Boulevard Park: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Posted

If television’s friendliest gathering spot was a neighborhood instead of a New England sports bar, the Boulevard Park community would be the “Cheers” of Pasadena.

Four neighbors gathered at Mountain Road and South Carolina Avenue for a photo at the peak of rush hour during a June afternoon, and every other passerby honked a horn or rolled down a window and called to one or more members of the quartet being interviewed.

The community is fairly large, consisting of 430 homes inside primarily perpendicular streets from Tennessee Avenue to New York Avenue, and Mountain Road to Grays Creek Road. This waterfront community is a boater’s paradise. The distance from the Boulevard Park clubhouse to the Chesapeake Bay is just two miles by boat, and just eight miles to the Bay Bridge, along with easy access to Dobbins Island, the Magothy River and even Annapolis.

The community gathers at the pier or the clubhouse for parties and celebrations, and every house lights up for the annual holiday decorating contest. Residents also enjoy community cleanup days, cookouts, happy hours, a bike and trike parade, and Halloween movie nights. There also is a marina in the neighborhood. Children attend Bodkin Elementary, Chesapeake Bay Middle and Chesapeake High School.

Ken Schlein
Resident for 38 Years

Ken Schlein is the Boulevard Park version of Ted Danson’s professional baseball player turned bar owner, Sam Malone. This energetic resident doesn’t know how to retire and beams with pride when talking about Boulevard Park. The family of his wife, Dolly, is from Pasadena.

The Schleins moved to Boulevard Park from Arnold in 1980 after seeing their current home listed online. “Boating rules the roost here,” Schlein said. “And there are many crabbers and fishermen.”

Schlein appreciates his close-knit neighbors. “Most people reach out to each other, especially during times of need,” he said. “Many folks volunteer for activities in the peninsula, at schools, in their community and at sports-related events. They are everyday hardworking people and retirees.”

Pasadena residents rightly complain about Mountain Road’s traffic, but Schlein doesn’t want that to deter people from considering Boulevard Park. “At night, it’s very quiet here and you can hear wonderful sounds coming off the water,” he said. “Once you exit Route 100, it’s like living in a whole different world.”

After raising his own family, Schlein is now active in his grandchildren’s lives and coaches youth soccer.

Norman Huffman
Resident Since 1957

Norman Huffman’s family moved to Maryland from Pennsylvania in 1953. One of his first jobs in the area was at the Klingelhoffer Farm on Mountain Road, where he cut asparagus and tobacco. He attended Glen Burnie High School and worked at the Atlantic Gas Station at Jacobsville Road during the summertime.

He moved to New York Avenue in Boulevard Park in 1957 and worked at Wilson’s Service Station part-time while he was in school. In 1960, Norman and his late-wife, Barbara, moved to Maryland Avenue, and later to his current home on Magothy Road. In 1981, he married Jane Huffman, an active volunteer in the greater Pasadena area.

“Pasadena will always be home because I’ve lived here prior to the traffic and building construction,” Jane said. “We have some really great helpful neighbors. It’s quiet, too, once you get off Mountain Road.”

Norman Huffman is a past vice president of the homeowners association.

Dawn Whaley
Resident for 12 Years

Dawn Whaley has lived in Boulevard Park for 12 years, but her husband, Chris, has lived in the area for 36 years. As their family started to grow, the Whaleys needed a larger home and chose to build in Boulevard Park to be close to Chris’ parents and to make sure their children stayed in the same school.

Whaley is a prominent realtor in Pasadena, so she knows a great neighborhood when she sees one. “I love selling homes in Boulevard Park because I know how great it is here and all the buyers I have helped are very happy here,” she said.

She appreciates that Boulevard Park is a family-oriented, water-access community with a voluntary HOA and nice mix of homes and people, with several residents being original owners.

“The Boulevard Park Improvement Association does a great job with creating family events that are held at our community clubhouse on the holidays, like visiting with the Easter Bunny and Santa,” Whaley said. “Every Christmas, there is a neighborhood Christmas light contest. We have regular community meetings.”

Chris and Dawn Whaley both attended Bodkin Elementary School, as did both of their children.

“[We love] that people stay here. I love that my kids go to school with the kids of parents that I went to school with,” Whaley added. “We are blessed to have so many lifelong friendships, and that is very special. We also welcome new families to the area and it doesn’t take long at all for them to fit right in. This community comes together when needed. We support each other.”

Traci Phebus
Resident for More Than Two Years

Traci Phebus grew up in the Fort Smallwood area, moved the Eastern Shore and back to Pasadena in 2014. During her home search, she found Boulevard Park and put an offer on a home just 24 hours after it was listed.

“I like the fact that the neighborhood is large and established,” Phebus said. “There is not much room for future development, so knowing things will not change much within the community is very important. The size of the neighborhood was important, and the fact that it is a very walkable community.”

Phebus considers Pasadena special because, although geographically spread out, “no matter where you go, you see a familiar face. So many families either have been here [and stayed] for generations, or those that leave, end up coming back.”

In just her first two years, Phebus feels entrenched in the Boulevard Park community. “It’s an established neighborhood with great amenities and a great family atmosphere,” Phebus added. “From a great neighbor who offers free mulch, those who look out for you, to another being very calm and understanding about a part of their fence being taken out by my new driver, to yet another randomly dropping off homemade pumpkin butter, my experiences have been so positive in the time I've been in Boulevard Park.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here