Murray Hill

Sidestepping two controversies in the southeastern portion of Howard County, the school board has decided that its newest middle school will be named Murray Hill Middle School.The decision ends almost three months of discussion on what to name the school being built off Gorman Road near Murray Hill Road. A school system committee had recommended in August the name Fairview Middle School, like the house at Gorman and Murray Hill roads, where Kingdon Gould III lives.Some residents wanted the school named Rocky Gorge, the name they have recently adopted for the community.

It wasn't until Karen Koch saw pictures of her house in a local magazine that she realized how terrific it was. Last spring, she agreed to a photographic house tour for a friend, who was the editor. "I saw the pictures and I thought, 'Damn. It looks good.'" Soon she will see if everybody agrees. Her 1920s four-square in Annapolis' Murray Hill community will be among the 10 homes open Nov. 4 and 5 for the 20th annual Annapolis by Candlelight house tour. "We've put so much blood, sweat and tears into this house," said Koch, the owner of Miss Nancy's Fancy Bakery in Annapolis.

A century ago, Murray Hill was prized as a breezy hilltop retreat from hot, crowded downtown Annapolis and the smelly waters of the Spa Creek basin. Today, it is the place to live if you want to be able to walk to City Dock and all the shopping, dining and waterfront delights of the state's capital. Bounded by West Street on the north and Spa Creek on the south, Shaw Street on the east and Amos Garrett Boulevard on the west, Murray Hill has a rich history. In 1650s, a carpenter named Richard Acton purchased 100 acres on what is now Spa Creek.

In the early 1980s, Gilbert Renaut built a home in Murray Hill, a neighborhood within walking distance of Spa Creek and downtown Annapolis. The one-time federal litigator had an affinity for architectural history and wanted to prove he could build a Colonial reproduction house on a middle-class budget. After that project led to a stint on the Annapolis Historic Preservation Committee, he also ended up proving he had a passion for local politics. He chaired the Murray Hill Centennial in 1990, served as president of the Murray Hill Residents Association and then ran the Ward One Residents Association.

IT'S NO secret that our area is growing rapidly. All our schools are at capacity.Opening this fall is a new middle school, Murray Hill.This week, the staff held open houses for students and their families.The building is filled, at the moment, with boxes and crates as staff members rush to get ready for opening day next week.Principal Vince Catania is certain that everything will be in place by then.He has recruited a diverse staff that has experience in the Howard school system and elsewhere as well.

Eliza Toomey's backyard is about the size of a postage stamp, and it is bathed in shadows cast by a thick canopy of trees. Clearly, if she were to have a vegetable garden, it would have to be planted in someone else's yard. So she passed out fliers, had a meeting and, now, Toomey is planting vegetables in the backyards of 21 of her neighbors in Murray Hill in Annapolis. The 25-year-old middle school teacher is planting the seeds and the seedlings and, though she is asking for a little help with watering, she will care for the gardens, harvest the vegetables and distribute the bounty to her 21 new friends every week this summer.

For years, schools in North Laurel struggled to do a lot with a little. Little funding, little parent participation, little partnership help from community organizations and agencies. But now the state Department of Education has recognized the little the schools had to work with, and turned it into a lot. Laurel Woods Elementary, Murray Hill Middle and Atholton High have received a state grant worth more than $2 million over three years to help implement a program intended to increase academic achievement, safety, health and wellness and recreational services for North Laurel children.

The magnet that 10-year-old Nathan Rivera was creating featured a creature with large, mismatched googly eyes, a blue fuzzball of a head and an oversized mustache, made from a strip of blue felt. "I made Albert Einstein," Nathan said. "He's crazy about his new idea." Nathan was one of about 70 kids attending the Summer at the Hill camp put on by Murray Hill Middle School in Laurel. During the hourlong arts and crafts part of the day, he sat with several other pupils and made magnet creatures.

Just beyond the bustle of the State House and Annapolis' downtown bars is a quiet, century-old neighborhood of gracious homes with inviting porches and manicured lawns. Murray Hill, a waterfront community of about 700 mostly upscale homes built between the 1890s and 1940s, is a place residents say harks back to small-town America. But it is also on the cusp of major change. Anne Arundel Medical Center -- where generations of Murray Hill residents had babies, went for medical treatment and watched loved ones die -- is leaving its 4.5-acre site at the community's eastern gateway this fall.

The second Night of the Arts, a showcase for youths who participated in LAMP summer programs, played July 24 to a packed house in Murray Hill Middle School's dining room. "There was a lot of excitement. There was kind of a buzz as you walked in the room. The kids were very excited to perform, and they did a phenomenal job," said Dana Lowe, LAMP's family and community outreach liaison. Last year's Night of the Arts boasted 200 performers, and a similar number participated in this year's show, Lowe said.

Margaret S. Doub, a homemaker who enjoyed sailing the Chesapeake Bay for 40 years, died in her sleep Monday at her home in the Murray Hill section of Baltimore County. She was 91. Margaret Simmons, the daughter of a businessman and homemaker, was born in Hagerstown and raised near Oklahoma City. While living in Oklahoma, Mrs. Doub acquired a lifelong interest in American Indian cultures. When she was 18, family members said, she was inducted into the Kiowa tribe and given the Indian name of Dor-chi-um-gee, which means "Kneel and Pray."

Eliza Toomey's backyard is about the size of a postage stamp, and it is bathed in shadows cast by a thick canopy of trees. Clearly, if she were to have a vegetable garden, it would have to be planted in someone else's yard. So she passed out fliers, had a meeting and, now, Toomey is planting vegetables in the backyards of 21 of her neighbors in Murray Hill in Annapolis. The 25-year-old middle school teacher is planting the seeds and the seedlings and, though she is asking for a little help with watering, she will care for the gardens, harvest the vegetables and distribute the bounty to her 21 new friends every week this summer.

The Southeast Horizon Council will hold its sixth Family Health Expo from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Murray Hill Middle School. The event is designed to give residents and North Laurel and Savage access to Howard County's health and human services providers. Free blood pressure, bone density, dental, vision, hearing and breast health screenings will be offered. A representative from the Health Department will be available to provide Flu Mist to children, ages 2 to 18, who qualify.

A century ago, Murray Hill was prized as a breezy hilltop retreat from hot, crowded downtown Annapolis and the smelly waters of the Spa Creek basin. Today, it is the place to live if you want to be able to walk to City Dock and all the shopping, dining and waterfront delights of the state's capital. Bounded by West Street on the north and Spa Creek on the south, Shaw Street on the east and Amos Garrett Boulevard on the west, Murray Hill has a rich history. In 1650s, a carpenter named Richard Acton purchased 100 acres on what is now Spa Creek.

The Southeast Horizon Council and the Howard County Health Department will hold the fifth Family Health Expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at Murray Hill Middle School, 9989 Winter Sun Road, North Laurel. The event is designed to provide residents with access to Howard County's health and human service providers. Free blood pressure, dental, vision, hearing, HIV and breast health screenings are planned. A limited number of eyeglasses and hearing aids will be available. A Health Department representative will provide nasal flu vaccine to qualified children, ages 5 to 18. Health information Information will be available on health programs and local health and human service providers.

Howard County officials say they are dismayed but determined to improve after learning that for the first time two county schools failed to meet federal test standards two years in a row. Murray Hill and Oakland Mills middle schools were included on a list of 176 poor-performing schools statewide. Any school failing to meet the standards for two consecutive years is classified as"needs improvement." If a school fails five years in a row, the state may take it over. School board Chairman Diane Mikulis said yesterday that the results point out that "middle school is one area where we need to focus more attention."

Services for Ilda D. Stockbridge, who won awards for flower arranging and holiday door decorations, will be held at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Towson Presbyterian Church, Chesapeake and Highland avenues.Mrs. Stockbridge, who was 87 and lived for many years in Murray Hill, died early Friday at the Good Samaritan Hospital after a long illness.The former Ilda Dicken was a native of Davis, W.Va., and came to Baltimore to study at the Maryland Institute College of Art.In addition to winning prizes for her decorations and arrangements, she was a member of the Murray Hill Garden Club.

Howard County's new middle school in North Laurel likely will be named Fairview Middle School, Howard school officials announced last week.A committee of school officials, parents and community members recommended Fairview Middle Thursday night to the school board as the name for the school being built on Gorman Road near Murray Hill Road.The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed name Sept. 24 and will vote on it Oct. 10.Fairview is the name of a three-story, Queen Anne-style house built in 1885 with a central porch gable and tall, brick, corbel-edged chimneys at Gorman and Murray Hill, school officials said.

A significant increase in density at an age-restricted complex in Laurel has been approved by the Planning Board. The expansion was particularly appealing because it will more than double the number of units earmarked at the development for moderate-income families. The project, Murray Hill, will be on about 19 acres off Gorman Road and near Emerson, the sprawling planned community. Paul M. Revelle, president of Revellopment Inc., the developer, said he expects site improvements to begin in the summer of next year and construction of the units to start early in 2009.

On busy West Street in Annapolis, it sticks out: 1.9 acres of grassy open space amid a nonstop line of shops, banks, restaurants and gas stations. But the empty land at 213 West St., former home of The Capital newspaper, is unlikely to remain that way much longer. After two years of discussions with city officials, a Virginia-based developer is one major step from getting approval to build a mixed-use complex of single-family homes, nearly 8,000 square feet of retail shops and about 45 condominiums, city officials said.