AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Brought to you by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi
By the time I arrived shortly after noon, the Greater Severna Park Chamber of Commerce’s “Spring Local Fun Festival” was well underway. Row upon row of vendor tents could be seen from the crowded parking lots surrounding the event. I’d learned from Chamber CEO Liz League that an amazing total of 79 small businesses and organizations were participating in this year’s festival. She was also pleased that the event had drawn nine Gold Sponsors.
Drawn by the sight of all those tents and a continuous stream of music from the Harbor City Music Company Show Chorus and Bach to Rock Music School guitarist Em and deejay Max Smith, a sizeable crowd of families, dedicated shoppers and weekend day-trippers had already formed.
Entering the event from the far end, I was welcomed to Health & Wellness Row by Lore Goldstein and Krista Hernandez from the Chamber’s Wellness Business Connections Group. Lore is with Stop Stretching. Krista has taken a break from her company Felix Wellness as she and her husband are transitioning from active-duty life to civilian life and moving.
Businesses in the section of the festival dedicated to wellness ran the gamut from Griswold Home Care and the Women’s Clinic to GYMGUYS Annapolis.
Directly across from Health & Wellness Row was a section I dubbed Education Row with businesses and institutions like St. Martin’s in-the-Field Episcopal School, Mathnasium, the Play Street Museum, and The Learning Center among others.
There we visited the St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal School booth overseen by Shop Local festival veteran Kira Dickson who is the school’s Director of Admissions. With its mix of information, games, giveaways and treats, the booth is always a popular stop. Dickson is seen below with St. Martin’s student Lola Westholm.
Spying the Flying Kiwi Ice Cream truck, I detoured around the front side of the tents to get a better look. We noted a good-sized line forming there made up primarily of families with children.
Continuing across the parking lot, I noticed the ASPCA Mobile Pet Unit drawing numerous families with children who loved looking in the glass windows at pets available for adoption. They also had fun petting the child-friendly pup held by a volunteer.
Just around the bend from the mobile pet unit, we found veteran festival participant Woofies of Annapolis, a pet sitting, dog walking and grooming service with Cindy Dedios at the helm. The Woofies booth is always popular with children and adults with pets. Dedios’ mix of information, advice, and lollipops works like a charm.
Circling back to the tents a little after 1 pm, I observed that the rows were becoming increasingly crowded with shoppers – especially those at the center of the event where the Franklin’s Toys and SERVPRO tents were located.
Having already completed their martial arts demonstration and performed their famed Lion Dance for the crowds, Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi owners Billy and Nancy Greer and their students were free to mind the tent, tout their upcoming summer camp, chat with friends and watch demonstrations by others.
We soon joined the Greers who were chatting with Katherine’s Light Foundation, LLC founder Larry Sells about the upcoming Katherine’s Light All-Day Music Festival taking place June 13th at the Severna Park Taphouse. Nancy Greer also clued me in to the fact that “winners” from the recent Children’s Business Fair organized by the Maryland Curiosity Lab of Acton School and the Chamber had been invited to participate in the Spring Local Fun Festival. We found four of those winners two rows away.
We first visited Hand Crafters who won for their wonderfully ornamental seashells they decoupaged with images from fairytales and nature. We next moved on to the Paper Garden booth where winner Jobie Schinnamon and her sister Charlotte chatted with us about the recycled papers she makes and the Fairy Wands she created to add interest to floral bouquets or houseplants.
We next visited a third winner – Bakery of Bottany’s Clay Wise who was accompanied to the Spring Local Fun Festival by his green-eyed cat in a cat carrier next to the cat grass. Clay does all the baking and some of the growing for the business he started with partner William Price.
Our timing was a bit off and we missed meeting the fourth winner, Colossus Cookie Company’s Kiriakos Katsikides whose cookies were selling like hotcakes and, according to the Greers who’d bought some, were delicious.
We’d earlier passed the KWON’S TAEKWONDO booth where several black belt students waited with Master Kwon while counting the minutes until time for their performance.
When the time finally came, the girls’ demonstration was powerful as they delivered the precise punches and kicks the Korean martial arts discipline is known for.
Moving on after watching the demonstration, I visited a row of tents featuring companies like Bayrise Builders and Park Modern Realty among others, convincing me that the construction industry is doing well.
I finally came to the final row and discovered that the entire Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Services family came out to support the Spring Local Fun Festival. In fact, the company was one of nine Gold Sponsors for the event. Not only were owners Winsome Brown and sister Danielle Morgan Brown on hand but brother Tony Clarke was there as well along with staffers Mia and Mikayla Alexander. Winsome Brown also introduced me to Lisa Knoles who recently joined the staff as Community Liaison.
Saving one of the best for next to last, we visited the table of Side Street Framers and Gift Gallery where daughter Jessica Chroniger was pinch-hitting for her mother Dawn Wilson.
Last in the row was yet another Shop Local event veteran Jody Buck whose Key Group real estate business has really taken off over the last few years. Shoppers absolutely loved Buck’s wonderful shopping bags with a choice of destinations to love as part of the design.
With 79 vendor tents, there was no way we could visit them all, but we hope we’ve given you a little taste. The event was the biggest and one of the best of the Chamber’s Shop Local events. We can only wonder if the next one, scheduled for October, will eclipse it. To see more, visit Home – Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber of Commerce.
The Around The Park Again column is brought to you this week by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi at 1195 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. – For over two decades providing martial arts training that improves cardio-vascular health, strength and flexibility while reducing stress. Jing Ying is again bringing Tai Chi to the Severna Park Community Center. From health-defense to self-defense, Jing Ying provides fitness with a purpose for the whole family!
and by Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Services at 815 Ritchie Hwy., Suite 206 – When you need someone to lean on, Lean On Dee. Their experienced team of personal care management specialists and friendly companions provide high quality consistent care.
