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 Chronicles
of E-burg
Walter J. Zalis
June 9, 2005
Not
Granny’s Town Anymore
Aaaah,
the town of E-burg. E-town. The Burg. The cozy little village labeled
as Eldersburg on the map of Sykesville hanging on the wall in Tony’s
Barber Shop, which is off of 26, behind the Elements of Style, next
to Salerno’s. If you’re from Eldersburg, you have the
mental picture. After all, the Burg is small enough for any citizen
to know its every location.
Well, almost small enough. I moved here in 1987, back when Eldersburg
was that really small town that sat next to Sykesville. Norm Lewis,
the weatherman on Channel 2 news would occasionally point out the
temperature or wind chill taken at Sykesville Middle School. Today,
you may notice Eldersburg is mentioned much more often in the weather
report than Sykesville. This isn’t the most blatant example
of the town’s growth, but you get the point. Eldersburg has
been growing at a remarkable rate. In fact, Sykesville has become
that small village next to Eldersburg, and E-town doesn’t
even have a mayor.
I was only a young child when I first arrived here, but even then
I noticed there were only three buildings in the area. There was
Little Georges (it’s a liquor store now, next to the Chophouse
and B&B), the Carrolltown Center (which wasn’t enclosed),
and the big thing in town, London Fog Factory (their spring and
fall sales would block up traffic on Fridays twice a year). I’m
talking about back when the eyesore at the intersection of 26 and
32 actually had functioning businesses, and there was only one choice
for middle and high school. There wasn’t much around, and
nothing much happened.
Now we have Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Martins, Food Lion, Chili’s,
Bob Evans, about 40 banks, a representative of the two major video
rental franchises, four bars, and three gyms.
Areas grow because houses are built and developments are planned.
Carroll County became a major hot spot for new families to move
to due to the school system’s reputation, and the fact that
it was considered “friendly farm people land” where
good ol’ folk were born and raised. Many of those area farms
are long gone, included the one I once picked strawberries at off
of Bennett Road. If it was an empty patch of grass in the late 80’s
and early 90’s, it probably has a house on it now.
People came in from Howard County, a very rich area, and from Baltimore
County, an area not as well off. This has made for quite a mix at
places such as Liberty High School. When I attended the school,
and even now, there existed a hard to find mix of “carroll
county people,” the wealthy, and the not so wealthy.
As
all this has happened, there has been drug use in the area, and
with so many more kids, so has there been underage drinking. The
blend has resulted in numerous changes in the people from this town.
Eldersburg is a best selling novel and the cover of a STAR tabloid.
Carroll County is not the farmland area it used to be, and Eldersburg
is at the center of it. I’ve worked much in the Baltimore
area, and have met and befriended many people outside of Eldersburg,
and they all have something interesting to say about the small town.
It is as if the people born and bred here develop the same aura
the town has grown. That’s what this column is about. That
aura, and how it has changed Eldersburg into E-burg. The transformation
has been so stunning, I now have a place to write a weekly commentary
about it. Ever wonder why so many bars and gyms exist nearly within
a square mile of one another in a “small town?” The
lifestyle has changed here, and while some of it is for the better,
much of it is not.
Previous Chronicles
of E-Burg Columns by Walter Zalis
July 29, 2005 - The Restaurant
Customers Guide to Etiquette
July 22, 2005 - Ms. Carol's Denny's
Nite Club
July 15, 2005 - Review: The Gyms of
E-burg
July 8, 2005 - Eldersburg falls in
line with Popular Society
July 1, 2005 - The Challenge of Carrolltown
Center
June 23, 2005 - The Streets of E-town:
Is there a Drug Problem?
June 17, 2005 - Graduation? Senior
Week
June 9, 2005 - Not Your Granny's Town
Anymore
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