Category: Support

Thank you for your support in 2012!

On behalf of my colleagues Eli Pousson and Marsha Wise, and Baltimore Heritage’s volunteer board of directors, I want to wish you a happy holiday and to thank you for making all of our work possible. With your help, we had a great year with neighborhood revitalization and preservation projects in east and west Baltimore, in launching Explore Baltimore Heritage – our new website and smartphone application, and in learning about our wonderful city through our heritage tours. We thought we would end the year with a short (and I do mean short) video of thanks and well wishes. We may not be quite ready for the Cannes Film Festival, but we do want to sincerely thank you for your participation and support. Have a happy holiday season and I hope to see you in the new year.

Please help us continue our work in the year ahead by making an end-of-year gift today.

Bring a Friend, Win a Prize! 2012 Membership Challenge

Behind the Scenes Tour of the USS Constellation, March 2011

In fall, Baltimore Heritage launched our annual membership drive and the new 2012 Membership Challenge. As part of our ongoing efforts to get more Baltimoreans engaged in learning about and preserving our great historic buildings and neighborhoods, we are asking for your help by bringing friends, neighbors, family members, and others to our tours and events. We know we need a large and diverse group of friends and supporters to effectively preserve and promote Baltimore’s historic places, and we believe that coming to one of our events is a great way to introduce people to our work.

As a way of saying thank you for your help and support, we are raffling off private guided tours of historic neighborhoods – a walking tour of Mount Vernon, a bike tour of West Baltimore Parks and more – led by myself and Baltimore Heritage Field Officer Eli Pousson. Anybody who joins us for a tour or to an event and then becomes a member of Baltimore Heritage, along with any current Baltimore Heritage member who refers a new member is eligible to win. We’ll announce the winners in early January. So the next time you register for one of our Behind the Scenes tours or other events, please bring a friend! Thank you for helping us with our 2012 Membership Challenge, and for helping us protect our shared history and revitalize our historic neighborhoods. I hope to see you and a guest at one of our events soon.

Baltimore Heritage’s Weatherproof Art Auction

"Charles Village" by Greg Otto

Baltimore Heritage can help you check off a few names from your holiday gift list. From now until the evening of Sunday, December 11th we are holding an Art Auction on eBay Giving Works.

With thanks to everybody who came out for our 2011 Preservation Awards Celebration on June 10, and who stuck it out through the deluge that evening (I am convinced we set a record for wettest non-profit event in Baltimore), we have a number of great art items for auction from the event which remained dry but unsold. The event, which we have retrospectively dubbed the “Monsoon in June,” gave everyone a great opportunity to meet people as we huddled under a tent, but it didn’t give our donated art pieces the proper attention that they deserved.

"Backyard in Hamilton" by Henry Coe

Here is a chance for gala attendees and the public to have a second opportunity to view and bid on the art from the comfort of their dry and climate controlled desk chairs. If you weren’t able to attend the gala, you now have an opportunity to see and bid on these wonderful works of art. What better gift for your favorite Baltimorean than an art piece depicting the city we all know and love.

"Baltimore before the Storm" by Tatiana Kuzmina

Holiday Tree at Orianda House: Tribute to Bill Eberhart

What a difference a year makes.  Last year was the first year Baltimore Heritage participated in the tree decorations at Orianda House on the Crimea estate in Leakin Park.  While Executive Director Johns Hopkins and I were decorating the tree, a Baltimore Heritage board member and friend of the House came in — Bill Eberhart.  One year later we find ourselves dedicating the tree in his memory.  Baltimore lost a tireless advocate of its historic sites and green spaces when Bill passed away in October.

The decorated trees will debut on Saturday, December 10th at 5:00 pm at Orianda House. Guest speaker, Edward Heinmiller, will take the podium at 6:45 pm  An art exhibit of pen and ink drawings by Elaine Ackerman of the Ross Winans house on St. Paul Street will be shown for the first time in almost 30 years. Entertainment will be provided by the Whirlitzers, a book signing and sale of Monuments to Heaven by Lois Zanow & Sally Johnston will take place as well as tours of the house and displays. Refreshments will be served.

Support our work through the Maryland Charity Campaign

Our work to protect and preserve Baltimore’s heritage is only possible thanks to the support of members who believe in our mission. If you are a state employee, this is a great time to become a member of Baltimore Heritage by making a gift through the Maryland Charity Campaign. The Maryland Charity Campaign is an annual workplace giving program that offers state employees the opportunity to contribute to charities using a convenient payroll deduction.

Make your gift of $35, $50, or whatever amount is right for you by filling in 5486 on your pledge card or the online form. For the first time this year, you can make an “Evergreen gift,” and your annual pledge amount can continue to renew annually through December 2013. Gifts made via check or credit cards are for one year and do not rollover. If you are not a state employee, you can still become a member by giving online today. In a very direct way, your help makes all that we do possible. Thank you for your past support and for joining us as we expand our leadership in protecting our shared history and revitalizing our historic neighborhoods.