Village Green

ON A trip to New England one summer, I fell in love with a concept foreign to me in my 30-some years as a Baltimore native: the towns' epicenter of activity, the village green. On these humble grassy knolls, sometimes no bigger than a football field, town residents came together to throw Frisbees, walk dogs, exchange gossip, fly kites, enjoy concerts or simply linger. In winter, I was told, the activities changed mainly to ice skating and ice hockey, but the notion remained the same: an open green space where people gathered and, ultimately, bonded as members of a community.

The Wilde Lake Community Association is seeking candidates for five seats on the village board and one seat on the Columbia Council, also known as the Columbia Association board of directors. The positions are for one year, beginning May 1. The nomination period runs from Feb. 20 through March 7. Interested residents can pick up a nomination packet, starting Feb. 20, at Slayton House on Wilde Lake Village Green. Information: 410-730-3987. Fundraiser to help Juanita Robinson Friends of Juanita Robinson, a resident of Harper's Choice who has served on the village board for eight years and is a recipient of the Howard County Volunteer of the Year award, is planning a fundraiser in her honor from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at Kahler Hall in the Harper's Choice Village Center.

THE ISSUE: -- The Giant Food supermarket at Wilde Lake Village Center will close Sept. 28. How will this affect the community? What is the best way to use the soon-to-be vacant space? Departure will have a substantial impact After 39 years, the Wilde Lake Village Giant will be closing. The sudden departure of our commercial food retailer will have a substantial impact on the daily lives of residents, village merchants and all who rely on our local grocer to deliver their daily needs. The Wilde Lake Village Board has coordinated with village merchants to supply soft and hard goods from their shops.

The Beale Street Puppets will present "Halloween Hijinx" for Rainbow Theatre at Slayton House on Wilde Lake Village Green at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow. The marionette show will feature Napoleon Bone-A-Part, Murray the Egyptian Mummy, and Vinnie Vampire and his All-Bat Trio. Children are invited to wear costumes and go trick-or-treating in the village center after the performance. Tickets are $4 and should be purchased in advance. Some tickets may be available at the door. Reservations are not accepted.

The local baseball season got under way last weekend, so how in the world can it be time to register for fall sports?The Crofton Athletic Council will hold registration for soccer, football and future cheerleaders May 7 from 9 a.m. to noon, May 21 from noon to 3 p.m., and June 4 from 9 a.m. to noon.All three registration sessions will be at Crofton Elementary School on Duke of Kent Drive.The cost is $30 for soccer and future cheerleaders and $50 for football. Prices will go up to $40 for soccer and cheerleading and $75 for football June 30. The annual family registration fee of $40 is due also if it has not been paid for the 1994 season.

If you were not at the Crofton Elementary School on Saturday, you missed out on some good weather and a lot of fun. The Crofton Civic Association held its annual Easter egg hunt for the kids, old and young.The weather was about as much as recreation assistant Sue Bents could hope for. The sun was shining, and the temperature was perfect. Children were put into one of three age categories and sent in searchof hidden eggs.No child left the hunt with an empty basket. Cookies and punch helped bring the day to a satisfying close.

MALLS at Christmastime: crying babies sitting on Santa's lap, 5-year-olds whining for Nintendos, clerks snapping at fractious customers who want to know if they can get the same thing in mauve, marauding teen-agers slurping Diet Cokes, older men nodding off on benches while their wives do the holiday shopping.To some people, malls are a microcosm of America at its worst.Not to me. To me, they are America at it's best.No, I don't have mall-a-mania. I'm not one of those shoppers who can't quit.

A cookbook in honor of Columbia's Wilde Lake village's 30th anniversary will be sold this weekend during the town's 30th birthday celebration at the Columbia Festival of the Arts.The 197-page book, "Wilde and Wonderful Recipes," is a compilation of about 250 recipes sprinkled with bits of history and personal recollections from village residents.The book, initially available by special order and at a birthday celebration in Wilde Lake on June 7, has sold as many as 400 copies at $6 each."The personal touches make it very, very special," says Bernice Kish, village manager.

The Beale Street Puppets will present "Halloween Hijinx" for Rainbow Theatre at Slayton House on Wilde Lake Village Green at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow. The marionette show will feature Napoleon Bone-A-Part, Murray the Egyptian Mummy, and Vinnie Vampire and his All-Bat Trio. Children are invited to wear costumes and go trick-or-treating in the village center after the performance. Tickets are $4 and should be purchased in advance. Some tickets may be available at the door. Reservations are not accepted.

SATURDAY'S SPRING Craft Fair at the Crofton Village Green was wonderful, right down to the weather. Artisans displayed a variety of wares to tempt the busy shoppers. People met friends and browsed through booths.But it wasn't the professional artisans who made the day a favorite community tradition; it was the variety of local organizations that gathered on the village green for fund raising, socializing and sharing the messages of their programs. At the Kiwanis table, Sharon Titcomb and Linda VanSickel, were selling herbs and flowering plants to brighten up neighborhood gardens.

THE ISSUE: -- The Giant Food supermarket at Wilde Lake Village Center will close Sept. 28. How will this affect the community? What is the best way to use the soon-to-be vacant space? Departure will have a substantial impact After 39 years, the Wilde Lake Village Giant will be closing. The sudden departure of our commercial food retailer will have a substantial impact on the daily lives of residents, village merchants and all who rely on our local grocer to deliver their daily needs. The Wilde Lake Village Board has coordinated with village merchants to supply soft and hard goods from their shops.

The Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks will sponsor "Another Way to See It" Laughter Club for those ages 55 and older. The program includes 40 minutes of laughter exercises and group sharing; it is said to lift enthusiasm, morale and motivation, and to encourage improved relationships. The club will meet from 9 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. Mondays, starting Sept. 11, at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way. The cost is $2 a class. Information or registration: 410-313-7279. Slayton House to host free games Slayton House on Wilde Lake Village Green will offer drop in bridge games Tuesdays, Scrabble on Wednesdays, and a chance to bring a game to play Thursdays.

ON A trip to New England one summer, I fell in love with a concept foreign to me in my 30-some years as a Baltimore native: the towns' epicenter of activity, the village green. On these humble grassy knolls, sometimes no bigger than a football field, town residents came together to throw Frisbees, walk dogs, exchange gossip, fly kites, enjoy concerts or simply linger. In winter, I was told, the activities changed mainly to ice skating and ice hockey, but the notion remained the same: an open green space where people gathered and, ultimately, bonded as members of a community.

SATURDAY'S SPRING Craft Fair at the Crofton Village Green was wonderful, right down to the weather. Artisans displayed a variety of wares to tempt the busy shoppers. People met friends and browsed through booths.But it wasn't the professional artisans who made the day a favorite community tradition; it was the variety of local organizations that gathered on the village green for fund raising, socializing and sharing the messages of their programs. At the Kiwanis table, Sharon Titcomb and Linda VanSickel, were selling herbs and flowering plants to brighten up neighborhood gardens.

A cookbook in honor of Columbia's Wilde Lake village's 30th anniversary will be sold this weekend during the town's 30th birthday celebration at the Columbia Festival of the Arts.The 197-page book, "Wilde and Wonderful Recipes," is a compilation of about 250 recipes sprinkled with bits of history and personal recollections from village residents.The book, initially available by special order and at a birthday celebration in Wilde Lake on June 7, has sold as many as 400 copies at $6 each."The personal touches make it very, very special," says Bernice Kish, village manager.

They were mostly idealistic twenty- and thirtysomethings with good careers and burgeoning families.They had heard that a new, different kind of community was being built in the wide-open farmland between Baltimore and Washington -- and they liked what they heard.They were Columbia's first residents -- pioneers, they called themselves -- and they began unpacking their boxes in the first Village of Wilde Lake three decades ago this month.As Columbia begins its 30th-birthday celebration this summer -- a party in Wilde Lake kicked it off yesterday -- many of Columbia's first residents are retired, and their once-modern homes need refurbishing.

The Wilde Lake Community Association is seeking candidates for five seats on the village board and one seat on the Columbia Council, also known as the Columbia Association board of directors. The positions are for one year, beginning May 1. The nomination period runs from Feb. 20 through March 7. Interested residents can pick up a nomination packet, starting Feb. 20, at Slayton House on Wilde Lake Village Green. Information: 410-730-3987. Fundraiser to help Juanita Robinson Friends of Juanita Robinson, a resident of Harper's Choice who has served on the village board for eight years and is a recipient of the Howard County Volunteer of the Year award, is planning a fundraiser in her honor from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at Kahler Hall in the Harper's Choice Village Center.

Sue Haller reports on events in Crofton.Have you ever wanted to try the boot-scooting boogie, sleazy slide, Hawaiian hustle or the down and dirty? The Crofton Civic Association is accepting registrations for a country-western dance class from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. beginning Thursday at Crofton Woods Elementary School. Jerry Thompson and Sandy Hilbert are the instructors. Classes will run on Thursdays through Nov. 11. For more information or to register, call Sue Bents at town hall, 721-2301.

FROM THE late Jim Rouse's handwritten crab cake recipe to Ellen Conroy Kennedy's Poetry Reading Rice, Wilde Lake's new village cookbook is filled with memories as well as mouth-watering dishes.Janet Blumenthal, the village board chairwoman, compiled the collection of residents' favorite recipes as part of the 30th anniversary celebration for the Wilde Lake village.The collection, "Wilde & Wonderful Recipes," will be available at the June 7 festivities on the village green.Kennedy's rice recipe was a favorite dish at HoCoPoLitSo suppers in the late 1970s and early 1980s.