Highland Day was great! The weather was perfect. The crowds were large. And orderly. Howard County's finest were on hand too, helping to direct traffic and pedestrians at the incredibly-busy crossroads intersection all day.

Try as I might, I just could not get up there early. I finally made it to the car show with my bike about 10 minutes after 11. I was (pleasantly) surprised by the size of the crowds that were already there.

The car show was moved from the Grey Pony parking lot across the street to the new shopping center. I parked my Harley, signed in with Bill Dailey and then started to walk the grounds. I've got to tell you though, Bill, the retired Highland Postmaster, was able to pull off a really great car show. He was sweating and fretting about "no-shows" but wound up having more than 40 cars, trucks and motorcycles. The cars ran the gamut from antiques to late-model muscle cars. There was even an antique pumper fire truck.

PROBuilt Construction Company, a local construction contractor in Highland, did a fabulous job with the stage. It was very large and built out of composite decking material.

Dan O'Leary, president of the Greater Highland Crossroads Association, was the emcee. This year's event was dedicated to a local family that has been a pillar of the community -- the Boarmans.

Larry Boarman bought the business from the Raney family back in the 1950s after he figured he could make a living based on the number of houses in the community. Over the years, every member of his family and just about every grandchild (and a good number of locals) has worked "in the business."

Also over the years, Larry and his family have helped countless residents get over rough patches by extending them credit so that their families could eat.

There are many, many stories that I could relate about just how generous and kind the Boarmans are. Larry and his son, George, are never too busy to help someone out, be it something as simple as directions, to changing a flat. Even today, it's not uncommon for Larry, his wife, Terri, or his son George to deliver groceries to some elderly resident unable to make the trek to the store.

Anyway, it was a very touching moment, of which the Boarman's are very deserving. The Mt. Hebron marching band led the parade from just down Route 216 through the crossroads and into the parking lot where they stopped in front of the stage. The parade was made up of kids in their Halloween costumes. They were really cute.

County Executive Kenneth Ulman was there to greet the kids and have his picture taken with all takers (what can I say, he's a politician; that's what they do). It was great to have him there.

There were all kinds of vendors (jewelry crafters seemed to be the majority). Serendipity, located in the old Butterfields building, were open for business and had lots of browsers. Penny Schmit, Pam Ehrenfried aand Lauren Appleby are the proprietors. On the first floor they sell gift items such as furniture, baby clothes, lotions, purses, jewerly, etc. The second floor which they call Baileys Loft, has clothing for teenage girls, accessories, jewelry and more. They opened for business Oct. 1. The "House of Horrors," in the Highland Groomery, was a very popular attraction as was the hayride.

Several vendors were handing out samples. My favorite was the Sam Adams beer sample table. The young guy doing the pouring was especially generous with my samples. There was even a table for the Howard County Times and Baltimore Sun, staffed by John McQueen and Joe Gloria.

One old fellow that I met was Dan Blake, of Woodmark, just up off of Triadelphia and Folly Quarter roads. He wasn't feeling very well, seems his cancer was back, but he didn't want to disappoint Bill. Dan couldn't make up his mind which of his antique cars to drive but settled on the 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe convertible. It was in excellent shape for being more than 60 years old.

"What makes it a 'special deluxe'? " I asked. "All the little extras," Dan said, "like the chrome trim in the interior, the extra chrome on the body, those kinds of things."

One other vendor I want to mention is Pong's Orchard. May Pong and her granddaughter, Samantha Nunez, were staffing a table in front of the old post office trailer. They were giving out samples of Asian pears. These little gems look like Granny Smith apples, but the taste is out of this world!

May and her husband, Al, started their orchard in Silver Spring in 1973, moving to the Highland/Fulton area in 2001. The orchard is at 12305 Carol Drive, in Fulton, just down from the old Hall Chevrolet building on Hall Shop Road. Al and May give tours, but give them a call at 301-854-9969.

I got a birth announcement a week or so back. Michelle Beahm (nee Boswell, of Fulton) and her husband, Eric, just had a beautiful baby girl back on Aug. 14. Her name is Margaret Elizabeth and she weighed in at 7.2 pounds. Michelle wrote that Margaret was born at Howard County General and that her pregnancy went very well, no problems.

She and Eric had the joy of driving to the hospital during the morning rush hour (ouch). When I asked her how the delivery went, she wrote back that she can say that labor was horrible until I got the epidural. Then she was in "happy land."

Halloween is just around the corner and it's important that everyone follows safe practices like dressing in light-colored costumes, walking with adults or teens facing traffic, not running near the road, etc.

Then, when you're done tricking and treating, Dr. Rashmi Parmar, one of the local dentists, is sponsoring a "candy buy-back", just like she did last year. Dr. Parmar calls it the second anual Treats for Troops Candy Buy-back. If your kids bring home way more candy that you would like them to have, bring the extras over to her office at 12620 Clarksville Pike, between Highland and Clarksville, Nov. 1 from noon to 4 p.m. She's offering a buck a pound. Then, she will donate the candy to the troops for their enjoyment.

Last year your kids gave her more than 200 pounds of candy, most of which was shipped to the troops, but some of it made it over to the USO lounge at BWI. Not only do your kids get some dough, they will also get a toothbrush from Dr. Parmar.

If you have any questions about the event, ring up her office at 410-531-5639 (tell her you saw it here) or visit them on the Web at www.Parmarmd.com.

With all the press about identity theft, you may be wondering how you should get rid of those old, but sensitive personal documents. You surely don't want to set them out with the recycling where anyone can just come along and pick them up nor should you toss them in the trash (ever hear of dumpster-diving?).

Some people are lucky enough to have a shredder, but even then one still needs to be careful: some shredders don't cut up the paper enough. On Saturday, Oct. 17 from 9 a.m. til 1 p.m. at the Long Gate Parkway Park and Ride, just off Route 100, Howard County is sponsoring a paper-shredding event.

There's a three-box limit per person (that's still quite a bit of stuff) and proof of county residence will be required (it's on your driver's license, just in case you didn't know that). And, it's free.

Questions? Just call the Bureau of Environmental Services at 410-313-6444.

One more thing: Lime Kiln Middle School is sponsoring a food drive. They want to fill the office of Principal Scott Conroy. The drive will benefit "Fish of Howard County". The "Fish Wish List" is as follows: non-perishable canned goods (meat, veggies, tuna fish), pasta, pancake mix, syrup, sugar, peanut butter and jelly, personal hygiene items (soaps, etc).

For more info or a more complete list, contact physical education Teacher Norm Belden at the school at 410-880-5988 or drop him a line at Norm_Belden@hcpss.org.

Well, that's all I have for this week. Look after your neighbors. Commit a random act of kindness. Say a prayer for our troops who are serving in harm's way. And remember their families, too.

user comments (0)