A Little Saturday

It’s a HoCo Saturday in Spring and there’s so much going on that I can’t begin to do it justice. If you haven’t already made your plans take a look at the usual places: Events on Facebook (Choose Local and This Week) or take a look at the activity calendar at Visit Howard County and the listings at the Howard Courier.

The weather looks promising and not too hot.

I’m going to put in a good word for the grand opening event at Apple Core’s Bake Shoppe today.

I first tasted their delicious vegan brandy apple bread pudding at The Third and have since bumped into them at local festivals. It’s a big leap to a brick and mortar location and I wish them well.

That little shopping area where they are located - - Snowden Center - - is really hopping these days. Well, maybe it’s not so little. Here’s a list of their tenants. I’m seeing all sorts of possibilities for combining your shopping trips over there - - I guess the big question is pastries first and then books? Or books first and then pastries?

But seriously, folks, how soon before the usual HoCoLocal complaints about parking and traffic in the parking lot start cropping up? It seems like we all want places to be fun, successful (dare I say “vibrant”?) right up until we have trouble finding a parking space. I have enjoyed witnessing that area become more popular. Perhaps I’m worrying needlessly in advance but, you know how people are…

On the other side of town (is it?) there’s Plantapalooza at Freetown Farm.

Plus, the Repair Cafe beginning at 1 pm.

Yes, I know there are Big Events happening this weekend. I thought I’d veer off course a little bit and put in a good word for two of the quieter ones.

Do you have plans to be out and about today? It’s really kind of amazing that we have so many choices.

Village Green/Town² Comments

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog