Earleigh Heights

The Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company on Ritchie Highway has been saving lives and property for 80 years.The holiday season is reason enough to donate, but understand that the firefighters also save residents considerable money by helping to keep down county real estate taxes and insurance premiums.In addition, the station house, built in 1957, needs considerable renovation.A building fund drive has been established with a goal of collecting $700,000 to finance the construction of two bays and a second floor above the additions for improved living space and offices.

No one knows how many bull-and-oyster roasts they've held at the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company in Severna Park. After 92 years, it can be tough to keep track. Even Bill Weitzell scratches his head at the question, and he knows as much about this kind of thing as anybody. "To be honest, I'm not sure," says Weitzell, a Severna Park resident who joined the company when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, gas cost 10 cents a gallon and a fireman was lucky if his rescue ladder reached the roof of a two-story house.

Plans to straighten West Earleigh Heights Road and give commuters easy access to Ritchie Highway met with fierce opposition from a community that feels "pinched" by those plans and another county road project.Chip Mahan, a Greater Severna Park Council delegate from Brittingham, and Reggie Baxter, a delegate from Chartwell, said their housing developments oppose the $2.4 million realignment of West Earleigh Heights Road because it would bring more noise, traffic and danger to their neighborhoods.

William Clifton Smith, a retired telephone company employee who served as a leader, mentor, and member of the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company for more than a half-century, died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer at the Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 73 and lived in Arnold. Mr. Smith was born in Baltimore, and his family moved to Severna Park when he was a child. He graduated from Annapolis High School in 1951 and joined the Army soon after, serving a tour of duty in West Germany.

A memorial service for William R. Hawkins, a retired mechanic for a dairy, will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Barranco and Sons Funeral Home, Ritchie Highway and Robinson Road in Severna Park.Mr. Hawkins, who was 71 and lived in Severna Park, died Wednesday of heart failure at the North Arundel Hospital.He retired in 1981 after working for about 30 years as a truck mechanic for the Green Spring Dairy and a predecessor.A native of the Severna Park area, he attended the Severn School before serving as an infantryman in the Army in Germany during World War II.He was a member of Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church and the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Department.

A truck loaded with big-screen television sets struck a car just yards from the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company in Severna Park about 3 p.m. yesterday, snarling traffic on Ritchie Highway and sending all four people involved to local hospitals. Witnesses said the truck, which was driven by Eugene Davis, 30, of Columbia, went out of control on Ritchie Highway near the Magothy Bridge Road intersection. A few cars that were stopped at a traffic light managed to steer toward the grassy median and get out of the truck's path.

A LARGE CROWD at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company's open house Saturday witnessed the dedication of the station's newest - and biggest - piece of heavy equipment. A little less than 40 feet long, the company's new heavy-duty rescue truck replaces a retired vehicle, and its size allows the department to carry more firefighters and equipment to emergencies. It has been in action for about a year, which is fortunate considering that it barely survived its introduction to Maryland. Less than two weeks after the truck arrived in July last year - at a cost of about $500,000, which helped pay for such features as a "Jaws of Life" and a system for refilling air tanks - it was broadsided in a collision in front of the station, at Ritchie Highway and Earleigh Heights Road.

ARE YOU celebrating the arrival of 2000 in the security of your home, church or other public building?For that, many of us thank the men and women of Station 12: Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company.Last year, the company responded to more than 4,500 calls for help. Time spent at emergencies and an equal amount, or more, spent servicing and maintaining the specialized equipment add up to thousands of volunteer hours each year.But this comes with a big price tag.Most of the firefighters are volunteers, but the company pays for two staffers -- a driver and a firefighter -- plus equipment, insurance, and protective gear and tools.

The Mass Transit Administration has backed off its plans to eliminate trips on the No. 210 bus from Anne Arundel County to Baltimore, and the agency even plans to reinstate an evening trip that had been cut, thrilling bus riders in Severna Park."

William Clifton Smith, a retired telephone company employee who served as a leader, mentor, and member of the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company for more than a half-century, died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer at the Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 73 and lived in Arnold. Mr. Smith was born in Baltimore, and his family moved to Severna Park when he was a child. He graduated from Annapolis High School in 1951 and joined the Army soon after, serving a tour of duty in West Germany.

A truck loaded with big-screen television sets struck a car just yards from the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company in Severna Park about 3 p.m. yesterday, snarling traffic on Ritchie Highway and sending all four people involved to local hospitals. Witnesses said the truck, which was driven by Eugene Davis, 30, of Columbia, went out of control on Ritchie Highway near the Magothy Bridge Road intersection. A few cars that were stopped at a traffic light managed to steer toward the grassy median and get out of the truck's path.

A LARGE CROWD at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company's open house Saturday witnessed the dedication of the station's newest - and biggest - piece of heavy equipment. A little less than 40 feet long, the company's new heavy-duty rescue truck replaces a retired vehicle, and its size allows the department to carry more firefighters and equipment to emergencies. It has been in action for about a year, which is fortunate considering that it barely survived its introduction to Maryland. Less than two weeks after the truck arrived in July last year - at a cost of about $500,000, which helped pay for such features as a "Jaws of Life" and a system for refilling air tanks - it was broadsided in a collision in front of the station, at Ritchie Highway and Earleigh Heights Road.

THINK OF SUMMER as firemen's carnival season. Less than two weeks after the annual Riviera Beach volunteers' carnival wrapped up, Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company is preparing for its run next week. The annual carnival will be open from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday on the firehouse grounds, at Ritchie Highway and Earleigh Heights Road. Chuck Mohr, fire company president, said the carnival is a major fund-raiser and requires a substantial commitment of effort from its volunteers.

ARE YOU celebrating the arrival of 2000 in the security of your home, church or other public building?For that, many of us thank the men and women of Station 12: Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company.Last year, the company responded to more than 4,500 calls for help. Time spent at emergencies and an equal amount, or more, spent servicing and maintaining the specialized equipment add up to thousands of volunteer hours each year.But this comes with a big price tag.Most of the firefighters are volunteers, but the company pays for two staffers -- a driver and a firefighter -- plus equipment, insurance, and protective gear and tools.

The Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company on Ritchie Highway has been saving lives and property for 80 years.The holiday season is reason enough to donate, but understand that the firefighters also save residents considerable money by helping to keep down county real estate taxes and insurance premiums.In addition, the station house, built in 1957, needs considerable renovation.A building fund drive has been established with a goal of collecting $700,000 to finance the construction of two bays and a second floor above the additions for improved living space and offices.

Earleigh Heights Road in Severna Park is undergoing a face lift that Anne Arundel County engineers say they hope will improve traffic safety.A new traffic light at the intersection of the newly aligned Earleigh Heights Road West with Kinder and Jumpers Hole roads goes into operation at 9 a.m. today.Barricades will block off Earleigh Heights at intersections with Jumpers Hole and Truck House roads. That section of the road will be open to local traffic only.A contractor for the Department of Public Works began work last spring on the new alignment of Earleigh Heights Road West, connecting it to Jumpers Hole Road at Kinder Road.

SIXTEEN YEARS ago, a pregnant Sally Barba and her husband, Mike, participated in the first Severna Park CROP WALK with the St. Martin's In The Field Episcopal Church youth group."

If you're a musician by avocation, here are three irresistible opportunities.The Anne Arundel Community College Jazz Ensemble and the Concert Band, both directed by Eric Richards, may be looking for you.The Jazz Ensemble needs tenor saxophonists, trombonists and pianists to rehearse and perform. The ensemble rehearses at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays in the humanities lecture hall.The Concert Band needs trumpeters, oboists, bassoonists, tenor saxophonists and percussionists for 7 p.m. rehearsals every Monday.

HERE ARE SOME classes that could turn people into students.You know in your head it's a good idea to take a cardiopulmonary resuscitation course, but at the end of a long workday, the last thing you want to do is to go out again.Now, a CPR course has been conveniently scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Earleigh Heights Fire Station on Ritchie Highway.The course is part of the American Heart Association Citizen/Heartsaver program. To register, call 647-3119.Now, those of you who own businesses, would you like to know more about what's going on in the minds of your customers and employees?

SIXTEEN YEARS ago, a pregnant Sally Barba and her husband, Mike, participated in the first Severna Park CROP WALK with the St. Martin's In The Field Episcopal Church youth group."