Dundalk and ‘Baltimore’s Best Hon’ Skipping Honfest Over Controversy

Charlene Osborne doesn’t like controversy and she doesn’t like confrontation.

And she doesn’t support Café Hon owner Denise Whiting’s efforts to trademark the word "Hon," once a certain generation of Baltimore women’s affectionate greeting and now the city’s endearing reference to Charm City’s beloved, beehive and cat's-eye glasses-wearing moms, aunts, sisters and grandmothers of 1950s, '60s and '70s.

Born, raised and still a Dundalk girl, Osborne won the "Baltimore’s Best Hon" in 2009 at the two-day annual Honfest, organized by Whiting since 1994. But she’s in Ocean City this weekend, not Hampden, skipping the annual two-day festival in a personal “hontroversy” protest.

In December, when The Baltimore Sun reported Whiting’s expansive trademarking campaign of the word "hon" beyond just direct tie-ins to Café Hon, it sparked a public outcry.

Osborne, who created her own “hon” character, Blaze Char, and published the coffee table book My Year as Baltimore’s Best Hon, remained silent on the issue for months. Osborne said she even planned to set up a booth and sell her book at this year’s Honfest, too. But she decided she’s had enough.

A Whiting memo distributed to merchants and released to local media listed items merchants couldn’t sell, including cat’s-eye glasses, and couldn’t talk about, including religion and politics. Osborne decided to speak out.

“When you talk about hons, you’re talking about my mother, my aunt, my grandmother,” Osborne said. “I respect a businessperson, an entrepreneur, someone creating something and building a brand. But you can’t take something that belongs to an entire city. That’s not right.”

Osborne said she had worked out trademark issues previously with Whiting for her book and for the use of Osborne’s own image as Blaze Char on MTA buses and light rail trains. Osborne said she got a fair price for a booth at this year’s Honfest, but then became frustrated over restrictive rules.

“When you tell me what I can and cannot say, you’ve crossed a line,” Osborne said.

“I bailed,” she continued. “I don’t want to be seen as supporting Denise Whiting.”

Despite the media controversy surrounding Whiting and the Hon trademarking issue, a big crowd turned out Saturday in Hampden. The event continues Sunday, with the Hon contest finalists competing today at 2 p.m. for the 2011 “Baltimore’s Best Hon.”

Osborne will be appearing at the Summer Solstice Festival at Chesterwood Park in Dundalk, June 18, to sign copies of her book. The festival, sponsored by the Baltimore Art and Music Project, is scheduled between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.