Big Glen Burnie Carnival
It’s been operating since 1908, and until last year it was the largest all-volunteer carnival in the country. You got that right. All volunteer.
Last year the Carnival came back from the pandemic under contract with a carnival operator. The Glen Burnie Improvement Association (GBIA) feared that the all-volunteer model was no longer viable, that too few volunteers would step up.
Last year’s Carnival was good, but it wasn’t as good. I heard the frustration when I attended the August GBIA board meeting last year to recognize long-time leader Barbara Moeller.
Not long after that meeting, Barb, Candy Fontz, and the rest of the leadership made a brave decision. They decided to take their Carnival back. It is once again the largest all-volunteer carnival in the country, and the community spirit is stronger than ever.
On Monday I spent some time at the Carnival’s Special Day, where kids and adults with special needs have the whole place to themselves, for free. That’s the kind of thing that happens when a community mobilizes for good.
Glen Burnie is a special place. Check it out. The Carnival runs through this Saturday.
Community Support Grants and the Nonprofit Center
Last Tuesday, I arrived at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park with a large, non-redeemable $2 million check. The money is our budget allocation for a thing called Community Support Grants that is administered by Arundel Community Development Services (ACDS).
Bringing this program back and growing it was one of the first things I did upon taking office in 2019. I said then and still believe that community-based nonprofit organizations are better suited to efficiently deliver certain services than our government agencies or businesses. They are close to residents, agile, and efficient, when they are run well.
This year’s grants went to 69 of the 150 organizations that applied. An interagency review committee scored applications based on their likelihood of effectively delivering health and well-being to underserved populations, equity and inclusion, and elimination of the opportunity gap in education.
Being in a room with the leaders of the funded organizations is a great way to start a day. Local governments across the country are trying to figure out how to continue the health and wellness work that we launched during the pandemic without the federal money. I believe that the answer lies in these organizations. They know how to stretch a dollar.
But as someone who spent much of my career running nonprofits, I do get how essential it is that they be well-managed. That’s why our first new tenant at Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park will be Anne Arundel County’s Nonprofit Center at 41 Community Place. Building rehab will start soon, but the work began this week when we announced my Deputy CAO for Health and Human Services, Dr. Jennifer Purcell, will fill the new position of Executive Director for the Nonprofit Center. You’ll be hearing more about this project in the coming months.
The Moore Team at Wye Island
I know. Wye Island is across the Bridge in Queen Anne’s County. But when I heard that Governor Moore would be there to sign an Executive Order that launches a new era of Chesapeake Bay restoration, I decided to show up. I’m glad I did.
A half-mile from the site, we were flagged to a stop while about thirty Black Angus crossed the road to move to a different pasture. The “cowboys” were on four-wheelers. The Governor was two cars ahead. To the consternation of his security detail and probably mine, I got out and hollered for him to join me. They told me that he was on the phone. About thirty seconds later, the Governor was by my side, admiring the cattle, as I knew he would.
At the event, I was told to sit at the front. I saw seats marked Reserved, and plunked myself down in the front row on the aisle. I realized soon after that the Governor was supposed to sit there. He wouldn’t let me move, and sat down next to me, with the Lieutenant Governor, Ag Secretary, MDE Secretary, DNR Secretary, Planning Secretary, EPA Administrator, surrounding us. Awkward with any other administration, but here among friends.
I knew the content of the executive order was to shift the restoration strategy to the shallower coastal parts of the Bay where communities are most impacted, places like the 530 miles of Anne Arundel coast. But I wanted to hear how the Governor talked about it, how DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz talked about it, and how it was received by the environmental advocates and Eastern Shore leaders. Messaging matters on this stuff.
Wes talked about our personal relationships to the Bay. He said he didn’t have one growing up. Then he talked about taking his kids out on the water, and seeing it through their eyes. Nobody had told them it wasn’t theirs. Now it’s his too. And he wants it to be everyone’s. He wants it to be the glue that connects us, and he wants us to nurture it.
But I already knew how Wes felt about the Bay, about the woods, about nature. In the early months of his campaign, I met him at South River Farm Park to film an endorsement video. We walked the long trek from the parking area to the best waterfront view and back. I got to see it all through his eyes, to see how at home he felt, to see that he, like me and so many Marylanders, would stand up to protect and nurture it all, because it is us and we are it.
I am convinced that we have a leadership alignment today at every level of government that can Save our Bay, and even our planet.
Until next week…
Steuart Pittman
Anne Arundel County Executive