Fun With A Purpose

I'm all about making connections. When I can put two things together and make people think, that's a good blog post. I'm excited to see two things coming up this weekend that take the concept of making connections out of the abstract and into tangible, multi-sensory experiences. If I can connect you to these cool happenings, then we'll all benefit.

Saturday, June 1st, at Monarch Mills on Oakland Mills Road past Snowden: the food trucks are coming for HoCo Chow Down! You can sample a variety of delicacies from area food trucks from 11:30 to 2:30 pm. A portion of the proceeds benefit the Animal Welfare Society of Howard County. You may make your own donation as well. So, you can get wonderful food, support Animal Welfare, possibly adopt a pet (yes, there will be some on hand to meet and greet) and who knows? You might want to take a look at the Monarch Mills apartments while you're there. I love this idea.

Monarch Mills is new to our community. I have been interested to see their engagement with the public through social media. They have definitely taken a community approach. You may recall I wrote a post about a book drive they sponsored for their neighboring elementary school. I like how they are reaching out, making connections, being good neighbors.

Sunday, June 2nd, at locations all over town: The Columbia Home Tour. This year's tour benefits Rebuilding Together in Howard County. "Rebuilding Together performs home repairs and home modifications such as the installation of wheelchair ramps and grab bars to improve safety and accessibility for homeowners." I have been a docent for the past two years, and this year I'm just going to enjoy making the tour. This event appeals to the HGTV in me. I love seeing what people have done with their houses.

On the Columbia Home Tour website is this sentence,"Creating a sense of community while celebrating the history of Columbia." I love the feeling of balance that conveys. Bringing people together to appreciate beautiful homes. Bringing people together to help others. We need more of that balance these days in the New American City.

As a child I spent many hours in doctors' waiting rooms, often reading the magazine "Highlights for Children". Their motto? "Fun with a Purpose." That has always, always irked me. Why does fun need a purpose? Fun is by definition its own purpose! But, in thinking about this weekend's events, that old slogan came to mind.

Come and have fun. You don't need to think about the purpose if you don't want to, but while you have fun, you'll be doing good, too.

hocoblogs@@@

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...

Columbia Chance Connection

Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!” We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog