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The word I heard is that the Dundalk Heritage Fair is at an end. A summer staple, began the year I was born, cannot continue due to lack of funds, volunteers, attendees and/or a streak of bad weather luck, depending on what you read.
As I e-mailed and texted those who should know. One wrote back:
“The plant has well and truly closed.”
The (Southeast) Baltimore I am from is a place of perpetual nostalgia. “Yeah, those were the good old days…” has been the common refrain since I was a child. So…give me a minute here.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts played the Heritage Fair, her 2012 set recorded and clipped together for this highlight reel. Several family friends would spend the weekend camped out in front of the stage on lawn chairs waiting for the live acts, of which there were many. Joan’s set always gets mentioned in their reminisces, but the absolute “kicker” set was Eddie Money.
But back to Joan Jett. Grew up in Rockville, a longtime Orioles fan… it made absolute sense that she would headline one year and kill it. If I have taken anything forward from my youth spent in the area, it is the spirit of these people, singing along with her set. We love rock and roll. Joan Jett, being a badass, made total sense on that stage. Beyond that, underground-wise, did you know she covered Lungfish and took them on tour as her opening act? Did you know she produced Bikini Kill’s best known version of their best known song? Hell yeah she did.
Okay… minutes over.
The reason being… nostalgia is a trap.
The problems the folks I grew up with face are real and formidable. The plant’s closed, and the solutions they are handed by the people who closed the plant involve essentially trying to rewind time. You can’t do that.
Yes, it is going to be weird this summer and sad to know that the Dundalk Heritage Fair has ended.
But what can folks do now in this present moment, in that particular part of Baltimore County, to build something new that reflects the present community, for the future?
I remain, in many ways, straight outta Dundalk. I have known trouble. I have as many reasons as others from the area to stop, give up, give in, spend my days listing my grievances, telling my tale of woe, and buying into fantasies that would give me the “three Bs” that come from that particular way of looking at things.
But, to me, that does not honor those who I have lost and those who have helped me to survive.
I have made it this far, and I’m going to keep going. It’s hard work, but I’m from people who work hard. Knock me down, and I get back up again.
