AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Looking out executive director Sarah Elder’s office window at the Severna Park Community Center, you can see one of two recently installed signs heralding the new name of the building known for more than a decade as Holy Grounds Youth Center. Though owned by Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, the building is maintained and operated by the community center.
Its new name, Boone Station Hall, was selected because the building sits directly across from Boone Railroad Station – a three sided shack that served as the original station for the Baltimore Annapolis Short Line Railroad. Boone was the original name of the community that later became Severna Park.
Constructed in 1927 as St. John the Evangelist Church, the lovely building, with its simple, graceful lines, served the congregation until 1959 when they acquired acreage on the corner of Ritchie Highway and Cypress Creek Road for the present-day St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, School and Rectory.
Recent research by Woods Church member Bob Royer indicates that the structure may have been built from a ready-to-assemble kit from Sears, Roebuck & Company after transported to Boone Station by train.
Elder said the community center board had long thought of changing the name because the building is rented for various functions ranging from weddings, baby showers, reunions and celebrations of life to trade shows or concerts. The Holy Grounds Youth Center designation (chosen when the facility was run as a coffee house for teens) was confusing because of its religious connotation.
“We’d always have to explain it was no longer used as church (except on rare occasions) but as a hall – albeit it one with a charming history and a charming ambiance – that can be used for most every occasion,” Elder said.
She noted that Boone Station Hall was one of three names considered. The other two – Randall Hall and Riggs Hall – also carried a historical context.
Boone’s origins date to the 1600’s with a 26,000 acre land grant from King Charles I to George Calvert, 1st Lord of Baltimore. By the 1700’s, the Lords Baltimore conveyed the acreage in the form of three grants, Norman’s Fancy, Randall’s Purchase and Hopkins Addition, that would form the nucleus of Boone. The Randall’s Purchase portion changed hands several times, eventually ending up as the property of George Linstid. At his death, the property was divided with one third of the acreage inherited by Elizabeth Linstid Boone, wife of Thomas Boone who sold a strip of land for the Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line Railroad in 1896. It wasn’t until 1906 that Boone Railroad Station was built. Also, in 1906 the third 91.5 acre plot that was part of Randall’s Purchase was sold to politically influential brothers Frank and Henry Riggs including the original brick farmhouse that still exists as a residence.
The same year, attorney Oscar Hatton purchased and developed the land that would become Severna Park as a vacation community near the beach and created The Severna Company to manage it. The neighborhood remained Boone, however, until the U.S. Post Office officially change its name to Severna Park in 1925. Two years later, St. John the Evangelist Church was built with no inkling that it would undergo two transformations.
An official relaunch of the building as Boone Station Hall in the form of a late day reception and ribbon cutting will take place in November. Meantime, Elder reports that her staff is already seeing an increase in inquiries about renting the space. For information about Boone Station Hall, visit SPCC Home (spcommunitycenter.org).
Little did Sarah Elder realize that, 15 minutes earlier, a committee from Woods Church had been on the grounds of Boone Station Hall mapping out locations for booths and activities for their September 12th Kick-Off Sunday Picnic.
Woods Church’s annual Kick-Off Sunday Picnic to be held September 12
Making a comeback after being canceled last year due to the pandemic, Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church’s annual Kick-Off Sunday Picnic will be held outdoors following worship services on Sunday, September 12 from noon to 2 pm. As always, the community is invited. According to Kick-Off committee members Liz Pringle, Nancy Goetschius and John McLaughlin, the theme for this year’s Kick-Off, is “A Closer Walk” and many wonderful activities are planned to take place across the entire Woods campus.
Though McLaughlin would be responsible for setting up everything on Kick-Off Sunday, he left it to Pringle and Goetschius to determine where each activity would take place. Armed with a folder of plans for the event and a small map, the women were going over the layout beginning with the church lawn where tables for various ministries would be set up.
They tried to visualize where the Welcome Ministry table had been set up in 2019 when manned by Karen Strange, Nancy Noland and Maribelle Carter or the table where Dixie Smith, Cathy Officer and Sharon West from the Prayer Shawl Ministry sat knitting. Like then, the idea is to emphasize the importance of each ministry or activity while making all parts of the event fun.
To that end, a dunk tank and moon bounce will be installed in a yet-to-be-determined location and there will be games children and adults can participate in together. Little kids can paint rocks for the Ebenezer Stone Garden or can play a “Find The Chipmunk” game locating faux chipmunks hidden along one of the pathways.
However, there’s so much more to do.
“Our primary idea for “A Closer Walk” is to better acquaint our church members, friends and neighbors with the wooded areas and gardens surrounding Woods,” Pringle said. “We’re inviting attendees to join us for what we’re calling ‘Woods Walks’ with two pathways to follow – a Spiritual Walk and an Environmental Walk.”
Pamphlets like the one to the right will be given out that contain a map with points of interest clearly marked and information about each site along the pathways.
The Spiritual Pathway will highlight the facade of the church and landmark objects like the church bell cracked by lightning in 1987 that now rests beneath a pergola and the Centennial Cross decorated by children and erected during Woods’ 100th Anniversary in 2011. There are meditation and bible gardens, Lilypad Cymbals, a Labyrinth designed by the late Elizabeth Wyble to mirror one at Chartres Cathedral in France, and Ellie’s Moonflower Garden donated by Matt and Ashleigh Wyble in memory of their daughter Ellie.
The Environmental Walk will highlight much of the environmental work done by Woods Church members who believe in being good stewards of the land. (They’ve won several awards for their projects.) The walk will wind through areas of native flowers along a recently planted embankment……..
………and through the Woods Gardners’ much praised Parking Lot Gardens where native sun loving plants do well and can also absorb runoff from storms.
Walkers will then pass gardens around the sidewalks where flowers like Black Eyed Susans thrive……….
……..and on to the edge of “the Woods at Woods”. Each plant will have a marker identifying it so people can figure out the names of plants or flowers and observe the conditions where they are growing.
Since food is a very important part of the Kick-Off Sunday Picnic, Pringle and Goetschius next crossed to the lawn of Boone Hall Station where a buffet will be laid out near the picnic tables. In addition to the buffet, there will be room for chairs in front of the portico (pictured below behind the women) where there will be live music. The group Chozen from Wayman Good Hope AME Church will perform gospel music from their new CD.
“Unlike other years, the hot dogs, chips, and salads served will be prepackaged in accordance COVID recommendations.,” Pringle said.
The pair are looking forward to resuming the annual picnic and hope past attendees will invite new friends and neighbors. For more information visit Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church (woodschurch.org)
Sunset Restaurant Back Bar now open
Following up on a tip from reader Mike Milord, we have news to share about the Sunset Restaurant at 625 Greenway Road in Glen Burnie which was forced to close because of the pandemic related shutdowns. The Sunset Restaurant Back Bar is now open with packaged goods and drinks available as well as some food. They will remain open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 am to 9 pm through the end of the year although the restaurant is for sale. I was told they may even open a small dining room to handle some of the food service though the food is also available for carry out. Milord said he’ll immediately be calling to see if they are serving some of the menu items that made the restaurant a local favorite.
