email: ellenmoyer@yahoo.com
mail: PO Box 3172, Annapolis, MD 21403
cell: 443 370 1785
EOM: Past, Present, Future!
In 2010, Ellen Moyer capped 50 years of public service as a community activist and elected Alderman and Mayor in the City of Annapolis, Maryland.
Selected three times as one of the top 100 women in the State of Maryland, Ellen has been recognized as a leader and innovator and for initiatives to enhance community quality of life. Among her numerous awards are: recognition by Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees as an outstanding alumni; the naming of the Ellen O. Moyer Nature Park on Back Creek in recognition of environmental action; and the City’s first Living Landmarks Award for leadership and achievements in preserving and enhancing the community’s cultural heritage.
During her tenure as an elected official and community leader she moved the City of Annapolis to embrace an environmental ethic that culminated in 2009 with an International Livable City Award. Through her initiatives the City obtained a 42% urban tree canopy; a unique urban public land trust; an award-winning Parks and Paths for People Plan with 20 street-end parks; Greenscape, an annual beautification volunteer program; an aggressive storm water management program; the first municipal watershed plan in Maryland; and an urban living environmental classroom park.
In the 1970's, as Executive Director for the Maryland Commission for Women, she helped to organize Maryland's domestic abuse program and achieve credit status for women.
Ellen served five Governors on a variety of boards and commissions including the State Board of Education, the State Racing Commission and the Local Government Advisory Council to the Chesapeake Bay Program. As part of a national program, she served on the Maryland State team to develop opportunity for gifted and talented students in the public education system.
She is a co- founder of Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre which just celebrated its 45th season. Murals, art work and historic panels in Annapolis are a result of her initiative establishing the Art in Public Places Commission.
Ellen Moyer serves on a national committee dedicated to improving resilience for communities experiencing natural and manmade disasters. She is a member of a FEMA Core Group to bring the ‘whole community approach’ to emergency management. Ellen also participates in The Climate Project led by Al Gore to identify solutions and actions related to climate change. She volunteers time with the Society of Distinguished Alumni at Penn State as a mentor and to raise scholarship money for the Honors program. She has served on two commissions sponsored by Preservation Action to strengthen Historic Preservation at the Federal level.
Currently Ellen is engaged in writing, speaking and is hosting a radio show in Annapolis, MD on current events. She has participated in symposiums on local and international concerns. Her articles on the environment, history and horse-racing have appeared in local magazines.
Selected three times as one of the top 100 women in the State of Maryland, Ellen has been recognized as a leader and innovator and for initiatives to enhance community quality of life. Among her numerous awards are: recognition by Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees as an outstanding alumni; the naming of the Ellen O. Moyer Nature Park on Back Creek in recognition of environmental action; and the City’s first Living Landmarks Award for leadership and achievements in preserving and enhancing the community’s cultural heritage.
During her tenure as an elected official and community leader she moved the City of Annapolis to embrace an environmental ethic that culminated in 2009 with an International Livable City Award. Through her initiatives the City obtained a 42% urban tree canopy; a unique urban public land trust; an award-winning Parks and Paths for People Plan with 20 street-end parks; Greenscape, an annual beautification volunteer program; an aggressive storm water management program; the first municipal watershed plan in Maryland; and an urban living environmental classroom park.
In the 1970's, as Executive Director for the Maryland Commission for Women, she helped to organize Maryland's domestic abuse program and achieve credit status for women.
Ellen served five Governors on a variety of boards and commissions including the State Board of Education, the State Racing Commission and the Local Government Advisory Council to the Chesapeake Bay Program. As part of a national program, she served on the Maryland State team to develop opportunity for gifted and talented students in the public education system.
She is a co- founder of Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre which just celebrated its 45th season. Murals, art work and historic panels in Annapolis are a result of her initiative establishing the Art in Public Places Commission.
Ellen Moyer serves on a national committee dedicated to improving resilience for communities experiencing natural and manmade disasters. She is a member of a FEMA Core Group to bring the ‘whole community approach’ to emergency management. Ellen also participates in The Climate Project led by Al Gore to identify solutions and actions related to climate change. She volunteers time with the Society of Distinguished Alumni at Penn State as a mentor and to raise scholarship money for the Honors program. She has served on two commissions sponsored by Preservation Action to strengthen Historic Preservation at the Federal level.
Currently Ellen is engaged in writing, speaking and is hosting a radio show in Annapolis, MD on current events. She has participated in symposiums on local and international concerns. Her articles on the environment, history and horse-racing have appeared in local magazines.
Natchez Trace
We visited the Biltmore Village built over a hundred year ago to serve the Vanderbilt estate. Did not go to the Biltmore, delaying till spring, when 4000 tulips and all the flowers would be in bloom. I40, the route west, was closed because of a rockslide. The detour up scenic I26 took us about 100 miles out of the way.
Anxious to explore, I left the highway at Erwin and headed to Historic Jonesboro because I saw a sign Chester Inn and Storytelling Center. I did not know at the time that Jonesboro is Tennessee’s oldest town, the place of the first abolitionist writing and advocacy in 1813 and near the birthplace of Andrew Johnson. It is a very distinctive town with impressive buildings. The Eureka Hotel beckoned but they were not taking guests nor was the B n B next door. So we found a place on 11E, the American Classic with a kitchen and living room and cooked in. Tomorrow, in the daylight we will explore historic Jonesborough and hit the road for Memphis 500 miles away.
Some Main Street, Jonesborough, TN pics for your enjoyment:
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| Museum's Community Christmas Trees |
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| Storyteller Hall |
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| Presbyterian Church |
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| Eureka House |
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| Abolition Publishing House |
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| Academy Hill |
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| Chester Inn |
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| Cafe' Art |
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| Cafe' Art |
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under construction; ellen is trying to remember this leg of her retirement trip. In the mean-time we will share a few pictures to give you some idea of what she will talk about- enjoy!
Virginia
Hi all,
This morning last night’s snow and winter wonderland had turned to slush. Fortunately the temperature continued to go up and by the time we left The Country Inn the roads were clear. We eventually hit I81; the interstate truck route, big trucks, not fit for teeny-weeny passenger cars, headed to Dale’s farm.
This morning last night’s snow and winter wonderland had turned to slush. Fortunately the temperature continued to go up and by the time we left The Country Inn the roads were clear. We eventually hit I81; the interstate truck route, big trucks, not fit for teeny-weeny passenger cars, headed to Dale’s farm.
We stopped at the esteemed Hotel Strasburg, a very Victorian furnished hotel in the heart of Civil War and Stonewall Jackson territory for lunch. (As it happened the owner was selling the hotel that day). When it got dark we were still 70 miles from Dale’s farm and a house with no heat and no hot water for the next 24 hours so; we stopped for the night at the Hotel Roanoke.
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Truly an elegant place, elegantly and humorously decorated with 25 trees by different community groups. I liked the tree that surrounded a 1940’s kitchen with the Beverly Hillbillies playing on a TV. The Boy Scouts and the SPCA and The Grinch all told the stories of themselves in exhibits and tree decorations.
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Tomorrow we will be at the farm…no internet, no, or at least limited, phone (you have to stand in just the right spot) so it may be a week before I talk with you again. Enjoy the Lights Parade and 11th hour and time with your friends and family during this special holiday season.
Thinking of you,
Ellen
A few more pictures of Roanoke, VA:
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Carolers at the Hotel Roanoke,VA
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Entering the dinning room, Hotel Roanoke,VA
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| Christmas Display, Hotel Roanoke,VA |
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| Walkway to Market, Hotel Roanoke,VA |
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| Walkway to Market, Hotel Roanoke,VA |
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| Historic Marker, Roanoke, VA |
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| Center in the Square, Roanoke, VA |
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| City Market, Roanoke, VA |
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| Ellen bought a purse, Roanoke, VA |
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| Hotel Roanoke,VA |
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| Historic Marker |
HOME???
The sky warned of a storm approaching so we stopped for the evening in McCook, Ne. a turn of the century town with a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It did pour and hail but despite the nasty sky no tornado in this tornado alley. The next day at Arapahoe we left US 6 for US 136 which the map showed to be a straight line across the farm belt as far as Indianapolis, Indianna. A mile into the new route we passed the little town of Edison, a once thriving river town of abandoned and ruined red brick buildings overgrown with weeds. What happened? A few miles furthur I stopped to read an historical marker as I had done regularly on this trip. The marker described a flood in 1935 when the Republican River widened 2 to 4 miles to depths of 8 feet killing 100 people. Eliot was at the apex of 2 intersecting rivers and never recovered. A set of lakes and dams have been built to curtail future flooding. I searched in book stores and asked oldtimers but no one seemed to remember what must have been the flood of the century.
Willa Cather grew up in this land. We drove down the streets so familiar to her and saw her child hood home. Much of Red Cloud, her native home, seemed closed.The Homestead National Monument of America was closed when we arrived. Its nearby town Beatrice, housed the fanciest turn of the century buildings I've seen. Many were empty, some were being restored even with gold trim. A Victorian Queen Anne home turned Inn in Auburn captured us for the the evening.
The next day found us in the Missouri River town of Brownsville that was hosing its annual Writers event. Three bookstores line the 3 block historic district. A health food store and artists shops and community center filled up the rest of the space. We met an artist who said he was trained at the Pratt Institute who also claimed to be a Naval Academy graduate. After 3 hours of walking and talking and buying used books we crossed the river into Havana and to the Dickson Indian Mounds Museum. A rainstorm followed us into Danville, Illinois and dinner at a roadhouse restaurant described as" the best". No one mentioned the deafening hard rock band that made it impossible to talk to the waitress or eat in comfort.
The drive across Indiana and West Virginia except for occasional stops at pottery barns on US 40 were uneventful. Stopping for dinner in Maryland, a farmer family couldn't believe we were going to drive 80 miles to Annapolis. For me who was driving well over 300 miles a day his concern was surprising. However, not caring to arrive after dark to a house I hadn't been in for some months, we took his advice and spent our last night on the road in Clear Spring, Md.. The next day we were on the Interstate with big 18 wheelers and speeding cars with drivers who had faces etched in tension. This was the East I would have to readjust to or....it was tempting to think about turning around and heading west again on my 2 lane highways through small town Mayberry America.
At 2:30 on April 27 we arrived at 35 Eastern Ave to end my blue highways road trip of 11,532 miles with 200 new books and 5000 photographs and a life time of memories,
Willa Cather grew up in this land. We drove down the streets so familiar to her and saw her child hood home. Much of Red Cloud, her native home, seemed closed.The Homestead National Monument of America was closed when we arrived. Its nearby town Beatrice, housed the fanciest turn of the century buildings I've seen. Many were empty, some were being restored even with gold trim. A Victorian Queen Anne home turned Inn in Auburn captured us for the the evening.
The next day found us in the Missouri River town of Brownsville that was hosing its annual Writers event. Three bookstores line the 3 block historic district. A health food store and artists shops and community center filled up the rest of the space. We met an artist who said he was trained at the Pratt Institute who also claimed to be a Naval Academy graduate. After 3 hours of walking and talking and buying used books we crossed the river into Havana and to the Dickson Indian Mounds Museum. A rainstorm followed us into Danville, Illinois and dinner at a roadhouse restaurant described as" the best". No one mentioned the deafening hard rock band that made it impossible to talk to the waitress or eat in comfort.
The drive across Indiana and West Virginia except for occasional stops at pottery barns on US 40 were uneventful. Stopping for dinner in Maryland, a farmer family couldn't believe we were going to drive 80 miles to Annapolis. For me who was driving well over 300 miles a day his concern was surprising. However, not caring to arrive after dark to a house I hadn't been in for some months, we took his advice and spent our last night on the road in Clear Spring, Md.. The next day we were on the Interstate with big 18 wheelers and speeding cars with drivers who had faces etched in tension. This was the East I would have to readjust to or....it was tempting to think about turning around and heading west again on my 2 lane highways through small town Mayberry America.
At 2:30 on April 27 we arrived at 35 Eastern Ave to end my blue highways road trip of 11,532 miles with 200 new books and 5000 photographs and a life time of memories,
Cache de Poudre
Over the Rockies and Through the Canyon of the Cache de Poudre
On April 20 we meandered east across the country on 2 lane highways through small town America…no fast track destination travel. Our first stop was Pinedale, WY a small town growing large thanks to Halliburton and a oil boom. This is the place to find real cowboy western gear.
Our route towards Flaming Gorge took us across the high plains with sagebrush as far as the eye could see. This is home to the world’s largest herd of pronghorn sheep. This is also the land that Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch and a host of other turn of the century robbers traveled. It was easy to imagine the posse’s and the Pinkerton Men riding hard across this land in hot but unsuccessful pursuit.
We found accommodations 2 miles down a dirt road in a converted bunk house at Spring Creek Ranch. The ranch is a center for fly-fishermen fishing one of the worlds top fishing rivers, the Green. We went to sleep to the sound of coyotes yipping.
The next day, the road took us up to alpine meadows flooded with snow melt and down 9 miles through 10 horse-shoe curves to Vernal, Utah. We lunched in the town’s oldest restaurant and headed to Dinosaur National Monument. The main building was closed for renovation so we drove through the park, past ancient petroglyphs to the cabin of Josie Bassett Morris.
Josie and her sister Queen Ann grew up in Brown’s Park, an isolated good cattle country, often visited by the Wild Bunch. Some say Ann was the sweetheart of the Sundance Kid. Both sisters were highly educated and both knew their stuff handling cattle and shot-guns. After a stint in the city of Craig, Colorado to raise her two sons, Josie came back to the isolation of this box canyon 10 miles from the nearest town, built a log cabin, raised her own food and horses, and butchered her own cattle until her death at 84 in the 1960’s.
US RT 40 took us through Steamboat Springs and over the Rockies at Rabbit Ear Pass. When it went south we went west on state route 14 through the narrow canyon of the Cache de Poudre River with its ever changing rock formations. We eventually emerged into a broad valley with the remains of old 1890’s canals, one of the nation’s first water management systems. We stayed in the University town of Fort Collins, a town USA describes as 1 of 200 towns that has managed the economic downturn successfully.(Annapolis should be one of them since we share so many things in common)
Parking is free in the historic district plaza that has captured a variety of interesting shops surrounded by gardens and public art and is home to P.J., a gem of a guy who vends NYC Nathan hotdogs. After a hotdog and sauerkraut lunch we headed east on US RT 6 past the bounce back ghost town of New Raymer where we talked with the post office mistress, a third generation citizen, about the history of the area and the difficulty of dry farming and than headed toward Nebraska.
On April 20 we meandered east across the country on 2 lane highways through small town America…no fast track destination travel. Our first stop was Pinedale, WY a small town growing large thanks to Halliburton and a oil boom. This is the place to find real cowboy western gear.
Our route towards Flaming Gorge took us across the high plains with sagebrush as far as the eye could see. This is home to the world’s largest herd of pronghorn sheep. This is also the land that Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch and a host of other turn of the century robbers traveled. It was easy to imagine the posse’s and the Pinkerton Men riding hard across this land in hot but unsuccessful pursuit.
We found accommodations 2 miles down a dirt road in a converted bunk house at Spring Creek Ranch. The ranch is a center for fly-fishermen fishing one of the worlds top fishing rivers, the Green. We went to sleep to the sound of coyotes yipping.
The next day, the road took us up to alpine meadows flooded with snow melt and down 9 miles through 10 horse-shoe curves to Vernal, Utah. We lunched in the town’s oldest restaurant and headed to Dinosaur National Monument. The main building was closed for renovation so we drove through the park, past ancient petroglyphs to the cabin of Josie Bassett Morris.
Josie and her sister Queen Ann grew up in Brown’s Park, an isolated good cattle country, often visited by the Wild Bunch. Some say Ann was the sweetheart of the Sundance Kid. Both sisters were highly educated and both knew their stuff handling cattle and shot-guns. After a stint in the city of Craig, Colorado to raise her two sons, Josie came back to the isolation of this box canyon 10 miles from the nearest town, built a log cabin, raised her own food and horses, and butchered her own cattle until her death at 84 in the 1960’s.
US RT 40 took us through Steamboat Springs and over the Rockies at Rabbit Ear Pass. When it went south we went west on state route 14 through the narrow canyon of the Cache de Poudre River with its ever changing rock formations. We eventually emerged into a broad valley with the remains of old 1890’s canals, one of the nation’s first water management systems. We stayed in the University town of Fort Collins, a town USA describes as 1 of 200 towns that has managed the economic downturn successfully.(Annapolis should be one of them since we share so many things in common)
Parking is free in the historic district plaza that has captured a variety of interesting shops surrounded by gardens and public art and is home to P.J., a gem of a guy who vends NYC Nathan hotdogs. After a hotdog and sauerkraut lunch we headed east on US RT 6 past the bounce back ghost town of New Raymer where we talked with the post office mistress, a third generation citizen, about the history of the area and the difficulty of dry farming and than headed toward Nebraska.
Jackson Hole, A Hard Place to Leave
On March 4 we arrived in Jackson, Wyoming for an intended stay of 4 days. Our stay lasted for 6 weeks. Jackson is a hard place to leave. The dominate feature here is the Teton mountains rising 6000 feet straight up from the valley floor to 13,500 feet. These mountains are forever awesome. Clouds, rain, snow, sun play on the rock making every minute a different view. I never tired of looking at the Tetons or of the inspiration engendered.
In this town of 8500 people there is much to see and do. It is a western art center ranked third behind New York City and Santa Fe. Every Monday, musicians from around the country perform at Dornans’ Hootenanny. We heard Carnegie Hall pianist Pam Phillips play jazz at Spring Creek lounge. The historic Wort Hotel featured country and bluegrass just about every night of the week. At the Cowboy Bar visitors don dancing boots for the Texas two-step.
The city library featured local story tellers and nationally recognized speakers on world affairs. We joined a book club for readings on the environment at the Murie Center, once the home of a founder of The Wilderness Society.
Everyday we visited the Elk Refuge to watch 100’s of mountain sheep. We saw elk shed their antlers and the herd gather for migration to higher and cooler protected ground. We watched a coyote pounce in search of a ground squirrel meal. We trekked a mile through the snow to watch the courtship dance of the Sage Grouse. We saw moose and buffalo and deer. And we watched a Grizzly roll in the snow, pick himself up and amble up the mountain.
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