Heritage

We applaud your Nov. 30 editorial, "Credits that work," about the need to extend the Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit program before it expires next year. Gov. Martin O'Malley is committed to authorizing an improved version of the program in the 2010 legislative session. This stimulus has been a proven smart growth tool throughout the state, from Cumberland to Frederick to Montgomery County to Baltimore City to Cambridge. Projects propelled by this program have been catalysts for the revitalization of the communities around them.

As many eyes in the sports world focus on Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore Saturday for the 139th running of the Preakness Stakes, it's comforting to know Harford County still has a place in horse racing. Bel Air's Country Life Farm, as Dewey Fox reminded our readers with his fine piece about the Pons family's operation in The Aegis Wednesday, is carrying on the horse breeding tradition that spans the past eight decades or so, helped out of late by the farm's part ownership of Malibu Moon, one of the top stallions in the country, who started his stud career at Country Life and now stands in Kentucky.

A sad tale has been unfolding here in Baltimore. From the library of the Maryland Historical Society to the Baltimore City Jail and a federal courtroom, two arrested and accused thieves, guilty by their own admission, are being ushered through the justice system. The story now bouncing around the media has lessons and cautions for all of us. Barry A. Landau pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing thousands of important historical documents from East Coast libraries and historical societies.

Despite what you may have heard, the "house museum" is not dead in Baltimore City. The H.L. Mencken House (officially closed since 1997 by the bankruptcy of the City Life Museums) has had more than 100 visitors during two recent weekends. The Johns Hopkins University's Odyssey program arranged three tours of the house led by Marion Rodgers, the Mencken scholar and biographer. There was such pent-up demand to see the "empty" house that an additional tour was added, with another waiting list group that was unable to be accommodated.

I read with dismay your story about Baltimore County's plan to close Essex SkyPark ("Members fear Balto. Co. will shut Essex Skypark," Jan. 5). The narrative focused on old men flying old airplanes out of an old airport in Essex. But if the airport were in north central Baltimore County and the pilots and aircraft owners were politicians, developers and attorneys, the story line no doubt would have celebrated a historic landing field in beautiful pastoral Baltimore County, with a fleet of carefully restored antique aircraft flown by a cadre of experienced and dedicated aviators.

Baltimore is one of the oldest cities in the United States, with a wealth of history and historical landmarks. It's amazing how the City Council thinks it owns those historic landmarks ("Ownership isn't the issue," April 4). How presumptuous of them to sell or lease the city's heritage to fill its coffers. A new low has been achieved in this city's politics with this idea. They seem to forget the people own the landmarks, not the City Council, not MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake, Not the governor but the people.

`TC Everything you want to know about quilts can be learned at the fifth annual Quilters' Heritage Celebration, which runs from Thursday through next Sunday at the Lancaster Host Golf Resort and Conference Center near Lancaster, Pa.The theme, "Non-Traditional Views," explores new technical and artistic approaches to the art of quilting. You will see hundreds of quilts, from traditional designs to contemporary patterns. The show's highlight is the first complete East Coast showing of an international exhibit, "Fabric Gardens," of 78 quilts from around the world.

These are rough times for Baltimore and most other aging cities. Not only is the lure of residential suburbs continuing but "edge cities" like Owings Mills, White Marsh and Columbia are increasingly competing for offices and businesses.Which is why we invite readers to take another look at a little-known in-town neighborhood called Madison Park. Bounded by North Avenue, Laurens, Morris and Tiffany streets, it is a melange of architectural styles from Second Empire and Queen Anne to Romanesque Revival.

SOME HUNDRED persons from local history institutions gathered Wednesday at the University of Baltimore for a rough and ready symposium provoked by the collapse of City Life Museums a year after its ambitious expansion.They represented some 25 historical institutions as well as others with historical dimensions, tourism, preservation, government and foundations.They were charged by one of the conveners, Robert J. Brugger, the leading historian of Maryland, to solve three questions:1. What is the right way to save City Life Museums?

Heritage Automotive Group is engaged in talks to purchase some or all of the Baltimore-area dealerships operated as Larry's Chevrolet, Larry's Dodge, Larry's Mazda and Larry's GMC Truck Pontiac.Officials for the two companies would not speak publicly about the negotiations, but a source familiar with the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Heritage has made a formal offer and a tentative settlement is scheduled for Aug. 23.The source said the deal could easily be delayed, changed or canceled before settlement.

Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway 12th annual River Sweep, a volunteer shoreline and roadside clean-up in honor of Earth Day, will take place in Havre de Grace, Perryville, Port Deposit and on Garrett Island on Saturday April 21. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., with the cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine. Volunteers will meet at 8:30 in one of the five locations for registration: Tydings Park, Havre de Grace; Community Park or the boat launch on River Road in Perryville; or Marina Park or Octoraro Creek in Port Deposit.

Baltimore is one of the oldest cities in the United States, with a wealth of history and historical landmarks. It's amazing how the City Council thinks it owns those historic landmarks ("Ownership isn't the issue," April 4). How presumptuous of them to sell or lease the city's heritage to fill its coffers. A new low has been achieved in this city's politics with this idea. They seem to forget the people own the landmarks, not the City Council, not MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake, Not the governor but the people.

What is the future for Baltimore's city-owned historic properties? The Baltimore Sun has reported that Baltimore City is hiring an appraisal firm to determine the "market value" of 15 city-owned historic properties. Baltimore Heritage has asked MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blakeand the director of the Department of General Services to make this process open and participatory to ensure that there is a seat at the table for the many citizens and volunteers who for decades have protected and celebrated these important landmarks.

When Jerry DeWitt paints a barn, there's a bit of the gentle clanging of cowbells mixing in with the watercolors. That sound echoes back to his grandfather's Depression-era farm at the end of a lane in Bedford County, Pa. He was just 2 years old when his father left home for good and the youngster was uprooted from Lansing, Mich., to live with his grandparents. And in between trips to the pasture to the hand-dug well for another bucket of water, or out to the shed for an arm load of firewood, the sights and sounds and smells of farm life wrapped themselves around Jerry's memory, eventually finding their way to paint and paper more than 30 years later.

Stanley A. Ciesielski, a retired career Central Intelligence Agency intelligence officer who was a co-founder of the Polish Heritage Association of Maryland, died Monday of lung cancer at a niece's home in Hampstead. He was 101. "Stanley Ciesielski was a great friend and adviser. I knew him through our work in the Polish community," said Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a longtime friend. "He was a great patriot fighting for the freedom of Poland. He was one of the founders of the Polish Heritage Society, whose purpose was to support the Solidarity movement, particularly during those dark days of martial law," she said.

Purple Fridays have faded away, the St. Valentines Day chocolates have all been devoured, now it's time to do something Irish in honor of St. Patricks Day. Two musical cultural events are coming up at the Parkville Senior Center: On Tuesday, Feb 28 at 12:30 p.m. a singer and a pianist from the Lyric Opera House will present "Song and Soul," celebration of African-American music, written by and for African Americans. On Thursday, March 15 ,at 12:30 PM, the Baltimore Lyric Opera House will perform a special program of Irish music presenting the Irish Music Legacy, featuring both classical and folk music traditions.

Now is the time to give thanks, and one thing Marylanders have to be thankful for is the Chesapeake Bay. With all the problems that face the bay, it may be harder now to look across the water at the rising sun with wild geese winging overhead and just be thankful for what we have. For many of us, our traditions are tied to the bay. Rockfish in spring. Crabs in summer. Oyster stuffing at Thanksgiving. But for many others, the bay is not part of their heritage - not part of what they grew up with.

ANYONE pondering why Michael Johnson would move the Heritage Cineplex from the Baltimore area to another location should have been there Sunday evening for what might have been the Heritage's last show in these parts. All of five people were on hand to view Up Against the 8 Ball, a fine comedy-drama about two black college co-eds who enter a pool tournament to earn money for their last year of school. Well-written and well-acted, the movie was enough to make me forget, for a moment, that travesty called Soul Plane that stank out movie theaters not long ago. I've personally sent the Noogie Squad after anyone who had anything remotely to do with Soul Plane.

A sad tale has been unfolding here in Baltimore. From the library of the Maryland Historical Society to the Baltimore City Jail and a federal courtroom, two arrested and accused thieves, guilty by their own admission, are being ushered through the justice system. The story now bouncing around the media has lessons and cautions for all of us. Barry A. Landau pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing thousands of important historical documents from East Coast libraries and historical societies.

I read with dismay your story about Baltimore County's plan to close Essex SkyPark ("Members fear Balto. Co. will shut Essex Skypark," Jan. 5). The narrative focused on old men flying old airplanes out of an old airport in Essex. But if the airport were in north central Baltimore County and the pilots and aircraft owners were politicians, developers and attorneys, the story line no doubt would have celebrated a historic landing field in beautiful pastoral Baltimore County, with a fleet of carefully restored antique aircraft flown by a cadre of experienced and dedicated aviators.