In the midst of the brightly-colored 3100 block of Abell Avenue, a few short blocks east of the Homewood Campus, area residents mingled with Hopkins students, local celebrities, and even Jewish Klesma musicians on Sunday, Sept. 26 for a "celebration of urban living at its best."
The forum was the 29th Annual Abell Avenue Street Fair, run each year at the end of summer by the Abell Improvement Association (AIA), a group of 180 residents of the Abell neighborhood dedicated to fostering a sense of community in their small neighborhood of around 650 homes.
The neighborhood of Abell is named for the Abell family, the owners of the Baltimore Sun, who owned a large property just north of modern-day Abell known as Guilford. Abell was best known as the home of the Baltimore Orioles from 1889 until 1944, when their stadium burned to the ground. Following its destruction, the Orioles moved to the nearby Baltimore Municipal Stadium.
The Abell Avenue Street Fair serves as the largest source of revenue for the Abell Improvement Association. To best celebrate Baltimore city life, organizers sought to focus on things uniquely Baltimorean. Local businesses and residents were given the opportunity to have a table at the fair for $10. Highlights of the festival included an all-you-can-eat outdoor crab feast, a bake sale, a silent auction and a flea market. These events were staffed by a group of 50 local volunteers. New to this year's festival was an art show entitled "Art Imitates City Life." The show featured pieces from local artists colorfully depicting local sights such as the Inner Harbor, area row houses, and even a wide variety of paintings of beehive hairdos.
Also featured were a large number of local bands, including Martha Dougherty, Dennis Gray, Jonathan Gledhill, Ruth Kling, Robert McClintock, a Jewish Klesma band, and local garage rockers Catalyst, whose power chord-driven anthem, "We've got chords, we've got a bassline, who needs words?" provided a background to the festivities.
Band member and Abell area resident Andrew Hulleberg commented on the fair, saying, "These are some great people. It's a really great neighborhood, and we're having a great time."
Also on hand were a number of local politicians, including Maryland State Delegate Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City) and District 14 candidate for City Council Myles Hoenig (Green Party), both of whose districts include the Homewood campus and most of the neighborhoods surrounding it. Hoenig said, "We need more things like this all over the city, more often. It really shows that communities have an identity, and when you have city council, special interests, and developments squashing the interests of the community, you really need more of these events."
Dr. Mary Washington, President of the Abell Improvement Association, pointed out the importance of building community and renewing acquaintances with neighbors and friends from all over the city. She said the fair was "an opportunity for us to remind ourselves why we live in Abell ... [and] a great way to end the summer. People come here and they have a great time."
