Month: March 2021

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN By Sharon Lee Tegler

The atmosphere at Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church last Saturday was lively and reassuring. Two equally important initiatives were taking place on opposite sides of the church. On the north side, the first of 190 families began flowing through a Pop-Up Pantry that is held in the parking lot once each month.

Organized by Melissa Kurzmiller in partnership with food recovery organization Celestial Manna and in coordination with the Maryland Food Bank, Anne Arundel County Food Bank and Feed Anne Arundel, the Pop Up Pantry ran like clockwork. Fifty volunteers of all ages pitched in to collect, set up and distribute the food.

Meanwhile, on the south side of the church, a race course was being laid out for a much anticipated Christian Service Brigade StocKar Derby Race organized by Michael Binnie and Matt Vahlberg with volunteer help from various dads. Early arrivals, like Vahlberg’s son Johnathan, were eagerly showing off their hand-crafted cars. before submitting them.

Held annually, the race is open to younger CSB members but older members help out and parents, grandparents, siblings and friends turn out to cheer for their favorite entries.

Christian Service Brigade Battalion members Caleb Rassossky and Seth Ratajczak split their time between volunteering with the Pop Up Pantry (where their muscle was much appreciated) and helping set up seating, tents, race track and tables for the StocKar Derby.

Saturday was Seth and Caleb’s second time working with the pantry alongside seasoned volunteers like David and Erin Freeman. The teens mentioned how impressed they’ve been with the effort. The Freemans noted that they’d received food from the pantry in the past so they like to give back and help out as much as possible.

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“I have chemo scheduled for Monday,” David said. “So we wanted to get out and do something good to help others before that. It’s nice to be able to share with people and say ‘God bless you’. Feels good.”

Kurzmiller, wearing a bright orange vest, was in the middle of everything directing her volunteers. A busy mother of five including one special needs child, Kurzmiller became involved with the Celestial Mana program five years ago. At first she worked as a volunteer picking up food from various grocery stores. Three years ago, she became a Celestial Mana coordinator running a food distribution operation from her home.

She pointed out that Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church had run a food pantry program for 20 years. But, when the COVID crisis skyrocketed the number of families needing food assistance, Kurzmiller found she’d outgrown her home-based operation and needed a way to expand.

Luckily, SPEP was happy to partner with her. Now, with more volunteers, the Celestial Mana/SPEP partnership provides in-house food distribution twice-weekly for 400 individuals along with the once-monthly Pop-Up Pantries open to anyone needing food . On Saturday volunteers worked steadily, filling car trunk after car trunk with canned and packaged foods and fresh produce.

The pace picked up as the 1 pm closing time for the Pop-Up Pantry neared. SPEP volunteers Suzanne Behrendt and Karen Larimer and three teenaged helpers prepared to greet drivers from Baltimore Station (a residential and treatment center for homeless veterans) and another group who were coming to pick up pantry foods that were left over. (The Celestial Mana/SPEP partnership always distributes any remaining foods to others.) The moment the Baltimore Station SUV pulled in towing a wagon, they began loading it with boxes of food.

Open boxes revealed canned goods, potatoes and apples from AA Co. Food Bank and more fresh produce from the MD Food Bank. There were hot foods, including shepherd’s pies from Feed Anne Arundel – a program paid for by the county that enables local restaurants (in this case Park Tavern and Mother’s Grill) to supply hot meals. All told, the Pop Up Pantry provided food for 725 total individuals.

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A few minutes later, Battalion member Timothy Carmon led the way across the SPEP campus where a crowd was forming around the bright aluminum race track with groups of children sitting together and parents in separate groups. An elaborate trophy table and a food and beverage table were already in evidence.

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Before explaining the event (basically a Pinewood Derby), Chief Ranger Matt Vahlberg described the structure of the Christian Service Brigade which is for boys. (There is a similar group for girls called “Pioneer Girls”.)

“CSB is divided into three age groups,” Vahlberg said. “The youngest, the ‘Tree Climbers’ for children in first and second grades, and “Stockade” group, for kids from third through sixth grades, would be racing. The oldest “Batalion” group, for seventh through twelfth graders, would help operate the event.

Binnie noted that the Tree Climber and Stockade groups had been meeting outdoors at the church on Tuesday evenings where they had access to band saws and belt sanders with which to shape blocks of wood they’d been given to design and shape into model cars. It’s an activity that encourages craftsmanship and helps the youngsters develop fine motor skills.

Start time drew near and four Tree Climbers’ names were called out to pick up their cars from the “impound table”, form a line, and place them on the track for the initial heat.

The cars would be automatically launched by the officials and sensors on the track would determine the finishing order for each heat. Naturally, the race officials took extreme care in lining the StocKars up before sending them down the track.

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There was a problem with the sensors, however, and times were not recorded. While fun to watch, subsequent heats had similar problems and results were not official. It was soon discovered that intense sunlight at the end of the track was interfering with the optical sensors.

Various strategies were tried to shade the end of the track but problems with UV light persisted until SPEP congregation member Gordon Laque, who designed the track, arrived and sorted out the trouble.

Then competition started afresh for the Tree Climber and Stockade groups with much enthusiasm and competitive spirit among the participants and tremendous cheering and clapping from the audience. Winners were eventually declared in categories for speed, race design and funny car. They were:

Speed: 1st place, Andrew Binnie; 2nd place, Sam Luman; 3rd place, Nick Grunes

Race Design: 1st place: Jonathan Butzin; 2nd place, Sam Luman; 3rd place, Zane Biggerstaff

Funny Car: 1st place, Johnathan Vahlberg; 2nd place, Oliver Christie; 3rd place, Colton Canby

For more information about activities at Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church, visit Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church – where Jesus mends broken lives… (spepchurch.org)

Severna Park 4th of July Parade a GO!

Good news from the Greater Severna Park & Arnold Chamber of Commerce. Severna Park’s annual Independence Day Parade will be held this summer. Since, July 4th falls on a Sunday, however, the parade will actually take place Monday, July 5. Parade entries are being accepted now. For details, visit Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber of Commerce (gspacc.com) or email Liz League at ceo@gspacc.com.

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler

Arriving just in time to take advantage of Lisa’s Cakepops’ “Baker’s Dozen plus two free pops” anniversary special on March 13, repeat customer Jennifer Wade perused the beautiful hand-decorated pops in the display case before making her selections.

“I’ll have one Vanilla pop, one Vanilla Princess pop, two Lemons, two Chocolate Covered Vanilla,” she told owner Lisa Schneiderman.

Pausing before choosing further, she mentioned that she always comes by the shop after getting her eyebrows done next door.

Schneiderman, who personally manned the checkout counter in honor of the shop’s Second Anniversary as a storefront, explained to Wade that she based its design on that of an ice cream counter where you pick the flavors you want.

“We’re obviously featuring pops with a touch of green this weekend in honor of St. Patrick’s Day along with St. Patrick’s Day cakepop decorating kits for children,” she said. “But, we’re about to bring out our line of Easter cakepops and our Easter Pop decorating kits that encourage kids to get creative dipping and decorating their own chocolate covered eggs..”

With that, she disappeared for a second and brought out an Easter Bunny cakepop she’d just designed plus one of the Easter decorating kits. The bunnies will make their counter debut this week.

Along with them, will be Lisa Schneiderman’s ever-popular Easter chick cakepops and Easter egg pops which you can pick up from the shop or order by phone at 443-346=4011 or online at Lisa’s Cakepops – Eat Lisa’s Cakepops!

The trio of cakepop bunnies, chicks and Easter Eggs (like those below) will dress up any Easter Basket…….and are yummy to boot. In fact you might want to save some for the adults.

Families can have fun creating their own pops, however, by using one of Lisa’s Cakepops’ Easter decorating kits, thereby starting a new tradition. The kits come with six pre-formed single-dipped egg pops, a package of white chocolate to melt for dipping, and colorful sprinkles and sugars with which to decorate them.

Since becoming wholesalers in 2019, Lisa’s Cakepops finds that the Easter season is one of its busiest times. Both Lisa and her husband and business partner Glen spent part of Saturday in the kitchen finishing the final 800 of a catalog order for 12,000 Easter Pop Decorating Kits.

Lisa recounted the journey from her California kitchen to Severna Park shop owner and wholesaler. “

“A stay-at-home mom then, I spent hours in that kitchen experimenting with and perfecting my version of then-new cakeballs and cakepops,” she said.

Sharing her fanciful and delicious creations with family and friends, Lisa soon realized she could market them through a home-based business..

Shortly thereafter, Glen’s job brought the family east. She was no longer able to run her blossoming business from her kitchen and rented commercial kitchen space from Fiona’s Cakes at 836 Ritchie Highway.

By then, her products and been “discovered” and she was receiving custom cakepop orders from locals and further afield. Simultaneously, she was promoting her products by appearing at community charity events.

For a long time, she and her part-time staff of helpers were making the pops for local customers who’d order them for specific events like weddings or graduations. However, the staff suddenly found themselves getting numerous out-of-state inquiries and orders. In 2017, Lisa launched an e-commerce business through her website Lisa’s Cakepops – Eat Lisa’s Cakepops! and through Facebook at Lisa’s Cakepops | Facebook.

Local sales remained strong. So, when commercial kitchen owner Fiona D’Agostino relocated to another state, the Schneidermans took over the lease and bought all the equipment. They subsequently converted part of the kitchen to a storefront with refrigerated display cases and a counter from which to serve customers. They opened the shop on March 14, 2019 with a celebration and ribbon cutting by The Greater Severna Park & Anrold Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to e-commerce, Lisa’s Cakepops began working closely with two catalog companies, MacKenzie, Ltd. in Baltimore and Chesapeake Fine Food Group, LLC in Owings Mills.

Anniversary day remained busy. Glen Schneiderman took over the counter just as regular customer Marissa Sherman and her daughter Ella arrived to pick out their Baker’s Dozen plus two pops.

“Our family has a nut allergy and Lisa’s Cakepops doesn’t use nuts in their baking, so we’re in here often,” Marissa said,

The duo chose 15 of their favorite pops including Cookie Dough, Maple, Chocoate, Lemon and Salted Caramel and of course, green St. Patrick’s Day pops.

Recalling the first anniversary of the storefront on March 13, 2020, Lisa said the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic gave her a feeling of uncertainty. But business stabilized thanks to her loyal customers and catalog orders.

“On our second anniversary here, I’m feeling more hopeful,” she said.

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler

When asked by friend Stephen Mitchell what she missed most during the COVID-19 pandemic, Petra Ligmond Roche had an instant comeback.

“Getting all dressed up to attend galas or fundraisers,” she said.

Like many of us, she yearns for a return to normalcy when jobs, meetings, church services, or dinners out with friends induce us to slip out of those “remote working” pj’s or yoga pants and into something pretty that makes us feel good about ourselves.

Theresa Kurtz, a real estate agent with The Gerdes Team of Long & Foster who’s always on the go showing properties across the county, said she’s never given up dressing well. Kurtz says looking stylish lifts her spirits and inspires confidence.

Both women are delighted that shopping local for stylish clothing is now very possible. One of Roche’s favorite haunts, The Cottage at Park Plaza in Severna Park, is awash in spring colors and fashions in every size. Dressing rooms are open and impeccable there so trying on clothes is a breeze.

The Cottage’s trendier clothes are popular with teens and with the shop’s young staffers and sometime-models like Emily Humphries. Emily is seen above showing off a swingy lavender print dress by Mahi Gold with heels by Toms and a bag from Annapolis-based company Hobo.

There are styles by labels like Vera Bradley, Spartina and Tribal that appeal equally to young moms, busy professionals and women who are involved in community volunteering or social activities..

Manager Courtney Coughy said resort wear is already being shown but, for the moment, customers are particularly drawn to Vera Bradley’s colorful floral print raincoats with matching handbags.

Accessories are big this spring – especially handbags or hats in shades of aqua blue. Equally prized are casual clothes like Spartina’s playful pastel jumpsuits that can be worn with sandals or dressed up with a pair of heels.

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Next door to The Cottage, customers roamed the aisles at JOANN Fabric and Craft Store. According to manager Claudia Mbem. they have never stopped making clothes including “dressy stuff” for special occasions. Silks, satins and laces have been selling well because brides-to-be are currently making their wedding gowns or bridesmaid dresses.

Opposite Park Plaza, Kohl’s spring line of fashions is on display with labels like Vera Wang, Lauren Conrad, Apt. 9 and Chaps providing plenty of dress-up options for women. The menswear section includes sport coats, classic slacks and suits by Haggar and casual clothing and jeans by IZOD, Levis and Lee among others. Both men and women shoppers need to know their sizes, however, because dressing rooms are not open.

In Olde Severna Park, Savvy Consignment is a favorite place to browse for quality name brand clothes. Stepping inside, it’s easy to see why and to discover that Savvy’s dressing rooms are open too.

Owner Stacey Cassidy is proud of the wide array of designer label fashions she’s able to display. For instance, there’s a whole rack devoted to Lilly Pulitzer clothes. Cassidy took time to reveal a Lilly Pulitzer dress with simple, elegant lines that she’s particularly fond of, then reeled off some other high end labels.

She noted that the clothing on other racks is arranged by color and size and includes name brands like LuLu Lemon, Ann Taylor, JCrew, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Free People and Vineyard Vines. There is a more limited selection of menswear in one section of the store.

Spring is always a busy time at Savvy with mothers coming in to buy warm weather clothing for their children but these days the moms are lingering to check out something stylish for themselves.

Severna Park, Millersville, Pasadena and Arnold residents have long known that Partners In Care’s Upscale Resale Boutique at Fesitval at Pasadena off Ritchie Highway is a hidden treasure for shoppers with an eye for style. With spring in the air, shopping for clothes has picked up according to PIC’s Executive Director Mandy Arnold.

A group of volunteers known as “The Designing Women” do a great job of staging clothing in appealing vignettes.

Arnold notes that, in addition to a new jewelry counter showcasing the shop’s impressive collections, the boutique carries fashions bearing labels like Chico’s, Zulily, Talbots, Anthropologie and Banana Republic among others. They also carry menswear from name brands like JoS.A.Bank and Hugo Boss.

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Whether “dressing up” is a fait-a-compli for you – or right around the corner – it’s fun and easily doable by shopping local. You can even venture a bit further afield. Roche said she enjoys shopping at Macy’s at Westfield Annapolis Mall where dressing rooms are open or Nordstrom Rack at Harbour Center. It’s good to know those of us who like or need to try on clothes before buying them now have a choice of places to shop.

St. Martins’ Mustangs & Meatballs virtual family event

St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School is hosting a fundraiser called Mustangs & Meatballs on Friday, April 23rd. It will be a virtual family event including a student variety show, Italian carry-out dinner including salad, entree and dessert for two, a bottle of wine, wine tumblers and more. There will also be a silent auction. Tickets for dinner and show – or for variety show alone – will go on sale Monday at www.stmartinsmd.org.

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler

For Stage & Screen Studio owners Julie Ann and Pete Garvey, the bounce back from the dark days of pandemic lock-downs has been nothing short of miraculous. While most of the entertainment industry was devastated, the Millersville-based business managed to blossom over the last several months thanks to creative, innovative ideas that kept things moving forward.

The studio’s director Pete Garvey reflected on the company’s journey from “sudden and complete halt to operations” to revitalization and steady growth.

“What happened in those first few months between March, April and May of 2020 when we were completely locked down was shocking. We’d just finished a very successful run of ‘Sound of Music’ and I was directing ‘Alladin, Jr.’ for Jones Elementary School which, unfortunately had to be cancelled,” he said. “Julie and I were like ‘what are we gonna do?’

As the couple began thinking outside the box, the idea for making a TV pilot was born. Inspired by a Netflix show featuring teenagers called “Outer Banks”, they thought “what do they have that we don’t have other than financial backing?”

Reasoning that there were plenty of natural settings in the great outdoors along Maryland and Virginia’s scenic waterways, they gently put out feelers to see if they could find a few young actors who’d be interested. Eleven signed on right away. Pete wrote a script and found a location three miles south of Severna Park on the Chesapeake Bay. Thus was born the pilot for “The Point” – a production that could be filmed safely in the open air in socially distanced fashion without sacrificing quality.

“We filmed it over three weekends and the kids loved doing it,” Garvey said. “We just finished editing it and will be releasing it in about three weeks. We are now beginning to film Episode 2 of “The Point” with twenty student actors already signed on for it.”

Simultaneous with work on the film, the studio began offering one-on-one instruction – at first virtually – but, shortly thereafter, in-person with proper COVID-19 protocols including masking and social distancing. As opposed to their previous emphasis on training students for big productions, one-on-one training allowed the staff to concentrate on the fundamental techniques of acting that make actors great and keep them in demand for work ranging from films, TV and the theater to commercials.

In those first few months, Pete redesigned the company’s website to better reflect the deep pool of talent on Stage & Screen Studios’ staff, thus planting seeds that continue to blossom.

With the approach of warm weather, the studio added small group theater camps for elementary and middle school students where participants learned fundamentals of “musical theater” including singing and choreography. Pete added a new wrinkle by doing a bit of coaching for Severna Park High School senior Ellie Heath who’s preparing for her second Maryland Poetry Out Loud State Level Competition.

The company also invested in equipment upgrades that allow them to do multi-camera live stream events or showcases directly from the studio.

At the same time, they enlarged their staff. There are now eight different teachers with impressive backgrounds in a range of disciplines. They include theatrical coach Allison Bailey, big screen/Hollywood coach Sixx Orange, performance coach Hannah Hall, stage combat instructor Claudia Rosales, choreographer Heather Harris, music director Jill L. Beram-Limatta and acting coach Dean Davis. Most exciting of all, renowned aerialist and aerial dance coach Robin Miller joined the staff.

Miller’s most avid pupil, from the outset, was Pete’s son Nicholas Garvey, an actor/dancer who has already achieved distinction in the world of ballet as an International Academy of Ballet competition winner representing The Greater Annapolis Ballet.

“With Miller’s help, Nick took to performing in the air like it was second nature. He’s used the newly developed skill to recreate the persona of Spiderman,” Pete said.

Julie and Pete Garvey bring their own considerable talents to everything the company does. As owner/manager, Julie brings her movie, TV and commercial background experience into play.

Julie has appeared in over 50 regional TV commercials and shows including performing as host of a nationally broadcast children’s show on Fox called “AquaKids”. She models professionally for national product lines and has appeared in movies including “Ladder 49”, “Syriana”, “Better Living Through Chemistry” and “National Treasure Book of Secrets”.

Director and principal instructor Pete has appeared in over 25 nationally broadcast TV shows on Discovery Channel networks, HBO and NetFlix. He’s appeared in more than 80 regional TV commercials and narrates audiobooks on Audible and iTunes. He’s also a former theater director for the U.S. Naval Academy Masqueraders, technical director for the Naval Academy Glee Club and director of the Maryland Shakespeare Festival.

For information on lessons, classes, upcoming auditions and bios for Stage & Screen Studios staff members visit Lessons | Stage & Screen Studios .

The Garveys noted that other theater or dance related programs have kept operating through much of the pandemic as well. In doing so, they’ve managed to supply some of the healthy interaction children have been missing during the pandemic. Two are in Severna Park.

Theatre In The Park

Theater In The Park founder and director Jennifer Lee Kraus found ways to adapt and weather the pandemic storm.

“Other than having to shut down last spring and not being able to have our performances, we have been able to continue our small group summer camps and in person workshops,” Kraus said. “We have just adapted to COVID guidelines to make them safe. It’s gone really well.”

Theater in the Park’s musical theater arts workshops, for kids from 5 to 18, provide opportunities for acting, singing and being part of a production. The in-person classes are held at Severna Park Community Center and Holy Grounds. A “Broadway Babies” program is currently underway and plans are already afoot for summer camps in July with a “Space Bop” theme. For information, visit Theater in the Park | Facebook .

The Dance Center of Severna Park

The Dance Center of Severna Park ‘s director Kellie Greer found a way to keep dance in the forefront of people’s minds when the Severna Park Community Center where the program is based closed in accordance with Governor Hogan’s Stay At Home order.

She created free dance lessons for children to view and practice to at home using Facebook Live – lessons that attracted would be students.

Once the community center reopened, in-person lessons were immediately offered with small class sizes, masks and proper social distancing.

Today in-person classes are held six days a week but can be virtual as well. A year-round recital schedule will be set shortly with a date and location for the first recital still to be determined. For a full description of the various classes offered, visit SPCC Home (spcommunitycenter.org).

Chesapeake Life Center offers grief support and summer grief programs for children

Chesapeake Life Center’s grief support programs for children and teens are now meeting in-person at Hospice of the Chesapeake’s John & Cathy Belcher Campus, at 90 Ritchie Highway. They are:

“Stepping Stones”, for children ages 6 to 12, which will meet from 10 a.m. to noon April 3. Breakfast, games and activities are included.

“Phoenix Rising” for teens ages 13 to 18 which will meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month, April 21, May 19 and June 16. A meal is provided along with games and activities.

“Pre-Teen Group” for pre-teens and early teens meets at the same time but in a different room as Phoenix Rising.

Groups are limited to six participants and masks must be worn. The cost for each program is $10 per participant, with a maximum of $20 per family. Pre-registration is required by calling 888-501-7077 or emailing griefinfo@chesapeakelifecenter.org.

Summer Grief Programs for children 6 to 11 being held on four consecutive Saturdays are filled with adventure, music and art. “Adventures in Grief” takes place at Terrapin Adventures at Historic Savage Mill on May 15. A “Summer Grief Art Workshop”  for younger children will be held June 26 at a yet to be decided location.

A music-based “Rhythm and Grieve” program will be held July 17 at a Prince George’s County location yet to be determined while “Teen Adventures in Grief”, for kids 12 to 18, will take place August 14 at Terrapin Adventures. More information will be forthcoming or yoy can keep tabs by visiting http://www.chesapeakelifecenter.org/.