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Current Events
Neighborhood Watch Meeting
April 3rd, 2008 7:30PM–
Eldersburg Library Large Meeting Room. We will have a
neighborhood Watch meeting with Maryland State Police to cover details
on setting up a Watch Program. We strongly encourage you to attend.
Besides organizing a watch program, this meeting provides an excellent
opportunity to ask questions to local law enforcement and learn more
about malicious activity in our area and how to deal with it.
Please Report Vandalism
February 22nd, 2007 – We have had an increasing number of reports of
vandalism in the neighborhood ranging from graffiti to egging of cars and other
damage to property. We urge you to please report all incidents to the resident
State Police. They do track these cases and in at least one incident charged
individuals with the vandalism after a thorough investigation.
We also have residents
interested in organizing watches and other functions to try to curb this
activity. If you are interested in contacting them, please send us an email (Click Here) and we will forward your email to them.
Carrolltowne
Association Easter Egg Hunt
by Mary
Ellen O'Neill
April 9th, 2006 - If
you happened to drive along MacBeth Way
and Andylin
Way in
Eldersburg on Sunday, and saw a tall, white Easter Bunny carrying a
basket of
colored eggs, no, your eyes were not playing tricks on you. It was
Carrolltowne
Homeowner’s Association’s Annual Easter Egg hunt.
Kelly Lowe, a resident of
Carrolltowne and a seventh grader at Oklahoma Road Middle School,
has been their Easter bunny for the past
two years.
Because
of Saturday’s rain, the event was held on Sunday, at the
homeowner’s
tot lot along Andylin Way.
This association’s
residents live on the streets along West Hemlock Drive,
MacBeth
Way, Gemini Drive,
and Slacks
Road in Eldersburg.
When
Sunday’s sun absorbed the rain off of the grass, volunteers
began setting
up the field of colored eggs, almost 700 in total. A separate
‘carrot patch’
was set up for the children ages 1-3 to look for 200 eggs inside their
own egg
area. The other 500 eggs were strewn across the grassy lot, trees, and
new
playground area, ready to be found, and placed in Easter baskets.
At
2 pm, the Easter Bunny led the smaller kids into the tot lot. Happy
babies
and toddlers and their picture-taking parents, walked to their field of
eggs.
The older kids, ages 4 and10, waited until the little ones were safely
in their
patch, and then the race for eggs began. The children were able to find
about
25 eggs a piece. They were very responsible for counting their
appropriate
amounts. Tommy O’Neill, age 4, said, ‘I can count
to 25. That’s not hard for
me.’
After
finding the eggs, games such as 3-legged races, egg and spoon relays
and
bubble gum blowing contests began. The face-painting booth was a
popular spot.
Residents Colleen Wehner, and her daughter Alex, spent the entire two
hours
decorating children with spring-like art on faces, arms and hands. One
of the
largest age groups were the 7-10 year olds. Their shrieks of laughter
could be
heard throughout the tot lot as they fell during their 5- legged races,
and
when bubble gum popped on their faces.
At
the end of the event, Carrolltowne children left with bags of candy and
prizes, a colorful painted egg or butterfly on their face, and hope for
another
fun time at next year’s Easter event.
Please Clean Up After Your Dog
February 1st, 2006
- This
is a reminder to please clean up after your
dog(s) when walking them through the neighborhood. This includes all
yards, curb areas, and common areas. Unfortunately, "out-of-sight
out-of-mind" does not apply. We have several elementary children who
walk to school and must step around and over these messes. This also
blights our common areas where children use our play equipment. By not
cleaning up after your canines, you create animosity in our
neighborhood between all dog and non-dog owners.
This is a great use for recycling plastic grocery bags and
newspaper sleeves. Please save them and carry them with you when you
walk your dog.
We encourage to please attempt to limit you dogs to the grass areas
between the sidewalks and the street. Be mindful that not everyone has
dogs, and they find having dogs in their yard an invasion and even
offensive. Thank you for your thoughtfulness in this matter.
Group Opposed to Kali Drive
Development
Organized
August 1st, 2005
- A
gathering of
south Carroll County residents has organized a group called Carrolltowne United
to oppose the
development of a 254-unit rental townhouse development just across
Ridge Road from the Carrolltowne community. The group has elected
officers and posted a website: http://www.carrolltowneunited.org.
The website contains much information including a history of the
affair, recent news items, officer information, and links to express
your opinion to public officials. For more information you may contact
Michele Carroll at president@carrolltowneunited.org.
Andylin Tot Lot Playset Installed
July 26th, 2005
- On
Tuesday, July
26th, a new playset was installed in the Andylin common area for use by
Carrolltowne residents. One portion of the play area must be further
expanded at which time an small-child bucket swing will be added.
July
4th Celebration
July 4, 2005
- On
Monday, July 4th, Carrolltowne residents
enjoyed a bike parade on Midsummer Court. About 40 kids
decorated
bikes, wagons and skateboards in patriotic colors and decorations and
then walked up and down the court, to honor our nation’s
birthday.
After the parade, children enjoyed
popsicles.Many thanks to Kelly Storr and neighbors for a fun event!
We are looking
forward to another celebration next year.
Girl Scout Troup 1546 Organizes
Gemini
Cleanup
May 21, 2005
- The
Association extends its sincere thanks
to Girl Scout Troup 1546 for doing a Gemini Common Area / Storm Water
Management Area trash pick up on Saturday, May 21st. Community resident
Ashleigh Kirker (age 9) initiated the clean up as a community service
and organized
it with the help of her mom, Christine Kirker. The girls scouts who
participated included Ashleigh, Erin Simmons, Kathleen Malcotti and
Jamie
Reynolds.
Easter
Egg Hunt a Success
March 19, 2005
- The sun was shining brightly on the Andylin Tot Lot, as the
Carrolltowne Homeowner’s Association sponsored an Easter Egg
Hunt on
Saturday, March 19, 2005. The weather was great and so was the turn out
of children and their parents! We estimate that there were 70 children
on hand for the fun.
The event began with a search for eggs for the toddlers of our
community. Lying in the grass were brightly colored plastic eggs, ready
to be grabbed by little hands. After the Easter Bunny led
them
into their patch, she came back for the eager older children. And they
were off!! The children ran the length of the community property to
find eggs hidden in trees, hills and under the long, spring grass.
After the search was over, and the kids had a chance to sample their
treasures, the games began. The children played Pin the Tail on the
Bunny and pass the beanbag. They took part in 3- legged races
and
egg and spoon races. Prizes were awarded to many winners! The
children also had the opportunity to estimate the number of jellybeans
in a jar and to have their faces painted. There were many happy faces
and lots of laughter during these activities.
The Carrolltowne Association would like to thank all of the families
that came for the fun, and for your positive comments about the event.
We would
also like to thank Jeanne Mayo and Debbie Hoffen for painting of the
signs; for Colleen Wehner for making the bunny costume and for the face
painting; to Kelly Lowe for being our “Easter
Bunny”; to the
Russenberger family for setting up the event and for housing all of the
supplies; to the Reed, Lane, O’Neill, Kirker, Hoffen,
Russenberger and
Skura families for the “ stuffing of the eggs”
activity; to the O’Neill
men for helping me (Mary Ellen) get ready for the event.
We plan on having more family events. If you would like to
help,
please contact Mary Ellen O’Neill. (410-549-9118)
See you all next year for more Easter fun!
Spring
Yard Sale Saturday,
May 7th
March 3, 2005
-
The Carrolltowne Association has scheduled its spring yard sale for
Saturday, May 7th, 2005 from 8:00am to noon. The Assocation will
advertise the event in the Carroll County Times and post signs at the
community entrances. There is no rain date. In the event of inclement
weather, it will be a garage sale during the same hours.
No
Dumpsters
March 3, 2005
-
The Association will not provide roll-off dumpsters in 2005 for yard
waste. Although we understand this has been helpful in the past, there
have also been several problems. Due to issues of non-yard waste
dumping, overfilling, and significantly increased rental
costs,
the board felt it best to forego the roll-offs and preserve our funds
for much needed capital improvement projects. Most area refuse
collectors offer a yard waste pick-up option. Please contact your
collector for more information.
Discount
Refuse Collection
Not Going Forward
February
15, 2005
-
The Carrolltowne Association did not receive enough requests for Area
Refuse to offer the annual discount. As of yesterday we had received 64
of the 130 requests needed for the program. As described in the offer
conditions, we will return your voided checks by mail. Please allow us
7-10 days to get these back to you. We thank everyone for your
interest. The board will continue to look
for other cost saving opportunities that will benefit residents.
Website
Launched
November 1, 2004
- The
Carrolltowne Homeowners
Association is excited to launch this website as a service to our
community.
The address is www.carrolltowne.org.Our goal for the site is to provide
a timely and efficient communications between the Association officers,
committees, volunteers, and our residents. The Assocation will post
community news here, and residents may communicate with the Board and
committees via email through the Contact
Us link. We also hope that you find the other information on
this
site helpful - check out our Current
Events, Useful
Phone Numbers, and Board
of Directors & Meeting Info links on the left. Please
send your
feedback and
suggestions. This site is a work-in-progress, and we need to your help
to ensure that it is accurate and timely.
Andylin
Tot Lot Reclamation
Summer 2004 - Doug
Russenberger
devoted
many long weekends in April 2004 to the cleanup of the Andylin tot lot
equipment. Doug, son of
Carrolltowne residents
Ralph and
Kathy Russenberger, used this community service project to earn his
Eagle Scout
award. In Boy Scouts, the
highest
recognition you can earn is your Eagle Scout Award.
This
is awarded to young men who have earned
a variety of specific merit badges and then take on a service project
to show
leadership, planning and implementation skills.
Doug's
efforts not only resulted in a nicer area, but also in a huge
savings for the Carrolltowne Association! Doug,
with the help of his father, other neighborhood volunteers and
scouts, removed the decaying play set in the open space and rebuilt the
retaining wall. He
also leveled and put
pavement stones in the walkway to the open space to make it more
accessible. Doug's efforts follow those of
another Eagle
Scout resident, Brian Fleming, who built a bridge in the Gemini Andylin
open space. Future
plans for the
Andylin site include installing another play set.
Gemini
Community Sign
Restored
Summer 2004 - In
August 2004, Scott
Gearhart, Kathy Russenberger, and Jeanne and Bob Mayo restored the
community entrance sign located on Gemini Drive near Carrolltowne
Elementary school. Early in 2004 the sign had been marred by graffiti
and was in general disrepair due to weather and age. As part of the
restoration, the sign was sanded and repainted with its original
colors. Thank you to Travis Butler for providing power and equipment.
Andylin,
Gemini and
Wexford Open Space Cleanup
Fall 2003 - In late
summer 2003,
a
contractor was hired by the Carrolltowne Association to do tree
trimming and
clean-up in the Andylin/Gemini/Wexford area open space.
Such
a clean-up had not been done for about
8-10 years and the open space had deteriorated.
The
tot lot itself had rotted in several spots and was unsafe for the
children to play.
The
contractor was
able
to finally do the work in December 2003, after an extremely rainy
summer and
fall, right before the first snowfall.
Many,
if not all, trees in the open space were trimmed and
the entire
area was cleared of fallen branches.
Several
trees were removed, such as the poplar tree in the
center of the
open space which had been struck by lightning at least two times. The contractor spent two full days
doing the
work in the open space.
A
special
thank you goes
to the Grants and DeSimones on Gemini Drive for the use of their
adjoining side
yard, allowing the contractor access to the open space.
It
was a tough call to ask someone to give
permission for truck to drive on their yard (especially with such a
rainy
summer and fall). They
were very
gracious about the situation and the Association appreciates their help. Also, a thank you goes to Dave Balk,
the
Carrolltowne Association Board Member/Treasurer at the time, for his
assistance
as well.
The area
has
improved
greatly after several years of neglect. Grass
is
growing, the swampy ground has dried out, children are playing
in the area again and, overall, the open space looks better. It is up to us as
community members, in
conjunction with the Association's Board members, to maintain the open
space. Since access to the
area is
greatly restricted due to the design of the surrounding property, it
would make
sense to do such clean-ups more frequently.
Then
it may not be necessary to have large equipment use neighbors'
yards for access. It
is also up to the
property owners who surround the open space to help keep the area
clear, by not
storing firewood, fallen branches, etc. on the open space property. Cooperation makes for a
better
community. Thanks to everyoe
for your
patience and assistance in restoring the open space.
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