IMPORTANT NOTICE
COMMUNITY MEETING
THURSDAY, FEB. 23, 2023
7:00 PM
ST. MARKS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
12700 HALL SHOP RD.
The Greater Highland Crossroads Association will resume regular meetings on Thursday, February 23 at St. Mark’s Church. GHCA has not held regular meetings throughout Covid. However, we have remained vigilant and engaged in our community. We will highlight our recent responses and the status of ongoing points of interest.
The primary concern to be addressed is the development of an Intermediate Care Facility in the former Country Gardens Assisted Living residence by Tuerk House, a 50-year-old alcohol and drug rehabilitation organization, located in Baltimore. Tuerk House has acquired Country Gardens and is readying it to receive men who have completed in-patient treatment and who are preparing to re-enter the work force and society. A Tuerk House representative will join us to inform us of their vision and plans and to respond to our questions and concerns.
Please make plans to attend the meeting – it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other!
Thursday February 23
7:00 PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
In order to protect the health of our members, neighbors and friends, membership meetings and other association events were suspended until the need for social distancing and limited gathering size was suspended. We are planning to meet once again at St. Marks. Please check back. We hope to get together soon.
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One of the primary objectives of the Greater Highland Crossroads Association is to foster a sense of community. The organization strives to bring together area residents through a diverse calendar of activities.
At Your Service
Ever wonder what your Howard County tax dollars are netting you? Come to the meeting and representatives from multiple County agencies. So far we have acceptances from the Police, the Office of Aging and the Office of Consumer Affairs. We are waiting to hear from Recreation and Parks. Learn what surprising services are available to you and how to access them for the benefit of you and your family. The reps will fill you in on the services they provide and what is new and interesting in their department and in the County. Click on Newsletter at right for more information.
Membership Meetings
Generally membership meetings, on a variety of topics of interest to the community, are held quarterly at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. In addition, when topics of urgent concern arise, membership meetings are held more frequently. Members receive email-distributed newsletters to alert them of meeting schedules and other information of happenings in and around the crossroads.
Annual Picnic
Each summer the Howard County Department of Parks and Recreation schedules a free concert in Schooley Mill Park. GHCA has helped promote this event by hosting a members’ barbecue and pot-luck supper prior to the concert.
Highland Day
Long before GHCA existed, farmers and families gathered at the crossroads for a fall festival celebrating the end of the harvest. There were games for children and adults, a groaning-board pot-luck supper and a dance.
Over the years this celebration has evolved.
In recent times GHCA has been one of the prime forces in producing this much anticipated autumn event which was consistently voted one of the top 3 annual Howard County events. It included a Kids’ Zone, dog obedience demos, a beer garden, a Halloween parade, food samplings, a haunted hay ride down a country lane, entertainment by local bands, choirs, and martial arts troops, a Little Shoppe of Horrors, shopping and most of all a fun time to connect with neighbors and friends.
Presently Highland Day is on hiatus, a victim of its own success. The event adapted as the crossroads evolved in the past decades, but has recently outgrown the four-corners’ capacity to accommodate parking and the crowds it drew.
GHCA officers and other community stake-holders are working together to re-imagine a simpler event which will still achieve the objective of bringing our community together to celebrate our uniqueness and connectedness. We welcome your suggestions and interest in helping us continue this beloved tradition.
