Eric and Nancy! 

Eric and Nancy's wedding!

Simon and I took a trip up to Pittsburgh, not quite Pittsburgh, a little South to a place called Linden Hall. We went to my nephew Eric's wedding. Linden Hall is an old old mansion which is now owned by the United Steel Workers. They have an 18 hole golf course and wonderful grounds for walking, biking or touring on the golf carts. The mansion is most beautiful and I couldn't help comparing to our mansion, Riversdale. Riversdale is more like a cottage compared to the size of Linden Hall. The wedding took place on the grounds and the reception was held inside the mansion. I don't know the history of the place and a tour was not available during our stay. While sitting down to dinner in the Grande Salon, I looked over at Simon and said, "This room is bigger than my whole house!" The restrooms were located down a spiraling stone staircase where you passed by the bowling alley/pool room. Simon said when he went to the men's room he saw a long tunnel down in the basement but didn't investigate. Wow! The bar tender told us that years ago the original owner had to sell the stained glass windows to make ends meet and they were bought by someone in Europe for 6.5 million! I don't recognize the architecture, but I'm thinking maybe Victorian-Gothic with a little touch of German. What a place. The wedding was beautiful. We had a great time. Beautiful bride and handsome groom! Of course, we worried about our puppies all the while we were gone. Apollo was staying at our house taking care of them. He said Mattie was a little put out that we were gone. This is the first time we left her. Usually we take her with us. She was not happy about all this. We'll give her extra treats this week. Mac didn't tear up the whole house. We were worried because he is just a puppy. Everything went well. We are happy to be home but we are also happy we took the time to get away.

Happy Birthday To You! 

9-11 Simon's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Simon! A few years ago on 9-11 we were in Texarkana, Texas visiting family and couldn't get home. This year we had a lovely time in our own back yard. Fabulous weather. Great food. Good Company. Lance, Pat and Apollo were here and Bruce came by later. Did you guess what was in Simon's birthday bag? Did you guess books? Right! Simon reads a book or two a day, I think. Unless he's doing the crossword puzzle. We had a great time and wish Simon many many more birthdays. By the way, as long as I am talking about Simon - I have to say that he is the best man I know. I am so glad he is my best friend.

Gerald King's Art Exhibition

On September 10, Saturday, Simon and I went down to Prince George's Community College to see the art exhibition, "The Old Guard Rides Again" Gerald had several of his landscapes in the exhibit and one of his great portraits. See the photos below. We really enjoyed the exhibit. There was one piece of art in mixed media called "Mother Nature". I think I would have bought it, but Simon kept telling me it was just one more thing to dust and then I couldn't find the artist, so I let it go. Probably for the best. The "Temple of Light" was extraordinary. Of course, Gerald King is my favorite fine artist. For those who are interested, you can purchase his paintings. Oils for the collector or Prints for the rest of us. Check out his web site at www.geraldking.com If you think you want a portrait done of yourself, your home, your pet, Gerald is the one to see. Prices are very reasonable. I have a portrait with myself and my dog Mattie. It will be passed down in the family forever. They will always know who I am and what I look like. I can't wait for the day when my son gets to hang it in his living room and has to look at me every day! The exhibit continues until September 16 - don't be a couch potato. Get down there and get some culture. See my later post for more information. And, if you just cannot get up off the couch, look at my photos. When are we going to pay artists and teachers the salaries we pay our sports and movie stars? What kind of world is this anyway?

John Krumrein with "Temple of Light" Cast stone & glass 

Gerald with portrati of "Paula" 

Gerald King at the "Old Guard" Artist Exhibition 

Gerald King, Fine Artist 

Billie Jean sweeps up! 

Baltimore Boulevard Planters! 

Beautiful Baltimore Boulevard!

Early this morning members of the Riverdale Business Association and friends got out and beautified the planters on Baltimore Boulevard. At the last business meeting we gave the Mayor a proposal to get the planters done and he gave us the go ahead. Pat and Audrey spent several hours at home depot last night picking out plants for the 10 large planters. We even negotiated a discount with the manager and spent less than we proposed! It took 2 trucks to cart the plants to the Calvert House Restaurant where we unloaded on the back porch. When the restaurant closed, Feredoun had his workers bring the plants inside to keep them safe overnight. He also had his workers weed the planters to get them ready for this morning. Marita arrived earlier than planned and mulched and composted the planters. At 8:30 the rest of us arrived to complete the work. The RPBA team consisted of Marita Novicky, Patricia Gladding with Ernesto and Obisbo, Billie Jean and Jey Devadas, Audrey Bragg, Simon Plog and Feredoun Salimi. The streetscape is fabulous. Dr. Calomaris took a break from his dental practice and came outside remarking that he didn't think it would happen so quickly! He was surprised and delighted. We will send a letter to all the businesses to ask that they keep an eye on the planters and water when needed. We will also ask the town to send the water truck by at intervals to keep the plants healthy and beautiful. Home Depot will give us a one year guarantee on the plants, but we need to do our part to keep them alive. Small town living in action! I'd like to see more of it. Drive by this site and get motivated. If we all pitch in, our town will be the best in the county - maybe the best in the state. Thanks to Mayor Archer for being so agreeable. Without his support we wouldn't have been able to get this project off the ground. We appreciate it. Thanks to all the workers on the Riverdale Park Business Association Team!

Riverdale Park Business Association Meeting

The Riverdale Park Business Association met last night at the Calvert House Restaurant. Mr. Joe Caputo was invited and did speak to us regarding the rubble lot on the corner of Baltimore Boulevard and East West Highway. He agreed to fill and seed the lot. Fence in the storm drain, but not the entire lot. When he secures a tenant, he will put up signage telling what is happening. He will allow the Calvert House to put a sign on his property letting people know that it is open for business. He will buy bulbs for the planters out front which the association will maintain and plant this Saturday. I believe having him attend the town meeting the other night opened the residents, businesses and the developer to a working relationship. This is a very positive note. We hope he will continue to attend our meetings. Dealing face to face has brought us to an agreeable solution. This is a tremendous lesson for all of us. Now, we need to get a face to face with our other developer in the Town Center. We will be inviting Doug Jemal to our next meeting and hope to have more successes for the development of our town. You can view our web site at www.riverdaleparkbiz.com Minutes will be posted soon. Also please frequent our local businesses. When they profit, we all profit.

Stop sign Garden 

Town Meeting Sept. 6

The rubble heap at the corner of East West Highway and Baltimore Boulevard was the big topic last night at the town meeting. The Developer talked about his plans and his problems and apologized for the unsightlyness and slow progress. Ekherd is now out of the project and he has 2 potential tenants he is working with. The church is to be demolished next spring. The rubble will be used to fill the hole the church building leaves. He considered adding a screen to the fence so that it wouldn't be so unsightly. Several town residents and business owners spoke of their concern and had suggestions to resolve the rubble. One council member stated that since the demolishion codes were waived there was nothing we could do. When all was said and done, it appears that the developer will look into seeing what, if anything, he can do and report back to the Mayor within 2 weeks. Suggestions made by the townspeople seemed to be too expensive for the developer. I agree that the rubble heap is an eyesore. However, I think there are other factors that are more important. The psychologist, Philip Zimbardo, proved that the environment invites mischief in his now-famous "broken window" hypothesis. High grass, piles of junk and trash, peeling paint, standing graffiti all contribute to criminal behavior. "Criminals, the theory suggests, respond to their immediate environments," writes Malcolm Gladwell in the Washington Post. "They take advantage of situations that seem to invite deviance. And communities that clearly articulate and enforce a standard of public behavior and order can discourage criminal activity."
So, the developer is paying out $13,000 per month in expenses right now and can't consider spending any money to clean up the site. If we have criminal behavior due to the site, then we would have to spend money to increase our police force to handle the increased crime. It is a fact that crime has increased in the past year. Where would that money come from? I guess we need to raise taxes to pay for a larger police force. Businesses close to the site are losing revenue. How do they handle that? Bankruptcy? Change of location? Now, the town will lose more of the tax base that these businesses bring in and how will we pay for that? Higher taxes again?
Now, if we have criminal activity and we have a drive by shooting and a stray bullet kills one of us. Well, we can't put a price tag on a human life can we?
Seems to me that the town is paying a much higher price and taking a much higher risk than the developer.
Cleaning up that site right now needs to be priority number one. I urge all residents and businesses to keep on top of this project and don't let up until it is cleared and cleaned.

Here is my story about keeping things cleaned:
Simon and I operated the Riverdale Bookshop for many years in the Town Center. There was a stop sign out front with a little island around it. The island was just gravel and dirt and looked pretty ugly. People would walk by and throw trash, cars would drive over it. It was a mess. Simon and I would go out and pick up after them pretty much on a daily basis. This gets old. Who wants to pick up after grown-ups every day? We thought about it and decided that maybe if it looked better people wouldn't do that. We got our friends together, we dug up the gravel, we bought some mulch, people donated plants and we landscaped the little island. We called it "The Stop Sign Garden". Well, Lo and Behold, guess what? People stopped throwing trash around the stop sign. People stopped and admired the nice flowers and plants. People asked if they could have a bulb or two of the beautiful Iris plants. A few hours of work turned the whole thing around. It works!