He's Holy & I'm Knott

People come to Baltimore and fall in love with it and dedicate their lives to making it better, Rev. Al and I couldn't be more excited to welcome Farmer Chippy a man who John Brothers couldn't stop talking about, so we had to bring him on and we quickly came to the conclusion he's a bigtime diamond in the rough.

Farmer Chippy, he's a farmer, he's community organizer, the father of two children and a difference maker in a Community that has been challenged for a too long.

He started coming to Baltimore as a child to visit his grandfather from his home in Trinidad Tabago, he fell in love with the place and laid down his roots coinciding the birth of his first son...

If he's not working with kids that don't trust many other than him, he is buildng a reputation as someone that gets things done. The largest Urban Farm in one of the state's most challenged neighborhood. Bringing trust, growing a little food and providing "food for the mind" he's created a large following and he's leading his fellow citizens to the light.

Community organizing is his strength and he recently pulled together the Carribean Community, which is prevelant and proud in Park Heights for a celebration of "Carnival" in Druid Hill Park, one of our favorite places.

We got an hour with him, it's a great talk and we quickly realized that this guy is Holy, his work is Holy, and we are lucky to have him as a full fledged advocate for our City...This is what Baltimore does to people...Rev and I feel the same way as you do Farmer Chippy, Baltimore, "The Greatest City in America"

Thanks for joining us and all you are doing for Baltimore.

Up Up and away we go...

So if you're looking for a conversation about development you might want to find yourself by the Pool at the Maryland Party at the ICSC Conference in Las Vegas Nevada.

Rev. Al and I couldn't be more pleased to have the opportunity to catch up with Mark Renbaum, a friend, and a man on a mission to bring a Transit Oriented Development to Lutherville, Maryland.

Mark's firm owns the old Caldor site and is looking to redevelop that site as a transit oriented residential and commercial developement. He's also developing in the City with David Bramble at Northwood Plaza adjacent to Morgan plus he's involved in the redevelopment of Madison Park at the 800 Block of North Ave, a place that hasn't been invested in for too long.

Mark takes the community approach, he understands that the community needs to be involved and he is working with them on prioritizing green space in Lutherville and delivering the ammenities that support a strong community. Look at the transformation of Northwood by two of Baltimore's best developers, a once blighted property now thriving with great retailers and a new grocery store for the community and it has all the amenties that the Morgan students want.

Lutherville is next and the investment in that property is going take the value from 9 million to over 200 million dollars. The taxpayers paid for the light rail a long time ago, we should be maximizing it's use, this development improves the ROI for taxpayers and we all agree that we should be maximizing transit oriented development where ever we can.

This is Holy work and Rev Al says Mark is a Holy man! Come along for this lesson in development, he really is one of Baltimore's best.

Thanks Mark for coming on to talk about your work and this incredible development in Lutherville, we can wait to see it when it's done!

This is the first of a bunch of new releases that were recorded while we attended the ICSC Convention. It is Maryland's Real Estate Extravaganza held anually at the Wynn in May.

You can hear the crowd in the background around the pool, a huge thanks and shout out to Howard Perlow and the Wynn for the set up and space to conduct these interviews..

Brooke grew up in politics, that's what happens when your fathers Terry Lierman, she represented the 43rd District in Baltimore City and did a fantastic job, always looking out for her constituants she built a strong following which allowed her to take her service to another level and run a successful Statewide campaign to become the first Woman Comptroller in Maryland History.

We get the whole journey from the begining, Brooke is determined and she is a hard a working elected offical. She also likes to have fun, and she's an amazing mother whose passionate about her children.

Get a read on what's happening in Las Vegas that's attracting Marylands top officals from the Governor to the Comptroller, County Executives and many others.

We capture Brooke's thoughts coming off her first Legislative session and the first 6 months in office. She's also got great idea's about how to make the Comptrollers office an office for the people and a modernized office for 2023.

This is a great one and we have our first Angel....what more could we ask for in Vegas..

Thanks Brooke!

When you grow up in the Embry Family you are well versed in what it means to be a part of a Community. You watch your parents lead in the areas of Art's, Philanthropy and Community building,....and next thing you know you end up becoming Elizabeth Embry.

City College> Yale > Columbia Law School...its all impressive, but when you start off with City College you know you're gonna end up Holy...

Rev Al and I both know Elizabeth well and it was such a pleasure to see the world through the eyes of this incredible woman who is so well respected in our Community.

Elizabeth gives us a glimpse of the Journey over the past 10 years from a Prosecuter, to a Mayoral Candidate and a Candadite for Lt Governor now in the Legislature representing the 43rd District and coming behind the great Del. Maggie McIntosh who served that district for decades. Make no mistake Elizabeth will leave her mark.

Learn what she's learning from her constituents and hows she's putting that into action on the legislative front. We talk about the Bills she succesffuly navigated in her first session and what it WAS like to be a freshman in the Legislature.so much fun!

Craig Thompson, > Elizabeth Embry, we're off to a great start...thanks Delegate for coming in and sharing your time with us and thanks for all you are doing for the City we love so much!

How about this guy, super lawyer, author of several childrens books, educated in Maryland's Public School system, he's a Terp for Life! He serves on multiple Boards at the University of Maryland, he Chaired Gov. Wes Moore's campaign and is now the Board Chair of the Maryland Stadium Authority.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Rev Al and I are thrilled to open up Season #3 with Craig Thompson.

We talk about everything, and it was a true pleasure to get to know this incredible man. He wanted to teach his young daughter about diversity and there wasn't enough material focused on diversity so a simple concept of ABC's resulted in the publishing of two childrens books focused on the ABC's of African American Inventors and Afrtican American History. He also wrote a chapter in a book called the Life and Death of Tupac Shakur, how's that for cool.

He sees problems and he fixes them, he sees challenges and he overcomes them, he sees holes he fills them. Born to a single working mother, whom he talks about with such reverance it's no wonder he's been able to achieve all that he has acheived. He's keeping it simple, be a great son, be a great father and be a great husband.

What's going on with Craig Thompson? Come along for a ride and get to know this incredible Baltimoreon as he embarks on a new journey at the Maryland Stadium Authority, an organization that's got a lot of balls in the air. His collective experience will be great for the citizens of our great state. Amazing organizations need amazing leaders, MSA just landed Craig Thompson, what a catch!

Thanks Craig, for all you do for our Community. The Rev and I can't think of a better way to kick off our latest Season with great conversations like this one to take us through the New Year!

Here we go.....10...9...8...7...6.......

We hit a high point for Holiness on this day when we welcomed Dr. Frank Lance, the President and CEO of the venerable Parks and People Foundation and Sr. Pastor at Mount Lebanon Baptist Church.

We talk about everything Parks and People and the amazing work that this tranformative organization is doing all over Baltimore City. There's not a neighborhood out there that hasn't been improved by this organization. Serving thousands of residents and hundreds of kids it is the Parks and People Foundation that is holding our cities Park system together and adding green space for residents all over the city. Workforce development and training on how to maintain landscapes, Summer camps for hundreds of kids, keeping a sharp focus on improving our City's park system, one of the largest in the country.

Frank, the Pastor of the Church right across the street from the new Parks and People HQ at Druid Hill Park had made his way onto the Board and then Board Chair Matt Kostmayer saw the light and approached Frank about filling the open position for CEO. Matt says its the "Smartest move ever" and the Board agreed and its been 4 great years since he took over.

With a steady hand at the till the Foundation continues it's growth making Baltimore a healthier and greener place for all residents. Frank understood the energy of the Founder the great Sally Michel who was the force behind making this organization happen when Mayor Schaefer challenged a group of supporters to rally around our Parks.

Tune into this great conversation, it's Spring and our People are returning to our Parks, all made better by the great work of this incredible institution. Thanks Frank Lance for stepping up and thanks for all you and your staff are doing to make our Park System the best it can be.

Reverand Al and I are especially pleased to Welcome the curators of Charm City Blue Grass. Two great entertainment guys, Adam Kirr and Phil Chorney. Fells Point Festival, check, great success this past fall and now we are in the Spring and that means Charm City Bluegrass and it's 10th Anniversary..

A bunch of musical fanatics we venture into the minds and backgrounds of these two guys and we also entertain the spirtiual aspect of the music in Bluegrass and each of our lives. We bring forward an amazing Bluegrass fact...Baltimore was the first place to mass produce Banjo's and we talk about the banjo and it's journey from Africa to the Appalacian Mountains. Full of fun conversations we also focus on this great event coming up with weekend at Union Craft Brewery starting Friday and ending after a maraton 12 hour day on Saturday Headlined by the Infamous Stringdusters it's going to be hopping. So many great acts...Twisted Pine, The Honey Dew drops, Grateful dub, Magic Beans...and many more...

I have many great memories of the first few Charm City Blue Grass Events at the old Union, off of Union and this Festival keeps growing and growing. We've been to Druid Hill Park but now back at the Union Collective with a great inside and outside venue. Tons of food trucks this looks to be a real good smash up of Bluegrass fans from all over celebrating this great art and doing it in Union with nature, food, drink and fun times.

It's heavenly work and these guys have it down, there's lots to learn here and Rev and I think you are really going to like it. Thanks to Adam and Phil, always good to have you in, thanks for all of the hard work and the passion for Bluegrass.

Rev. Al and I so excited about this episode, the Mayor and Rev. go back a long ways, both graduates of City Collge High School, and both leaders in this community since their High Schools Days.

An amazing athlete Kurt Schmoke lead the City Knights to Championships two years while he was in High School, Junior and Senior year. One of his mentors was George Young, a man who went on to run the New York Giants, he helped Kurt set his sights high and was pivitol in his journey to Yale.

Kurt remembers wanting to be Mayor back to his early days in High School inspired by then Mayor Tommy Dellasandro during a speech at school.

A graduate of Yale undergrad and Harvard Law School and as a Rhodes Scholar he landed himself in Oxford for two years. In High School he was a member of the famed Boys Club the Lancers. As a Lancer he traveled the world and it opened his eyes to cultures all over the world. He didn't get smaller he got bigger, and before you know it he was Baltimore's States Attorney and eventually its Mayor, where he served three terms While Mayor he focused on making Baltimore "The City that Reads" and he tore down and rebuilt every multi-story public housing project in Baltimore.

As the President of UB he lends his experience and his vision for a new Station North which is underway with UB playing a real role in the redevelopement and repositioning land in the immediate area as construction begins on Baltimore's New state of the art Train Station along with UB's redevelopment of the US Post Office site adjacent to the campus.

A man raised in the public schools here in Baltimore he shows us what's possible with good parents and good mentors in life. Thanks Mayor Schmoke, for all you have done over the years, thanks for what you are doing now, this was a great conversation, we thank you for your time!

As we enter into Passover and the Easter Weekend there's a ton of "Holiness" going around especially in this episode as we welcome Kennedy Krieger's President and CEO Brad Schlaggar, MD PhD. to the fold. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Brad over the past year and what a great steal from the City of St. Louis. His journey is a great one as he walks us through his career and the steps it took to get to the top of the mountain as Kennedy Krieger's President and CEO. He has published over 150 research papers and he's a highly sought after lecturer, people want to hear from this guy.

When you spend your life persuing knowledge in the world of neurology and pediatrics and you get the call to come to Kennedy Krieger, you pick up your life and make the move. So with his wife, Hristina who loves to laugh and also has a PhD in Neuroscience and their two kids they made the move to Baltimore. Like everyone else that comes from other places they quickly settlled into our little Bohemian City and are loving life!

At Kennedy Krieger Brad leads a team of over 2800 people providing services focused on improving the lives of children, adolocents, and young adults with disorders and injuries of the brain, spinal cord and musculoskeletal systems. Kennedy Krieger is the second largest research Hospital in Baltimore's East Side and dominates the planet in the areas of it's focus. I remember sitting in the lobby of the original building over 40 years ago when they were at the forefront of trying to understand ADHD and how to help wild type's like me. The work is ongoing and the progress has been tremendous.

There's so much more to this institution than most people in Baltimore know and Brad opens the curtain and unviels what's new across a broad spectrum of reasearch topics and some of the Institutions most exciting work. When not working Brad loves music and in particular the Grateful Dead, so we get along just exactly perfectly.

Let's get into this one, a great talk with a newly declared Holy Man just in time for the Holiest time of the year. Rev. and I are so pleased to present this one and give everyone a look behind the curtain at this incrediblely important institution. Brad, thanks for coming to Baltimore and thanks for your leadership at one our State's most valuable healthcare assets.

Happy Passover and Easter to All...

The Rev and I are huge fans of Howard Perlow, I knew him as the king of Real Estate Title work and the host of the Maryland Party at the Annual ICSC Convention in Las Vegas, but through this Podcast Rev. and we learned so much more about him and you will too. To say Howard loves Baltimore is a huge understatement, he's dedicated his life to making Baltimore a better place. As a young man he was part of the Lancers Boys Club, with the likes of Kurt Schmoke and William Donald Schaeffer.

Howard is a leader in Baltimore's Jewish Community having served on Boards of the JCC and many other Jewsih institutions now he spends his time as the Chair of the Board of Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center, located just west of the LifeBridge Campus.

As mentioned above Howard is the host of the Maryland Party, his brainchild. This event which takes place in May is the largest gathering of real estate professionals from Maryland and the Mid Atlantic area, if your in the real estate world this is where you go to shoot fish in a barrel. No other state in the country has more real estate professionals come together than Maryland does, deals are happening every couple minutes. If you are a County Executive, Governor, Mayor or in the Economic Developement world this is where you go to get more done in 4 days that you could get done in a months work.

Invitations have been sent out and if you haven't signed up you should do it quickly at www.themarylandparty.com This year the Rev and I are going to be broadcasting from Vegas, talking to the biggest Real Estate professionals and Government officials bringing our audience up to speed on the latests deals.

Listen to this one and learn about a great Baltimorean and the Inventor of the Biggest Party in Maryland Real Estate History. Thanks Howard for a life dedicated to making our City and State a better place.