THERE IS A LOT of "urban" in suburban Central County. Some residents will admit that they have never gathered eggs, been awakened by a rooster's crow, or harvested anything more arduous than a handful of tomatoes from the backyard garden.
That is why the much-anticipated Depression Era Living History Museum at Kinder Farm Park will be so much fun for adults and children.
To prepare for the museum's opening, set for fall next year, the park has hired Millersville resident Joanne Andresen as the its new educational coordinator. A retired Glen Burnie High School family and consumer science teacher (that's "home economics" to anyone over 25), Andresen will help plan self-tours for museum visitors and train interpreters and volunteers to conduct guided tours for school groups and others.
When complete, the museum, near the center of the 280-acre park, will incorporate the farm family's home, furnished in the style of the 1930s, with barns for large and small animals, farm equipment, a blacksmith shop, and a craft demonstration building.
"It will be interactive and very hands-on for the children," Andresen said. A summer farm camp is planned. The first farm animal, a white Leghorn rooster named Foghorn, has taken up residence in a heated coop. He was raised by hand and is gentle, Andresen said. A harem of Rhode Island Red hens will join him later.
A park quilting guild, whose main purpose is to create quilts for the farmhouse beds and later to decorate the visitors' center, is being organized. The guild's first meeting is 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Jaycee House in the park.
Local gardeners plant flower and vegetables gardens each summer in the large park area set aside for community gardens, and Andresen hopes to entice area garden clubs to help with a proposed kitchen garden at the farmhouse.
The many museum components will require the help of lots of volunteers. Joining the Friends of Kinder Farm Park, an auxiliary that helps raise money for park equipment and programs, is another way to support the farm and museum.
The park is in the second phase of construction as work continues on the barns and the blacksmith shop. The visitors' center will be built during the third phase.
When the museum is completed, vehicles entering the main park will pay a fee similar to ones charged at two other county parks, Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis and Downs Park in Pasadena. Entrance to the sports complex will remain free.
Information: quilting guild, 410-222-6115; Friends of Kinder Farm Park, 410-647-1203 or 410- 987-8809.
Cookies and Claus
If you're the kind of person who enjoys spending hours in the kitchen, baking and decorating holiday cookies, good for you. But, if you are like most of us and would rather sit back and watch It's a Wonderful Life, you had better get in line early tomorrow morning at the Severna Park Safeway on Benfield Road or at the Giant on Ritchie Highway.
The Severna Park High School Marching Band's annual sale of hand-decorated cookies begins at 9 a.m. at both stores, and the cookies usually disappear faster than it takes to sing one stanza of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."
This Saturday, Santa will greet boys and girls along the B&A; Trail Park and the BWI Trail. For the ninth year, the county Department of Recreation and Parks, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70 and the county Sheriff's Department have worked to bring Santa to the trail.
Santa begins his stops at 10:30 a.m. behind Arnold Station, then goes to Jones Station Road at 11:15 a.m., Hatton Regester Green at 11:45 a.m., Robinson Road at 12:15 p.m., Earleigh Heights Ranger Station at 12:45 p.m., behind Harundale Mall at 1:45 p.m., Saw Mill Creek Park at 2:15 p.m., and Thomas A. Dixon Jr. Aircraft Observation lot at 2:45 p.m.
As Santa hands out candy canes, he will fill his bag with donated canned goods and nonperishable items for the county food bank. The rain date is Sunday. Information: 410-222- 6244.