AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Brought to you by Fishpaws Marketplace
The National Night Out events hosted by the Anne Arundel County Eastern District Police at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company always draw a good crowd. Still, it was astonishing to see the parking lots nearly full 45 minutes prior to the official opening time of 6 pm. By 6:15, the lots were overflowing, and cars were park on both sides of Magothy Bridge Road as far as the eye could see as well as at Magothy Gateway Shopping Center opposite the firehouse.
Entering the open-air event, one observed the crowds (mostly families) moving slowly between the rows of tents. They’d come out to show their support for Anne Arundel County’s first responders and the community service organizations that support them but also to be educated and entertained.
National Night Out was organized by an Eastern District Steering Committee chaired by Sarah Gannon from Anne Arundel County Councilman Nathan Volke’s office. She had help from representatives from the Eastern District Police Department, Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Department, the Cape St. Claire Improvement Association the Broadneck Council of Communities, the Greater Severna Park & Arnold Chamber of Commerce (GSPACC) and the Pasadena Business Association (PBA) among others. The event was staged so the Eastern District Police booth and displays of Anne Arundel County’s recreation, police, fire and emergency vehicles formed a ring around the midsection booths and tents while a portion of field behind them was reserved for the always popular demonstrations by police and sheriff’s department K-9 Units.
Major sponsorships from the Eastern District Police, GSPACC, PBA and Mission Barbeque made National Night Out possible along with community sponsorships from The Bonk Team-Keller Williams , Fence & Deck Connection, Oscars Ale House, Passantes Home Food Services , and Fishpaws Marketplace among others. There were 44 community organizations and vendors on site for National Night Out. many of which participated in the event previously though some were new. We caught up with a few.
First-timers included Danny Forbes, Samuel Crossman and Preston Elliott from Boy Scouts of America Troop 346 from Pasadena. Stationed just beyond the entrance, they shyly greeted their first visitors.
According to Samuel Crossman, the threesome hadn’t done anything like this before but knew their main objectives were to familiarize the public with their troop and recruit some new members.
Opposite the Scouts was the tent of the Greater Severna Park Council where vice-president Amy Leahy and board members Doug Nichols and Craig Myers were stood ready to hand out water and provide information about the event and offer assistance to the general public.
On the way to check out the Oscar’s Ale House tent, we ran into Barbara Dean who was wearing a bright purple T-shirt heralding the annual Walk to End Alzheimers which takes place this year on October 16th. Dean arrived back at the booth she and Anne Arundel Co. Team member Trisha Herold were manning just in time to meet an equally strong advocate for the Alzheimer’s Walk – Nancy Greer, co-owner of Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. (Jing Ying Institute students would later perform a martial arts demonstration.)
Dean revealed that the Anne Arundel County team topped area organizations for their first and second years participating in the walk raising more than $20,000. Greer, as leader of the Jing Ying team reported that they’d been the winning team during their first year which followed the loss of her mother to the disease.
You may have guessed from the column’s opening photo featuring Diane Casanova with one of Saving Grace Animal Rescue of Maryland’s four adorable foster pets that her booth with the puppies was among the event’s most popular stops.
“Saving Grace Animal Rescue is a completely foster pet-based organization that operates through Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. ,” Casanova said. “Our purpose is to unite pets with foster families until we can find forever families for them.”
She added that Saving Grace dogs come from shelters in Baltimore and through the Southern states like West Virginia.
“We have to line up a foster family before we take a pet in. That’s why being at an event like National Night Out is advantageous for us so we can find more foster families. In fact, our attendance here last year resulted in several adoptions by people who had already been approved.
National Night Out provided the perfect opportunity to familiarize the public with some of agencies created to help people in times of trouble. The Anne Arundel County Police Crisis Response System and Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency booth that was manned by Director of Crisis Response Jennifer Corbin and Cpl. Jennifer Sieth was a perfect example. Both women handed out giveaways and fielded numerous questions about how their agencies work.
“Our agencies work hand-in-hand, operating a 24-hour warmline (which is like a hotline) for any type of crisis – a mental health crisis, homelessness, or any other ongoing emergency situation,” said Cpl. Sieth. “We have different teams that can respond to those problems including mobile crisis teams and CI teams where an officer and mental health officer work together to find solutions. You’ll see that we’ve put our phone number on all our giveaways to remind people that help is just a call away.”
They also informed attendees about services like the Safe Stations established at Anne Arundel County police and fire stations where anyone dealing with a substance abuse problem or emergency can come for help.
One booth over, Katie Wardo, who is coalition coordinator for Northern Lights Against Substance Abuse and the Western Anne Arundel County Prevention Coalition and outreach coordinator Denise Williams also handed out information and giveaways. Their table had several sign-up sheets, as well, for free programs, training, and memberships.
“We work with youth and young adults to break the stigma associated with addiction and to prevent drug and alcohol abuse,” said Wardo. She added that they also visit schools to acquaint students with facts about substance abuse.
Because of the tremendous number of dangerous drugs (like the powerful synthetic opioid Fentanyl) arriving in our neighborhoods from across the southern border, one important sign-up sheet offered free training for the use of Narcan – a nasal spray which is used for emergency treatment of opioid overdose.
Many community organizations participated in National Night Out and most had games for children. At the Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber booth, CEO Liz League and husband Jim were treating kids to a fishing game and pushing the organizations’ SHOP LOCAL initiative by promoting area businesses.
Nearby, SPAN, Inc. development director Michelle Sabean had created a brand new Shopping Cart game for this year’s National Night Out appearance with help from volunteers Josie Justice and Kayla Patel. Their display also had a good representation of SPAN’s services including food panty items and financial assistance to cover electricity bills, medical bills or prevent evictions. They were also accepting donations.
A team of volunteers from Woods Church were delighted to be at National Night Out for the first time. Retta Barkley, Katie Taylor and Carla Raubales were having a great time spreading the word about the church’s many services to the greater Severna Park community and beyond.
A visit to the Anne Arundel Community College booth revealed the diversity of programs now offered there. Instructional Specialist Peggy Walton from the engineering department had some very interesting displays and information.
“We have a lot of great programs at the college that people don’t realize – programs that are meant to be two years and right out to work,” Walton said. “For example, in our bio engineering department we have a separate technology path that’s not quite as difficult. I have more jobs, at the moment, than I have kids to fill them and the salaries are great starting at the low $60,000 and $70,000 range…for two years training and no prior experience. Four-year degrees are great but you don’t have to have one to make a good living and you come out with no debt.”
There were lots of impressive critical response police vehicles to see that kids, in particular, loved to climb aboard. We entered one just in time to hear Cpl. Moorhouse explain his mission as an Anne Arundel County Police Crisis Negotiation Team member and show off some of the equipment used.
“We deal with people in crisis situations, people who are taken hostage and barricaded in a house. We are trained as hostage negotiators by the FBI,” Cpl. Moorhouse said. “Our job is to come in when the hostage takers threaten to kill themselves or the hostages. We need to talk them out of their crisis and get them out of the state they’re in, then get them away from the building and the residents.”
In addition to the screens along the counter, Moorhouse had a number of what he referred to as throw phones. Working with police SWAT Teams, the crisis negotiators often go right up by the door of a residence and try to get the hostage taker to accept a throw phone or throw a cell phone so they can communicate with them. He said negotiations can go on for 24 hours or as little as 30 minutes to an hour.
He added that the number of hostage situations has actually gone down since Anne Arundel County instituted crisis intervention teams which work with people that are having mental health crises.
There was much more including opening ceremonies, several speakers, the K-9 Unit demonstrations and martial arts demonstrations by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. A most touching moment came when the National Anthem rang out over the loudspeaker and everyone across the grounds paused and put their hands over their hearts.
Around The Park Again is brought to you this week by Fishpaws Marketplace, 954 Ritchie Hwy. – a family-owned business that carries wines, spirits and beers plus gourmet foods and specialty items perfect for a summer party.
