Pepper Mill community honors citizens

Thursday, March 30, 2006

The Pepper Mill Village Civic Association held a banquet Friday to honor four residents who made substantial contributions to their community.

Each honoree has been active in various capacities with the association over the last 30 years.

Georgie Jennings served as vice-president and president, chaired the Concerned Women of Pepper Mill, and worked with the community’s newsletter, the Pepper Mill Shaker.

Her husband, James Jennings, one of the honorees, also served as president, and was instrumental in the renovation of Carmody Hills Elementary School.

James Jennings and fellow honoree Abraham Lincoln were active in getting a traffic light at the intersection of Central Avenue and Cindy Lane. Lincoln also served as president and chair of the membership committee.

The evening’s fourth honoree, Anna Newell, spent over 25 years as the association’s treasurer.

This was the first banquet held by the association, and Newell, reacting to the excitement said, ‘‘I never expected anything like this.”

County Executive Jack B. Johnson presented a proclamation from his office, along with a $500 check from the Community and Ethnic Affairs Advisory Council to pay for the event.

Sen. Nathaniel Exum (D-Dist. 24) of Capitol Heights presented the awards to the honorees.

Also attending were State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, Del. Joanne C. Benson (D-Dist. 24) of Landover, Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene W. Grant, Councilman Samuel H. Dean (D-Dist. 6) of Mitchellville, Howard Stoner, vice-chair of the county’s Board of Education, and Councilwoman Camille Exum (D-Dist. 7) of Capitol Heights.

Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard (D-Dist. 24) of Landover told the honorees she left Annapolis to attend the event because she ‘‘had to say hello.”

While reminiscing about decades of community service, Newell said, ‘‘We were instrumental in getting street lights.

Georgie Jennings added, ‘‘My husband and I got the streets of Pepper Mill paved...and re-paved!”

Georgie Jennings also is a well-known figure in the community, keeping track of neighbors and public officials.

‘‘I made it my business to meet every new police chief. They could come to my house anytime to sit down and talk,” she said.

Lincoln said he remembers a ‘‘five year battle” with Metro over the blue line extension from Addison Road to Largo Town Center.

‘‘Metro wanted to put the extension above ground and that would have split the community,” he said.

He said his reasoning at the time was,

‘‘If they can put it underground in other areas, why can’t they put it underground here?”

Realizing the make-up of Pepper Mill, a community of about 800 families is changing, Crystal Scott, the civic association’s new president, said she added a youth board to address the needs of the area’s youngest residents.

In closing remarks, Scott urged the audience to get involved in their communities, saying it is ‘‘exhausting, but rewarding.”