Mt. Washington Post

Baltimore Clayworks’ 30th Anniversary Gala

Jonathan Cooper — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:49:43 +0000

In celebration of thirty years of promoting their mission of developing and sustaining a community focused on ceramic arts, Baltimore Clayworks is planning a two-day gala on September 24th and 25th.

Here is a selection of the events:

Friday evening, September 24 – In celebration of fine art, food and friends, George Ciscle, curator in residence at MICA, is presenting 30 selected pieces of distinctive art work donated from contemporary artists and collectors for a preview auction and cocktail party at Clayworks. After cocktails and bidding, the party will continue with dinner and entertainment at David and Marla Oros’ signature home in Roland Park (featured in Style Magazine July 2009). The pieces will be exhibited at Clayworks starting September 13th.

Saturday day, September 25 – Curt Decker, collector of Pre-Colombian antiquities, will open up his home in Mt. Vernon for a brunch and opportunity to delight in his private collection.

Saturday evening, September 25 – The 30th Anniversary Clay Ball will be held at the American Visionary Arts Museum and feature silent and live auctions led by MPT actor and presenter, Bob Heck, a seated dinner by Innovative Gourmet, the smooth sounds of the Rob Reason Jazz Group and access to some of the best ceramic art in the country.

Oh — and there will be stilt walking and contortionists. Head over to the Clayworks site for details.

Canning and Freezing the Summer’s Bounty—A How-To Class

Jonathan Cooper — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:57:32 +0000

The Park School is hosting a number of events in the coming months with topics in the area of gardening and food. One such event will feature Mt. Washington’s own Larry Kloze and his wife, Vicki.

Larry, a master gardener who has been featured in past articles, and Vicki will teach class attendees how to preserve excess produce from your garden (or CSA) by using proper canning and freezing practices.

From the class description:

The class also includes theory, techniques, and food safety guidelines. Larry and Vicki have been feeding their family for many years from their backyard plot and they rarely go to the grocery store to purchase vegetables. Learn how you too can savor the summer’s harvest throughout the year.

The class will be held on Monday, October 4th from 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. for a cost of $20. All proceeds benefit Park’s Lower School Organic Garden. Contact lrosenberg@parkschool.net for details (enrollment is limited to 25).

Photo: eren | thisvintagechica

Eco-Friendly Renovations Part 5 – Oakshire Road

Polly Bart — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:54:42 +0000

This is the fifth in a series of articles about green building and renovating in Mount Washington. The articles were all written by Polly Bart, a PhD who has been working as a builder for more than 20 years. Polly founded Greenbuilders, Inc. in 2004. The company mission is to help change the construction industry to better preserve and restore the environment. Greenbuilders accomplishes this through “green” home renovations and additions, and through consulting on commercial projects. Each story will focus on a different project in Mount Washington; as each home and family in Mount Washington is different, so are the green choices and impacts of each of the projects. – SK

The Art of the Small (Green Project)

Renovations projects do not have to be large and conspicuous to help lead us to a greener future. This is illustrated by a series of projects completed by Greenbuilders, Inc. over the past two years at the home of Merritt Pridgeon and Phil Closius on Oakshire Road in Mt. Washington, each at a cost of $7-15,000.

The first call was for a drainage problem. Experts had informed the owners that their main storm drain on one side of the house was clogged and could not be repaired without costly digging up of the vegetated hillside between the house and the street storm drain. We proposed instead to create a new drain from the downspouts to the vegetated hillside, with the end area protected with broken rocks salvaged from an earlier project. This was inexpensive and, most important, stormwater dispersed this way into vegetation returns to the aquifer where it’s needed, not to the Chesapeake Bay, where it is too rich and polluted to be useful.

While we were there, we installed a whisky barrel as a rainbarrel, on a drystacked platform of local stone, and two small fountains to give interest and the sound of water for the homeowners’ favorite patio.

The second project was to create a special space for the woman of the house, on the third floor in a little-used room. Merritt wanted to keep the original floor of wide boards, so we sanded lightly and added several layers of nontoxic finish in tints of natural with purple and sand overtones to remind her of a beach cottage from her childhood. The finishing touch was an oversized sunflower painting in the middle of the floor, honoring Merritt’s fondness for this flower.

Next to this private space was a guest bathroom. We had many ideas for rearranging and expanding this space, but the clients eventually decided to conserve materials and money by leaving everything where it was. We replaced what needed updating and added a shower with glass wall and door, mounted European style on the edge of the tub. This looked great but took up no additional room.

For a green finish, the clients decided to try clay plaster in a sea foam color. Clay plaster is made from — clay (from New Mexico) and a natural colorant. The material is trowelled on by hand as a sanded primer and two coats of clay, then hard trowelled to produce a smooth but textured finished surface. The material is completely nontoxic and acts as a natural humidifier, absorbing moisture when there’s dampness, and releasing it when the air is dry. Best of all, cleaning is a snap.

Most recently, the clients called Greenbuilders just before putting in a concrete parking pad next to the garage. “Is there any way to do this green?” was the question? We thought a few minutes and asked “What about cobblestones?” The result is beautiful with salvaged cobbles in a subtle shading of stone tones, set in stone dust so the surface is water permeable.

Green “points” are earned for the reused material and for avoiding the use of concrete (making concrete is one of the major sources of pollution in the US). Reduction of stormwater runoff and an appearance consistent with the historic neighborhood were also project benefits.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Waldorf for New Classrooms – Help Plant a New Garden!

Jonathan Cooper — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:58:43 +0000

On September 1st, The Waldorf School of Baltimore will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new preschool and kindergarten classrooms. At the ceremony, students who have attended the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade will be honored.

June Fletcher-Hill, Development Manager for the school, provided the following information:

Based on the Waldorf curriculum, four light-filled and spacious classrooms and a garden play area have been designed and built for the Children’s Garden, the preschool and kindergarten program. At the Ceremony, the classrooms will be dedicated and everyone will be invited to participate in planting a garden for the new playground.

Photo: The Waldorf School of Baltimore

Learn How To Tell Your Story From the Experts

Jonathan Cooper — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:52:26 +0000

Jessica Henkin (left) & Laura Wexler (right)

For those unfamiliar with the wildly popular Stoop Storytelling series, which now regularly sells out Center Stage, seven preselected storytellers are given the opportunity to stand on-stage and tell a true seven-minute story on a common theme without notes. In addition, three audience member volunteers tell three-minute stories on the same theme just after the intermission.

Now Stoop Storytelling co-hosts Jessica Henkin and Laura Wexler will be at the Waldorf School on Saturday, October 23rd to run a storytelling workshop to help you craft your life stories.

The workshop will run from 1:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m. and the cost is $45 per person. Contact Jennifer Downs to register.

Check out stoopstorytelling.com for more information about the series.

Baltimore Summer Restaurant Week Going On Now

Jonathan Cooper — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:47:17 +0000

We wanted to remind everyone that Baltimore Summer Restaurant Week is going on right now and ends August 22nd.

Neighborhood restaurants Crepe du Jour and the Mt. Washington Tavern are taking part in the fun. This year, participating establishments are offering a fixed price menu for lunch and/or dinner for $20.10 and $35.10, respectively.

This time around, one of the entrée options at Crepe du Jour happens to be one of my favorites — the Crêpe Ocèanique, consisting of jumbo lump crab, shrimp, goat cheese and asparagus. Also in the offing are signatures dishes Crêpe Mount Washington (apples, strawberries, and Nutella; lunch) and escargots (dinner).

The choices at the Tavern are equally appealing and feature such items as a watermelon salad, a fried green tomato sandwich (lunch), and soft shell crab (dinner).

To see the full prix fixe menus for all participating restaurants, visit Baltimore Restaurant Week’s website.

Shoezooz Review!

Jonathan Cooper — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:14:09 +0000

When I first saw Shoezooz, the brainchild of designer and Mt. Washington resident Ellen Lichtman, two thoughts immediately and simultaneously ran through my head: “brilliant!” and “why didn’t I think of that?”.

Beautifully designed, Shoezooz consist of pairs of stickers that go in the bottom of children’s shoes; one sticker in the pair depicts the left half of an adorable barnyard animal, and the other shows the right half. Both have accompanying textual labels. When the shoes are placed next to each other properly, the animal is put back together.

After I got over my initial feeling of awe/jealousy, I had two more thoughts in quick succession. The first being: “that is a darn good-looking website“, and the second being: “I must purchase this product”.

And purchase it I did — but not for me. No, I learned to match my left shoe to my left foot and my right shoe to my right foot years ago. But, as it just so happens, we have a Montessori-trained four-year-old young man living in our house who is smart, funny, creative, independent, and can’t for the life of him figure out which shoe goes on which foot. If it’s possible, this particular child seems to get it wrong more than fifty percent of the time. In other words, we have the perfect test subject.

Shoezooz come in packs of three (a cow, a sheep, and a pig) for a very reasonable price of $5.99 (if you think that six bucks is a lot for a sheet of stickers, just consider how much it might be worth to you to never again have to utter the phrase, “your shoes are on the wrong feet” and wait for them to be switched).

When ours arrived, our subject carefully considered the three options and finally decided to try the pig stickers on for size. He named her Penelope and we installed her in the appropriate footwear.

Since that moment four weeks ago, our son has not put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot. These days, he barely glances at Penelope before donning his shoes and heading out the door. While not a scientific study in the strictest sense, I’d call it a success.

Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre Presentations – including Mt. Washington Actor Jeff Burch

Sarah Keogh — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:46:57 +0000

Neighbor Jeff Burch, who lives on Pill Hill, is appearing in a production opening this coming Friday, July 23rd at CCBC in Essex. The show is Curtains and it is a production at Cockpit in Court running through August 8th. There is also a second production, Angel Street, running on the same dates. More information about Cockpit in Court and box office information can be found at the CCBC Cockpit in Court website. Broadway World provides the following details about both shows:

Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre Presents CURTAINS And ANGEL STREET 7/23-8/8

Mystery, mirth and mayhem abound for the second half of Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre’s 38th season featuring “Curtains, the Musical Mystery Whodunit” and “Angel Street” (Gaslight).

“Curtains” is all about the Theatre with a capital “T.” When someone kills the supremely untalented leading lady during her curtain call on opening night, police inspector Lt. Frank Cioffi is summoned to take the case. While he is solving the murder, the cast is solving recasting the female lead — since the show must go on. The cast – after being locked inside the theatre during the investigation – continue to rehearse the show. Join us and unravel this musical mystery “whodunit.” Based on a book by Rupert Holmes with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, “Curtains” is directed by Tom Wyatt.

The featured actors (pictured from the center seated) include: Becca Vourvoulas of Essex as Bambi Bernet, John Desmone of Stewartstown, PA as Christopher Belling, Holly Pasciullo of Catonsville as Georgia Hendricks. John Amato of Canton as Oscar Shapiro, Liz Boyer-Hunnicutt of Perry Hall as Carmen Bernstein, Ron Giddings of Arnold as Bobby Pepper, Amy Pierson of Baltimore City as Niki Harris, Jeffrey Burch of Mount Washington as Aaron Fox and Chuck Graham of Hamilton as Lt. Frank Cioffi. (Photo by Amy Jones Photography.)

“Curtains” runs from July 23 through August 8 on the Mainstage in the B Building at CCBC Essex, 7201 Rossville Boulevard. Tickets ($18 general admission, $16 for seniors (60+) and $12 for children 12 years and under) are available from the CCBC Box Office at 443-840-ARTS or online at www.ccbcmd.edu/arts.

If you are of a certain age, you will remember Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotton in the psychological thriller “Gaslight.” “Angel Street” is the original play by Pat Rick Hamilton upon which the film is loosely based. The story centers on a husband (Jack) and wife (Bella) who live on Angel Street in 19th century London when gaslights illuminated homes. The play involves a murder in the past, current unexplained happenings in the home and a letter. Bella begins to doubt herself. Is she losing her mind? Or is her husband, Jack, a suavely sinister man trying to drive her into insanity? The appearance of a police inspector to solve the 15 year old murder adds to the drama.

Christopher Millard of Towson as Jack Manningham and Beth Weber of Hamden as Bella star in this twisted tale directed by Todd Pearthree. (Photo by Amy Jones Photography.)

Supporting actors in this ensemble cast are: Holly Gibbs of Baltimore as Nancy, Thomas Peters of Parkville as Inspector Rough, Alan Berlett of Perry Hall as the policeman and Carol Conley Evans of Owings Mills as Elizabeth.

“Angel Street” runs July 30 through August 8 in the cabaret theatre on the second floor of the B Building at CCBC Essex. For tickets or information about Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre productions, contact the CCBC Box Office at 443-840-ARTS or go online to www.ccbcmd.edu/arts.

2nd Baltimore Alley Aerial Festival – including Mount Washington Mara Neimanis

Sarah Keogh — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:58:37 +0000

Support Mount Washington neighbors Mara Neimanis, Bryce Butler and In-Flight Theater as they present the 2nd Baltimore Alley Aerial Festival this weekend. The events will take place in Graffiti Alley behind Load Of Fun (120 West North Avenue at Howard St) for three days, July 23rd, 24th and 25th. This will be fun for the whole family in a unique venue. Details are below and more information and tickets can be found online:

Photo: Mara Neimanis, festival organizer, and Tim Scofield rehearse their aerial clown piece for the 2nd Baltimore Alley Aerial Festival on Tim’s sculpture “Tower”

In-Flight Theater Presents:

The 2nd Baltimore Alley Aerial Festival

July 23rd & 24th at 8pm

July 25th at 1pm

Load Of fun 120 West North Ave at Howard

Let your imagination fly to a world where aerial artists soar and

swing surrounded by the swirl of vibrant graphics and colors, in

Baltimore’s only alleyway dedicated to the vibrant art of urban

graffiti!

The Baltimore Aerial Festival returns for it’s 2nd year

featuring aerial artists from Baltimore and DC for 3 days of cutting

edge, site specific aerial performances for the whole family!!

Performers Include:

Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, Updraft, A Conspiracy Of

Movement, Emma Jaster & Mathew Pearson, Kristen Faber & Jessica

Buccaro, Arachne Aerial Arts, Eric Gorsuch, Kel Millionie, Meagan

Berg, Lucy Morris, Gwynne Flanagan & Kate Winston, and featuring In-

Flight Theater’s Tim Scofield & Mara Neimanis performing on aerial

sculpture created by Tim Scofield!

The show will run a hour and twenty minutes with performances

appropriate for all ages. Seating will be provided for those who need

it.

Fantastic mobile sculpture, daring and poetic performances of flight

amidst an urban landscape of wall-to-wall color, create a wondrous and

unique event not to be missed!

Graffiti Alley behind Load Of Fun

120 North Ave at Howard

Baltimore, MD

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/115446 or at the door-cash

only.

For information: www.in-flighttheater.com or www.loadoffun.net or 410 800 8685

Dont miss this exciting event for the whole family…Let Your

Imagination Fly!!

Healthy Eating Classes at Whole Foods – Many Geared for Back to School

Sarah Keogh — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:54:26 +0000

The schedule of Healthy Eating classes for August has been announced and includes a back to school theme. All of the classes are held on Tuesdays in the Café at the Mount Washington Whole Foods (except for two on Wednesday August 11th and 18th – still at WFM). Please see the descriptions below and the phone number to register (I have also included a final class in July). For more information, contact Molly Kushner at 410.532.6700.

July 27th - Gluten Free Cooking Class

If you are gluten free or want to learn how to make gluten free items, this class is for you. Learn from our Healthy Eating Specialist, Kristen and Zeke, our wonderfully talented & creative Demo Specialist. Learn tips & recipes for gluten free cooking. Taste everything Zeke prepares. 7pm in café FREE

August 3rd – LOCAL Healthy Eating

Eating locally is healthy for you and healthy for the planet! Join us as we discuss the idea of local foods and sample tasty local produce. Local vendor stories will be shared and good fun will be had by all! 7 pm in the cafe FREE

August 10th – Healthy Dorm Cooking

Heading off to college or know someone who is? Join as we create quick & easy meals & snacks that use simple, healthy ingredients. Take home recipes and try the food! 7 pm in café FREE

August 11th – Book Club – The KIND Diet

Join the Mt. Washington Health Starts Here book club for a review of The KIND Diet by Alicia Silverstone and ongoing discussion of Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Furhman. Come with questions, insights and open ears. Snacks will be provided. Books available for purchase at Whole Foods Market Mt. Washington. 7 pm in cafe. FREE!

August 17th – Reading Food Labels

Learn tips on how to easily evaluate food labels for optimum health for you and your family. Lecture to be followed by store tour. Free pocket guide to take home! 7 pm café FREE

Wednesday, August 18th – Chilled Summer Soups Cooking Class

Soups aren’t just for warming you up; they can refresh and cool you down as well. Join us in the café as we explore two classic summer soups; Gazpacho and Vichyssoise. Recipes and samples will be provided. 7:00pm Café FREE

August 24th – Kids quick & easy lunches

Back to School can be a hectic time of year. Simplify your morning routine with quick and easy kids lunch recipes. Try the food & Take home recipes! 7 pm in café FREE

August 31 – Grab & Go breakfasts

Breakfast is still the most important meal of the day, so make it count! Learn how to make a quick, healthy breakfast in minutes! Join us to sample dishes and take home free recipes. 7 pm in café FREE

For all classes, seating is limited. Please pre-register at Customer Service or call 410.532.6700

Photo: (of a good looking lunch – not directly related to what you might learn) The Gifted Photographer

Mt. Washington Post

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