AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Brought to you by Fishpaws Marketplace and
Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi
The most exciting time of the year arrived for SPAN, Inc. on December 11th as donors walked through the doors of Our Shepherd Lutheran Church to drop off donations of foods and gifts for 208 families through the organization’s Holiday Caring Program. (The church donates the space to store them.)
According to SPAN’s Director of Operations Maia Grabau, the program matches donors with families needing help during the Christmas season. The donors receive the name of a family to buy gifts for from one of the schools or from social services. They are then given the names, ages and sizes of each child and they are also asked to provide non-perishable foods for a Christmas dinner along with a gift card for a turkey or ham.
Early arrivals at the desk manned by Grabau and daughter Elizabeth were Evonne Briese and sons Nick and Oliver Marquinez who were donating packages of food and gifts and a pink and white girl’s bicycle. Volunteers Sharon Fenton and Elizabeth Grabau helped them drop off their donations in the church’s multi-purpose room where a taped-off square was numbered to match the number of the family they bought gifts for.
Meanwhile, volunteers Karen Fox and son Brady and brothers Luke and Henry Comer offered to shuttle donations dropped off earlier at SPAN’s headquarters across from the church. They’d check the gifts in, hand the gift cards to Grabau and drop them off down the hall. Then they’d head back for another armful or wagonload.
Keri DeLuca and son Christian brought gifts that were gathered from all their neighbors in Shipley’s choice. They carried their donations back to the multi-purpose room with volunteer Alice Kerwin and were amazed by the well-thought-out system of numbered squares matching numbers assigned the families receiving the gifts.
When not supervising the transfer of donations from the SPAN building, Director of Development Michele Sabean was busy keeping track of which donations were going where. She first checked out donations stored in the Sunday School room used as an annex to the multi-purpose room.
“The front of this room is dedicated to gift donations. In the back of the room, we have donations of food going to families that don’t have children, some of whom are our regular clients. Most food donations have come from the churches,” she said.
“With budgets tight, the churches suggested their congregation members make a small donation of food or a gift. When combined, they make quite a large contribution.”
Michele Comer’s twin sons Henry and Luke finished the wagon runs and joined her in sorting food donations. The brothers are members of Boy ScoutsTroop 855 based at St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church and were volunteering to accumulate service hours toward merit badges.
SPAN’s directors and volunteers are always amazed at the generosity of donors. Natalie Etters and her daughter Abigail had their arms full as they delivered bags full of nicely wrapped packages for Family #1010. After checking in with Grabau, they were shown to the multi-purpose room by Kirwan.
Many neighborhood donations were received including a sizeable contribution brought in by Liz Lax, her son Hudson and neighbor C.J. Whlig. In addition to three enormous blue zippered bags, they had two paper shopping bags filled with even more food and gifts.
“These gifts are from several families in Fair Oaks on the Magothy,” Lax told Grabau as she unzipped the bags and handed her some gift cards.
This year, individual families, neighborhoods, churches and businesses were as generous as before in spite of inflationary pressures according to Grabau.
“One household gifted 10 families which really helped us a lot,” she said. “More families registered for the Holiday Caring program this year. We even added additional families at the last minute including one mother who was just home from the hospital after having brain surgery and asked for some gifts for her son.”
She added that SPAN has had a significant increase in clients served, with more people asking for financial assistance than for food. Energy bills are hitting people hardest.
In addition to the Baldwin Memorial United Methodist Church donations, contributions were expected the following day from Severna Park United Methodist Church, Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church and, of course, Our Shepherd Lutheran Church.
Businesses involved in donating to the holiday caring program included Howard Energy with multiple packages from Bill and Patti Howard. They were followed through the door by Sally McGuire who made multiple trips bringing in donations from The Matt Wyble Team.
Donors continued arriving until 4 pm with more the following day. By far, the most meaningful day of all for SPAN, Inc. would be Tuesday, December 13 when recipients arrived at the church to collect the food and gifts that will make their Christmas celebrations brighter than they might have hoped.
SPAN will soon be approaching the time of year when the need is greatest, but donations dwindle. For more information or to make a donation, visit SPAN Serving People Across Neighborhoods (spanhelps.org)
Olde Severna Park Holiday Shop & Stroll patrons brave chilly pre-Christmas weather
Darkness was an hour away when Olde Severna Park’s first-ever Holiday Shop & Stroll began. The wind was blowing and temperatures dropping but shoppers were already forming a crowd in the historic heart of the town.
Theater In The Park musical director Kylie Sjolie commandeered a place on the pavement to gather singers from her Pitch Perfect and Musical Theater Workshops for a quick briefing about the songs they’d perform at 5 pm.
Shoppers were not only welcomed by the storefront businesses on both sides of Benfield Boulevard but by a number of retailers from further afield who’d set up tables.
Hoping to capture the spirit of Christmas, author Marissa D’Angelo sported reindeer antlers trimmed while selling and signing books at her Tales of Charles Island table – books she felt would make great holiday gifts.
D’Angelo’s Charles Island series, based on the island of the same name off the coast of Connecticut, consists of three titles. Each is set in a different era. The earliest, “Cursed Spirit”, focuses on a Native American Indian tribe – the Paugusetts, “Cursed Vessel” is modeled on the pirate Captain Kidd. The third, “Presence”, is set in modern times and concerns a photographer who finds paranormal images in his photos of the island. D’Angelo donates 10% of her profits to the Paugusett tribe and reforestation efforts. Her books may be ordered at Books | Mysty Writes.
Katie Richardson’s Santa hat was warm and was the perfect advertisement for her Year Cheer holiday boxes for kids. The boxes did, in fact, draw many curious kids. Just to Richardson’s left was Meredith Baker from Skin Logic who was selling an array of high-quality and medical grade cosmetics.
Friends Kathy Kline and Tammi Molavi were having a ball and had already visited several shops. Having stopped by The Big Bean , they were carrying cups of coffee and were about to cross Benfield Boulevard to visit Dawson’s Liquors where they hoped to sample a tasty beverage, then onward to Savvy Consignment and Park Books.
Dawson’s Liquors, along with Peaceful Petals and The Blended Essentials, sponsored the Olde Severna Park Holiday Shop and Stroll. We caught up with Blended Essentials’ owner Danielle Bowen who told us retailers along the boulevard – especially Big Bean owner Christie Coster – had talked about doing such an event for a while. They were pleased that 16 businesses agreed to participate.
The tables in front of the shops provided independent or online retailers a chance to bring their products more exposure. At the ColorSTREET table, for example, stylist Chrisie Varner designed glittery little bags to hand out with samples of adhesive nail polish strips and other products that female shoppers really liked.
Just around the corner at 4 Riggs Avenue was the The Red Apron Shoppe where Kate DoCouto was minding the family business. The shop was founded by her mother MaryAnn Neal who was away visiting Denver, Colorado. Interestingly, Neal is one of the merchants who most wanted a holiday event that would draw people to Olde Severna Park.
As promised, there was music to enjoy. Vocalist/guitarist Daphne Eckman was perched on a stool outside the entrance to The Big Bean providing a touch of jazz as she sang such standards as “I’ll Be Seeing You”.
Just as the sun was going down and Christmas lights were coming on in storefront windows, the Theater In The Park music students assembled next to the Refill Goodness tables to perform a program of holiday songs with both Skoljie and Kraus directing. The singers, ages 4 to 18, loved appearing for a new and different audience. They planned to cross Benfield Boulevard and perform in front of Dawson’s, Savvy and Park Books as well.
An update on Orphan Grain Train’s “Light Up Ukraine” project
Following their Light Up Ukraine Drive, Millersville-based Orphan Grain Train has received $58,000 in donations for Luci Lights – solar-powered lights that are being shipped to Kiev. Project chairman Elfie Eberle said the organization was very thankful for the amazing response.
The column is brought to you this week by Fishpaws Marketplace, 954 Ritchie Hwy. – a family-owned business that carry fine wines, spirits and beers plus gourmet foods. Holiday gift sets are now on the shelves and, on December 17th, an artist will be on hand to engrave customers’ bottles with personalized holiday greetings.
and by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi at 1195 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. – For over two decades providing martial arts training that improves cardiovascular health, strength and flexibility while reducing stress. Jing Ying’s classes would make a great holiday gift.
