Celebrating Bel Air’s 150th birthday

Given my love of history, I found it hard to stay away from a historical celebration of my new town.  It’s not often you encounter anyone or anything turning 150.  The actual anniversary was earlier this month on the 11th, but for some reason the two decided that today would be the official public celebration (although the town was encouraging everyone to ring a bell at noon on the 11th to memorialize the actual date).  The weather wasn’t exactly cooperating, but the rain was rather light and so not that dissuasive to me from participating.

The celebration took place in the Armory, which is a castle-looking building on Main Street.  I have driven past the building many times and was always curious about it.  It turns out to be a local event venue, seating about 200 people, so it’s a great place for speeches, meetings, weddings, etc. When I walked inside, I found a number of tables/booths established, each representing one of the many local concerns in the community.

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I went by each of these stations, taking pictures and pamphlets as I was interested.  One of the first items to elicit that interest was a timeline of Harford County, of which Bel Air is the county seat.  Just this tidbit of history was fascinating to me and further endeared me to my new local community.  Next to the timeline were two pictures of the historic Hayes House, which is the first house built in the area, is currently undergoing renovation, and will open soon for the public to tour.

At the far end of the meeting hall was a huge replica of the county seal along with some historical artifacts and a female greeter in historical dress to answer questions people might have.  I confess I was surprised (and pleasantly so) to see the county seal containing the motto “At the risque of our lives an fortunes,” a snippet from the Bush Declaration, signed in Harford County well before the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadephia and containing the same sentiments from the signatories of sacrifice for freedom.

Having spent so much time already in the local library, I had to stop by the booth for the library, especially when they were displaying posters describing the history behind the library.  Reading through the history of the place where I now live, I wondered about all of the history in the places where I have lived all over the country.  They weren’t celebrating any 150-year birthdays, and not having some event like that which invites the public in to learn more made that history more difficult to access.  That said, if I had really wanted it, I could have gone out and gotten it.

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My gratitude for the ease of that access for my new local community then came to the fore as I saw actual wooden nickels on display.  They were from a centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town.  I had never before seen wooden nickels, though I remember hearing about them years ago.  Now with actual bona fide wooden nickels in front of me, I had to check them out and take a pic.

I also had to check out displayed right next to the wooden nickels a commemorative plate made for the same centennial celebration.  What I find fascinating about the plate is the collection of notable buildings from across the history of the community.  I’m not a huge fan of architecture, but I do love history, and seeing this type of object makes me wonder about the connections that might be made in its use.  Eating food off a plate like this could be seen as taking the history of the place into you as you consume your meal.  Plus seeing the Oddfellows Lodge in the upper left gets that classic R.E.M. tune playing in my head: “Oddfellows Local 151 behind the firehouse, where Pee Wee sits upon the wall to preach . . . .”

The celebration event was much more than was inside the meeting hall.  After exiting the building, I decided to take a tour of the garden located on the side of the building.  The garden contained a public chess/checker board which some young whipper snapper had constructed as an Eagle Scout project, a very worthwhile effort.  I remembered by own Eagle Scout project and regretted the changes that Scouting has made since I was a part of it.  I’d probably be more supportive of and more active within the organization today otherwise.

Behind the garden is a huge courtyard area, probably used for public speeches back in the day.  Behind that area is the back of the building, and here I found two interesting surprises.  The first was an old-time fire truck, which looks to be about as old as I am, maybe a bit older than that.  The second surprise was a trolley car dating back to 1915.  I was invited inside the car.  Up front is a driver section with a control dashboard that looks like something from 1965 rather than 1915.  Behind the driver section is a seating area on one side that does look something from 1915 and a model train track display in the other side.  The display runs the length of the trolley, so I couldn’t fit it all into one shot, meaning making another video.

All in all, it was great event, and I’m glad I stopped by.  I feel a greater sense of appreciation for my new community, a greater connection to it, and a greater desire to participate more in it.  Yes, I am already volunteering a couple of hours each week, but I feel like I need to do more than that.  I’m not sure what that will turn out to be, but time will certainly tell that tale.