Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Dayhoff writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dayhoff writing. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 06, 2019

October 5, 2014: Westminster Community Pond

Westminster Community Pond gets major plastic surgery at age 60

Eagle Archives

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, kevindayhoff@gmail.com

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Sixty years ago on Sat., Sept. 18, 1954, the Route 140 “Roadside Picnic Area and Community Fish Pond” was dedicated with great fanfare by then-Md. Gov. Theodore R. McKeldin in a program that lasted all afternoon beginning at 2 p.m..

Today most folks know the ‘Community Fish Pond’ at the intersection of Routes 97-north and 140 as the ‘Westminster Community Pond’ but many know it as the ‘Westminster Duck Pond.’ In the late 1950s it simply known as Bloom Pond – named after the family, Russell and Mary Bloom that ‘sold’ the property for $10.00 to “the State of Maryland, to the use of the Department of Game and Inland Fish of Maryland” as described in a deed executed on June 10, 1954.

Recently the pond has been in the news. It is undergoing major reconstruction. Many folks have asked about the work being done on the pond – and curious about the history of the park.

A January 13, 2014 press release from Jeff R. Degitz, administer of Carroll County recreation and parks explained the “Pond will be closed for construction and major renovations beginning Wednesday, January 15, 2014. Planned renovations include the enlargement of the pond… and additional parking…”

On Feb. 27, 2011, writer Katie V. Jones reported in the Carroll Eagle that the “popular Westminster park could see its pond triple in size with the addition of walking trails and a fishing pier…”

It just so happens that I was getting a haircut at Cal Bloom’s Barber Shoppe, just after 2 in the afternoon a couple of weeks ago on Sept. 18. The barber, Cal Bloom, is the son of Russell and Mary Bloom.

And of course, our conversation drifted to the history of the pond and the barber shop that he opened on May 1, 1985. Bloom explained that his father started the pond in the middle of what was then, a large swamp; in part, in an attempt to drain the area to help protect the family farm’s livestock that were getting stuck in the wetlands.

The pond was dedicated just a few short months after Route 140 opened in July 1954. In his remarks McKeldin noted, “The increase in travel, the expansion of tourist business which we are encouraging, and the rapid growth of our highway system under our 12-year road construction program creates some problems…The Kiwanis Club of Westminster is due high praise for sponsoring this Community fish pond and roadside picnic area.”

After the pond and park area was turned-over to the state, the picnic area and other improvements to the pond were undertaken by the Kiwanis Club of Westminster and the Carroll County Chapter of the Isaac Walton League.


Although the practice of taking bread to the pond to feed the ducks has been discredited for many years; some of my fondest childhood memories are of feeding the ducks on a Saturday afternoon or after church on Sunday after having lunch at Baugher’s restaurant or the nearby “Snaks By Twin Kiss Drive-In.” 
Kevin Dayhoff for Westminster Common Council
Westminster Municipal election May 14, 2019
Authority Caroline Babylon, Treasurer.

Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun

Facebook Dayhoff for Westminster: https://www.facebook.com/DayhoffforWestminster/
Facebook: Kevin Earl Dayhoff: https://www.facebook.com/kevindayhoff

Dayhoff for Westminster: www.kevindayhoff.info
Dayhoff Soundtrack: www.kevindayhoff.net
Dayhoff Carroll: www.kevindayhoff.org
Kevin Dayhoff Time Flies: https://kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/  

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Dayhoff Time Flies: Ocean City - Down the ocean, hon.


Dayhoff Time Flies: Ocean City - Down the ocean, hon.

Sunday, June 30, 2019 by Kevin E. Dayhoff

This year I enjoyed the summer solstice, Friday, June 21, by doing a 2.25-mile run on the boardwalk in Ocean City. According to the Washington Post, “The summer solstice is … our longest day and shortest night of the year, and the first day of astronomical summer in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere… In Washington, the sun (was) up for 14 hours and 54 minutes on June 21, rising in the northeastern sky (at) 5:43 a.m. and setting in the northwest at 8:37 p.m. (For perspective, that’s about 5½ hours more daylight than seen on the winter solstice in December.)”

I could not think of a better way to spend the longest day of the year than to spend it in Ocean City “down the ocean, hon.”

Some of my fondest childhood memories include leisurely vacations on the Chesapeake Bay, explorations throughout the Eastern Shore and walking on the boardwalk in Ocean City. For some reason French fries, pizza and ice cream, always taste better when it is mixed with an ocean salt breeze, walking the boardwalk, while fighting off the seagulls.




Friday, April 12, 2019

Westminster celebrates the 38th running of the Main Street Mile

Westminster celebrates the 38th running of the Main Street Mile

April 10, was the scene of the 38th annual Westminster rite of spring – the Westminster Road Runners Club Main Street Mile

April 10, 2019 by Kevin Dayhoff, kevindayhoff@gmail.com


https://dayhoffwestminster.blogspot.com/2019/04/westminster-celebrates-38th-running-of.html

Main Street in Westminster on Wednesday evening, April 10, was the scene of the 38th annual Westminster rite of spring – the Westminster Road Runners Club Main Street Mile – co-sponsored by the Westminster Recreation and Parks Department.

The annual event dates back to 1981 and is known as one of the fastest one-mile courses in the world, because it begins at the top of East Main Street at Fair Avenue and follows Main Street west to the Westminster Branch of the Carroll County Public Library - all downhill, with a total vertical drop of 144 feet.

This year the weather was nearly perfect as friends, families, and neighbors gathered on Main Street to take part in the historic event. In keeping with tradition the first heat began at 7 p.m. The race is run in two “heats.” Heat #1 is officially timed and scored with prizes awarded. To qualify for Heat #1, you must be age 11 or older and be capable of running a mile in less than 10 minutes.

Heat #2 is the “Connor Smith Memorial Fun Run.” It is neither officially timed nor scored. A clock showing an unofficial race time, however, will be at the finish line.

Because so many young people participate, the Main Street Mile is really quite a fun family event.  Even the “race numbers” are fun, since everyone under the age of 10 wears a race identification badge, which bears the number “1.” 

The cheers for the “number 1’s” always seem the heartiest, since finishing is quite an accomplishment for the little runners. Every “number 1” is awarded a medal at the finish line.

Hats off to the Westminster Road Runners Club - WRRC. The Main Street Mile is a five-star community event that brings together many different folks for an enjoyable family-oriented experience.

The quality of the WRRC and the greater Westminster community shines through as the race itself has regional “cult” status in the running community and brings many visitors to Carroll County.

Organizing the Main Street Mile is a feat all to itself. The race seems simple enough - a one-mile straight shot. But organizing the race is deceivingly complicated as it involves closing Main Street and many intricately moving gears which all need to come together perfectly at a precise time.

Fortunately, getting complicated things done for the greater benefit of the community is something that is second nature for Carroll County. Thanks to over 50 volunteers and the help of the Westminster Police Department and Fire Police, this year’s event was another great success.

Credit also belongs to the “Race Director.”  There have been many great Main Street Mile race directors over the years, including Beth Weisenborn, Liuda Galinaitis, and one of the founders of the event, the late Dave Herlocker.

This year’s race director extraordinaire is once again the totally unflappable Sandy Cole Matthias.

The very busy Westminster Family Center in the Jerome Day historic armory building on Longwell Avenue graciously opened its doors for pre-race registration and the after-race ice cream and results.

Yes, ice cream, the key ingredient of all successful community events.

For additional information the Westminster Road Runners web site can be found at: https://sites.google.com/site/wrrclub/

Our correspondent Kevin Dayhoff has covered the Westminster Main Street Mile for over 20-years. Some portions of this article have appeared in previous stories in previous publication.

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Photo captions:

The Westminster Road Runners Club is a non-profit organization, based in Carroll County, Maryland. The goal of the club, according to information obtained from its website, https://sites.google.com/site/wrrclub/, is to promote a healthy and active lifestyle through running. Courtesy Westminster Road Runners Club

Main Street in Westminster on Wednesday evening, April 10, was the scene of the 38th annual Westminster rite of spring. Kevin Dayhoff | www.KevinDayhoff.net

Ice cream is distributed after the race. Yes, ice cream, the key ingredient of all successful community events. Kevin Dayhoff | www.KevinDayhoff.net



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Downtown Westminster, Maryland https://www.facebook.com/DowntownWestminsterMD/



Westminster Annual Main St Mile, Mile, Westminster Annual Main St Mile, Annual Events, Dayhoff writing essays running, Dayhoff writing essays Sports, #DayByDay, Dayhoff writing, Dayhoff Media Westminster Patch,
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Kevin Dayhoff for Westminster Common Council
Westminster Municipal election May 14, 2019
Authority Caroline Babylon, Treasurer.

Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun

Facebook Dayhoff for Westminster: https://www.facebook.com/DayhoffforWestminster/
Facebook: Kevin Earl Dayhoff: https://www.facebook.com/kevindayhoff

Dayhoff for Westminster: www.kevindayhoff.info
Dayhoff Soundtrack: www.kevindayhoff.net
Dayhoff Carroll: www.kevindayhoff.org
Kevin Dayhoff Time Flies: https://kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/  

Monday, December 31, 2018

“Who’s up for a dramatic reading of the minutes from the last meeting?”


“Who’s up for a dramatic reading of the minutes from the last meeting?”

For whatever reason – I have had to write a large number of minutes, agendas, reports, secretary’s certificates and the like, for a number of organizations, including the church, the NAACP, and the fire company in the last several months. And I think that I am about to finish the fifth set of minutes for the month of December. I was looking for a graphic to include in one of the sets of minutes, when I came across this one – and it made me smile. 31Dec2018

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