Carol Kempske, p.6; Gladys Spellman p.7; Words from Bill Preston, p.11 The Collingtonian

Vol. 31 No. 3 A Monthly Publication of The Collington Residents Association March 2019 Our Ambassador of Diversity by Frances Kolarek

Among all Kendal communities, Kendal communities, the issue of Collington claims the most diverse diversity has arisen. Tia Ervin of population. our Marketing staff has gained a Why? sense of how complex this problem can be for some communities in Geography is the easy answer: areas that are predominantly white. We are deep in a county with a Others, affiliated with a university, mixed population, so racial diversity may recruit residents largely from is, so to speak, ready-made. Diver- among alumni, where diversity may sity, however, encompasses more be lacking. than ethnic variety. Tia feels confident that she can Consider religion: A notice help other communities establish outside our Chapel announces re- programs that will lead to greater ligious services for Catholics and Tia Irvin diversity. And she emphasizes that Protestants. (None conflicts with services in residents play a key role here by creating an neighboring churches). Moreover, the notice atmosphere of welcome, enabling all to feel at board lists a two-hour, midday Muslim prayer home. service on Fridays, monthly Unitarian-Universal- ist services and Quaker meetings, and a regular Tia grew up in Philadelphia in a household Jewish Sabbath observance. consisting of a mother, a grandmother, and great- grandparents, all of whom emphasized educa- Consider sexual orientation: Collington tion and self-discipline. After college in San welcomes members of the LGBTQ commu- Francisco, she held a number of jobs, settling on nity and our residents include gay and lesbian real-estate sales, where she worked successfully couples. One lesbian couple was married in a for some years. She has been a member of our ceremony on our campus. Marketing staff for more than five years. At national meetings of marketing staffs of see Tia, p.2 Tia from p. 1

Search Committee Tia is eager to help communities extend a Reports Progress welcome mat to diverse groups. “When you have by Mike McCulley created an environment where visitors feel they could live comfortably, one whose residents During the waning project a sense of inclusivity, you have won half days of February, the the battle,” Tia states. Collington Board Search She was recently offered a position at an Committee met with upstate New York facility, but found herself too principals of Diversified deeply involved in her Collington commitments Search Inc., the firm to accept. Marketing Director Lindsey Hamilton charged with assisting agrees that launching a concerted effort among us in finding a new Ex- Kendal communities is still a work-in-progress – ecutive Director. Mackie MacLean of a very worthwhile project.” From all reports, Diversified Search. progress is being made. In a voicemail mes- sage to me on March 1, Mackie MacLean, Coming in April: A review of music a Managing Partner at Diversified, indicated and drama at Collington in 2018. that initial interviews will commence later this month. Mike Nolin, Chair of the Collin- gton Board, and Chair of the Search Com- mittee, stated in his March 1 letter to the Collington Community, “They [Diversified The Collingtonian Financed by Residents, Search] will be presenting some candidates Written by Residents for Residents to the Search Committee for on-site screen- 10450 Lottsford Road, Mitchellville, MD 20721 ing interviews with the Committee beginning Phone: 301-925-7349 on March 20th. This is a major step forward Published monthly (except July and August) by the Collington Residents Association, Inc. in the recruitment process.” Editor: George Newman; News Editor: Frances We all know that every journey begins Kolarek. Proofreader: Pat Bozeman. Additional staff and contributors for this issue: Mary Bird, Pat Bozeman, with a few small steps. It appears that those Heather Huyck, Carl Koch, Frances Kolarek, Mike small steps are now being taken to help find McCulley, Alice Nicolson, Peter Pfund, Bill Preston (posthumously). a new CEO. No doubt, more news will be Distribution Manager: Ernie Blake. forthcoming in the relatively near future. This issue and all past issues of the Collingtonian are Stay tuned! now online at collingtonresidents.org. The Collingtonian invites all Collington residents to submit articles, photographs and story suggestions, preferably concerning Collington and its people. We also welcome “Letters to the Editor” commenting on the Col- lingtonian and its content. Submissions may be e-mailed to [email protected] or placed in the Collingtonian 2 The Collingtonian March 2019 mailbox. All submissions are subject to editing for length, clarity and style. computer analyst for the Anne Arundel Board of Education. They met while square dancing. A We Welcome son lives in Florida and a daughter is in North Our New Neighbors Carolina. Anita has five grandchildren, ages 7 to 20. She and Pat Johns have been friends for Anita Myers: Miniaturist and Much More more than 20 years and were charter members By Pat Bozeman of the Inch by Inch Miniature Club in Annapolis. Anita grew up in the Baltimore It was through Pat that Anita learned about Col- area and pursed journalism in lington. When her second husband died and college. She enjoys writing and she found that she didn’t really want to shoulder has had articles and photogra- the upkeep of her house in Arnold, Md., along phy published in several miniaturist magazines. with the pool and property, she looked at other Currently, she is working on her father’s mem- communities online and also considered a move oirs from World War II; he had many interesting to Florida to be closer to her son. In the end, adventures serving in North Africa and Europe, knowing Pat, the pull to the overall friendliness of which he wrote about contemporaneously and Collington and the nearness to old friends in the later in life. general area won the day. Anita’s employment history has been diverse, Anita publishes a quarterly regional newsletter including positions at Martin Marietta during the for the National Association of Miniature Enthu- Gemini and Apollo space programs, and also the siasts and is the president of the Inch by Inch Department of Defense at the National Security Miniature Club of Annapolis. While she enjoys Agency. In more recent years, she served as a a number of hobbies, including making and col- senior customer service agent with Flying Tigers, lecting doll house miniatures, gardening, writing, a cargo airline named after the Flying Tigers playing her piano, working on needlework and fighting unit of World War II fame, and later as sewing, Anita has other things claiming her time a senior customer service agent with Baltimore right now. Gas & Electric. She recently completed the sale of her home When based at Baltimore Washington Inter- in Arnold, and has now taken on the responsibil- national Airport, she had occasion to fly to the ity as Collington’s Third Floor Leader. The only west coast and other US cities for seminars and other activity she’s had time to pursue is the specialist training. A fun fact from those days: Camera Club, which she finds stimulating, but Once, on a flight to Chicago, she was riding in Anita looks forward to more of Collington’s offer- the cockpit jump seat when the pilot asked if she ings in the future. would like to take the controls of his 727 aircraft “somewhere out over Indiana… Of course, the Peter and Anne Gray: “Dentures Guy” and Teacher autopilot was on!” she quickly added and went By Pat Bozeman on to say, “The Federal Aviation Administration The Grays moved from Fulton, N.Y., north of would’ve taken a very dim view of that, had they known!” see Newcomers, p.3 Anita’s late first husband was a minister, and March 2019 The Collingtonian 3 her second husband, also deceased, was a Newcomers from p. 3 Tufts University’s School of Dental Medicine in Syracuse. CCRCs were a long- Boston. Anne was accepted at the University of familiar concept, as Anne’s Mich- Delaware, where she earned her Master’s de- igan paternal grandparents lived gree in Special Education. in such a facility years ago. Once While Peter was finishing his dental studies, Peter and Anne had retired, they Anne, with her newly-minted Master’s in hand, looked at several Kendal com- joined him and they were married in Boston munities, beginning with Ithaca in 1974. She also landed her first teaching job and Dartmouth. And while both had a collegiate in Braintree, Mass. Following his graduation, sensibility about them, it was Collington that, they returned to New York State. Peter began for them, had the warmest and friendliest atmo- practicing dentistry in Phoenix, N.Y., while Anne sphere. They were immediately sold. stayed home with the children: Michael, born Anne was born in Charleston, W. Va., but in 1977, and Sarah in 1979, until they reached her family soon relocated and she grew up in school age. She then began a career in special suburban Wilmington, Del., with the exception education with learning-disabled students that of the summer between her junior and senior would last for 31 years. Anne also earned a li- high school years, which was spent in the Grand brary master’s degree from Syracuse University, Duchy of Luxembourg as an AFS exchange enabling her to serve part time as a reference student. Peter was born and raised in Queens, librarian for SUNY Oswego. N.Y., and attended the same high school from Peter continued in private practice until 2006, which Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had just at which time he began work for 11 more years graduated. He says this was part of his inspira- in a group practice before his retirement. He tion to take up folk music. says he was “chiefly the dentures guy” in this lat- Both Peter and Anne en- ter practice. tered Cornell University, where Working with community theatre occupied the they met in their freshman Grays in New York State, and while they haven’t English class. She first ma- yet partaken of the theatre scene at Collington, jored in Textiles and Clothing, they haven’t been idle. Anne may be seen vol- but would go a more practical route with Human unteering almost daily in the library. She says, Development, focusing on education. Anne “I can’t say enough good about the textile arts reports that, from the first time she entered a group.” She also enjoys knitting and sewing and classroom, she felt a special bond with children. they’re both voracious readers. Initially, Peter’s focus was Animal Science, Peter’s up early with -- or before -- the sun, thinking he was aiming for graduate school to walking the woods and trails. He enjoys the become a veterinarian. But as he came closer to billiards group and Weed Warriors. Also, he’s graduation it became all too clear how few open- a self-described “old folkie from the ‘60s” who ings there were for aspiring veterinary students plays acoustic guitar. And what hobby do the and how crowded the field of applicants was, Grays look forward to being on their horizon? so a change-of-course decision was made to Puppy raising! They’ve been selected as the apply to dental school. Peter was accepted at human parents of one of a litter of Australian Labradoodles. 4 The Collingtonian March 2019 John Maroulis: Greek Sailor At 32 he left the sea behind and came to and Restaurateur Washington, D.C., where an uncle had a con- By Frances Kolarek struction business. “I needed to rest up,” he ex- Born on the Greek island of plains and enrolled in some courses at American Ithaca, John was one of eight chil- University. An abrupt change of career paths dren. As they grew up, the onus followed when he went to work in a restaurant. of earning money to help support “It took care of me,” he says and soon he bought the family hung heavily on the boys. John want- a restaurant of his own -- the Italian Inn on An- ed to go to high school, passed the test and was napolis Road in Hyattsville, about seven miles accepted. But his father said, “No, son. You will from Collington. John ran this establishment for work on our farm and help support the family.” 40 successful years, during which he returned On the first day of school, he recalls that his to Ithaca in search of a bride. He returned in mother found him in tears because the other 1970, a married man, and a year later became boys were heading for high school, leaving him the father of a son. The family settled in Bowie; behind. She quickly changed her shoes for a daughter was born three years later. John is sturdy boots, took him to school, and then as- justly proud of his children’s accomplishments. sured his father that she was prepared to work in With degrees from Duke and Harvard and a John’s place. Papa caved and John completed successful career behind him, his son is now his studies. a professor at Arizona State University. His School behind him, he signed aboard a ship daughter graduated from Johns-Hopkins Univer- with the Onassis company’s fleet of tankers and sity with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, oilers, spent three years learning the ropes, con- and holds a degree in economics from Harvard. tributing to the family coffers all the while. Her career today takes her all over the world, On one voyage, a devastating cyclone over- her father boasts. took his ship off San Pedro, Calif. Towering A health crisis in 1995 led to open heart waves overwhelmed ships around his own, surgery, which kept John hospitalized for two sinking many. John found himself at the helm months, during which his life hung in the bal- and tells a dramatic story of how he had the ance. His wife died a few years later. In retire- good fortune to save his ship from sinking, ment he had become active in San Theodore’s although she was listed in news reports as Greek Orthodox church in Lanham, serving its “missing.” His family in Ithaca assumed he, congregation as president. too, was among those lost at sea. In recognition His son and daughter, sensing their father of his heroism, John was ordered to fly to Port was lonely in the empty house, brought him Said where a commendation from the Onassis to Collington for a visit, and he moved into Apart- company awaited him. ment 336. He keeps busy writing stories from At 28, he won his credentials as Captain and his life. He doesn’t own a computer but writes was ordered to Hamburg, Germany, where he in long-hand. I invited him to write his story for was given command of a brand-new ship. He the Collingtonian, but he demurred. There is no sailed her “all over the world, while contributing doubt in my mind that his account, in the tradi- generously to his family’s support and underwrit- tion of his famous Greek forebears, would be ing his sisters’ weddings. And thinking of mar- fraught with drama. riage, himself. March 2019 The Collingtonian 5 She Brings Music to Our Ears By Mary Bird

Not long after Carol Kempske plays classical and jazz. He has moved to Collington, Harriet performed solo at Collington, is Simons, the resident who was also part of a jazz trio, and Carol coordinating Sunday concerts, hopes to bring the entire group asked her to take over. to Collington. Another resident Carol, a music educator with favorite that will be returning this 42 years’ experience (30 years in year is the Eric Byrd Trio. Prince George’s County elemen- Most of the artists who per- tary schools and 12 years in a form for us are from the Wash- private school in Chevy Chase), ington and Baltimore areas. protested initially; she had never Others on Carol’s list come to set up concerts. Harriet gave DC for several weeks a year. her a notebook and file box of Carol aims to schedule two contacts. About a year later, concerts a month. Bianca Wil- Carol met Nancy Sies, a friend liams, Collington’s Resident of resident Jean Getlein, after a One of Carol Kempske’s less Services Assistant, helps avoid conventional concerts featured concert and learned she was an classical saxophonist Timothy conflicts with the Candlelight agent for musicians. Roberts. Photo by Peter Pfund. Concerts (sponsored by the Col- Now, 13 years later, Nancy still calls Carol lington Foundation and coordinated by resident about artists who may be of interest. Carol Larry Harris) and the concerts by musicians from listens to CDs and carries out other research the Friday Morning Music Club (coordinated by before deciding whether or not to contact them. resident Louise Huddleston). Occasionally, another agent or a musician con- Al Folop prepares the flyers announcing tacts Carol about performing. The Residents concerts. Carol posts them around Collington, Association provides a budget for the Sunday makes sure a notice is published in The Courier, concerts, so funding is another consideration. introduces the artists the day of the concert, and Initially, most of the performances focused handles other administrative matters. on classical music with a preponderance of pia- Music activities abound at Collington, but over nists. Carol has expanded offerings by booking the years the Music Committee has become individuals and groups, playing classical to jazz, smaller. Carol attributes this to the many resi- as well as diverse instruments and vocalists. dents who have taken charge of various activi- She has plans to include some ethnic music and ties: Don Lewis -- the Ivy Room; Grant Bagley dance groups, too. – the KollingKatz and Mardi Gras; Marilyn When musicians or acts are well-received by Haskel – the Collington Singers; and our resi- residents, Carol tries to bring them back. One dent musicians from the University of Maryland, of her favorites is Fred Moyers, a pianist who who both perform and arrange student concerts 6 The Collingtonian March 2019 and recitals. Women’s History Month A Political Pioneer in Our County By Carl Koch

Gladys Spellman played a key ed in 1952. (This is mostly my per- role in the transition of Prince sonal memory of events; I cannot George’s County from control by find this story on the Internet.) “good old boy” southern Democrats Sasscer was my congressman to the more progressive county we for most of my early life, 1939-1953. know today. As chair of the county My father once wrote to him inquir- commission in the late 1970s, she ing if I might become a capital page. was the first female chief executive His reply was, “Do I know you”? I of the county, and the first woman believed this meant that these posi- elected head of the National Asso- tions were for his friends and not his ciation of Counties. constituents. Gladys Spellman. Elected to Congress representing Wikipedia photo. Congresswoman Spellman was the 5th Congressional District, she born in New York City and moved succeeded Republican Larry Hogan, father of to Washington early in life. She attended East- the current state governor. Her successor was ern and Roosevelt High Schools and gradu- the incumbent 5th District Congressman, Steny ated from George Washington University. She Hoyer. Some have suggested that if she hadn’t moved to the suburbs at a time when many suffered a serious heart attack in 1980, she were moved out of D.C. would have become Speaker of the House. Gladys Spellman suffered a massive heart Collington is in the 4th congressional district attack while giving a speech in Laurel. She but virtually surrounded by the 5th, which stops became comatose and remained so for eight at Route 50 north of us, Central Avenue (Route years until she died in 1988. She was reelected 214) to the south and Church Road to the east. in 1980 but could not serve, and the House later We are currently represented by Anthony G. vacated her seat. Brown, the former lieutenant governor. The Cheverly school where she had taught By my memory, the county’s political transi- was renamed Gladys N. Spellman Elementary tion started with the 1952 election, when the School. The Baltimore-Washington Parkway sitting congressman, Lansdale G. Sasscer, was dedicated to her in 1985. But over the last wanted his son Lansdale Jr., to be the state 35 years the memory has faded. Her name no senator. The sitting state senator, H. Winship longer shows on the state road map for the BW Wheatley of Hyattsville, said, “No way!” and Parkway. organized opposition within the Democratic party. Gladys Spellman, at that time a teacher at Happy Acres Elementary School in Cheverly, joined the opposition. Sasscer was not re-elect- March 2019 The Collingtonian 7 Women’s History Month Stories of Women: A Historian’s Pick By Pat Bozeman and Heather Huyck

Heather Huyck, Collington resident and histo- An extensive collection of articles and chapters rian, and I were recently discussing women’s his- on an impressive diversity of American women. tory over lunch. As we chatted, I thought Heather Susan Ferentinos, “Interpreting LGBTQ Historic was just the person to create an annotated bibli- Sites,” in LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of ography to include in this issue of the Collingto- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer , in celebration of Women’s History month. nian History (Online) (Washington D.C.: National Park * The three titles bearing asterisks ( ) are held Service, 2016). in Collington’s library, though I can’t vouch for This presents a good summary. whether or not they are checked out. Other titles Linda Heidenrich, ed., listed in this bibliography may be requested Three Decades of Engen- through Prince George’s County Memorial Library dering History: Selected Works of Antonia Cas- (Denton TX: University of North Texas System through their Interlibrary Loan Services taneda Press, 2014). (ILL), providing you hold a valid county library Antonia Castaneda is a “dean” of Latina/Hispanic card, available through any of their branches. women. Interlibrary Loan Services may be requested in person, or by using the MARINA online library Different Times and Places in system. Directions are given in detail below at the Women’s History: conclusion of the bibliography. Mary Beth Norton, Liberty’s Daugh- Here are few books and articles…chosen as ters: The Revolutionary Experience quality and readable history that I like! – Heather of American Women, 1750-1800. Huyck. (Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press, 1980). Introductions – Women’s History: The author just finished her term as President of the American Historical Association. *Sara Evans, Born for Liberty (New York: Touchstone Books, 1994). Martha Kohl, ed., Beyond Schoolmarms and A good introduction and summary by Madams: Montana Women’s Stories (Helena, a superb historian. Montana: Montana Historical Society, 2016). Montana women accomplished many things and Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson, A had fascinating lives. Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America (New York: Broadway Books, Virginia Scharff and Carolyn Brucken, Home 1998). Lands: How Women Made the West (Los Ange- A synthesis of African American women’s history. les: University of California Press, 2010). Hine is the “dean” of Black women historians. The authors offer insightful investigations into western women. Vicki Ruiz and Ellen Carol DuBois, eds., Unequal * Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women’s Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, The Age of Homespun: History, 4th ed. (New York: Routledge, 2007). Objects and Stories in the Making of an American (New York NY: Knopf Publishing, 2001). 8 The Collingtonian March 2019 Myth Spinning wheels are more complicated than we thought; uncovering women’s lives ing Battle (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2005). through their possessions. Thatcher This work includes chapters on Germans, Wom- authored of the phrase, “Well- en and Blacks entangled with the battle of Get- behaved women seldom make his- tysburg, before, during and after the event. tory.” Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothers of Invention: Women Black Women in History: of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil (Chapel Hill NC: The University of North *Pauli Murray, Proud Shoes: The Story of an War Carolina Press, 2004). American Family (New York: Harper & Row, 1956). Faust’s book deals with the experiences of white Classic female “Roots” but better! She became women after their menfolk left to fight for the the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, professor, priest, law- Confederacy. She recently completed her time yer, poet, activist, theorist, recognized now as as president of Harvard University. LGBT and also an Episcopal Holy Person. This Instructions for using book should be required reading! MARINA library system Elsa Barkley Brown, “Womanist Consciousness: Marina is a free, statewide method of request- Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order ing books from other libraries in Maryland. Cus- of Saint Luke,” SIGNS: Journal of Women in Cul- tomers with a Maryland Public Library borrower’s ture and Society 14:3 (1989). card can request materials not owned by their A key investigation of African American women’s local public library system from another Mary- feminism and the banker/activist Maggie L. Walk- land Public Library System using this service. er (who is not to be confused with Mme. C.J. Using your Prince George’s County Memorial Walker, who specialized in hair and cosmetic Library System library card in person at one of products for black women). its branches or online at www.sailor.lib.md.us/ services/marina. From the latter: Thavolia Glymph, “Disappeared Without Any Account Being Had of Them: Enslaved Women 1. Select PG County Memorial Library System and the Armies of the Civil War,” (Vanderbilt from the pull-down menu University, 2011), https://news.vanderbilt. 2. Click on the “Go” button edu/2011/02/25/enslaved-women-civil-war/. 3. Enter your PG library card number (without A powerful account of the many black women the dashes) in the space provided caught between the fighting Civil War armies. 4. Click on “Login” 5. Enter your search terms in the “Simple Darlene Clark Hine, “Some Preliminary Thoughts Search” space provided, or on Rape, the Threat of Rape and the Culture of 6. Choose “Advanced Search” in the upper Dissemblance,” SIGNS: Journal of Women in right-hand corner and enter search terms as Culture and Society 14, no. 4 (Summer 1989): indicated 912–20. 7. Limit your search results as necessary This article offers haunting insights by the dean 8. Select a pick-up location of African American women historians. 9. Log out at the icon in the top right corner of Margaret S. Creighton, The Colors of Courage: the screen. Gettysburg’s Forgotten History: Immigrants, Wom- March 2019 The Collingtonian 9 en, and African Americans in the Civil War’s Defin- Restaurant Review Tasty Food by the Bay By Carl Koch

Late last year, Joyce and I had lunch at the Happy Harbor Restaurant in Deale, Md., which has particularly good fried oysters at that time of the year. When I first visited this place 70 years ago it had a large horseshoe-shaped bar with two nicotine-stained brown portholes for win- dows and it was very dark inside. Attached was an area with some tables that served a great breakfast. Deale is about 28 miles from Collington on Rockhold Creek, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. When we visited, docks were filled with fishing, crabbing and oyster boats operating Image from happyharbordeale.com in the seafood-rich Herring Bay. Charter boats guess is that it’s “jumpin’” in the summer. were available to take people fishing and repair A large variety of meals are offered for break- facilities for small boats were abundant. fast, lunch and dinner – in fact more than sev- Presently Happy Harbor is ranked third enty. Supplementing the usual breakfast fare are among the eleven restaurants in town by Trip dishes not always available elsewhere: creamed Advisor. I had the oyster basket, which included chipped beef, and sausage gravy over biscuits. french fries and coleslaw. Joyce had the special There are also a few pleasant surprises on the of the day, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. brunch and dinner menus. The list of starters The fried oysters were great but the fries had includes fried calamari and fried pickles. too much skin left on for my taste. The portion Of course, both cream of crab soup and Mary- of meatloaf and mashed potatoes was huge; we land crab with vegetables, plus a soup of the had half for our dinner that evening. The meat- day, are available. The dinner menu includes all loaf had great flavor and much brown gravy. the usual dishes such as fried chicken and short Accompanied by one glass of white wine and a ribs, plus liver and onions and meatloaf. decaf coffee, the bill was $32.00 with tax but not If you have a taste for a certain dish and a tip. A fair price for good food and a large dose of beautiful view you can probably find both at nostalgia. Happy Harbor. Since its early days, Happy Harbor has added more tables at a lower level bringing the total Happy Harbor Restaurant to about eighty. Outdoors on the dock is a Tiki 533 Deale Road bar which I have not visited in the evenings. My Deale, MD 20751 410-867-0949 10 The Collingtonian March 2019 Words from Bill Preston

Long-time Collingtonian garden columnist Bill Preston died last month at the ripe age of 90. When he asked me to take over writing this column, he passed on several draft articles, in- cluding the one that follows. Bill saved his seeds carefully in packets, in the freezer or refrigerator, and the Garden Com- Like most perennials, it required patience, but in mittee has been offered all his vegetable seeds their second year the plants began to produce to plant this spring. It will be another of Bill’s ex- the promised tall spikes of attractive orange-red periments to see how long the various seeds will blooms. stay viable, since many are well over 10 years I decided to cut bunches of spikes for the cut old! The flower seeds also will be planted, with flower market, and they were readily accepted. a special row or two for the Royal Catchfly, of (I could not sell the spikes individually because course. the stems had a sticky substance on them – thus Here are Bill’s words: the common name “catchfly”). Of course, I left some of the flower spikes to A while ago I was given the latest publication set seed and obtained about a pound of the tiny of the Seed Savers Exchange magazine, and it seeds. I submitted the seed to the American reminded me of my habit of saving seeds when Horticultural Society’s seed distribution program a commercial seed source is not available. and they were of- One example was Royal Catchfly, Silene fered to hundreds regia. On a trip to Calloway Gardens in Georgia, of growers across I observed artistic replicas of rare native plants; the nation. The among these was the catchfly, which was pro- entire supply was tected in its natural habitat. I deemed that this distributed, and I felt plant would make a good cut flower as, at 3 feet glad that seeds of tall, it had attractive 1-1.5 ft. long flower spikes. this rare native plant After I returned home, to my surprise, a lady could be grown by who grew garlic for the farmers market asked if I so many others. would like some seeds of Silene regia which she had obtained. Of course, I accepted the seed and planted it. It was slow to grow despite con- stant care, but eventually I had about 50 plants. March 2019 The Collingtonian 11 Resident Talent on Display

Drama and music were front and center in the Collington Audi- torium in early March. The Drama Club was in final rehearsal for Noel Coward’s “Hay Fever,” directed by Tim Sabin and Marilyn Haskel. The full cast gathered on stage, below: Marilyn Haskel, Ed Robbins, Don Zelman, Grant Bagley, Margaret Bagley, Pat Howard, Marilu Sherer, Dick Garrison, Eloise Branche, Joyce Garrison. At right: Pat, Grant and Margaret strike a character pose. Photos by George Newman

On March 5 residents enjoyed a gala Mardi Gras party featuring music by the KollingKatz (at left). Photo by Mike McCulley