July, 2006

The Performing Arts Association of Linthicum, Inc. was conceived to bring fine, live music to the people of north Anne Arundel County. Because most cultural activity in the area was centered in Annapolis, Baltimore or Washington in 1982, we drove many miles to urban destinations for entertainment. Not much was happening in Linthicum Heights!

In 1976 the Anne Arundel County Commission on Culture and the Arts had been formed to promote and coordinate cultural activities for the county and Olin Yoder and Robert Nichols, high school art teachers from Linthicum, served as commissioners in those early days.

When Nick and Olin observed the disparities that existed in the county, they approached Eloise Vaughan, then President of the Woman’s Club of Linthicum Heights, to suggest she use the power of this organization to bring some new cultural life to north county. Grant money was available from the commission and there were a number of possibilities for projects.

During the summer of 1982, Eloise brought together several Woman’s Club members (sometimes in damp swim suits, fresh from Andover Pool) to brainstorm the ideas for starting a new concert series, aimed at bringing artists into the community. The name of Performing Arts Association of Linthicum was chosen, partly because the acronym of PAAL was so appealing. Other known music lovers in the community were drawn to the committee and the program began to take shape and gain strength. The Woman's Club of Linthicum Heights gave seed money of $150 for postage and start up costs.

In early September of that year, a grand announcement and social event took place at the Benson Hammond House in which PAAL was formally announced and the first season subscriptions were sold. Pastor Morris Zumbrun of St. John Lutheran Church brought the first tickets. They were $15 each and good for the first season of four concerts. Glenn White was the first campaign chairman and Judy Jaques was the first concert chairman. Vernie Linthicum chaired this first social occasion. It was attended by more than 100 people in the community who came out on this gentle fall evening to hear more about this exciting new cultural happening.

Olin Yoder offered to design an artistic flyer to list our concerts and encourage subscribers. He continued to do this each year for PAAL for many years, providing a great service and wonderful sketches to depict the variety of artists for the year. The flyer was our principal marketing tool. Plans continued to evolve and four concerts were booked for the first season. Andover High School with its large stage was agreeable as a site for concerts but also Linthicum Heights United Methodist Church was obtained as a pristine setting with good acoustics for smaller ensembles. Linthicum had great spaces for performances.

The Annapolis Brass Quintet, a fine local ensemble, opened this new venture at the Methodist Church on the cold evening of February 4, 1983. Other concerts rounding out the season were the Towson State Dance Ensemble, the Edinburgh String Quartet of Scotland, on a performance tour in the U.S., and Ted Brown, local actor/musician.

The first season brought 444 subscribers to the PAAL season. Organizers were very happy and started making plans for another year.

PAAL formed a Board of Directors, wrote bylaws, applied for non-profit status with the IRS and continued to look for fine artists to come to Linthicum to perform. The emphasis then, as it still is, was to have a variety of artists and something for everyone. Also, since our region is rich in talent, we wanted to enjoy area performers and give them a new audience in north county. At the same time PAAL wanted to import the best talent it could afford from New York or New Orleans, Pittsburgh or Paducah. One local boy, Doug Keegan, captured our hearts as an Andover High School student and PAAL presented him twice in piano recital.

When subscribers subscribed we had money to spend on concerts. Sometimes PAAL ran a little short. One year was particularly scary and PAAL was seriously in need of help. Bob Nichols stepped forward and staged a Groaning Board as a very successful fundraiser. Dave and Judy Jaques offered their beautiful, large home on Chestnut Road for two evenings of dinner that were wonderfully fun and financially rewarding for PAAL. Several local businesses also provided needed support to help PAAL through this difficult time.

Grant money from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County and also the Maryland State Arts Council has supported PAAL each of its 25 years and PAAL values this aid for the funding it provides but also for artistic connections and programming assistance. PAAL received inspiration and guidance from the workshops and has ridden the wave of art growth in the county and the state while watching each of these councils become stronger and more effective. The past 25 years have seen huge increases in funding for the arts from the state legislature as well as private sources as the positive impact of the arts on our lives and on our economy becomes more effectively documented.

PAAL’s board of directors has been loyal from the beginning. Four members have served as President, Eloise Vaughan from 1982-1991, Jerry Van Airsdale from 1991-1995, Roy Pippen from 1995-97, and Jo Barker from 1997-the present. PAAL has had only two treasurers- Irene Wilson and Bill Skillman.

The early days of PAAL provided occasions of much fun for the hard-working board members. Besides the Groaning Board, Judy and Dave Jaques hosted a lasagna dinner for the members of the Tamburitzans, the East European dance ensemble from Duquesne University, following a concert one snowy February. The group had asked for a recommendation for a dinner spot but not much was available at their price. We decided to host this dinner ourselves. The Jaques had the perfect room and the Board was undaunted. The dancers/musicians piled out of their bus perched at the top of Valley road in the snow and we all had a wonderful time eating and singing until they had to leave about midnight to drive back to Pittsburgh.

Another memorable dinner was given by Vernie and Milton Linthicum at their lovely Turkey Hill home, one beautiful May evening preceding a concert by the Edinburgh Quartet, a string ensemble from Scotland. After the delicious dinner, artists and board members walked up the hill to the Methodist Church for the concert. Perfection !

In the 25 years PAAL has presented fine concerts, there have been many highs as well as a few lows. Subscriptions have ranged from 400 to 700. Each subscriber has his or her best memory and favorite artists. Several artists have become very good friends and some have been invited back repeatedly. Two groups are in a tie for the most appearances: The Tamburitzans of Duquesne University and the Annapolis Chorale with Ernie Green have each presented five concerts to PAAL. Next in line is John or Brooks Tegler with their big band revivals, four times. Other favorites who have given three performances each were Sounds of New Orleans, Charlie Byrd, Ted Brown, and Ballet Theatre of Annapolis.

PAAL’s concerts were held at Andover High School and the LHU Methodist Church until the audience outgrew the seating of the church and Andover High School became North County High School. When the high school moved to Ferndale and the new auditorium was built, PAAL went, too. Our biggest move came with the creation of the Chesapeake Art Center on Hammonds Lane in Brooklyn Park in 2000. At last, PAAL had a way of presenting artists professionally and concerts were moved to this new venue soon after CAC opened.

PAAL has also presented the U.S Naval Academy Band of Annapolis and the U.S. Navy Band of Washington, D.C. as concerts, which are free and open to the public and for the purpose of attracting subscribers to our series. For several years PAAL also invited visual artists to exhibit their work before the concerts and during intermission as an additional interest and to promote other art forms.

A special project that PAAL took on in 1997 was the raising of $4900 to repair the 9 ft. Baldwin grand piano, owned by the Anne Arundel County Public Schools and which was used in our concerts at North County HS. It was in poor condition and we were proud to save the piano and to thank the school system in this tangible way. In 1998, PAAL applied for and received a grant from the MidAtlantic Arts Foundation to present Daniel Heifitz, violinist, in a workshop for Anne Arundel County school children. This workshop was held at North County High School and was attended by 400 students, grades 5-12.

Best of all, PAAL has proudly contracted and arranged 118 fine concerts during 24 seasons with only one needing to be cancelled because of weather. PAAL looks forward with excitement to its 25^th year and to the many years beyond.

Eloise Vaughan, Past President