Memories of Perry Hall

After living for almost 16 years in College Park, Maryland, I moved back to the Baltimore area in 2005, purchasing a house in Perry Hall.  I say that I "moved back," even though I actually grew up just over the Harford County line in what was then the very rural town of Fallston.  I used to say that Fallston had more cows than people. Of course, any of you who have recently driven up Mountain Road, Route 152, know that this is no longer the case. 

Since Fallston did not have many stores, my family spent a great deal of time driving down Belair Road to Perry Hall.  Since being back here, I have noticed that there certainly has been a lot of change—new developments, new neighborhoods, and new public amenities have popped up all over the place.

Who would have thought that the greater Perry Hall area could actually support five Starbucks?  I remember, way back in the 1970's, when your choices for coffee (one flavor, mind you) were limited to fast food restaurants or the Friendly's over on Belair Road.

Still, I have noticed that some things still remain from my childhood excursions into our community.  Since there weren't any nursery schools open in Fallston, my mom brought me down to the Perry Hall Children's Center (PHCC), which operated, and still does, out of St. Michael's Lutheran Church.  For two years I went to pre-school there, with my mom helping as a classroom mother. 

As it turns out, several years ago when my wife and I were looking for a preschool for our then 3-year-old son, Alex, we learned that the Perry Hall Children's Center was still open.  In fact, PHCC celebrated its 38th anniversary this year.  I knew it was the same place when I dropped Alex off one day and instantly remembered the wooden kitchen set in the playroom.

It was the same one I remember playing with when I was my son's age. 

Also, during my first year back in Perry Hall, I discovered that my childhood barber, Butch the Barber—located near the former Perry Inn—was also still in business.  I have many memories from my youth of sitting up in the barber's chair listening to Butch tell stories about his latest fishing trip on the Chesapeake Bay.  Now, Alex has the same chance to hear stories like this.  Butch's barber shop looks the same to me now as it did almost thirty years ago. Well, perhaps the barber's chair doesn't seem quite so big as it used to.

Since I've been back in the greater Perry Hall area, I have noticed that, as much as things have changed, a lot of good things from the past are still with us.  And, most importantly, we still have a community filled with great people.   

Through this column, I hope to highlight some of the people, places and events that make our community of Perry Hall a special one.  Folks often get bogged down in focusing on the less positive changes that may have come to our community.  If you look around, you quickly discover that some long-time great fixtures of Perry Hall are still here and have been joined by some new ones that have positively impacted the state of Perry Hall.  The best things about Perry Hall are not the shops, restaurants, or public buildings (whether they are old or new).  What truly makes a place special are the people who live there, the community that we all are part of. 

As the acclaimed British poet T.S. Eliot once said, "What life have you, if you have not life together.  There is no life that is not in community." Together, I hope we can learn about and share a few moments with some of the great people and their works that help Perry Hall to live up to its motto, "The Spirit of Community."