Three extraordinary things happened in Anne Arundel County over the weekend, so I’m writing about all three.
River Days
On Sunday, despite steady rain, my office, county agencies, and nonprofit friends finally birthed the first of many Anne Arundel County River Days. I’ve been pitching this idea for three years as a way not only to celebrate our county’s extraordinary tributaries and rivers, but to actually get our residents out on the water.
The first in the series was at Quiet Waters Park on the South River, and the free boat rides were promoted exclusively at a handful of our schools. Watermark provided the Miss Anne, and Arundel Rivers Federation Executive Director Matt Johnston was the dynamo tour guide. Naptown Brass kept us entertained, environmental organizations and county agencies educated, the Alarmers fed, and Library staff did story time in the pavilion. It was The Best, and it was For All!
We’ll have more free boat rides and more fun at River Days 2 at Quiet Waters on August 27, and then we’ll take it to Fort Smallwood Park in north county on September 23. Our amazing event team, led by Colleen Joseph, is already working on new sites for next summer. Let us know if you have ideas for future River Days sites. We need parking for cars, a dock for boats, and space for vendors. Let’s get out on the water!
Go to aacounty.org/riverdays for more information.
Annapolis Blues
Who knew how ready our county was for a soccer team we could call our own?
A group of soccer-loving local investors and sponsors knew, so they created the Annapolis Blues, hired a coach, booked the Navy Stadium, and drafted some brilliant players.
They broke the whole league’s attendance record at their first home game, drawing 8,368 fans to Navy Stadium on June 4. They kept breaking the record after that, and a regular crowd of tailgaters - including my whole family - made sure the pre-game parties were as good as the games.
The players are talented, scrappy, and they move the ball like a pinball machine. It’s really good soccer, and the fans go wild!
They were undefeated until the last regular season game against the Alexandria Reds, the team that won the Mid-Atlantic Conference last season. But on Saturday evening the Blues and the Reds battled through 90 minutes of regular play, 30 minutes of overtime, and a thrilling penalty shoot-out to deliver the Mid-Atlantic Conference trophy to our Annapolis Blues. And there were 8,480 of us very loudly cheering them on.
That win sends our team to the East Regional semifinals in New Jersey this Friday, and if they keep on winning they could become the National Premier Soccer League champions.
The Annapolis Blues are good for our community, good for our economy, and good for the young boys and girls whose bodies and minds are strengthened by the great sport of soccer. Look them up at Annapolisblues.com.
Meade Village
Meade Village is a community of 224 households three miles east of Fort Meade and adjacent to Van Bokkelen Elementary. It’s owned by the Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County.
In the last two years, all of the units have been modernized, recreational facilities have been upgraded, the Severn Center has been built next door, and most recently the basketball courts have been brought to life with a mural by Comacell Brown. It’s an area where a lot of good people are doing great work to create opportunity where there has been little for many years.
Last week our Police Department learned that a nonresident who’d been banned from the premises by the Housing Commission was online promoting an unpermitted party to take place at Meade Village Park that Saturday night. The stated purpose was to celebrate the release from prison of fellow gang-members, and the language on the flyer was threatening.
On June 18, in nearby Stillmeadows, a large block party ended with multiple rounds of gunfire discharged causing one non-life threatening injury to a young victim and leaving over 70 shell casings in the area, and on July 2 thirty young people were shot and two were killed at a block party just across the county line at Brooklyn Homes in Baltimore.
The Anne Arundel County Police Western District has worked hard to protect the residents of Meade Village, and viewed this “party” as a direct threat to the residents they serve. Chief Awad was clear that we needed to stop this event from taking place. That could either happen that night on the scene or it could happen at the direction of the organizers, in advance. The latter only happens in a situation like this when police, county agencies, and those good people I mentioned doing great work in the community are working toward the same end. And that’s exactly what happened in this case.
The Housing Authority, local service providers, and local pastors warned residents of the danger. Chase Your Dreams Initiative, a nonprofit created by sportswear company Tunnel Vision that organizes a basketball league in the area, used its network of athletes and leaders in the community to get word back to the organizers that the “party” was a bad idea.
By Friday night we were hearing that the event would not take place, but nobody could make that promise. Our officers were deployed, not just in Meade Village but also in the surrounding area, just in case. Our Chief was on site with several members from her Executive Command Staff.
At 11pm that night I called the Chief.
Crisis averted. Residents safe. Job well done, Anne Arundel County.
Steuart Pittman
Anne Arundel County Executive