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In the NewsMATTIX ON MATTERS While I was out and about ... I heard a great love story last week. It's definitely about the love between a husband and his wife, but it's also about their passion for family, business and community. When Roland Hill opened the Wayside Snack Bar in the summer of 1962 to provide some extra income to allow him to send his children to college, he had no way of predicting its ripple effect. Roger Hill, Roland's son and current owner of Wayside, contacted me last week to tell me this summer marks the 20th year since he re-opened his father's snack bar on Turkey Point Road, just south of the town of North East. The snack bar had been closed for about 10 years when Roger decided to reopen it in 1987. Now, Roger and his wife, Virginia, operate the summer business. They dish up old-fashioned milkshakes, pit beef and pulled pork sandwiches to a growing customer base who live in the area, or are among the droves of summer tourists. This year also marks Roger and Virginia's 35th wedding anniversary. And, guess where they met? You got it. The Wayside. Both were teenagers working summer jobs. Now their children Matt, 29, and Marcy, 27, pitch in when they can to help their parents at the Wayside. Do you see the ripples yet? Hill tells me he will retire from the Cecil County Sheriff's Office next year and his wife will scale back her cleaning business so they can continue to run the Wayside together and watch as their customers grow up. I told you it was a nice love story. ***
*** While I'm in the neighborhood, I don't want to forget to tell you what is going on at the former Bainbridge Market on Jacob Tome Memorial Highway. Liz and Jim Kuhn bought the property and are getting ready to transform it into a family restaurant they are calling Bainbridge Grill. Jim, who hails from Baltimore County but married a Cecil County girl who happens to be the daughter of Hampton Scott, home inspector and retired mailman, has a long career in the restaurant business working for others. Now he'll be working for himself when the place opens sometime in October. It's been gutted and is waiting for all the permits to be issued so Grubb Contractors can go to work on the project. Kuhn intends to raise the ceiling on the main floor and build a rear deck that will be covered and screened for good-weather dining and, he says, great sunsets. They will be able to seat about 150 and have been approved for a liquor license. Since the site is 1.76 acres, they will be able to have plenty of parking. Keep your eye out for their progress. *** An update on the North East Water Festival, an event that has been organized off and on since 1967 and held in the town park at the end of Cherry Street on the Northeast River: Organizers are canceling the festival for the second year in a row. Dave Moore, owner of Celestial Printing in North East, worked for several months to resurrect the festival following last year's decision to cancel because the volunteers dried up in number and hours to the point it was too much work for a small group. Moore stepped up last fall and started to hold committee meetings and make plans for the event, which would have been in mid-July. He told me recently he was forced to cancel because the committee couldn't raise enough money to put on a quality festival. The committee is going to meet July 11 at 7:30 p.m. at his shop on Mechanics Valley Road to wrap up loose ends and discuss the future of the festival. If you have any tidbits to share with Cheryl Mattix for this column, contact her at cmattix@cecilwhig.com, or call (410) 398-3311, ext. 3040. |
Developers of Bulle Rock's residential community,
future home to 2,200 residences designed around an
18-hole public golf course that is home to the
McDonald's LPGA Championship in Havre de Grace,
recently delivered a completed community center for
residents of the nearly 500 homes already occupied.
I can tell you, until the community is built out,
those already there could get lost in the
37,000-square-foot residents club.
The two-story facility sits atop a high area in the
community, giving it clear views of the Chesapeake Bay
from its many windows.
It has outdoor tennis courts, gardens, bocce courts,
terraces and swimming pools.
Inside, the entire lower level is devoted to fitness
and swimming with locker rooms, a juice bar, saunas
and whirlpools.
Upstairs could be mistaken for a five-star hotel, with
a ballroom, a cybercafé, library, solarium, rotunda,
lounge, billiards and an art gallery.
Can you say opulent? Now you have the idea.
These are the same developers who are working on
Bainbridge.
Wow, we could be looking at a first-class project
here.
Manekin LLC, Clark Turner and H&S Properties are
developing Bulle Rock, and Michaels LLC joins the
contingent in developing Bainbridge.