Renaissance Milestone Awards
Purpose Top
The DRC was formed to help move the community forward. On any journey, milestones help us keep track of how far we’ve traveled. With the Renaissance Milestone Awards, we celebrate our continuing progress as a community in achieving revitalization, and we recognize just a few of the many individuals, organizations, and businesses who have helped us get this far.
2009 Awards | 2008 Awards
Announcing DRC's
2010 Dundalk Renaissance Milestone Awardees:
The Community College of Baltimore County
Renaissance Organization of the Year
CCBC creates new opportunities for our sons, daughters, and spouses to be leaders in the workforce of tomorrow
And
Renaissance Milestone Award Recipients
Mary Harvey
Mary heads the Baltimore County Office of Community Conservation, investing in Dundalk's housing and neighborhoods
Anchor Bay Marina East, LLC
A green business that highlights the beauty of our waterfront and provides a gathering spot for longtime residents and newcomers alike
Todd Smith
Todd has provided the grassroots leadership and elbow grease needed to improve his Watersedge neighborhood
Please join us for a very special evening in recognition of their contributions to the revitalization of our community!
Saturday, March 13th
Sparrows Point Country Club
919 Wise Avenue, Dundalk
6pm, Cocktails - 7pm, Dinner
$75 Per Person or $750 for a Table of Ten
Reserve Your Seats Now!
Call DRC at 410 282-0261 or email mary@dundalkusa.org
Contact us or Click HERE to Become an Event Sponsor!
2009 Renaissance Milestone Awards
Presented March 7th at Sparrows Point Country Club
View the Complete Event Program (PDF) | View Event Photos
Renaissance Man of the Year
Councilman John Olszewski, Sr.
Renaissance Milestone Award Recipients
Dennis McCartney
Joseph Stadler
Heritage Parade Committee
John Olszewski, Sr.
Baltimore County Council, 7th District
Dundalk Renaissance Man of the Year
Baltimore County Councilman John Olszewski, Sr., has been a reliable partner, supporter, and champion of revitalization efforts in Dundalk and throughout southeastern Baltimore County.
From the initial meetings with the Urban Design Assistance Team in 2001, to today’s efforts to build a new community along Yorkway, Councilman Olszewski has worked with the DRC on projects designed to improve and enhance our community. He has been a strong supporter of both the DRC’s housing renovation and main street activities, helping to obtain county and state support for these efforts.
He has been an advocate and supporter of many large-scale public projects identified as priorities by this community, such as the Dundalk Avenue Streetscape, renovating the old Dundalk YMCA, redevelopment of the Dundalk Village Shopping Center, and the demolition and redevelopment of the apartments along Yorkway.
Numerous improvements to the community’s parks and recreational facilities, as well as improvements and renovations to the community’s schools, are due to the councilman’s efforts. The possible construction of two new high schools in Dundalk can be traced directly to John’s efforts to highlight conditions at Dundalk High School, showing that substantial improvements need to be made.
John’s commitment to revitalization extends beyond his work with the DRC. He has been active in the Essex UDAT, working on similar community improvements and enhancements. He has supported the development of new, more upscale homes in Edgemere and along Back River, while also working with area businesses and unions to maintain the community’s employment base. And he has worked to implement a rental registration program to assist communities throughout the county. Top
Dennis McCartney
Renaissance Milestone Award
If something needs to be built or done in Dundalk, there is no better person to call upon than the community’s own action figure, Dennis McCartney.
To complete an entrance sculpture for Dundalk Avenue, as proposed in the UDAT report, Dennis not only provided space at his business to store the piece, he also worked with the Baltimore Arts and Music Project to complete it, and worked with Baltimore County and CSX to install it on the train trestle crossing Dundalk Avenue. Dennis also used his talents and connections to re-install the American flag over the old police/fire station in the Dundalk Village Shopping Center, and last winter, he designed, built and installed metallic Christmas trees for the front of the Dundalk Post Office and Historical Society as part of the DRC’s effort to reinstall holiday lights in the shopping center.
Like a true action figure, however, it is not just his more visible projects that need to be recognized, but also the smaller things Dennis does for people in the community; from helping someone put up a new clothesline to providing assistance to someone in need. Dennis does not want to talk about a problem, he wants to fix it. Now.
Dennis is an active member of the Dundalk High School Alumni Association, and a board member of the Dundalk Renaissance Corporation. He also marches in Dundalk’s St. Patrick’s Day and July 4th parades, proudly wearing his kilt. Top
Joseph Anthony Stadler
Renaissance Milestone Award
Perhaps the best way to describe Joe Stadler and what he means to our community is to call him the ideal neighbor, involved in numerous neighborhood and community efforts. For the past three years, for instance, he has earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award at Bank of America for providing over 200 hours of volunteer service annually.
Active in the St. Helena neighborhood where he has lived for over thirty years, he has been involved in the St. Helena Neighborhood Association, Citizens on Patrol, and in writing and distributing the community newsletter, the Red Rocket Review.
But people in St. Helena may know him better for the neighborhood Christmas caroling he has organized for the last ten years, getting anywhere from thirty to eighty people to march and sing through the neighborhood, or for the neighborhood spring cleaning – Detroit Avenue Day – he has been organizing for the last two years.
Joe is also active beyond St. Helena. He is a member and board member of the Dundalk Patapsco Neck Historical Society, where he established and still manages the Society Gift Shop. He is also active in the numerous events sponsored by the Historical Society, including the Flea Market, Art Show and Defenders Day, and helps to represent the Historical Society at the Heritage Fair and summer Concerts in the Park. Joe is also an active member of the Dundalk Renaissance Corporation, volunteering in Team Dundalk events, and is a board member of the Greater Dundalk Alliance.
Through all of these efforts, Joe works as a promoter, a mediator and a connector, building up people and organizations, helping to keep group projects running smoothly, and building bridges between people and organizations at every turn for the betterment of Dundalk. Top
Dundalk Heritage Parade Committee
Renaissance Milestone Award
For seventy-five years Dundalkians have celebrated the nation’s birthday with a parade. The longest running July 4th parade in the state, possibly the nation, its traditions include the line of fire trucks leading the parade, using their horns and sirens to let people know the parade is beginning, to the blankets and chairs put out a day or two before the parade to claim prime viewing locations.
From the beginning, the parade has been a tribute to the community made possible by the hard work and efforts of people in the community. The first 4th of July parades had been held in Sparrows Point, starting in 1902, but these efforts stopped in 1929, with the Great Depression. In 1934 a group of citizens organized the Heritage Parade, to be held through the streets of Dundalk. That parade has continued ever since, following the same route since the 1940’s.
In 1981, management of the parade was taken over by the Optimist Club of Dundalk, Inc., with Charlie Panuska organizing the event for over twenty years. Still hosted by the Optimist Club, in 2001 the Dundalk Heritage Parade Committee was formed to oversee parade activities. Patricia Herman, a member of the Optimist Club of Dundalk, currently chairs the Heritage Parade Committee.
The parade has never been a one person accomplishment, or a short-term project, however. Funds for the parade have always come from the community, including donations, proceeds from the Heritage Fair, and money collected by the Bucket Brigade during the parade. Work to organize and produce the next parade starts almost as soon as the last parade has finished. Over the years countless volunteers have put in thousands of hours of work to make the parade a reality, building countless memories, and Dundalk’s sense of community, with it. Top
Renaissance Milestone Awards - 2008
Renaissance Man of the Year
Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith
Renaissance Milestone Award Recipients
Harry Wujek
Lil Tirschman
The Dundalk Eagle
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