Catching Up and Some Musings

My last post is so long ago I may have forgotten how to write. Excuse: well it was a busy summer. Lots of travel, work, campaigning etc. So now fall is here..

LHS Activities: Lindsey Baker (working with both Venus Play Shack and the Laurel Mill Playhouse has created two great nights: One (This Saturday October 2 for a Ghost Walk) and one October 9 with LMP that includes dinner and the play.

October 2 is Maryland Million Day -- and I'm going to try to go. Research for the new library exhibit on the track's 100th Anniversary has included meeting some of the people who work in the barns, own and train horses. Gives you a sense of a world about which I knew/still know little. You may not support slots, but the loss of this world in Laurel would be a loss to this community. Want to see something beautiful -- be at the track around 7:00 a.m. when the horses are exercising.

About the election.

The primary election is over (thank goodness!). While only one of the candidates I supported won, the school board and county council races did reveal some great talent. Congratulations Mary. Hope to see Valerie Cunningham and Chonya Johnson staying active. We have City Council elections next year ... Kudos to all who ran --and lost, including Fred Smalls, Tom Dernoga, Mike McClaughlin and David Murray. I can only admire those who care enough and give what can only be considered an astonishing amount of time and effort to run. And while I often don't agree with many of the officials, I have to admire those who give so much of their time in office.

There. That said. We'll have a new County Council Representative -- Mary Lehman whom I know is very committed to her work and will be a great council rep. Now's the time for all our city and county folk to roll up their sleeves, put elections and any past hard feelings behind them and work together to improve the economic situation in Laurel. Moving the Library downtown comes to mind.

About that Library: Still a great idea and the BOLD group is still working hard. We'll be at Riverfest and are working with folks on C Street for an event.

Some other random thoughts: What's with the path around Laurel Lake? Taking far too much time. And while we've heard rumblings about the neighbors not liking folks walking through their "private" street, cutting off virtually 1/4 of the lake path doesn't seem fair.

That's all for now.

Women Candidates: Celebrating Success

This past week I've spent a time talking with candidates for various offices including District 1 Education Candidate Chonya Johnson and Mary Lehman, both very impressive candidates. Yesterday I wrote a check for Montgomery County delegate candidate Jodi Finkelstein, whom I know from her terrific work with the Howard County Domestic Violence Center. All these activities for a generation of women younger than me (I admit it!) have made me reflect back on how far women have come during my professional life.

Without totally dating myself, let me say that a fair number of the early years of by public relations career involved promoting women's rights and career issues. Through the agencies for whom I worked we toiled for for the ERA, and worked hard for equal pay. I was privileged to work with a number of pioneering women business owners in this area including the late Susan Hager, Patty Abramson and Marcia Sharp, plus the great staff at BPW. I met pioneering journalists like Peggy Simpson, and women from Women in Communications, some of whom have remained lifelong friends. Because of their efforts women have gone far in their careers. Some have risen to the top. Women like Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton have not only been senators, run for president and become Secretary of State, or Speaker of the House, but dozens and dozens of other women are running for office to serve their communities. And nobody thinks it odd, strange, or pioneering. I fully expect that a woman will become president -- and while it will be an important "First" a woman's ability to lead a major nation won't be seriously questioned.

As these women run -- successfully in the cases above I hope -- I hope, too, that they and other candidates may take a moment to reflect on all the hard work that went before them to make the fact of their candidacy unremarkable. We have come a long way. And isn't that great.

Snow Removal Part Deux

Well, like they say, it's been a while. And my main topic today is pretty much a retread of an earlier blog. Snow removal. OK folks. It's been two + weeks since the big snow. The City of Laurel was kind enough to let folks off the hook re: snow removal when we got 30+. But now people are actually trying to walk around, and there are too many places -- many of them commercial -- that haven't shoveled. Show a little respect for your neighbors and shovel that sidewalk's ice or your corner lot's other side. Most irritating: the people who shovel a personal path from their house to their car -- and leave the rest to slip and slide. Also: a personal shout out to Pat Quill who used his front-loader to great effect and helped clear 2 parking spaces in front of our house when he saw me shoveling. Also to the Laurel City plow guy who did not block my driveway and also pushed snow to the side. See --work to remove snow and you are rewarded!

The BOLD (Bring Our LIbrary Downtown) folks will be presenting at the Lions Club tonight -- and we'll have a part of the BOT table at the Mayor's Open House. BOLD is also on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/BOLD-Bring-Our-Library-Downtown/309065206422?ref=ts . Please become a Fan.


Two other exhibits: Try to see Old Town Resident Cheryl Dyer's piece at the Montpelier Art Center, and the new exhibit at the Laurel Museum: Snapshots in Time, Our Community 1910 and 2010. Both very worthwhile