Next Emerson HOA Board Meeting Moved to June 1st

The next Emerson HOA Board of Directors Meeting, originally scheduled for May 27th, has been moved to June 1st (Monday of the following week):

Date: Mon., June 1, 2015
Time: 7 PM
Location: Emerson Clubhouse

Local History: By Any Other Name

Have you ever wondered where the names of the communities and streets in our region came from? Here's a partial list:

• Emerson: named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American essayist and poet who led the 19th Century Transcendentalist movement. Names of streets and neighborhoods in Emerson are derived from his works.
• Atholton High School: named for Athol Manor, the historic home in nearby Martin Road Park built by the Reverend James McGill who was granted the land parcel "Athol" in 1732 to establish a new Church of England in Maryland. He supposedly named the granite building after his boyhood home in Scotland.
• Freetown Road: the road where Atholton High School sits is named after Freetown, established in 1845 by 17 freed slaves from Athol on 150 acres of land from the estate.

Water, Water Everywhere

When we all moved into Autumn Walk a few years ago Howard County had been under water restriction constraints for several summers in a row, with severe curbs on outdoor watering and car washing through 2012.

But the area wasn't suffering from drought, so why were we under restrictions?

It was a function of how we get our water: most of the public water in Howard County comes from the Baltimore system, and the supply lines were being upgraded or repaired during that period.

Howard County's Water Supply
Most of the heavily-populated, eastern third of Howard County (which includes Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Jessup, Savage, and our own North Laurel) gets its public water supply from Baltimore City through large water mains.

From the 2013 Howard County Water Quality Report (PDF)

Autumn Walk HOA Elections on June 15th

The next Autumn Walk HOA Elections will be on Monday, June 15th at 7 PM in the Emerson Clubhouse.

One position with a 3-year term is open on the Autumn Walk HOA Board of Directors. Nominations are due by Monday, June 1st by submitting the form you will receive in the mail.

You can also download the nomination form here: 2015 Nomination Form

Autumn Walk HOA Elections

Date: Monday, June 15, 2015
Time: 7 PM
Location: Emerson Clubhouse

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Here is the announcement you will receive in the mail within a few days:

May 14, 2015                                          Re: Request for Board Members

Dear Autumn Walk Homeowner:

The Annual Meeting of the Members is scheduled for Monday, June 15, 2015.  More information about the meeting will be mailed to you in the coming weeks. 

An election will be held for those interested in filling a seat on the Board of Directors. We are currently looking for community members interested in serving. No experience is necessary to be on the Board -- just an interest in your community and a few hours of your time.

At this time the Board consists of three (3) members. Currently there is one (1) position up for re-election. 

If you are interested in running for the Board, please fill out the form below and on the other side and return it in time for management to receive it by Monday, June 1, 2015.

Montpelier Mansion (Laurel, MD) Photo Album

The historic 1785 Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, MD of Major Thomas and Anne Ridgely Snowden is only about 10 miles away from Emerson, and was one of the large plantations that once occupied this part of Maryland. But the real wealth of the property came from mining for iron ore and rock.

Over the years the mansion has had many famous visitors, including George and Martha Washington, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Today the home has been preserved as a museum.

The property also hosts the Montepelier Arts Center, with both artists-in-residence and a regular schedule of performances.

Montpelier Mansion

Dinosaur Park (Laurel, MD)

Did you know that many of the dinosaur fossils discovered in the US east of the Mississippi were found in Maryland?

A tiny park in Laurel called "Dinosaur Park" commemorates the first fossil finds in the 1850's but is also an active 41-acre paleontological site, open on Saturday mornings twice a month for fossil searches.

Dinosaur Alley
"Dinosaur Alley" is a region filled with dinosaur and plant fossils that roughly corresponds to the Route 1 corridor in Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia.

During the final dinosaur era, the Cretaceous period roughly 145M to 66M years ago, Maryland was a flat coastal plain with winding rivers, comparable to southern Louisiana today.

Emerson Pool Party RSVPs due Wed. 5/13

RSVPs for the 2015 Emerson Pool Party are due this Wednesday, May 13th. Send a response to the Emerson Community Manager with your name, property address, and the number of adults and the number of children attending.

If you miss this deadline you will have to wait until 2:30 PM for admission on the day of the event!

Date: Saturday, June 13, 2015
Time: 1 PM - 4 PM
Location: Clubhouse Parking Lot

RSVPs due Wednesday, May 13, otherwise you will have to wait till 2:30 PM for admission on the day of the event

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The announcement from Emerson:

Community Pool Party

Lost Ark Distilling to Open in Howard County This Fall

Lost Ark Distilling has announced plans to open the first craft distillery in Howard County by September 2015. They recently signed a lease on space in the same office park as Jailbreak Brewing on Route 1.

The owners were making home-brew beer but decided when they began exploring business opportunities that the craft beer market has become too crowded (though Jailbreak Brewing seems to be thriving!).

Production is expected to include 2500-3000 cases of rum and whiskey, with tastings later in the year.

About Lost Ark

Springtime in Emerson

It's been a gorgeous Spring and a few weeks ago many of the trees were in full flower, especially the cherry trees and dogwoods.

Here's a photo album from throughout the Emerson community. The order is slightly random, but maybe you can guess where each photo was taken!

Wine in the Woods on May 16-17 (Columbia, MD)

Each year Howard County Recreation and Parks hosts Wine in the Woods, an outdoor wine festival in Columbia's Symphony Woods next to Merriweather Post Pavilion. This year the event will be on May 16-17, 2015.

Started in 1991, Wine in the Woods now welcomes over 25,000 attendees each year with over 30 wineries from across Maryland participating.

Wine education seminars are included with the admission fee, and there are also Wine Check locations where patrons can leave purchased bottles of wine so they don't have to carry them around.

The festival also includes artisans and crafters, live bands on two stages, and food vendors.

There will also be a Wine in the Woods 5K Run in Centennial Park a week prior to the festival, on Saturday, May 9th.

Tickets

Emerson: Yard Sale, Bradwell Park

More news from Emerson:

1. Emerson Annual Yard Sale on Saturday, May 2 @ 8 AM - 12 Noon (Clubhouse Parking Lot, 8400 Upper Sky Way, Laurel, MD 20723)

• Set-up can begin as early as 7 AM
• Participation is free to all Emerson residents
• The event is advertised in local papers
• Weather forecast looks good (74 degrees and partly cloudy)

Guidelines are still roughly the same as in previous years: Emerson Yard Sale  (2013) 

2. Bradwell Park Playground Renovation

• The tot lot at Bradwell Park will be closed all of next week for renovation
• Closed Mon., May 4 - Fri., May 8

Stephens Road Update

The following was sent by Emerson's Master HOA to the community email list on 4/24/15:

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Stephens Road Update

One of our homeowners was kind enough to contact Howard County and get an update on the status of Stephens Road resurfacing.  Listed below is what we were told:    


Howard County’s Transportation & Special Projects Division within our Bureau of Engineering has a Capital Project - J4202 to reconstruct this section of Stephens Road. 

The project entails widening of the roadway, raising the bridge out of the floodplain and add sidewalks where they are missing. 

Input on Local Emerson Traffic (Gorman & Skylark)

Emerson Master HOA sent a message to residents asking them to go to the Howard County WalkHoward wiki to click "agree" on suggestions to add sidewalks to Gorman Road on the stretch between Skylark Blvd and Leishear Road.

The deadline for this input is Thursday, April 30, 2015.

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The message from Emerson:

Emerson Residents have a voice with Howard County. There is a website where County residents can see projects being planned or request projects (like sidewalks where none are). Log into "Walk Howard" by clicking on http://wikimapping.net/wikimap/Howard-County-Ped-Plan.html. 

You will need to register if this is your first time; when a map comes up you can select the icons and "agree" with a proposed project. Right now we are asking our community to “agree” with the requests for a sidewalk/shoulder on Gorman road going towards Leishear.  

The county will address safety concerns on a scenic road. Putting in at least a shoulder is in the art of the possible.  

WE ONLY HAVE UNTIL APRIL 30TH

Gorman Crossing PTA Chick-Fil-A Fundraiser Thurs. April 30th

Next Thursday from 5 PM - 8 PM the Johns Hopkins Road location of Chick-fil-A will have a fundraiser for Gorman Crossing Elementary School's PTA!

Let the cashier know it's a fundraiser for Gorman Crossing before placing your order. Thanks and see you there!

Gorman Crossing PTA Fundraiser

Chick-Fil-A
10975 Johns Hopkins Road
Laurel, MD 20723

Date: Thursday, April 30th
Time: 5 PM - 8 PM

Tell the cashier this is for the Gorman Crossing fundraiser before placing your order

Howard County One of Only 41 US Counties Rated AAA

Howard County announced on March 20th that our county is one of only 41 counties from among the over 3000 counties in the US to receive the highest AAA rating from all three major debt rating agencies.

This is the 18th year in a row that Howard has achieved this rating.

Fitch, Standard and Poor's, and Moody's all gave Howard County a AAA rating with a positive outlook based upon prudent fiscal management and a strong and diverse tax base.