Dayhoff Soundtrack

Saturday, December 15, 2001

20011215 Terry Burk/Wakefield Valley Trail - New bridge to safety

New bridge to safety

Carroll County Times

By: Megen Wessel, Times Staff Writer

December 15, 2001

Span over stream all but completes middle portion of pedestrian trail

Through the early Friday morning rain, workers dressed in bright yellow raincoats and boots the color of mud installed two 55-foot sections of a steel walking bridge over the floodplain of a small stream along Tahoma Farm Road in Westminster.

The bridge is in the middle of the city's portion of the Wakefield Community Trail and nearly completes the first section of the city's first walking and biking trail.

The trail, when finished, will span about three miles from Wakefield Valley to West Main Street, allowing residents to walk or bike safely along Md. 31 and into downtown.

"They obviously can't do that now," said Thomas B. Beyard, director of planning and public works for the city.

The city began planning the trail in 1994, but money and land restraints kept the project from beginning.

The proposed trail was to extend northeast from Old New Windsor Road to Uniontown Road, but the first section of the trail, between Old New Windsor Road and Long Valley Drive, was to be located on property owned by the Avondale Run Homeowner's Association.

Approval to build the trail on the property would have required consent from a majority of the property owners in the association, said Chris Batten, a local land planning and design consultant hired to develop the initial plans for the trail.

So the city decided instead to develop plans for another section of the trail between Long Valley Road and Windsor Drive.

In July, the City Council awarded a $348,000 contract to Thomas Bennett & Hunter Inc. of Westminster for the construction of the 0.8-mile segment of blacktop pathway from Long Valley Road to Tahoma Farm Road.

This phase of the project, which includes widening of a sidewalk on Tahoma Farm Road near the newly installed bridge should be complete by April, Beyard said.

The city is using two federal grants, totaling about $193,000, and city money for the project, Beyard said.

Design work on the remaining portion of the trail, between Tahoma Farm Road and Windsor Drive, will begin this winter and construction is scheduled to begin in the summer.

The trail will be dedicated in memory of Terrence "Terry" Burk, 48, owner of the Treat Shop, his family candy business located in the TownMall of Westminster. Burk was killed while jogging in 1995.

Burk was running with two friends on Route 97 at Kalten Road when a car struck him and fellow jogger David W. Herlocker. Police said the 19-year-old man who was driving the car apparently fell asleep while coming home from work.

Burk's family established a memorial fund in Burk's name to help build the trail.

The Community Foundation of Carroll County sponsored the fund-raising effort, which eventually raised more than $6,000.

Another portion of the trail, from Windsor Drive to Uniontown Road, is already complete and usuable. Developers privately paid for the section, Beyard said.

"This will probably be one of the city's highest priorities behind the Carroll Theater project in the upcoming year," Beyard said.

©Carroll County Online 2001

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2792495&BRD=1289&PAG=461&dept_id=156627&rfi=6

Westminster Sidewalks and Trails, Westminster Road Runners Club, Terry Burk, Dave Herlocker

NBH

Sunday, November 11, 2001

2001111 On Veterans Day and Heroes

On Veterans Day and Heroes

Veterans Day Program
November 11, 2001 2:00 PM
At the Old Armory, Westminster, Md.
D.A.V. Old Glory Chapter #22
(c) Remarks by Westminster Mayor Kevin Dayhoff -
At the luncheon after the program at the V.F.W. Post 467
515 words - 3 minutes

__________________________________________________

It is an honor and a privilege to have an opportunity to stand before so many distinguished members of our community and share a few remarks about the meaning of Veteran's Day for me.

For me - it's all about heroes. The real heroes in our lives. September 11th changed - make that appropriately changed - the concept of hero for most Americans. It's a darn shame that we had to have such a dramatic cathartic moment for our collective social conscience to be re-ordered.

But President John F. Kennedy said it best when he said, "Things do not happen, things are made to happen." Now is the time in which we need to make things happen.

For me, September 11th only accentuated feelings that I've always maintained - since childhood. Athletes and movie stars have never been my heroes. I always felt that such hero worship was misplaced, displaced and inappropriate.

I always felt such Hollywood and sports hero worship sent the wrong message to our children and demonstrated a wrong set of values for our community. My heroes have always been teachers, soldiers, police officers, fire fighters and public servants.

One of my heroes - my grandfather, William Earl Wright, served in WWI and was a very proud charter member of Carroll Post #31 of the American Legion.

My father, Ed Frock, Sr., served with the Navy in heavy combat throughout WWII in the Pacific.

My father-in-law, David S. Babylon, Jr., served in WWII. He also served 25 years on Westminster City Council.

My brother-in-law, Colonel William T. Babylon, serves with the 18th Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Freddy Magsamen, is one of our native sons who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. He was my childhood friend.

As I look out across this audience, and I look into the eyes of the many community leaders here today - I see many true living heroes. We all share the values of the veterans who we are here today recognizing. We stand here today, to pay homage to those, whose commitment and sacrifice to our community are inspirations for us all. Commitment and sacrifice to our community as epitomized by our true living heroes, who contribute daily to our community's quality of life.

To quote another living hero of mine - President George W. Bush. He said in his Inauguration speech on January 20th, 2001:

"America, at its best, is also courageous.

Our national courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when defending common dangers defined our common good. Now we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us. We must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations."

Indeed, those are the words of another living American hero who is also a visionary. If it is possible, those words are even more true today, than they were when he said them many months ago.

May God bless all those who serve the cause of freedom and may God bless America. Thank you.

####

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org http://www.thetentacle.com/ Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report http://www.thewestminstereagle.com/ www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/