night of Ice and Fire and were amazed at how a walk through woods that we think of as so familiar could be transformed by the mystery of twinkling lights in the darkness. Coming upon the Chrysalis, brilliantly lit, at the end of our trek was a breathtaking delight.

The Inner Arbor Trust is having a party on December 15th to celebrate this year’s season and in support of next year’s programming. It’s from 3 to 5 pm at the new Howard Hughes Marketing Center. (Two Merriweather, 10960 Grantchester Way, Columbia, MD 21044)

The Host Committee and Board of Directors invites you to celebrate the end of a wonderful season as we enjoy some light refreshments and glasses of seasonal cheer. 

Enjoy an afternoon toasting the successes of 2019 and mingling with your fellow supporters, sponsors, donors, and volunteers that make it possible for the Inner Arbor Trust to provide a season of affordable, accessible, and inclusive arts for all in Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods. Thanks to Howard Hughes for providing space in its marketing center as we wrap up 2019.

Each ticket includes a complimentary ticket to Ice & Fire beginning at 5 p.m. on 12/15. Money raised at this end-of-year fundraiser will help the Trust fulfill its mission to provide an arts park for all and to continue to provide high-quality free and affordable programming for the entire community.

In this season of giving, we will be taking donations for Community Action Council of Howard County, which includes the food bank. Please consider making a donation to our neighbors while on site (CAC will be accepting food donations, but monetary donations go further and are easier to carry!)

A special thank you to Downtown Columbia Partnership for generously sponsoring this event and Howard Hughes Corporation for providing the space!

My husband and I are on the Host Committee which is a bit amusing when you realize that we are both introverts and tend to avoid social gatherings in favor of being homebodies. So, if we are coming out in public, you know this is a cause we most wholeheartedly support. Tickets are fifty dollars for adults but they are free for children, which is key when you realize that your presence at the party also gives you free admission to Ice and Fire afterwards. It’s a two-for-one celebration.

If fifty dollars is too steep for you, why don’t you use your $ to come to Ice and Fire instead. Or, if you hate parties, you can always make a donation directly and skip the peopley part. Lastly, if for some reason you’d just rather see me (or my spouse) then make a twenty dollar donation and one of us will take you out for coffee and talk about the park. (Offer void if IAT says it is.)

Buy your tickets for  the fundraising event here. Buy tickets for Ice and Fire here. Or donate directly to support the park here. Why is this cause so important to me? It’s right there promotional text: affordable, accessible, and inclusive arts for all. 

I hope we’ll see you there.

*****


Ice and Fire Festival Advent Calendar 

https://calendar.myadvent.net/?id=977b90239444b01458c8851c2025a2e2