Page 6 - October 2023 Issue.indd

The Ada Chambers for me to trounce through, so I had to what I do on a daily basis. How would

find a substitute. The nearby Chambers the Federalsburg Times handle it? What
Memorial... Park proved worthy, and I set my foot- point type would the headline be?
Garbage Dump? prints down upon its grounds 5-6 days Walk through the park with me on a
a week. Being the type of person who
typical day, in between the picnic tables
is more comfortable in the past versus
by Bryan Gadow the present, I oft en find myself think- and playground equipment. If you’re half

as clumsy as I, you’ll be looking down
ing of the birth of the park, on prop-
in a (sometimes vain) effort to keep
erty donated by Mrs. Ada Chambers.
While I may be a lifelong resident of this from tripping. What will you see? Cigar
You have to go back in time almost a
great county, I am not a native Federals- wrappers. Take-out containers. Broken
hundred years: it was a proud time in
burger. I saw little of this town when I whiskey bottles. Used condoms. Not
the history of Federalsburg. Something
was growing up; what I did see seemed very long ago, right where toddlers play,
new was popping up everywhere that
dirty and undesirable. Moving here in two hypodermic needles. When the park
you turned. A body could live a great
the late nineties, my view didn’t take was new, what would the women and
life, cradle to grave, and never leave the

long to change. There was much here to men of this town have done? It would
city limits. I try to imagine what the
like and thus I put down my roots. Th e be a major scandal, and I picture citizens
folks back then would think if they saw
places I grew up generally had woods running the mayor, council and police
chief out of town with pitchforks. But,
it is 2023, and I suspect you’ve not read
of any such drama in the Times-Record.
There are other, less intense, things that

irk me regarding our park. My favorite
section, largely forgotten, lies east of
Liberty Road. Once, I read, families
from around town each adopted a square
and planted their own flower garden.

The remnants of some remain, thanks
to those seemingly everlasting bulbs.

My favorite flower is the iris and some
springs the overgrown back section is
home to many patches. When in bloom
I will wind my way through the tall grass

and vines just to get a whiff and to take
in the blessing. Along the way I’ve said
hello to a box turtle and a rat snake.
My hope had been that this particular
section would be allowed to slowly refor-
est. I was disappointed one day last year
to see tracks where a six-wheeler truck
had driven through the center. Further
investigation showed that public works
had taken the annual collection of leaves
from the populace and dumped them in
the center of this pristine area. Now, this
might have been sort-of okay. I would
have greatly preferred that they just
parked alongside this area and tossed
the leaves in, rather than to drive. Th e
real issue is that the citizenry (or at least
many of them) disobeyed the rules and
tossed other trash into the sacks. Th us,
beer cans, soda bottles, old toys and
other bric-a-brac littered the area. A
friend of yours went in and cleaned it
up one afternoon. It filled an extra-large

trash bag to the point that it could barely
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