Since this is a Sunday column, I do hope it's fitting to talk about sacred places.

Not necessarily houses of worship, mind you, though those are most often considered sacred places.

I'm thinking of the sacred public places as described in a 1981 book by Dr. Ira Zepp and Marty Lanham, "Sacred Spaces of Westminster."

I thought of the book as I sat in a recent Common Council meeting at Westminster City Hall -- a building that many consider one of the true sacred places in Carroll County.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Tom Ferguson read a proclamation recognizing July as Recreation and Parks Month, and paid tribute to the city's recreation and parks director Ron Schroers, as well as other employees who work tirelessly for our benefit.

One of the recreational facilities that Schroers oversees is the popular Westminster playground in the heart of the city.

The playground is one the first pictures, taken by Lanham, in that 1981 book.

Moreover, toward the end of the book, the authors discuss one of the overlooked sacred landmarks in Westminster: the Memorial Gateway to the Westminster playground off of Center Street.

Zepp and Lanham explain that the "gateway was given to the city by H. Peyton Gorsuch in 1937. Its primary purpose was to acknowledge the community's debt to Carroll Countians who had served in the nation's wars."

The book goes on to highlight public places such as Belle Grove Square, various other parks, gardens, memorials and monuments.

Included are discussions about the Mather Gardens behind City Hall, dedicated on Oct. 13, 1963; Ward Memorial Arch at McDaniel College; and the Westminster Community Pond.

When the book came out I had been a practicing landscape designer and a keen observer of Westminster's historic places for years, and yet, Zepp and Lanham caused me to look at Westminster's history and design in a much different light.

Dr. Ira Zepp and Marty Lanham are examples of the enormous talent that we often take for granted in Carroll County.

Zepp is now retired, but when the book was written, he was a professor of religious studies at McDaniel College.

Lanham, in 1981, was the public relations coordinator and photographer for Westminster. Among her many journalism credentials, she had been the editor of the Diamondback, at the University of Maryland, College Park, for two years. It was there that she earned her degree in journalism.

To the best of my knowledge, the book has been out of print for many years. Perhaps with the permission of the authors, an initiative could be undertaken to reprint this valuable resource and have it available at the Historical Society of Carroll County.

Speaking of places ...

Continuing along with the theme of sacred places, last week's trivia question turned out to be a hard one: "Where were the offices of Westminster city government before 1939?"

The only person to answer the history question correctly, and to win the coveted Sunday Carroll Eagle mug, was Ruth Anderson, who knew the city offices were moved from the old Westminster Fire Department building at 63 W. Main St. during the administration of Mayor Frank A. Myers.

Going back even further, I have often personally wondered where the offices were located in the 1800s. I remember once reading about meetings at Odd Fellows Hall on West Main Street and, no doubt, the meetings in the early 1800s were held at the Union Meeting House.

If any readers have insight as to where the meetings took place, please be in touch.

For this week's trivia question, we'll ask another hard question. When was the Westminster Community Pond dedicated? Here's a hint: It was dedicated by Gov. Theodore R. McKeldin.

Think you know? E-mail me at kdayhoff@carr.org and you might win the coveted, almost-sacred Sunday Carroll Eagle mug.

When he is not watching the ducks at the Westminster Community Pond, Kevin Dayhoff can be reached at kdayhoff@carr.org. Please don't feed the ducks ... or the Dayhoff.

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