Maybe Not the End of an Era

You may be aware of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve." Devotees of Keillor's fictional hometown and the radio show centered around its residents bid farewell to "A Prairie Home Companion" this past weekend. The show, a mix of drama, live music, humor, "commercials", plus Keillor's signature monologue about the town, began in 1974.

Now Keillor is retiring. The show will continue with musician Chris Thile at the helm, but all indications are that Lake Wobegon and her inhabitants will disappear into the mists like Brigadoon. The door is closing on that magical pocket of community life.

Yesterday I took a trip to a place very much like Lake Wobegon. You might say it's the little village that time forgot: Dickeyville. It's an old mill town nestled into the banks of the Gwynn's Falls. The orginal houses were built for mill workers in the 1800's. Today there are one hundred and thirty seven homes. It's a close-knit community with a lot of personality.

I've come to know Dickeyville over the years as it is the home of my in-laws, Sam and Joan McCready. They brought their own personal flair for neighborliness with them from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The village life suits them. Through the years they have participated in many Dickeyvile events--marched in the annual Fourth of July parade, hosted Garden Club events, organized art shows and historical exhibitions, and put on theatrical performances.

As a part of Dickeyville's week-long Fourth of July festivities, Sam and Joan presented an afternoon of Shakespeare in the Park. The McCreadys are life-long actors and Sam McCready's tenure as a driving force in UMBC's Shakespeare on Wheels may have served as a bit of inspiration for the event. A celebration of an English playwright by Irish actors and American musicians for the Fourth of July? Of course.

That's Dickeyville for you.

Shortly before five pm residents began turning out in the meadow by the dam. They brought lawn chairs, patio chairs, folding camp chairs, quilts, and beach towels. Soon they were uncorking bottles of wine and passing around sandwiches and other delicacies from baskets and coolers. Neighbor greeted neighbor. Children ran around in the grass. The performers readied themselves and made last minute checks to the sound system and the makeshift stage.

What followed was an hour or so of live theatre and music by the McCready's and Dickeyville musicians. Monologues, sonnets, and scenes from several plays were interspersed with songs accompanied by guitars, mandolin, recorders, violin, and tambourine. One versatile assistant played "all other additional parts" with flair. A stage manager handled all sound effects (plus directed audience participation.) Village children stood in for Titania's fairies; one brave boy endured Titania and Oberon's jealous tug-of-war.

All the while the sounds of birds and the rushing waters of the Gwynn's Falls surrounded us. As the performance went on I couldn't help but feel that we were all participants in a sort of Garrison Keillor experience. The show had just the right mix of drama, humor, music, and audience participation (even a Jeopardy-style quiz and a sing-along!)

"Live from the Meadow by the Dam! It's a Dickeyville Home Companion!"

And so, this weekend, we bid a fond farewell to the little town of Lake Wobegon.

But, if you look carefully, you may discover little pockets of magical community not so far away from where you live.

Flag-Waving

Yesterday someone posed the following question on the "Celebrating Columbia, Maryland and its Future" Facebook page:

I'm curious as to why Columbia flies no American flags down Little Patuxent for the 4th of July.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't actually a question. But it seemed an innocent enough observation. And at first the responses were positive. "I think that's a great idea" or, "Let's get on this for next year" and, "I'm in!"

Then someone pointed out that Columbia Association wouldn't have jurisdiction over a decision like that, and suggested contacting Howard County Government. This seemed to peeve some respondents who blamed CA for having too many regulations and being too controlling to have the patriotic decency to fly flags for Independence Day. Hearing that this was not even a Columbia Association responsibility did nothing to dissuade them from this point of view.

It may be against association rules. Everything else is!

What a shame hanging American flags on the 4th of July is such an issue for Columbia.

Nah...the streets and signs are not a Columbia controlled thing, it's a HoCo thing. Of course 'back in the old days', Rouse did what he wanted with 'his' town, but it was just him...not a bazillion agencies controlling this and that and the other thing like today.....

As the thread evolved the tone began to shift to a more suspicious, accusatory one. It had gone more from a "let's do this!" to "we want to do this and are being denied our rights!" all in one conversation.

We need to stand up as Columbia pioneers. They can't take that away from us.

Back in the 80s someone or some group put flags by every lamppost on the Fourth of July. It could have been the scouts. But we need to "take our city back".

And another thing. The issue of a Fourth of July Parade came up, more than once.

We used to have parades on the 4th. How about some sense of community?

Columbia has three Independence Day parades: Allview, Longfellow, River Hill. This was, of course, pointed out by multiple people. And still:

One of these years we should try and organize a Columbia parade for an event. We've grown so much as a community that it would be nice to do something to bring back the small hometown feeling.

For heaven's sake, don't let the facts get in the way of your point of view.

Columbia is known for its spectacular celebration of the 4th down at the Lakefront, with food, music, and fireworks. I don't think we are lacking in any wholehearted patriotic spirit of the day. And there are three Fourth of July parades! Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

Also, it's important to note that none of that would be possible without Howard County Government: it's where we live. Columbia may be "who we are" for some, but that doesn't mean we are some sort of self-sufficient island with no need to be a part of the larger world. That sounds more like isolationism to me.

We have many things to celebrate on Monday. I don't think isolation is one of them. If a feeling of "Columbia Exceptionalism" skews our view of how we are connected to our larger community, we just might be missing the point of what the day is all about.

Village Center Vignettes

The other evening I had dinner with my husband and daughter at Lucky's, the good old standby Chinese restaurant in the Oakland Mills Village Center. We've been going there since our teen was a little girl, although more often for takeout than eat-in. It seems that most people are like that. It's rare to see a lot of customers dining on the premises, but you always see a steady stream of food pick-ups while you are there.

The waitress knows us well enough that she was surprised when my husband ordered won ton soup instead of his usual hot and sour. She was concerned that my daughter didn't eat much of her food and didn't want to take it home. Did she not like it? Was there something wrong with the food? (There wasn't, it was just a little spicier than she had anticipated when she tried something she hadn't ordered before.)

Outside the window three teens went by on their bikes. On the sidewalk. Doing wheelies. Showing off. After that I saw something scurry by at ground level. What was it? A small animal?

It moved last again. Zoomed, really. I could see now that it was a remote control car, whizzing back and forth, in and out of my view. Eventually its owner turned up, a man who looked to be in his twenties. He stepped out into the parking lot and he and his zipping vehicle continued their journey out there.

I shook my head a little. Some nights are like that in my village center. Bikes on the sidewalk, a remote control car in the road. Some people say that shows there's something wrong, that we're in a state of decay. I don't know. Everyone in the picture is a part of my village. They may not always be like me, but I'm not afraid of them.

When we paid our tab and left the restaurant we saw a young man my daughter was in kindergarten with walk up and start talking to one of the bicyclists. It was a warm summer evening and people were out and about, picking up dry cleaning, a six pack of beer, some groceries. There were a good number of cars in the parking lot.

I guess there are some people who look at this scene and see disruption, disrespect, and decay. I don't. It doesn't always function like the white middle class suburban world of my childhood, but that doesn't make it wrong. It doesn't mean that we should automatically be fearful.

I love Oakland Mills in all its off-beat, diverse, make-do-with-what-we've-got splendor. I don't need to make it look more like me. In fact, I benefit from all the ways I can participate in experiences that are different.

What's going on in your Village?

Everything Old Is New Again

The District of Columbia was established on July 16, 1790. That makes it old. Columbia, Maryland was established on June 21, 1967. That makes it new. In fact, Columbia was promoted at the time as "the New American City."

The District of Columbia has long agitated for full statehood. When Mayor Muriel Bowser put forward her draft state constitution, the issue of a name for the 51st state came up. The proposed name? New Columbia.

...New Columbia—the default ever since a 1982 Statehood Constitutional Convention chose it over Anacostia (the runner-up), Potomac, Rock Creek, Capital State, and (fanciful even then) the State of Utopia.

I see a problem here.

Clearly Columbia, Maryland, clocking in at 1967, is newer than the Disctrict, at 1790. What sense does it make to have a New Columbia which is patently older than the (old?) one? Just contemplating this makes my head hurt.

I'm not the only local blogger concerned about this, either. Elizabeth Brunetti of Take On Elizabeth tweeted:

Please don't call yourself "New Columbia". Pretty please. #HoCoMD #ColumbiaMD #IDontWantToBeKnownAsOldColumbia

District of Columbia vs Columbia MD is already confusing enough for out-of-towners!

Her (lighthearted?) suggestion:

They should just pull a Hunger Games and call it The Capital, cutthroat as it is...

I'm sure that those of us in the New Amercian City aren't going to get a vote in this. If we did, I'd probably go with Anacostia. But we can't just barge in and change someone else's name. If DC statehood goes through, maybe we'll just have to change our own name to avoid confusion.

May I suggest Chase Eden?

 

 

Wait, What?

On Tuesday I wrote about "Where We Are" in Howard County when it comes to addressing issues of racial justice. On Wednesday I woke up to the churnings of the HCPSS PR machine pushing out Tweets about something called #HoCoVoice , involving teachers and students. I was surprised.

Why? Well, I follow the school system pretty closely as both a parent and a blogger, and I had no idea this was in the works. I re-checked all the HCPSS News emails from June 1st onward. June 1, 8, 15, 16, 22, 29th: nothing. You would think that if the school system were putting on a major event on diversity and inclusion that they'd want to tell people about it. Especially since it was clear that student participation was key to the success of the event.

These words from John White suggested a reason this event was kept under wraps:

Howard County superintendent Renee Foose announces new “Student Voice for Inclusion & Equity” model today at cultural proficiency conference."

Let's face it, the announcement by the Superintendent of anything that contains the word "model" does not exactly inspire confidence. Specifically, the announcement of a major initiative on diversity and inclusion made without community outreach and collaboration defies good sense. Although, to be honest, it is what we have come to expect.

The good news here is that the event itself appears to be more of the excellent work of John Krownapple and his colleagues in the Cultural Proficiency office. I have heard nothing but good things about his work from teachers, parents, and students. I was also extremely encouraged to hear that Sara and Lina, the Mount Hebron High School students of #StoptheSilenceStartaConversation #HoCoStudentWalkOut were invited to participate and will be on a panel today. All indications are that this is wonderful, valuable work.

But I can't get over that parents were kept completely in the dark about this, especially since this is such a hot issue right now in our community. An indication of what the priorities were: the media were invited to this in advance; the public found out after it was already happening.

And one more thing. It's my opinion that, if students are intended to be involved as participants, then notification of parent community as a whole should be a given. Where did these students come from? They were hand-picked by administrators.

That doesn't sound very inclusive. Or diverse.

I want to emphasize how much I value this work and the students and teachers who are participating. But the overall message to the community is of another failed opportunity to communicate and collaborate. Yet again there's no room for stakeholders at the table. Parents are viewed as merely consumers of a social media message. It shows a profound lack of respect.

How can we make progress on issues that are so entrenched and complex if the school system's own initiative is predicated upon exclusion? As I said before, it defies good sense.

The Smaller Community

I'm having a hard time writing today. There's plenty to write about concerning the community at large. It's my own community, the smaller community, that is weighing on my mind.

A long time ago I wrote about the difference between the larger community

and the smaller one that can't be seen by the naked eye.

Here we are in all our beauty and imperfection, I suggested. This is our 'class picture', if you will.

Today some friends who are a very important part of my smaller community are moving away to begin a new life in another state. Contemplating their move has made me think a lot about those smaller communities that connect us, hold us up, enliven us, empower us. We learn what it means to be a part of the larger community from our relationships and interactions in the smaller ones.

When we connect with people who help us to grow and encourage us to be our better selves, it has a positive influence not only on us as individuals, but on the greater community as well. Good friendships make better people. Better people build better communities.

Tomorrow, and the day after that, the 'sand on the beach' may appear unchanged to the casual observer. But those of us in the smaller community will know the difference.

Just a small post today, about grains of sand.

“Individually, every grain of sand brushing against my hands represents a story, an experience, and a block for me to build upon for the next generation.”
― Raquel Cepeda

The Back Burner

Some things that are percolating but aren't ready to roll yet:

• Changing acoustics in Downtown Columbia. I keep reading about this. Changes to the landscape due to development in the Crescent, combined with changes at Merriweather, appear to be affecting who is hearing what, where, and how much.
  
• Expanded summer feeding centers in hcpss: good. One of the sites has recently-verified mold issues: bad.
• Why do elected members of the Board of Education often learn of hcpss/Board actions by reading about them in the newspaper?
• Women community and/or political bloggers in HoCo: we need more of them.

Good news from Michael Blackman of the Columbia Concert Band:

The Columbia Concert Band returns to where it has always belonged - the Columbia Lakefront July 4th fireworks! It's been so long, I can barely remember the last time the "hometown band" has been part of the Independence Day celebration - I am thinking 26 or 27 years (yeah, I played). Unfortunately, due to space restrictions, we can only bring a little over half the ensemble, but it's a start! Come hear a nice variety of music, including marches, popular songs, patriotic medleys, and original symphonic band music. We start at 7:00 and finish - well, when the fireworks begin!

This is exciting stuff--live community band music for the Fourth. It's wholesome, sugar-free, yet won't offend anyone's sense of fair play. Get your blanket out there early, folks. Also, it sound like there may be a back-story here. Yet another thing to put on the back burner.

Time to start cooking up some future posts.