Family Farm

Gov. Martin O'Malley joins a long list of political and agricultural leaders across the state who have voiced concern over the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic and the Waterkeeper Alliance's litigation against Alan and Kristin Hudson of Berlin who raise chickens on their Worcester County farm ("O'Malley criticizes UMB for lawsuit," Nov. 18). The governor is correct in pointing out this unfair attack on a family farm represents an "ongoing injustice" and that the environmental law clinic and the Waterkeepers are pursuing "costly litigation of questionable merit.

The plaintiffs in a high-profile land dispute with Johns Hopkins University filed for summary judgment in their case against the university on Tuesday, one day after JHU filed a similar motion. The lawsuit was originally filed in November by family members of Elizabeth Beall Newell, who along with her siblings sold 108 acres of their family's Belward Farm near Gaithersburg to JHU in 1989 for $5 million. The sale, of land the family said was valued at $54 million, came with certain stipulations, including that the land be used for research or education purposes.

When Jim Fielder was leaving his job as Harford County economic development director last month, he decided to phone a few friends and associates and let them know.Right after he'd completed the pre-dawn milking chores on his father's Creswell dairy farm.Whether milking the family herd or pitching a Fortune 500 company on locating in Harford County, the days have been long -- but rewarding -- since he took the county position three years ago.His new position of assistant secretary for business development in state government in Annapolis won't cut back on his hours, either; it's just going to be a longer daily commute.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Polly Pittman clipped nets over the ripening grapes in the vineyard she hopes will ensure that one of Anne Arundel County's oldest family farms continues to have a future. "Basically, the McMansions start on the other side of these trees," Pittman said. "We think of ourselves as the last frontier of agricultural development in Anne Arundel County. " Nearly three centuries after her ancestors started tilling this hill in Davidsonville, the 550-acre Dodon Farm remains the county's largest working family farm.

If the state Senate confirms his appointment tomorrow, Maryland's new agriculture secretary will bring to the job the experience of running a family farm that traces its roots back before the Revolutionary War. "I've been a lifelong farmer; my father, my grandfather and my great-grandfather were farmers," Roger L. Richardson said in one of his first interviews since Gov. Martin O'Malley named him to the post. "We still farm the 60 acres that came into our family in 1767." It is his knowledge and understanding of agriculture, stemming from such a long tradition, along with a love of farming, that the 72-year-old Richardson lists as the major attributes he brings to his new job. His aim, he said, "is to continue the successful initiatives" of his predecessor, Lewis R. Riley, who served as agriculture secretary under three governors before resigning this month.

Tomorrow night, Howard County Councilman Charles C. Feaga will do something he says he should have done a month ago -- get up from his council seat, publicly acknowledge a conflict of interest and let his colleagues debate a touchy issue without him.Had he done that at the council's first hearing on a proposal to ease growth restrictions and allow hundreds of new homes in Ellicott City, the proposal might have been quietly approved by now.And Feaga would...

In an article in the Jan. 15 Carroll County edition of The Sun, John D. Myers, a former county school board member, related an incident in which a longtime friend once said that Mr. Myers would "rot in hell" after a school board vote. The story may have implied that Melvin Arbaugh, a Westminster architect who was mentioned in the next paragraph, was the person who made the statemen. He was not.The Sun regrets the error.The bright yellow letters on a green banner hanging on the wall in the county school board meeting room are words right out of the mouth of outgoing member and president John D. Myers Jr."

Randy Nixon was rehearsing for a school play, but Thanksgiving at the family farm was also on his mind - heightened by a forecast of snow. So he didn't think much of it when his mother arrived early Nov. 22, 1972, to pick him up from Park School. She pulled him aside and broke the news: His father had been shot to death outside his North Bond Street store in Baltimore during a robbery attempt. While Randy Nixon coped with his father's death, his mother struggled to keep the family afloat.

CHARLES C. FEAGA may want to become Howard County executive but he seems more driven to sell his family's West Friendship farm. The Republican county councilman, who already has announced his bid to run for Howard's top elected position, again has pushed the boundary of ethical behavior in a matter involving his property.Mr. Feaga's recent failure to disclose that his property would benefit from a proposed change under the county's growth control law is a sure way to lose the confidence of Howard County voters who have viewed him as the quintessential citizen-legislator.

John Streett "Jack" Davis, founder and developer of Harford County's first public golf course, died of cancer Feb. 11 at his home in Street. He was 81. Mr. Davis was born and lived his entire life at Geneva Farm, his family's Harford County dairy and later truck farm. He was a descendant of Col. John Streett, who led the Harford Militia against the British at the Battle of North Point during the War of 1812. "He never lived anywhere else," said his daughter, Kelly Louise Davis of Street.

We love the beach for many reasons. Among them is the food. When you think Ocean City food staples, you think Thrasher's french fries, Dumser's ice cream and Fisher's caramel popcorn. Those places are great and delicious. But for being surrounded by farmland, few Ocean City eateries really take advantage of selling locally grown fruits and veggies. That's why Kim's Cafe and Marketplace, on 15th Street, is such a refreshing change. The new spot is a carry-out restaurant and organic food market.

Edwin C. "Pop" Fry, a longtime Kent County farmer who was active in agricultural affairs, died June 1 of pulmonary disease at Washington Hospital Center in Washington. He was 88. The son of farmers, Mr. Fry was born in Washington and raised in Laytonsville. After graduating from Gaithersburg High School in 1942, he worked with his father on the family farm. In 1945, he married the former Lorraine Miller, and in 1960, the couple moved to Fair Hill Farm in Chestertown. "The farm is 2,000 acres and he always had registered Holstein and Brown Swiss cattle," said a son, Edwin R. Fry of Chestertown, who now operates Fair Hill Farm.

Mary Elizabeth "Becky" Lipp, a homemaker who studied genealogy, died of pneumonia March 24 at the Charlestown Retirement Community. She was 101 and had lived in Govans. She was born Mary Elizabeth Barrett while her mother was traveling on a railroad train in Wilmington, Del. She was raised on a family farm in Fauquier County, Va., and moved to Baltimore as a young woman. She lived with cousins on Abell Avenue and worked nearby at the old Crown Five and Ten Cent Store on Greenmount Avenue in Waverly.

Gov. Martin O'Malley joins a long list of political and agricultural leaders across the state who have voiced concern over the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic and the Waterkeeper Alliance's litigation against Alan and Kristin Hudson of Berlin who raise chickens on their Worcester County farm ("O'Malley criticizes UMB for lawsuit," Nov. 18). The governor is correct in pointing out this unfair attack on a family farm represents an "ongoing injustice" and that the environmental law clinic and the Waterkeepers are pursuing "costly litigation of questionable merit.

On Aug. 20, Dene' Kathleen Bruce wed Christopher Carl Flack. The ceremony and reception were Deer Creek Overlook in Rocks State Park. The maid of honor was Danielle Priestianni and the best man was Clifford Finneyfrock. Bridesmaids were: Sara Edwards, Heather Masters, Stacy Flack, Rachael Leiss and Abigail Soul. Groomsmen were: Matthew Flack, Ryan Flack, Jonathon Magness, Sean Howearth and James Soul. Flower girls were: Kylie Becker, Hannah Hill and Grace Magness. A reception followed featuring Bee Happy Wedding Planners, Paul's Pork & Prime Caterers, Sandy Magness Cake Decorator, Rachael Priestianni hors de ourves & more, Bayline Studios Photography and Greg Brunner the Disc Jockey.

Martha Viola Langenfelder, who owned and managed a Perry Hall trailer park, died of unknown causes in her sleep Tuesday at the Heron Point Retirement Community in Chestertown. The former Baltimore County resident was 96. Born in Raspeburg in Baltimore County, she was the daughter of farmers Henry and Anuska Ann Langenfelder. She attended Rosedale Elementary School and began working on the family farm after graduating from the eighth grade. In 1936, she married a distant cousin, Conrad John Langenfelder, whom she met at a church event.

This was always his home, even if Christopher Tilghman mostly lived elsewhere. He passed many summers as a youth here on this sprawling family farm with its magnificent views of the Chester River and its history nearly as old as the state of Maryland. He teaches his three boys to revel in its thousand acres.It's a wonderful place for a kid, and on this warm, late-winter day, with an explosion of buds promising spring and dark clouds suggesting an afternoon storm coming off the Chesapeake Bay, the three Tilghman boys -- ages 12, 10 and 3 -- are busy exploring.

When the Stanfield brothers decided to peel off 100 acres of their farm for housing, they wanted to guarantee that the new neighborhood would meet their standards. So the two farmers developed the land themselves, hired an engineer, scouted for a builder, and brought in people to build the roads and wells. Typically, farmers sell their land to developers and walk away. But Richard R. Stanfield, 65, and Edward F. Stanfield, 68, are not typical farmers. In nearly a half-century on their 600-acre Edrich Farms, which straddles Randallstown, Woodstock and Granite in western Baltimore County, the Stanfield brothers have done a good deal more than raise cattle and grow corn.

If any family represented the epitome of Harford County evolution, it would undoubtedly be the Rigdon clan. John and wife, “Andy” Rigdon, are continuing a farming legacy that started long ago. John's ancestors came over from England and arrived in Harford County in 1728. His great-grandfather, Alexander Rigdon wrote and signed the Bush Declaration in 1775, a county resolution that expressed support for the Patriot cause in the emerging American Revolution. This important document is considered historically as a predecessor to the Declaration of Independence.