We see that the Cecil County Young Republican Blog has just announced the creation of a Wes Walker for mayor of Elkton Facebook page.
Click here to go the Walker campaign’s facebook.
Cecil County News from Topix- Commissioners Declare Carroll County a 'Second Amendment Sanctuary' May 24, 2013
- Old Dominion Electric Cooperative Files to Build Environmentally Balanced Energy Facility May 23, 2013
- Commuter Idle: Nearly 4-hour commute costs D.C. worker $1,500 a month May 23, 2013
- Need for probe at BCDC criticized May 23, 2013
- Cecil County Council OKs Budget, Last Minute Cuts to Cops, Schools,... May 23, 2013
- The Summer Of Toll Increases May 22, 2013
- Local Voices: Breast Cancer Testing, Police Unity Ride May 21, 2013
- HdG Driver Charged with DUI after Railroad Incident May 21, 2013
- Md.'s Fourth Casino Hopes To Revive Lakeside Lodge May 21, 2013
- Church burglarized twice in three weeks May 20, 2013
- Cecil Observer
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- Bill Hughes Gazette – Area Images from A Photojournalist
- Window on Cecil County’s Past
- Reflections on Delmarva’s Past
- Cecil County News From Google
- UCBAC: 11 Region Champs in Harford & Cecil Counties - Patch.com May 20, 2013
- ODEC seeks expedited review of Md. power plant proposal - Richmond Times Dispatch May 24, 2013
- Cecil County Stands Up for Second Amendment - Patch.com May 10, 2013
- Cecil County Dream Home: Perryville Stunner - Patch.com May 10, 2013
- Cecil County Seeks Volunteer Firefighters - Patch.com May 10, 2013
- Elkton News from Google
- Fumes at Elkton, Md. school sends 5 to hospital - WTOP May 24, 2013
- Herr says two stick out - West Virginia Football (subscription) May 25, 2013
- Toll-booth confidential: Tales from the highway - Newark Post May 24, 2013
- Abortion clinics lose licenses again - Baltimore Sun May 24, 2013
- Man sentenced for Elkton Acme killing - ABC2 News May 6, 2013
Open It Up and Let Us In!!
With the Elkton Mayoral race heating up, I noticed one of the goals for the new Republican candidate is renewed emphasis on downtown development. Go for it, Wes!! But there is a related story that has been flying below the radar screen for over a year now… a subject that used to be near and dear to the heart of Someone Noticed.
If you review the original purpose of the Someone Noticed blog, it was to be a watch dog, of sorts, of the guardianship that the Historic Elk Landing Foundation was given of the 44 plus acres of land along Little Elk Creek. Well, I look around and I don’t see anything going on at Elk Landing. And I don’t see any public criticism either: not from the Whig, not from The Cecil Guardian, and most conspicuously, not from Someone Noticed. What’s going on here?
Not since September of 2008, has there been a public activity at Historic Elk Landing; with the exception of this spring’s ribbon cutting at the Stone House (which really wasn’t a public event), a ghost hunt, and last week’s Christmas program. Their web site lists nothing on the calendar either. And yet, I look around and I see the Elkton Alliance sponsoring activities. I see the Historical Society of Cecil County open for business. And I see the Arts Council giving tours to school children. They all have regular hours and a healthy cadre of volunteers. (I hear Elk Landing scared away its volunteers!) Why can’t Elk Landing at least take the pad lock off its gate and let the public in to enjoy the grounds, because the public has a right to be there. “We have the right?”, you may ask. Absolutely. I did some checking and it turns out that your tax dollars purchased that Elk Landing land. Your tax dollars paid for much of the house restorations. And your tax dollars continue to protect the facilities that stand barred and shuttered. You should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labors. It’s your right!
So again I say, when is the Historic Elk Landing Foundation board going to unlock the gates, open up the houses, and bring back the historic activities that we have come to expect and, to an extent, paid for? When? Everybody is talking about economic recovery from our Mayoral candidates to our representatives in Washington. Everybody is talking about educating our children about our history and heritage. Why not open up such tourist attractions as Historic Elk Landing and bring tourist dollars into the area? Sure, the foundation would have to blow the cobwebs off its wallet and spend a dollar or two on programming or at least heat and electricity, but the return, it has been proven time and again, is many times over for the community and for the foundation. I enjoyed it. My kids enjoyed it. My grandchildren enjoyed it. We miss it and we have the right to it!
Come on Elk Landing board, open it up and let us in!!!
Publius:
So the warming up of the mayor’s race caught your attention. It’ll be interesting to watch this season since there are at least four candidates talking about running.
What catches our attention right now is a very important subject, the revitalization of downtown Elkton. That is an an important undertaking and Wes is making it a central part of his campaign. But we should also add that Mayor Fisona has been committed to revitalizing downtown. He and earlier Mayor Alt committed resources to bring vitality back to the central business district beginning over 10 years ago.
It’ll be interesting as the candidates dig into this subject to understand what needs to be done to revitalize the town, considering that it has importance to the municipality and to at least one candidate.
On your query about our why we and the print media haven’t been critical of Elk Landing, here’s our answer. We’re surprised you would think a print brand would touch the story. We couldn’t get them to cover the property transaction, which was right in front of them.
Our role as a watchdog, as you term it, came about because the town was trying to hand some of that land over to a developer. Fortunatley that eventually came to a halt, after lots and lots of meeting and much noise so we haven’t been focused that much on Elk Landing, but we do see the point you’re making.
Well, I’m glad you see my point and I appreciate your posting my comments per public openness, or the lack thereof, at Historic Elk Landing, because, you’re right, the Whig will never touch it. Your blog indicates that it was established “Originally concentrating on saving some Public Open Space.” This issue IS saving public space. In some ways, it’s worse than what the Town Commissioners were trying to do. Has anyone read the rules about open space? Do they require land acquired through an open space grant to be made available for public use? It would make sense. Maybe that’s a next step for Someone Noticed.
Publius:
We always thought the opening of Elk Landing as a living history museum exploring the regions role in some important national eventes (Revolution, War of 1812, etc) and the transofmration of the land, would give Elkton, its first real destination cultural center. Imagine if during the summer months you had regular itnerpretive programs there, and costumed interpreters playing various, historically specific roles. Then get it in the AAA book, have signage on the Highway, etc., and promote it. We’d be very pleased with the number of new visitors coming into the town. It seems there were providing more activities a couple of years ago, before the completion of ocnstruction. We may elevate this to a more indepth article soon. There’s a lot of political stuff going on right now with the town.