Deck a street in bows, holly

Dorothy Maurer (left) tells volunteer Jeannine Ravenscraft where to place a decoration on Main Street in Bel Air. Maurer has been chairwoman of the Appearance and Beautification Committee for a quarter-century. (Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam / November 25, 2007)

While many people are envisioning where to put the tree or how to hang garland, Dorothy Maurer will be decorating an entire downtown.

After nearly 25 years as the chairwoman of the Appearance and Beautification Committee of Bel Air, she has the experience, the skills and her own diagrams to recreate each scene. But this year presents more hurdles for even the most organized holiday trimmer. Main Street, the heart of downtown, is undergoing a nearly $9 million face-lift that has led to yet-to-be-replaced lampposts, missing railings and torn-up curbs and sidewalks.

"We are definitely doing this corner," she told a group of volunteers gathered on Main Street yesterday. "But we can't do anything on the right side of the street. They will be tearing that out soon."

Maurer, her committee and several other volunteers must decorate around construction crews, tall, portable lighting and heavy equipment, all surrounded by glaring orange plastic fencing. Still, they plan to make the Harford County seat glitter for the holidays.

"I am hoping there is not only just one lamppost to decorate," she said. "And I am going to walk along the street myself to see what railings are still left."

Maurer, 72, was crisscrossing the street during her walk to avoid construction crews and closed pathways.

"What lights, if any, we can hang is really a day-to-day decision," said Stephen D. Kline, Bel Air's deputy director of public works. "Right now, it does not look like many."

A week before the traditional lights were to go up, the new lampposts had yet to be installed, several iron railings were missing and blocks of sidewalk remained impassable.

Even the annual Christmas parade Sunday - the decorating deadline - will make a detour from Main to Hickory Street, a parallel road that sees a lot of emergency vehicle traffic from the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company but is construction-free.

During Maurer's tenure, the number of volunteers has dwindled, but the workload has increased. She and a few others were out yesterday hanging wreaths that Maurer had finished with gold bows and glistening icicles and wrapping swags around railings at the Harford County Courthouse.

"The tubs are all marked with where everything goes," said Bill Clark, a committee member. "Dot has her act together, as usual, and we don't deviate."

She responded: "He is just here to give me a hard time."

Today, the volunteers will turn their attention to Town Hall, the Armory, the public works building and police headquarters.

"I have been doing this for years," said Clark, 76. "I just like to help the town of Bel Air. It's a real nice place to live."

Despite this year's setbacks, Maurer has the annual holiday task organized down to the last spray-painted pinecone. She has printed and laminated the schedules so volunteers and public works crews know where each bow, swag and wreath should hang, what doorways are to be festooned and which trees should be strung with lights.

"I laminated so the paper would not get torn or dirty and so we could use these directions for a couple of years," she said.

The papers are also color-coded - blue for the committee's duties and yellow for those of public works. She knows the town's stored holiday inventory as well as what is in her own attic.

"If it's not on the list, public works is not to touch it," she said. "Too many things were damaged last year" - including the bows, torn when crews neglected to remove them from garland.

"Women handle bows more gingerly than guys, who are used to building sidewalks," Kline said.

Maurer will allow work crews "to do the high and the heavy, but we do the rest." She reserves the right to oversee.

Related topic galleries: Public Holidays, Labor Day, Photography, Transportation, Road Transportation, Christmas

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