AROUND THE PARK AGAIN By Sharon Lee Tegler
The atmosphere at Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church last Saturday was lively and reassuring. Two equally important initiatives were taking place on opposite sides of the church. On the north side, the first of 190 families began flowing through a Pop-Up Pantry that is held in the parking lot once each month.
Organized by Melissa Kurzmiller in partnership with food recovery organization Celestial Manna and in coordination with the Maryland Food Bank, Anne Arundel County Food Bank and Feed Anne Arundel, the Pop Up Pantry ran like clockwork. Fifty volunteers of all ages pitched in to collect, set up and distribute the food.
Meanwhile, on the south side of the church, a race course was being laid out for a much anticipated Christian Service Brigade StocKar Derby Race organized by Michael Binnie and Matt Vahlberg with volunteer help from various dads. Early arrivals, like Vahlberg’s son Johnathan, were eagerly showing off their hand-crafted cars. before submitting them.
Held annually, the race is open to younger CSB members but older members help out and parents, grandparents, siblings and friends turn out to cheer for their favorite entries.
Christian Service Brigade Battalion members Caleb Rassossky and Seth Ratajczak split their time between volunteering with the Pop Up Pantry (where their muscle was much appreciated) and helping set up seating, tents, race track and tables for the StocKar Derby.
Saturday was Seth and Caleb’s second time working with the pantry alongside seasoned volunteers like David and Erin Freeman. The teens mentioned how impressed they’ve been with the effort. The Freemans noted that they’d received food from the pantry in the past so they like to give back and help out as much as possible.
Church member David Freeman prepares a box of staples from the Maryland Food Bank for distribution. 
David and Erin Freeman like to help out whenever they can..
“I have chemo scheduled for Monday,” David said. “So we wanted to get out and do something good to help others before that. It’s nice to be able to share with people and say ‘God bless you’. Feels good.”
Kurzmiller, wearing a bright orange vest, was in the middle of everything directing her volunteers. A busy mother of five including one special needs child, Kurzmiller became involved with the Celestial Mana program five years ago. At first she worked as a volunteer picking up food from various grocery stores. Three years ago, she became a Celestial Mana coordinator running a food distribution operation from her home.
She pointed out that Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church had run a food pantry program for 20 years. But, when the COVID crisis skyrocketed the number of families needing food assistance, Kurzmiller found she’d outgrown her home-based operation and needed a way to expand.
Luckily, SPEP was happy to partner with her. Now, with more volunteers, the Celestial Mana/SPEP partnership provides in-house food distribution twice-weekly for 400 individuals along with the once-monthly Pop-Up Pantries open to anyone needing food . On Saturday volunteers worked steadily, filling car trunk after car trunk with canned and packaged foods and fresh produce.
The pace picked up as the 1 pm closing time for the Pop-Up Pantry neared. SPEP volunteers Suzanne Behrendt and Karen Larimer and three teenaged helpers prepared to greet drivers from Baltimore Station (a residential and treatment center for homeless veterans) and another group who were coming to pick up pantry foods that were left over. (The Celestial Mana/SPEP partnership always distributes any remaining foods to others.) The moment the Baltimore Station SUV pulled in towing a wagon, they began loading it with boxes of food.
Open boxes revealed canned goods, potatoes and apples from AA Co. Food Bank and more fresh produce from the MD Food Bank. There were hot foods, including shepherd’s pies from Feed Anne Arundel – a program paid for by the county that enables local restaurants (in this case Park Tavern and Mother’s Grill) to supply hot meals. All told, the Pop Up Pantry provided food for 725 total individuals.
Canned and packaged foods from the Maryland Food Bank. 
Fresh produces from AA Co. Food Bank.
A few minutes later, Battalion member Timothy Carmon led the way across the SPEP campus where a crowd was forming around the bright aluminum race track with groups of children sitting together and parents in separate groups. An elaborate trophy table and a food and beverage table were already in evidence.
Before explaining the event (basically a Pinewood Derby), Chief Ranger Matt Vahlberg described the structure of the Christian Service Brigade which is for boys. (There is a similar group for girls called “Pioneer Girls”.)
“CSB is divided into three age groups,” Vahlberg said. “The youngest, the ‘Tree Climbers’ for children in first and second grades, and “Stockade” group, for kids from third through sixth grades, would be racing. The oldest “Batalion” group, for seventh through twelfth graders, would help operate the event.
Binnie noted that the Tree Climber and Stockade groups had been meeting outdoors at the church on Tuesday evenings where they had access to band saws and belt sanders with which to shape blocks of wood they’d been given to design and shape into model cars. It’s an activity that encourages craftsmanship and helps the youngsters develop fine motor skills.
Start time drew near and four Tree Climbers’ names were called out to pick up their cars from the “impound table”, form a line, and place them on the track for the initial heat.
The cars would be automatically launched by the officials and sensors on the track would determine the finishing order for each heat. Naturally, the race officials took extreme care in lining the StocKars up before sending them down the track.
There was a problem with the sensors, however, and times were not recorded. While fun to watch, subsequent heats had similar problems and results were not official. It was soon discovered that intense sunlight at the end of the track was interfering with the optical sensors.
Various strategies were tried to shade the end of the track but problems with UV light persisted until SPEP congregation member Gordon Laque, who designed the track, arrived and sorted out the trouble.
Then competition started afresh for the Tree Climber and Stockade groups with much enthusiasm and competitive spirit among the participants and tremendous cheering and clapping from the audience. Winners were eventually declared in categories for speed, race design and funny car. They were:
Speed: 1st place, Andrew Binnie; 2nd place, Sam Luman; 3rd place, Nick Grunes
Race Design: 1st place: Jonathan Butzin; 2nd place, Sam Luman; 3rd place, Zane Biggerstaff
Funny Car: 1st place, Johnathan Vahlberg; 2nd place, Oliver Christie; 3rd place, Colton Canby
For more information about activities at Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church, visit Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church – where Jesus mends broken lives… (spepchurch.org)
Severna Park 4th of July Parade a GO!
Good news from the Greater Severna Park & Arnold Chamber of Commerce. Severna Park’s annual Independence Day Parade will be held this summer. Since, July 4th falls on a Sunday, however, the parade will actually take place Monday, July 5. Parade entries are being accepted now. For details, visit Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber of Commerce (gspacc.com) or email Liz League at ceo@gspacc.com.
