Autumn Walk Picnic: Sunday

(Update: The After Picnic Report was posted on 9/1/15)

The 2015 Autumn Walk Picnic is on this Sunday, August 30th!

Right now the forecast looks good (mostly sunny with a slight chance of rain), so let's hope that holds up.

The Picnic will be at the end of the cul-de-sac with Fred's and Kelly & Randy's houses serving as the host sites.

The Picnic starts at 3 PM and set-up will begin roughly an hour prior.

Everyone in Autumn Walk is welcome! Come out, meet your neighbors, and have a little fun!

Here's the RSVP link again to sign up to bring supplies and side dishes:

• Autumn Walk 2015 Picnic

Related Posts: 

• Autumn Walk Picnic Changed to August 30th (7/23/15)

BWI Cell Phone Lot

If you're picking someone up at BWI Airport, you can use the free BWI Cell Phone Lot to avoid having to keep circling the terminal while waiting for the arrival of the flight.

Located on Scott Drive just to the right of the Daily Parking Garage entrance, the Cell Phone Lot has enough room for dozens of cars and is located only a few minutes from the arrival area of BWI Airport.

Autumn Walk Yard Sale on Sun., Sept. 6th

A little birdie has told me that there are plans for another multi-family Autumn Walk Yard Sale on Sunday, September 6, 2015!

Hopefully buyers will be in the mood to shop the day before Labor Day.

Autumn Walk Community Yard Sale
Date: Sunday, September 6, 2015
Time: 8 AM to 12 Noon
All are welcome!

There was surprisingly heavy traffic the last time and it was almost an impromptu Block Party, so you might want to start gathering your items to sell...and celebrate Labor Day!

Air Duct and Dryer Vent Cleaning

A couple of months ago Jenny did the research to find a contractor to clean air ducts and dryer vents, and negotiated a fixed price.

She posted the information to Facebook and several homes in the community used the service. (Other homes have used different contractors as well.)

Air Duct Cleaning
The ducts in different units had varying amounts of dust, construction debris, and (especially in floor registers) objects that had fallen into the ducts including children's toys.

2015 Emerson Tennis Tournament

(Updated 9/30/15 with prizes and signup information.)

Calling all tennis players in Emerson! 

Emerson HOA has announced its first tennis tournament will be held October 9th to October 25th with matches scheduled in evening slots during the week, and in morning slots on weekends.

Both singles and doubles brackets are planned. The doubles bracket winner will receive a $200 giftcard and the singles winner will receive $100.

More information is posted on the Emerson HOA front page, including rules and a release form. Sign up on SignUpGenius.

As an aside, those are Aru and Ajay's tennis racket and tennis balls posing modestly on the Emerson courts in the pictures. :)

Emerson 2015 Tennis Tournament

Dates: October 9-25, 2015

Location: Emerson Tennis Courts

Complete Rules: Rules

Release Form: Release

Sign Up: 2015 Emerson Tennis Tournament on SignUpGenius

For More Information and to Submit Release Form: emerson.activities@gmail.com

Click image for larger version

North Laurel, MD: #23 Money Magazine Best Places to Live

Our own North Laurel, MD is #23 on Money Magazine's ranking of the best small towns in America under 50,000 for 2015! This is the highest ranking in the Baltimore-Washington region.

North Laurel was cited for its excellent location midway between Baltimore and Washington, DC, its low unemployment rate, and of course, the high-performing Howard County Public School System.

It also didn't hurt that we are adjacent to Columbia, MD, a Top Ten choice for best small cities (50,000 to 300,000) in America for the past decade (and #6 in the last rankings in 2014).

We knew we had a great place to live, and now the rest of the world does too!

External Links:

Next Emerson Town Hall: August 24th

The second Emerson Town Hall will be held in the Clubhouse on Monday, August 24, 2015 at 7 PM.

This is your opportunity to ask questions of the Emerson Board of Directors and CMC, Emerson's management company, as well as to offer your ideas and suggestions for improving our community!

Emerson Town Hall

Date: Monday, 8/24/15
Time: 7 PM - 9 PM
Location: Clubhouse

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Related Links:

• Successful First Emerson Town Hall! (7/19/15)

Corn Mazes in Maryland

Multiple corn mazes and pumpkin patches open on a seasonal basis in the Fall on farms in Maryland and nearby sections of Pennsylvania.

Typically these venues start up in mid-September and run for about 6 weeks until around Halloween.

The mazes vary in size and complexity, and sometimes provide customers with a flag on a stick to raise in case they get lost and need to exit.

Some of these operations have become fairly sophisticated, with GPS-equipped tractors cutting the corn maze and additional activities such as hayrides, play areas, and pumpkin cannons.

External Web Links:

Since we haven't visited any of these locations, these are just some examples to give you an idea of what's available in the area!

• Corn Mazes America - external web site with links to multiple corn mazes
• Pumpkin Patches and More - external web site with links to pumpkin patches
• Summers Farm (Frederick, MD) - 2015 season Sept. 26 - Nov. 1
• Lawyers Farm (Thurmont, MD) - 2015 season Sept. 19 - Nov. 1

Lawyers Farm (2014 Video):

Farmers Turn to Professionals to Cut Corn Mazes (nj.com):

Final Emerson Movie Night on Aug. 14

The final Emerson Movie Night at the Pool will be next Friday, August 14, 2015.

• 7:30 PM: Doors open
• 8:30 PM: Movie begins

No RSVP is required but an Emerson ID or Pool Pass is required to attend. Guests will not be admitted in the Pool after 6 PM that night.

The movie will be Disney's "Maleficent" and volunteers are sought to assist with staffing the event, to include set up, handing out refreshments, and clean up.

How to Use This Site

I've gotten feedback that sometimes it can be hard to find things on this web site.

That's an artifact of using a blogging service to host the site, but it was the fastest (and cheapest) way to build a site for our community, that I can maintain quickly and easily.

With that said, here are a few tips on how to most effectively use the site and to find information. Let me know if you have any more questions!

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1. Static Pages
Across the top of the site, you will see five fixed "static" web pages linked (on a mobile device, you will need to access them from a pulldown menu):

• About Autumn Walk - overview of Autumn Walk, Emerson, and the area
• Flamingo Fridays! - what they are and how they work
• Landscaping - information about the landscaping contract
• Maintenance Tips - collection of all posts related to maintenance of our homes and community
• Contact - how to contact me, the Board, and the Community Manager (CAS)

The static pages are where you will most likely find useful information that has been posted in the past.

2. Sidebar

Down the right side of the desktop version of the site, you will see links and information about Autumn Walk and Emerson:

Southern Howard County Civic Association Meeting (Aug. 4)

Another event has been scheduled concurrent with National Night Out (NNO) at the North Laurel Community Center (NLCC) tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug. 4th).

The Southern Howard County Civic Association, an organization formed to track issues in the southern part of the County including Emerson, will hold their regular monthly meeting at 7 PM at NLCC as well.

The main topic is expected to be school bus drop off and pick up, though other issues can be raised as well.

Southern Howard County Civic Association (monthly meeting)

Date: Tuesday, 8/4/15
Time: 7 PM
Location: North Laurel Community Center (NLCC), 9411 Whiskey Bottom Road, Laurel, MD 20723

https://www.facebook.com/southernhowardcountycivicassn

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Hello Fellow Southern Howard County Resident,

Howard County Board of Education Meeting Near Emerson in August

We have a rare opportunity to attend a Howard County Board of Education meeting close to home on Thursday, August 13, 2015.

Due to renovation of their usual facilities in Ellicott City, the Board is holding its regularly scheduled meetings in schools in different locations around the County, and this month will be at Forest Ridge Elementary School on Gorman Road.

One of the residents of Emerson has been tracking BoE issues and Southeast Howard County has been asking the Board to hold meetings that are easier for residents to attend.

We know that many of you chose to live in Emerson because you prize Howard County's high-performing schools.

This is your opportunity to hear directly from the Board that most directly affects the management of those schools.

Howard County Board of Education

Date: Thursday, August 13, 2015
Time: 4 PM and 7:30 PM (see below)
Location: Forest Ridge Elementary School (Cafetorium), 9550 Gorman Road, Laurel, MD 20723

There will be two sessions on August 13:

• Afternoon Session (4 PM): Regular Board Meeting
• Evening Session (7:30 PM): Pre-Development Public Work Session on FY17 Capital Budget & FY18-22 Capital Improvement Program

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From Howard County:

Maryland Tax-Free Week Aug. 9-15

Maryland's annual tax-free week will run from Sunday, August 9 to Saturday, August 15, 2015.

During this event articles of clothing selling for less than $100 will be exempt from Maryland's 6% sales tax. However, accessories (e.g., jewelry and belts) as well as special purpose equipment such as football pads are not eligible for the exemption.

For a full list of tax-exempt items and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), go to the State of Maryland Comptoller Office web site:

• Shop Maryland Tax Free Week

National Night Out at NLCC on August 4th

Emerson will not be hosting a separate National Night Out (NNO) event this year. Howard County will host its annual NNO Event at North Laurel Community Center (NLCC).

National Night Out is an annual security awareness event on the first Tuesday in August, during which police agencies encourage community-building and police-community partnerships to make neighborhoods safer.

Howard County National Night Out 2015

North Laurel Community Center (NLCC)
9411 Whiskey Bottom Road
Laurel, MD 20723

Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

For More Info Call: 410-313-0390

Howard County's event will feature the "Ocho de Bastos" Latin Rock band, displays from Howard County Police and agencies, and more.

The Beach at The National Building Museum (DC)

The National Building Museum is a private museum in downtown Washington, DC dedicated to architecture, engineering and urban design.

Housed in the 1887 US Pension Building, it's free to walk through the Great Hall and building, but admission to exhibits requires an entry fee.

This year for its annual "Summer Block Party" the museum decided to create an unusual attraction to draw attention and visitors: an artificial 10,000 square foot "beach" in the central Great Hall filled with 1 million recyclable anti-microbial plastic balls through which visitors can surf.

The BEACH will only be open from July 4 to September 7, 2015. After that date it will be torn down and the materials recycled, with a different exhibit next summer.

About the National Building Museum