By Mitchelle Stephenson
Originally published in The Capital on 03/05/09
Carter Woodson was the son of former slaves and the second black man to earn an advanced degree from Harvard University (W.E.B. DuBois was the first). He has left all Americans with a lasting legacy - he is widely credited with founding Black History Month.
In Edgewater last week, Mattie Jones continued Woodson's mission by organizing and hosting an African American Heritage Day event at the South County Senior Center.
"When I went to school, I never learned about black history," Mattie said. She wanted to host the event at the center in order to help educate and inform the seniors who frequent the facility.
Mattie is a resident of Victoria Park, an Edgewater apartment complex for seniors. She held a similar event last year at Victoria Park, but since she is a member of the senior center, she thought she would bring the event there in order to reach a wider audience.
Mattie spoke with Jo Morris, the senior center's assistant director. Jo agreed and put together a committee. That was last year in October. Since then, Mattie, Jo, Delilah Holmes and Rose Brown have gathered monthly to create a program and organize the event.
They decided on a mix of orators, musicians, and dancers. The day they organized was part education, part entertainment.
At the Wednesday event, seniors at the center enjoyed a PowerPoint presentation, "Beyond Slavery, the Story of Free Blacks in Anne Arundel County," a trumpeter, a singer, and a dancer from Anne Arundel Community College, Erica Cornish, who not only performed several different types of African dances, but also enticed a couple of the seniors, Mattie and Clarice Karnette, up to the front of the room, where they learned some of the steps and then performed for everyone.
Over 100 people attended. The event ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and included a boxed lunch; a hallmark of the center's community outreach, by participating in a federal grant program to provide seniors 60 and over with a free boxed lunch.
"With these tough economic times, the center and other senior centers are seeing more seniors coming in for the boxed lunch," Jo said.
There was more dancing and singing after lunch followed by a tasting of traditional African foods - pork and chicken, greens, beans, and a variety of pies, made by volunteers.
Jeanette Brzozowski is a regular at the senior center. "I thought it was very interesting. The history was good," she said of the event. "I take other classes here.
''I'm doing the history of Anne Arundel County with Will Mumford, and that is a wonderful class, too."
Nearly 500 Girl Scouts descended on Central Middle School in Edgewater Friday night for the annual Mardi Gras celebration. The girls, from 48 Annapolis area troops, came for a night of carefree, pirate-themed fun.
They were paired up with other girls from their Scout troop and were free to make the rounds to take part in games, crafts and concessions.
In the gymnasium, 20 pirate games were set up, and with each game the girls won tickets that could be cashed in for prizes.
Abigail Goodman, 11 and Martha Campbell, 11, were paired up as partners for the night. "This is why I do Girl Scouts," Abigail said. "This is the best part. You get to be carefree, and do what you want."
There was plenty of security at all of the exit points, because once the girls came in for the evening, they couldn't leave until a parent or guardian checked them back out. The adults ran the concessions and supervised, but the girls were free to do what they wanted.
That seemed to be the best part for the girls.
"I love doing this." said Emily Proctor, 11, of Davidsonville who was paired up with her friend Alicia Sondberg, 10, for the evening of activities.
In the auditorium, there were dozens and dozens of booths. Some were set up as badge stations, where girls could earn new patches, others were set up as craft stations, and then there was the prize table, where the girls could redeem the game tickets they had earned for necklaces, beads, pencils, and stuffed and inflatable animals.
Laura Laird, leader of Troop 1399 of Davidsonville, was the Mardi Gras coordinator. She started planning at the end of last summer. She had about 200 parent volunteers who helped with planning, crafts, badges, security and more.
"I hope that the girls learn to be independent," she said. "At this event, they go around without their troop. They go two by two."
The Anne Arundel County Police sent a traffic safety representative who worked a station to teach the girls the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol. He had special goggles that showed them what it was like to be alcohol-impaired. They got to put the goggles on and then walk a line that was placed on the floor, just like in a field sobriety test.
The girls also had tickets for concessions, like pizza, hot dogs, cotton candy, drinks and other goodies. Older Girl Scouts and parents manned the concession stands, and kept the girls fed and hydrated.
At 9:45, all of the activities and concessions closed, and the girls went home, exhausted but happy.
Update: Jack Havens, the 12 year-old skier who was featured on the Neighborhoods page last Thursday, took eighth-place at the regional alpine ski event in Pennsylvania. Jack will be advancing to the eastern finals in Vermont later this month.
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