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 Diversity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diversity. Show all posts

Friday, November 16, 2018

CJR by Karen K. Ho: Former Globe and Mail reporter on resigning over race dispute

Former Globe and Mail reporter on resigning over race dispute

‘It all played out very suddenly’: Former Globe and Mail reporter on resigning over race dispute


Fascinating read: 15Nov2018 CJR by Karen K. Ho: Sunny Dhillon was a reporter with The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. Since 2010, he’d worked out of the Vancouver office; in October, shortly after a civic election, he quit. He explained why in a piece for Medium, Journalism While Brown and When to Walk Away: in an article about the new city council—composed mostly of white women—Dhillon wanted to focus on the lack of diversity (Vancouver is 45 percent Asian) but his bureau chief overruled him. The essay, on the challenges he and other journalists of color experience in predominantly white newsrooms… Read more here: https://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/globe-and-mail-sunny-dhillon.php
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Sunday, September 16, 2018

The Tale of the Lion: Our Stories, Our Voices


The Tale of the Lion: Our Stories, Our Voices

Sept. 15, 2018 at the Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 West Patrick Street, Frederick, MD, 21701

Until the story of the hunt is told by the Lion, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. —African proverb

The oldest African American citizens in Frederick County, Maryland, share the memories, wit, and wisdom that have shaped their lives.

This documentary film is presented by the African American Resources – Cultural and Heritage Society of Frederick County, MD.


The premiere screening of our locally made documentary, The Tale of the Lion, will be held September 15 at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, MD. AARCH (African American Resources - Cultural and Heritage) invites you to join us in celebrating the rich history held in the life stories of our oldest African American citizens in Frederick County. The poignant telling of their experiences from childhood, through segregation, to today is a window to the strength and resilience that have shaped their lives, and our community.


Saturday, July 07, 2018

The inaugural Westminster Pride Festival


The inaugural Westminster Pride Festival was a huge success. East Main Street was packed and the weather was great. 7Jy2018

Art Artists Culture Carroll Co, Community Foundation of Carroll County, Diversity, Diversity LGBQT+, Diversity LGBQT+ Pride Month, Westminster Pride Festival, 

Friday, July 06, 2018

Inaugural gay pride event planned for Westminster on July 7th, 2018

Inaugural gay pride event planned for Westminster on July 7th, 2018 By Kevin Dayhoff

Westminster, Md. June 4, 2018 - - After months of meetings and preparations, a group of Carroll County citizens have formed to develop plans to hold an inaugural gay pride event, The Westminster Pride Festival, in Westminster. The newly formed Westminster Pride Planning Committee is a consortium of civic, business, nonprofit, and church leaders who have joined together with community leaders and members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.
 
The planned event, The Westminster Pride Festival is believed to be the first of its kind in our community. It will take place on July 7, 2018 from noon to 5 p.m. in the 200 block of East Main Street, between Church and Court Streets. Permits for the event have been issued from the City of Westminster.

All proceeds from The Westminster Pride Festival will be donated to the Westminster Pride Festival Fund, which is a fund of the Community Foundation of Carroll County. The fund is the very first LGBTQ+ fund at the Community Foundation with a specific focus on the LGBTQ+ community.

According to information from the planning committee, The Westminster Pride Festival seeks to raise the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in Westminster and Carroll County. “It is time we showed our pride in our community,” said Jason Garber, who along with his husband Lance Garber have been planning this event with a core group of dedicated volunteers.

“We have made Westminster and Carroll County our home,” said Garber, a McDaniel graduate and former president of McDaniel chapter of Allies. “My husband and I enjoy living in this very close knit and accepting community, and we want to celebrate Pride Month with all the friends, family and allies we have.”

‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month’ - LGBT Pride Month is currently celebrated annually in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Inn civil unrest in New York City, otherwise known as the “Stonewall Riots,” that took place following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street, in Manhattan. In subsequent years, marches, parades, festivals, and events have been scheduled in the spring to shed additional light on the civil rights of the gay and lesbian community.

According to various media accounts, ever since the initial Christopher Street Liberation Day on June 28, 1970 marked the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the participants have encountered very little resistance from onlookers.

This year, in Carroll County, it was decided by the organizing committee that in order to be respectful of other Pride events that are taking place in Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Frederick, MD, The Westminster Pride Festival wanted to kick off its inaugural year with no calendar conflicts. “People do generally celebrate pride with more than one festival, especially on the east coast where it is easy to make it to various pride parades and festivals.” said Garber.

Founding sponsors of The Westminster Pride Festival include Random House Penguin, MerMaids, and Birdie’s Café. The committee is made up of over twenty volunteers, who have dedicated many hours to ensure the success of this event.

The mission of the Westminster Pride Festival, according to the planning committee, is to assure the success of a yearly festival that includes information, support, music, art, food and overall acceptance and solidarity within the LGBTQ+ community, their allies and the Carroll County community.

According to the planning committee, The Westminster Pride Festival looks forward to creating a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community to express and affirm themselves, increase visibility and foster respect for those who want to express their own sexual and gender identity.

“We endeavor to make this a yearly event that will ultimately lead to scholarships for the education of LGBTQ+ students,” said Sherri Hosfeld-Joseph, owner of Birdie’s Café and founding member of the Westminster Pride Festival. “This is something our community is clearly longing for… We look forward to an outpouring of support from our community in support of our LGBTQ+ friends, family members and loved ones.”

Vendors will include local restaurants including Maggie’s, Bud’s at Silver Run, The Food Chick, Starry Night Bakery and many others.

Entertainment will be provided by local bands, Henry and the Big Sleazy, The Flying Faders, Brinjal Band, The Dune Flowers, Faceplant and DJ powerline.

Information on healthcare, counseling services, and resources for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies will be available as well.

Families are encouraged to attend with children to enjoy food, games, activities and a day full of information and affirmation. Merchandise commemorating the inaugural event will be for sale on the planning committee’s website as well as the day of the festival.

For more information on how to become a vendor or sponsor, email the planning committee at westminsterpridefest@gmail.com, or visit the website at www.westminsterpride.org or go to the Westminster Pride Festival Facebook page at @westminsterpridefest. Visit the site to obtain information about the festival schedule and events, vendor booth applications, sponsorship or donation opportunities, or to learn how to volunteer.


Related: “Organizer Jason Garber on the first Westminster Pride Festival” By Jon Kelvey Carroll County Times: On Saturday, July 7, downtown Westminster will host its first LGBTQ+ pride event, as the Westminster Pride Festival fills the 200 block of East Main Street between Church and Court Streets… Read much more here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/cc-westminster-pride-qanda-20180608-story.html

Related: Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County, May 11, 2018 – updated June 27, 2018 https://wordpress.com/post/kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/771

A fund for the Westminster Pride Festival has been established at the Community Foundation here: http://www.carrollcommunityfoundation.org/funds.asp?fund_id=360

Art Artists Culture Carroll Co, Community Foundation of Carroll County, Diversity, Diversity Gay Lesbian, Diversity LGBQT+, Diversity LGBQT+ Pride Month, Westminster Pride Festival, 
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Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun
Westminster Fire Dept. and MTA Lodge #20 Chaplain and PIO
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Time Flies: https://kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, July 03, 2018

Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County

Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County

May 11, 2018 – updated June 27, 2018
It was announced on May 11, 2018 that the Westminster Pride Festival is an official fund of the Community
Foundation of Carroll County.

It is “the very first fund at the Community Foundation in support of the LGBQT+ community,” according to a release by the Westminster Pride Festival.

According to a page for the fund on the Community Foundation website, “The Westminster Pride Festival Fund exists to assure the success of a yearly festival that includes information, support, music, art, food and overall acceptance and solidarity within the LGBTQ+ community, their allies, and the Carroll County community.

“The Westminster Pride Festival will create a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community to express themselves, increase visibility and foster respect for those who want to express their own sexual and gender identity. We endeavor to make this a yearly event that will ultimately lead to scholarships for the education of LGBTQ+ students.”

For more information or to make a donation, go here: http://www.carrollcommunityfoundation.org/funds.asp?fund_id=360
For more information find a website for the Westminster Pride festival here: www.westminsterpride.org

Follow the Westminster Pride Festival on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/westminsterpridefest/

Follow the Westminster Pride Festival on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westminsterpride/

A fund for the Westminster Pride Festival has been established at the Community Foundation here: http://www.carrollcommunityfoundation.org/funds.asp?fund_id=360

For additional questions contact the Westminster Pride Festival here: westminsterpridefest@gmail.com



Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County https://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-pride-festival-announces.html 27Je2018

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Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera...

Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun
Westminster Fire Dept. and MTA Lodge #20 Chaplain and PIO
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem.
The assemblage of this website is from multiple sources - http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2004/01/the-assemblage-of-this-website-is-from.html

Sunday, July 02, 2017

Terry Smack elected to the board of directors of Farmers and Merchants Bank

Terry Smack elected to the board of directors of Farmers and Merchants Bank

Huge congratulations to my friend Terry Smack for being elected to the board of directors of Farmers and Merchants Bank. She will do a great job. It is about time. 

This speaks well of Farmers and Merchants Bank as it is about time, that boards of directors start looking like the local community by adding women, and men and woman of color. Just saying.

If you are not aware of the epic accomplishments of Ms. Smack; she is the owner of Terry's Tag and Title Service, a tag and title agent for the State of Maryland. 

And she understands that as a responsible business owner, she has a social contract with the community. 

She gives back to the community and in spite of her phenomenal success, she is still fun, friendly, approachable, and has never forgotten her roots. 

And the greater community has recognized her efforts by naming her, and her business, in the business category, as one of the Community Foundation of Carroll County's 11th annual Philanthropists of the Year in October 2016.

Join me in recognizing and congratulating bank director Terry Smack. June 29, 2017

Read more here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/business_technology/farm-merch-employee-news-20170629-story.html and here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/ph-cc-philanthropist-terrys-tag-and-title-20161016-story.html

Saturday, July 01, 2017

This year’s celebration of Juneteenth in Carroll Co. featured a documentary on the black churches in the area


This year’s celebration of Juneteenth in Carroll Co. featured a documentary on the black churches in the area

In the last several meetings of the Carroll County NAACP, we have discussed Juneteenth.

June 30th, 2017 by Kevin E. Dayhoff

Westminster Md. - This year the Juneteenth celebration in Carroll County, June 19th, 2017 at the Carroll Arts Center, featured a special premiere screening of “The Rock of our Ancestors,” a Community Media Center (CMC) produced documentary about the origins, history, and impact of Carroll County’s small, African-American Churches. For more information go here: http://www.carrollmediacenter.org/the-rock-of-our-ancestors/

According to the April 27, 2017 minutes of the Carroll County NAACP: “It was mentioned that the Community Media Center http://www.carrollmediacenter.org/ and the CC NAACP will partner in an upcoming event involving a movie that has been made about the history of the Black churches in Carroll County.

The event will take place this year on June 19th, 2017 at the Carroll Arts Center http://www.carrollcountyartscouncil.org/index.asp.

For those not familiar with Juneteenth, it is a celebration of the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reaching Galveston Texas and being publicly announced by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19th, 1865 - two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had been signed on January 1, 1863.

To watch a short trailer of the documentary film on the black churches in Carroll County go here: https://youtu.be/ozGHZczQt1k

According to Sherry Taylor with the Carroll Community Media center, “Throughout our history, the church has been the cornerstone around which people have gathered to build their communities. It is the rock of faith that sustains us in times of uncertainty, the foundation that supports us as we grow, and a touchstone to guide us day-by-day.

“But, some of our small churches are finding themselves on shifting sand, facing an uncertain future. Shrinking congregations, competing interests, and financial pressures create significant challenges in their survival.

“Carroll County’s houses of worship not only serve as a source of strength and comfort, but also have been vessels of history; some tracing their roots back over 100 years.

“For these parishioners, the loss of the church, is the loss of their legacy. Today, it’s not just the building or the congregation that is at risk, it is the very heritage of their ancestors and the identity of an entire community that is at stake.”

I recently wrote an article on Juneteenth that appeared in the Carroll County Times - “Time Flies: June 19 is Juneteenth Independence Day,” by Kevin Dayhoff June 16, 2017:

“June 19, is "Juneteenth," a relatively little-known holiday in approximately 45 of the 50 states, and the District of Columbia. In June 2011, when I first wrote about the importance of Juneteenth and advocated that Maryland recognize 'Juneteenth Independence Day,' only 38 states observed the holiday. Today, according to some recent research, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota and South Dakota still do not recognize the ‘19th of June.’ …”


This year’s celebration of Juneteenth in Carroll Co. featured a documentary on the black churches in the area https://patch.com/maryland/westminster/year-s-celebration-juneteenth-carroll-co-featured-documentary-black-churches

This year’s celebration of Juneteenth in Carroll Co. featured a documentary on the black churches in the area


This year’s celebration of Juneteenth in Carroll Co. featured a documentary on the black churches in the area https://kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/2017/07/01/this-years-celebration-of-juneteenth-in-carroll-co-featured-a-documentary-on-the-black-churches-in-the-area/

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Saturday, May 20, 2017

On the Edge of Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in the Borderlands


On the Edge of Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in the Borderlands - Concurrent Session 14: In it Together: UGRR Networks at work. A portion of the National Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Conference. Saturday May 20, 2017

Presentation 1: Tracking Harriet Tubman's network from Maryland to Canada West by Don Papaon.

Presentation 2: by Michael Boston: Platt H. Skinner -  Abolishionist and teacher of Deaf, Blind and Mute Black Children.

Saturday May 20, 2017

See also: Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center 20 May 2017

Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center
424 Race St, Cambridge, MD 21613


20 May 2017 Saturday for potions of the National Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Conference.


Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center


Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center
424 Race St, Cambridge, MD 21613

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Sunday, May14, 2017 Carroll County Times Section D, page 1: “Email identity experiment.”


Absolutely fascinating article. I read it twice. Sunday, May 14, 2017 Carroll County Times Section D, page 1: "Email identity experiment." This reminds of my classes and lengthy conversations with Dr. Zepp at Westminster United Methodist Church and Western Maryland College; that were so enlightening. I will forever be indebted. Pam Zappardino has done a great job picking up that ball and running with it. 

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Another Civil Rights tour is planned for March 9, 2017 to March 12, 2017



Another Civil Rights tour is planned for March 9, 2017 to March 12, 2017.

At the Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 monthly meeting of the Carroll County NAACP, Pam and Charlie Collyer reminded everyone that another Civil Rights tour is planned for March 9, 2017 to March 12, 2017. More information is available on Charlie’s website, www.tryforfurther.com

ATLANTA, GA: “FREEDOM RIDES:” TUSKEGEE: SELMA: MONTGOMERY: AND BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
       The King Center Complex; Dr. Martin L. King’s, Jr. Birth home; Ebenezer Baptist Church; National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, GA.
       Tuskegee University and tour George Washington Carver Museum.
       Rosa Parks Museum and Dr. King’s home that was bombed, Montgomery.
       Walk across Edmund-Pettus Bridge; tour Voting Rights Museum, Selma, AL
       Sight where Greyhound Bus was burned during “Freedom Rides.”.
       Tour Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL.

TOUR COST: $485.00 per person, Non-refundable deposit of $250.00 due by Jan. 9, 2017; balance due Feb. 9, 2017. Make check or money order payable to DDK Tours, 3996 Brookside Parkway, Decatur, GA 30034, include all details.
          
COST INCLUDES: Transportation from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, GA. (Pick up 10:00 a.m.3/9/17 and return 3/12/17, 3:00 p.m.): 3 nights hotel accommodation (double occupancy) and breakfast; tour booklet; luxury bus ground transportation (as listed in itinerary); museum fees; honorariums; and Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. who worked with Dr. King and is our Tour Historian.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT DR. CHARLES COLLYER, (401)-258-9834 OR DDK TOURS, CHARLES ALPHIN SR., (770) 981-8718.  

SPONSORED BY: DR. BERNARD LAFAYETTE, JR., CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (S.C.L.C.), ATLANTA, GA.

AND

THE IRA AND MARY ZEPP CENTER FOR NONVIOLENCE AND PEACE EDUCATION, WESTMINSTER, MD
DR. CHARLIE COLLYER AND DR. PAM ZAPPARDINO, CO-DIRECTOR’S.


CO-ORDINATED BY DDK TOURS WWW.DDKTOURS.COM
*****

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Marylanders well represented in national African-American museum



Marylanders well represented in national African-American museum


[…]

The Smithsonian's 19th museum, unveiled on the National Mall in September, boldly defies such false notions. Banneker, born near what's now Ellicott City, is among dozens of Marylanders and Baltimoreans represented in a collection of approximately 40,000 artifacts — some 3,000 of which are now on display.

Objects of local origin include a stone slave auction block from Hagerstown; a pinback button from the Baltimore Elite Giants, a Negro Leagues baseball team; and colorful entertainment placards produced by Baltimore's Globe Poster Printing Corp.

A charred rope evokes the 1931 lynching of Matthew Williams in Salisbury. An oyster bucket from Chesapeake Bay waterman Ira Wright helps chronicle the region's seafood industry. An antique paper cutter from the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, founded in 1892, was donated by current publisher John "Jake" Oliver.

"Countless African-Americans from Baltimore and throughout Maryland have distinguished themselves, and contributed to our great nation over the centuries," said Robert L. Wilkins, author of the new book "Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100-Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture." "And rightfully, their impact is on prominent display."

Related:










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Saturday, June 18, 2016

A prayer for Orlando - I think that the world has gone mad. June 18, 2016 Kevin E. Dayhoff



I think that the world has gone mad. June 18, 2016 Kevin E. Dayhoff


I have struggled for the past week to arrive at the words that may adequately express a sense of horror and loss as a result of the horrific mass killings at the LGBT nightclub, Pulse, in Orlando, Florida in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, 2016.

I immediately sat at the computer to try and gather my thoughts. That is how writers sort things out, I guess.

After a considerable length of time in which I successfully stared-down the computer screen and listened to Amy Lee and Evanescence, and Plumb at a level where the computer warned it was damaging my ears, the computer abruptly crashed. I gave-up and went to bed.

This comes just after the news on June 7, 2016, that a Stanford star-athlete, Brock Turner, had been given a slap on the wrist for a ruthless attack on a woman on Jan. 17, 2015. His Dad rubbed salt in the wound by writing a callous and offensive appeal for leniency for his son. It was all too surreal.

Then, after the terrible news that MP Jo Cox had been killed in the streets of her constituency by a deranged attacker and reading the statement of her husband, I decided to sit at the keyboard again.

As I search for more pertinent details, as only an OCD newspaper reporter would do at a time like this; I came across a wonderful set of words on the website, “Think Christian” - https://thinkchristian.reframemedia.com/a-prayer-for-orlando I really-really hope that at time like this, “Think Christian” does not mind me reprinting it. I think this prayer says it better than anything I might come up for the moment.

I might carry it around with me – if I edit it for length, I might have opportunity to use it…

“Think Christian” said in an editor’s note: This prayer was originally published by the Christian Reformed Church’s Office of Social Justice, a sister ministry of Think Christian, in response to the June 12 shooting in Orlando, Fla. Our hope is that it encourages both prayerful lament and prayerful action.


God of comfort, we lift our prayers to you.

We lift prayers for the families, friends, and partners of the victims, for all of those who are grieving.
For the questions which have no answers, we pray.
For those who wring their hands, bring dishes of food, struggle to express their condolences, we pray.
For pastors who plan funerals and stand at hospital beds, we pray.
For those who are estranged from a loved one because of sexual orientation, and who today feel grief and loneliness, we pray.
For those who feel fresh grief because someone they love was also a victim of gun violence, we pray.

We lift prayers for the LGBTQ+ community.
Protect them from harm.
Heal them from trauma.
Lead them to places of hospitality and safety.

We lift prayers for the Muslim community.
Shield them from fallout.
Call Christians to reach out in mutuality and solidarity.
May the stories of the many Muslims who have responded in love, help, and hospitality be told often, and publicly.

We lift prayers for lawmakers.
Give them wisdom as they craft their public statements, which have an impact on real people’s lives.
Give them wisdom as they consider policy implications, which will always make some furious and others gratified.
Give them wisdom as they accept donations to their campaigns, as they align with interests, as they reach across the aisle and compromise.

Work through politics to build your kingdom, Lord.

We lift prayers for your church, which includes each one of us. May your church speak the words of Christ — of healing, hope, repentance, and good news.


We are a people who believe in resurrection. As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death in times such as these, may we see and be signs of kingdom hope. We long for the day when death will be no more.
*****

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Washington Post: "Ivy League economist ethnically profiled, interrogated for doing math on American Airlines flight" By Catherine Rampell May 7, 2016


Washington Post: "Ivy League economist ethnically profiled, interrogated for doing math on American Airlines flight" By Catherine Rampell May 7, 2016 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/rampage/wp/2016/05/07/ivy-league-economist-interrogated-for-doing-math-on-american-airlines-flight/
Guido Menzio, an economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

[I used to be a flight attendant. Dealing with passengers’ racism is part of the job.]

On Thursday evening, a 40-year-old man — with dark, curly hair, olive skin and an exotic foreign accent — boarded a plane. It was a regional jet making a short, uneventful hop from Philadelphia to nearby Syracuse.

[…]

Finally the pilot came by, and approached the real culprit behind the delay: that darkly-complected foreign man. He was now escorted off the plane, too, and taken to meet some sort of agent, though he wasn’t entirely sure of the agent’s affiliation, he would later say.

[…]

Menzio showed the authorities his calculations and was allowed to return to his seat, he told me by email. He said the pilot seemed embarrassed. Soon after, the flight finally took off, more than two hours after its scheduled departure time for what would be just a 41-minute trip in the air, according to flight-tracking data.

[…]

Menzio for his part says he was “treated respectfully throughout,” though he remains baffled and frustrated by a “broken system that does not collect information efficiently.” He is troubled by the ignorance of his fellow passenger, as well as “A security protocol that is too rigid–in the sense that once the whistle is blown everything stops without checks–and relies on the input of people who may be completely clueless.”

[…]

In this true parable of 2016 I see another worrisome lesson, albeit one also possibly relevant to Trump’s appeal: That in America today, the only thing more terrifying than foreigners is…math.


*****

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

A revolutionary idea in coffee at the Furnace Hills Coffee Co Westminster Maryland

A revolutionary idea in coffee at the Furnace Hills Coffee Co Westminster Maryland http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-revolutionary-idea-in-coffee-at.html

Photo of Dave and Erin Baldwin courtesy of Furnace Hills Coffee Co. video on YouTube.

I recently got a call from a reader that was looking for an article I wrote in October 2013 about the Furnace Hills Coffee Co Westminster Maryland …

Sadly - increasingly - - my articles are harder to find on the Sun’s website. And I am getting more requests from folks looking for my articles. I guess things keep “improving” in the newspaper business and some things are simply out of the writers’ command and control…

It has been said that the famous British writer Virginia Woolf, 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941, once wrote, “It’s the writing, not the being read, that excites me.”

Well, I am not sure who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf, or how Edward Albee feels about writing, but I like being read.

I understand what Ms. Woolf said, but I do not know Martha and George, and I am not going to drag Nick and Honey into this discussion, but I like storytelling. Although, I do subscribe to what has been attributed to Tennessee Williams, “When I stop working the rest of the day is posthumous. I'm only really alive when I'm writing.”

And speaking of Tennessee Williams, writing for the newspaper these days reminds of his dialogue in “The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore,” (1963,) “Christopher: We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.

By Kevin E. Dayhoff October 6, 2013 Furnace Hills Coffee Company - Specialty Coffee by Special People - The long version….

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In case you missed it, last Sunday, Sept. 29, was “national coffee day.” Who knew? Many cups of coffee and much more research will be needed in order to percolate the history and tradition of this holiday. Then again, maybe not.

According to an article in Time magazine on Sept. 27, by Brad Tuttle, “Sure, it’s a totally made-up holiday based on almost no real tradition or significance other than being a day for folks in the industry to promote coffee…”

Nevertheless, National Public Radio, (NPR) noted in an April 24, 2013 article, “How Coffee influenced the course of history,” Coffee is a powerful beverage. On a personal level, it helps keep us awake and active. On a much broader level, it has helped shape our history and continues to shape our culture.

“Coffee plants grow wild in Ethiopia and were probably used by nomadic tribes for thousands of years, but it wasn't until the 1400s that people figured out they could roast its seeds… By the 1500s, he says, the drink had spread to coffeehouses across the Arab world. Within another 150 years, it took Europe by storm.”

Up until the middle of the 1600s, coffee was primarily used for medicinal purposes, healing everything from scurvy to gout to smallpox. Commonly accepted folklore indicates that perhaps the first coffeehouse in history started in an academic environment in Oxford England in 1650.

National Geographic reports in a January 19, 2012 article, “How coffee changed America,” that in 1670, “Dorothy Jones of Boston was granted a license to sell coffee, and so became the first American coffee trader,” and that by “1688, coffee replaced beer as New York’s favorite breakfast drink.”

NPR observes, “It is often said that after the Boston Tea Party of 1773, when American colonists raided British tea ships and threw crates of tea into the harbor, Americans universally switched over to drinking coffee.” After 1773, it was considered unpatriotic to drink tea.

NPR notes historian Mark Pendergrast’s research, “One of the ironies about coffee is it makes people think. It sort of creates egalitarian places — coffeehouses where people can come together — and so the French Revolution and the American Revolution were planned in coffeehouses…”

Locally there is a frequent mention of coffee in many historical accounts of Carroll County; especially in discussions of social settings and dinners; however there are hardly any references to coffeehouses.

In colonial times, Westminster was located one day's journey from Baltimore on what is frequently speculated to have originally been a Native-American trail west. There were at one time seven large hotels and many restaurants in town which catered to westward bound travelers.

Dry goods and provisioning stores, restaurants and the hospitality industry has always a key role in shaping Westminster’s history. Research a number of years ago by historian Jay Graybeal refers to a September 1971 article by former Historical Society of Carroll County curator Miss Lillian Shipley, who wrote, “Around the turn of the century Westminster had seven churches, seven hotels and eighteen saloons…”

In the 1960s and 70s there was a popular coffeehouse, "B's Coffee Shoppe," where O'Lordan's Irish Pub is now located in the "old stone building" on Liberty Street.

A number of popular coffee shops have started in Carroll County in recent years. A recent trip to the Furnace Hills Coffee Co. at 71 West Main St., in Westminster reveals an egalitarian use for coffee that is revolutionary.

At Furnace Hills, the aroma of coffee wafted into the street Saturday afternoon, the day before the national coffee holiday. There, Regina Harshman was juggling business phone calls, roasting coffee beans, and doing various housekeeping chores among huge sacks of coffee beans at the one room coffee shop next to Harry’s Main Street Grille.

“I’m an employee…,” said Harshman smiling, without looking up from the coffee roaster and a container of mixed coffee beans that she was studying intensely.

After gesturing to the huge bags of coffee, Harshman volunteered, “I actually drive to the port occasionally to pick up these 60 kilo bags of coffee… 132 pounds, they’re heavy… (The) business (was) started by Erin’s Dad, Dave Baldwin… He’s the pastor at LifePoint Church.

“He has a fulltime job. This is actually Erin’s business. They started the business at home for something for Erin to do… in order for her to be productive.” Watch Dave and Erin explain the business on YouTube

Asked who “Erin is,” Harshman gestured to a brochure, “there’s more information on the website, “Furnace Hills is special coffee roasted by special people. The Chief Coffee Roaster, Erin Baldwin, has Down Syndrome. We started in 2010. We’re a gourmet specialty coffee business … Our vision is to employ developmentally disabled people in competitive jobs while providing high quality product that keep customers coming back.

According to information found on the website. “Our first employee, Erin Baldwin, has Down Syndrome. Although she is challenged in how she lives her life in a number of areas, she loves to roast coffee and is doing a great job as well… Our goal is to hire more developmentally disabled people as our roasting company grows.”

“We’re on Main St, in part because Erin’s Dad feels passionately about turning around downtown – Main St. Westminster. In spite of a big increase in business, we want to stay true to our mission… Erin loves her job…,” said Harshman as she answered the phone to keep track of one of the several events in which Furnace Hills was providing the coffee.

“We were a little kitchen roaster that has turned into a name in the (coffee) industry. I mean, we are in the Whole Foods Market – the grocery chain market. We have a national customer base.”

One frequent customer, Abby Gruber, the Westminster Director of Recreation and Parks, says she loves Furnace Hills coffee. “The shop is right there near the city offices. The smell just calls you. I always enjoy the company and the coffee there…”

“I love the mission. I love working here,” said Harshman Saturday. “It is great coffee and I love telling the story.

When he is not in one of the local Westminster coffee houses, Kevin E. Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff (at) gmail.com

Read More: A revolutionary idea in coffee at the Furnace Hills Coffee Co. [Eagle Archives] By Kevin Dayhoff 9:02 a.m. EDT, October 2, 2013 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/carroll/westminster/ph-eagle-archives-20131001,0,4635850.story





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