Club Hippo – Baltimore Magazine

Half a Century Ago, The Hippo Became a Haven for the Local LGBTQ Community

Lauren Cohen — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:00:05 +0000

Club Hippo memorabilia in a 2018 artwork by artist Aaron McIntosh. —Courtesy of Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts/Aaron McIntosh, Invasive Queen Kudzu: Baltimore, 2018

It was late, and the next song would have to be the last. As Farrell Maddox cued up the tech-trance “Sandstorm” by Darude, the DJ looked across a churning sea of dancers in the heart of Mt. Vernon, some rocking shirtless on top of the giant speakers, others swaying to the rhythm on the sunken dance floor.

Rainbow disco lights scanned the crowd and a big logo sign hovered behind, its bright pink hippopotamus striking a pose. It was the final night of Baltimore’s iconic Club Hippo—Sept. 26, 2015.

Charles “Chuck” Bowers, the club’s owner of 37 years, watched from the far side of the room. Just before 2 a.m., Maddox caught Bowers’ eye and spoke into the mic. “Chuck doesn’t have a microphone, so he can’t say anything, but if you can see him, and you see the look on his face, you know where his heart is right now.”

As “Sandstorm” wound up toward its explosive climax, Maddox remembered a favorite song that just had to be played. “Can we do one more?” he asked the crowd. Bowers held up one finger. “Get ready with the strobes,” said Maddox, turning to Norm Hillenburg, who was working lights, before slipping a beloved CD into the player.

It had been a long journey to this final party at one of Baltimore’s longest-standing LGBTQ venues. From the night it opened at the corner of Eager and North Charles streets on July 7, 1972, the Hippo was more than a discotheque. It was the beating heart of the local queer community—a welcoming party with beloved drag shows and karaoke, a place to come together during the AIDS crisis, a site to celebrate the advances in gay rights that occurred over the club’s lifetime.

Most of all, it was a safe haven, where patrons could be themselves and get lost in the disco lights until last call at 1:40 a.m., Tuesday through Sunday. And even after it closed for good, that curved building on a Mt. Vernon crossroads remains an important touchstone of Baltimore history.

Club Hippo circa 2015. —Photography by Mike Morgan

Long before the Hippo was a dance hub for all walks of city life, its art deco building had many lives. Starting in 1939, 1 West Eager Street had been the home of the Chanticleer Club, hailed as “America’s Finest Supper Club,” where for almost three decades the city’s well-heeled smoked and drank and danced to live acts by everyone from once-local stars like Billie Holiday and Eubie Blake to national headliners like the June Taylor Dancers and Dean Martin.

It was constructed in the late ’30s and designed by local architect John Poe Tyler, a descendant of President John Tyler and famed poet Edgar Allan Poe, whose office at 347 North Charles Street was also located in the heart of Mt. Vernon. Two homes were demolished to make room for his streamlined corner structure with its signature sensual curves.

In the early 1960s, trombonist Lynn Summerall performed with the Mello Men, a 16-piece band of teenage musicians from a variety of Baltimore high schools. “I remember how exciting it was for these high school boys to put on our electric blue tuxedos and go down to the Chanticleer to play,” says Summerall, now 77. “I was on that dance floor under that same art deco ceiling at age 15 or 16, playing big band music. Little would I have thought that 10 years later I’d be traipsing back to the Hippo in search of young men to dance with.”

The supper club closed in 1967, with societal shifts leading to the demise of café society nationwide, and the building remained vacant for the next five years. Then, in early July 1972, Kenny Elbert and Don Endbinder brought 1 West Eager Street back to life as The Hippopotamus, with the opening weekend boasting “The Biggest and Best Gay Bar in the World!”

At the time, Mt. Vernon had already begun to emerge as the city’s “gayborhood,” with Leon’s bar in operation since 1957 and The Drinkery opening the same year as the Hippo. Named for the dancing pink hippos in Disney’s Fantasia, this new gay nightclub spun mostly disco and R&B records for large crowds on its sprawling dance floor four nights a week. Eventually, mirrors were etched with charming cartoons of the namesake animal, and as drinks were ordered, patrons saw themselves reflected amongst them in a swirl of lights.

“You never entered through the front at the corner of Charles and Eager—you entered on the side [through] the Saloon,” recalls Michal Makarovich, a long-time Hippo patron, referring to the elegant back room advertised for “quiet conversation and subtle cruising.” “But if you turned left, you went down a long hallway, the restrooms were on your right, then you went through the doorway, and there was The Palace.”

He’s talking about the main discotheque, which was sunken 18 inches and flanked by two bars. On a balmy summer opening night, “People were dressed to the hilt,” says Makarovich. “They were really flashy and there were lots of women—you know, at some bars, women would get in the way if you were trying to cruise. But it was a really comfortable place for everyone. A lot of straight people went there.”

Bowers first started as a bookkeeper for Elbert in 1976. “When I entered the Hippo, it was a new world for me,” says the Federal Hill native, who grew up attending local Catholic schools before graduating from Southern High School. “I fell in love with the bar, I fell in love with the community. Disco was knocking on the door. And I walked in at the right time.”

Two years later, with Elbert looking to other ventures, Bowers bought the business, and under his lively creative direction, the Hippo—as it was quickly nicknamed by patrons—entered its heyday. Theme nights were added, including a Sunday Tea dance, beginning at three in the afternoon. Friday was Ladies’ Night in the disco, with Gay Bingo in the Saloon on Wednesday. Men’s Night was wildly popular, recalls veteran bartender Danny Noël, who was crowned as “Mr. Gay Baltimore” at the Hippo in 1988. “The line started at the Saloon door and it would go all the way down to Gampy’s,” aka the now-shuttered Great American Melting Pot, a late-night eatery that stayed open well past last call on 904 North Charles.

The 1999 Miss Gay Maryland pageant. —Courtesy of the Maryland Center for History and Culture/Joseph Kohl

An early aughts flyer. —Courtesy of Farrell Maddox

Noël, a U.S. Army veteran, slung drinks at the Hippo during the ’80s and ’90s. He fondly remembers when Wednesdays were Big Band Night, featuring the Ed Williams Big Band, a holdover act from the Chanticleer days. “I was a doorman, dressed up in a tuxedo with a top hat, and I would open the door for the people coming in—elderly people, [in their] 70s, 80s, and 90s that remembered the Chanticleer,” says Noël, noting that the crowd was both queer and straight, with drag queen Stacy Maxwell running the coat check. “Oh, it was beautiful, and we had all pink linen tablecloths with beautiful chairs and candles on every table. It was like you walked into the 1930s.”

Now in his 60s, he says the Hippo had outsized importance for young gay men in its early years, calling it “the central place” for not just the city of Baltimore but the entire state. “If you were a country boy from Hagerstown or southern Maryland, you knew you made it in your gay life the moment you were able to walk into the front door of the Hippo,” says Noël. “That’s when you knew you were home.”

The Hippo opened just three years after the Stonewall riots in New York City, when a police raid of a beloved LGBTQ bar led to a violent attack on patrons. It was this historic event that sparked the gay rights movement of the 1970s. Queer people were fighting for basic equality in a resistant America, as were people of color in a quest for civil rights. And in the days of lingering racism following Baltimore’s 1968 riot, the Hippo was not only an inclusive space for the white LGBTQ community, but across color lines, too.

“I didn’t know where I would be welcome, because there are divisions in the gay community, where the Black gays may not like the white gays in their clubs, or the white gays may not want the Black gays in their clubs,” says Kevin Brown, owner of Nancy by SNAC in Station North. “But I didn’t feel that going into the Hippo—I thought it was a new era, a new time. And I met my life mate there. We’ve been together for 33 years now.”

Brown reminisces about the club’s massive Halloween parties, as well as regular Saturday nights, which tended to be the busiest. “The lines would be wrapped around the block, because everybody was welcome there all the time,” he says. “And that’s because of its leadership—Chuck Bowers was a hands-on owner. You saw him in the club. You saw him interact with the patrons. He was providing a safe haven for gays in the community, where they could come and be who they are.”

“WALKING INTO THE FRONT DOOR OF THE HIPPO…THAT’S WHEN YOU KNEW YOU WERE HOME. ”

Bowers grew up with an earnest work ethic. His father worked three jobs as a trolley car driver, undertaker, and chemist, and it wouldn’t take long for his son to take on a paternal role for his employees and customers, too. “I wanted them all to realize that it was their home,” he says. “I didn’t care who you were, what you were, what color your skin was, as long as you behaved yourself and had a good time. That’s all I cared about.”

During his 37-year reign, “where everyone is welcome” became the club’s unofficial motto. And DJ Maddox can attest to this. He first went to the Hippo as a patron in 1980, and at the time, “I was kind of that terrified person—I didn’t know what to expect, and I walked in and felt like I had walked into heaven,” he says. “Everything about it—the number of people, the variety of people, the diversity within the room. I was in awe of the music. I thought, I want to be the one playing the music here someday.”

The Hippo hosted both DJs and live performers, including a variety of stars such as The Weather Girls, Wayland Flowers and Madame, Jody Watley, and the Broadway cast of Mamma Mia! And drag shows were always a big draw.

“Baltimore had seen it all and they appreciated drag,” says Jeffery Roberson, who performed at the Hippo many times in the late ’90s and 2000s as drag queen extraordinaire Varla Jean Merman. “And at the time, the biggest drag queen in the world was from Baltimore.”

Hairspray made its cinematic debut in 1988, starring Baltimore’s beloved drag matriarch, Divine, and written and directed by its transgressive filmmaker John Waters. But even amidst their acclaim, a hostile attitude still persisted toward the local LGBTQ community, only increasing as they made strides toward social acceptance. In the preceding years, the city had launched its first-ever Pride Parade and founded its inaugural LGBTQ activism and resource organization, the Baltimore Gay Alliance, both in 1975.

“It was very dangerous for a gay man to hang out in a non-gay bar or club at the time,” says José Villarrubia, a former Hippo patron and resident of Mt. Vernon since 1984. “Gay spaces were the only space where you could act like yourself. But even so, I saw queer bashings right outside of [them]: straight guys coming out of a car and picking a random stranger to beat up.”

And on top of that, another threat was spreading across the country. In the summer of 1981, the first cases were reported of what would come to be known as the AIDS crisis, and on July 3, The New York Times published an article with the ominous headline: “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.” That decade, more than 100,000 people would lose their lives.

All the while, the Hippo remained open, offering support to its patrons and hosting fundraisers while trying to maintain some semblance of optimism on the dance floor.

“Things did change with the big ‘A’,” says Bowers. “We were going to funerals quite a bit. We lost a lot of friends—a lot of friends.”

“In those days, it was like a nightmare,” says Lynda Dee, a patron of the Hippo in the 1980s, who co-founded AIDS Action Baltimore with Waters’ collaborator Pat Moran and the late Garey Lambert, projectionist at the Charles Theatre and editor at the now-defunct Baltimore Alternative. “That camaraderie and that family spirit from the clubs really held us all together.”

Over the years that followed, the Hippo continuously adapted to the changing times. At the turn of the 21st century, the club added karaoke in the Saloon’s side lounge and introduced hip-hop nights in the discotheque, providing “the kids who were gay, who really didn’t want to be out, a place they could come out unexamined,” says Brown.

As new milestones were reached—against discrimination, for civil unions, and so on—societal shifts in acceptance played a part in the demise of queer-specific venues. Many point to the internet and the growing popularity of online dating as the death knell for clubs like the Hippo, as well as increased visibility, both on television and all throughout pop culture, offering them more space to be themselves.

Eventually, by 2015, Bowers, disenchanted by the rise in technology and shifting atmosphere of nightclubs, decided to sell the neighborhood’s last true dance floor.

“One thing that older queers like myself miss the most is that secret society,” says Makarovich. “For years, Leon’s didn’t even have a sign—you just knew it was there.”

Today, no hint of the Hippo remains beyond the building itself and the section of North Charles, just south of Eager, that has been designated “Chuck Bowers Way.” When Bowers closed the doors, his iconic disco was transformed into a CVS. The original sign, with its silver hippopotamus, is now on display a few blocks away at the Maryland Center for History and Culture, which also holds a scrapbook that Bowers and Maddox assembled of autographed headshots and other ephemera from the club’s heyday.

The “gayborhood” has changed, too, though a few LGBTQ bars remain. The reimagined Central on North Howard Street. The biker bar Baltimore Eagle on North Charles. The Drinkery on West Read, opened the same year as the Hippo, and Leon’s, now in its 66th year of business.

Every March, Brown and his partner go back to that corner of Eager, to the exact spot outside of the old art deco building where they met 33 years ago. The lights are undoubtedly brighter and the music canned, but they wander the aisles of the chain pharmacy, purchase candy bars, and reminisce about the decades when this location was magic. “He likes Reese’s cups, I like Snickers,” says Brown.

At 78, Bowers still lives in Mt. Vernon and picks up his prescriptions at his former club—out of convenience, not nostalgia—though the energy of the Hippo is forever a part of him. “I used to joke, when that day comes that I’m in a box, make sure my music is with me,” he says. “Because wherever I go, I’m gonna have a party.”

On that final night at the Hippo in 2015, Darude’s “Sandstorm” slid into the last song ever. There was a cymbal crash, and then a slow rumbling: the opening thunder of “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls.

Humidity’s rising
Barometer’s getting low
According to all sources
The street’s the place to go
’Cause tonight for the first time

Strobes flashed like lightning. Maddox was in Heaven—aka Bowers’ nom de plume for the DJ booth.

Just about half-past ten
For the first time in history
It’s gonna start raining men
Hallelujah, it’s raining men, amen

Dancing on the club's last night. —Courtesy of Farrell Maddox

In that moment, Maddox thought of all of those who had danced in the club over the decades. “You couldn’t be in there that night and not feel their presence,” he says, thinking of friends lost to the AIDS crisis, too. “It was like every emotion that had ever been in that room was there at that instant.”

Hillenburg brought the disco ball down slowly from the ceiling and all the hands in the room reached up.

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Miss Gay Maryland Pageant Returns for its 34th Year

Kaitlyn Pacheco — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 13:13:00 +0000

When he was 21 years old, three years after coming out to his parents, Tom Marston took his mom, Joann, and his dad, Ralph, to the second-ever Miss Gay Maryland America pageant at the iconic Club Hippo. It was 1986, when the Hippo was a pillar of Baltimore’s underrepresented LGBT community, and the annual drag pageant was how he and his parents fell in love with the art of female impersonation.

“That night, when I told [owner] Chuck Bowers that the people I was with were my parents, he said to them, ‘You will never have to stand in my club again. You will always have seats,’” remembers Marston. “They were so accepting and that was so rare back then. But all three of us were hooked.”

Marston, who is now the owner of the Miss Gay Maryland America pageant, will continue his parent’s legacy and passion for drag at this weekend’s contest, where eight contestants will compete to be the 34th Miss Gay Maryland America.

“It makes my parents live on. I know they’re watching and loving it,” says Marston. “The people who will be on stage this weekend are the true representation of wanting to make sure others understand the love and history behind drag.”

This Saturday at the Horseshoe Casino, local drag queens, including preliminary titleholders like Miss Gay Cumberland Valley and Miss Gay Northern Maryland, will model, interview, and sashay across the stage for the chance to win $500 and the opportunity to compete on the national stage at the Miss Gay America pageant on Oct. 3-6. The five judges, who range from a pastor and a bodybuilder to past Miss Gay Maryland America winners, are looking for a contestant who excels in each of the competition’s five categories and is a well-rounded representation of the LGBT community.

The first category, male interview, takes place hours before the doors open for the 6 p.m. show and requires contestants to complete a question-and-answer session while presenting as a male. Since the Miss Gay America pageant system requires competitors to be “100 percent male from the neck down,” this part of the competition measures how they will represent themselves outside of the pageant.

Rob Mansman and Micheal Dutzer, who own the Miss Gay America pageant and lived in Baltimore for 10 years, said the male interview is the judges’ first impression of the contestants’ personalities.

“The title of Miss Gay America is a symbol of excellence,” says Mansman. “We want them to be fashionable and entertaining, yet humble enough to go out and talk to people and make an impact on their community.”

After the audience has filled the ballroom and the lights have gone down, the contestants will join past winners for a high-energy opening number set to the theme “Kinky Boots, Maryland style.” Based on the smash-hit Broadway musical, they will appear in costumes that embody their glammed-out interpretation of Maryland symbols such as Old Bay, Domino Sugar, or the Baltimore Ravens.

Mansman and Dutzer said they added this category, presentation, across all Miss Gay America contests to challenge contestants to express their creativity through the chosen theme.

“Often times, people were bringing to the table what they thought would win and they weren’t being themselves,” says Mansman. “Now that we’ve included that category, it’s nice to see the contestants flourish as who they really are.”

Although only one queen will be crowned Miss Gay Maryland America, Marston says the purpose of this long-standing pageant isn’t to win prizes or titles.

“We have queens who have done this for years, or younger ones just starting in drag, and they want to do it for the art, to entertain, and to make a difference in the world by showing that they’re not crazy for wanting to dress in women’s clothes,” says Marston.

The pageant is a labor of love for everyone involved, from the contestants who spend thousands of dollars on studded costumes to Marston and his team who strive to put on a show that will introduce new audiences to the art of female impersonation. He wants everyone who attends, whether they’re seasoned veterans or it’s their first experience with drag, to leave with the same lasting impression he and his parents did 30-some years ago.

“If it takes a good ol’ drag show to get people together to forget about all the things happening in the world and to just have fun for those few hours, then let’s do it,” says Marston.

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2015: Year in Review

Jess Mayhugh — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 08:30:00 +0000

1. The Death of Freddie Gray Sparks Citywide Unrest

–Lara Davidson

– Sean Scheidt

We have to go back nearly 50 years to another April, in 1968–after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.–to find a time when the city dealt with a crisis comparable to the one it faced this past spring. The riots and public uprising that followed the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray from injuries endured while in police custody shook Baltimore to its core and changed the way the world saw us–and we saw ourselves. Gray’s death–ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner’s office–lit a fuse that continued to burn for days, fueled by decades of social and economic injustice in many of the city’s poorest African-American neighborhoods.

Gray’s death on April 19, following a week in a coma after suffering a severe spinal-cord injury–allegedly during a so-called “rough ride” in a police transport van–sparked two weeks of unrest, including the violent night of Monday, April 27, that culminated in hundreds of arrests, injuries to numerous Baltimore police officers, and the destruction of dozens of local businesses. During the surreal aftermath, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake implemented a citywide curfew and Gov. Larry Hogan deployed heavily armed Maryland National Guard troops and armored vehicles to patrol downtown.

Of course, Gray’s death hadn’t occurred in a vacuum, but came on the heels of the widely publicized deaths of black men at the hands of police officers in Ferguson, MO; Staten Island, NY; Cleveland, OH; and elsewhere. In the months leading up to the unrest, alarming local police-brutality issues also were raised in compelling reporting by The Sun’s Mark Puente. Subsequent protests ultimately led to the firing of Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and likely influenced Rawlings-Blake’s decision not to seek re-election.

One difference in Baltimore, as opposed to the aforementioned cities, is that six police officers–whose trials remain in various stages–were quickly charged for their alleged roles in Gray’s death by then-newly elected city state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Kevin Davis, the city’s new Police Commissioner, recently told Baltimore that he hopes 2015 will mark a turning point in relations between the police department and aggrieved communities–and the city as a whole.

“This is a transformative moment for the City of Baltimore, and I will continue to urge my neighbors to remain peaceful while continuing to seek justice for Freddie Gray.”U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, 5/1

2. Marilyn Mosby’s Star Turn

–Alex Brandon/AP

It’s not every day that a city state’s attorney becomes a national celebrity. But Marilyn Mosby’s speedy indictments of six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray and her self-assured announcement of those charges at a frenzied press conference in front of the city’s War Memorial Building, thrust the attractive, 35-year-old mother of two into the limelight just months into her tenure. For better or worse, Mosby subsequently appeared in the pages of Vogue in a shoot by famed fashion and art photographer Annie Leibovitz, and gave interviews to Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire. She also took the stage alongside her husband, City Councilman and now-mayoral candidate Nick Mosby, during Prince’s Rally 4 Peace concert at Royal Farms Arena. Whether Marilyn Mosby is ultimately viewed as a heroine or another ambitious, over-reaching politician will likely depend on how her office handles the cases against the officers.

“To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America: I heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace.’”Marilyn Mosby, 5/1

3. Homicides Spike Following Freddie Gray Unrest

–Patrick Semansky/AP

After the death of Freddie Gray from injuries suffered while in police custody, Baltimore saw a surge in homicides the likes of which it hasn’t witnessed since the 1990s. Almost inconceivably, the city matched 2014’s homicide total of 211 on August 19 when a man with a bullet wound was found inside a vacant house not far from the Pennsylvania Avenue CVS store that burned in the riots. While it’s impossible to say with certainty what has driven the increased violence–also witnessed in other cities across the U.S. this year–Baltimore had recorded a typical number of homicides (65) prior to the unrest. Afterward, however, a four-decade high of 43 murders in May was followed with 45 killed in July. By November, the tally was 285, putting the city close to the record pace of 1993 when 353 people were murdered, and once again placing Baltimore among the most dangerous cities in the country.

“It’s the toughest job in the United States at the moment.” Eugene O’Donnell, John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor and a former New York City police officer, on the challenge facing then-interim Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, AP, 7/9

4. Mayoral Race Thrown Wide Open as Rawlings-Blake Forgoes Re-election Campaign

In a stunning turn of events, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced in September that she would not seek re-election in the 2016 mayoral race, saying that she would dedicate the remainder of her term to helping the city recover from the Freddie Gray unrest. Many suggested that she was simply bowing out of a race she could no longer win. But whatever her motives, the announcement threw already-announced candidates–including former Mayor Sheila Dixon, State Senator Catherine Pugh, and City Councilman Carl Stokes–into overdrive and opened the door for other hopefuls. In late October, City Councilman Nick Mosby (also the husband of city state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby) entered the race. Then, in November, David Warnock, a venture capitalist and the chairman of the Greater Baltimore Committee, declared his candidacy. It’s impossible to tell who will prevail in the April 26 Democratic primary, which, in heavily Democratic Baltimore, amounts to the general election–but we’ve sure got ourselves a horserace.

“It is a more wide open race today than it was yesterday.” State Delegate Sandy Rosenberg to The New York Times on 9/11, the day Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced she would not seek reelection.

5. Red Line to Nowhere

Anyone who followed Gov. Larry Hogan’s campaign shouldn’t have been surprised when he canceled Baltimore’s planned, $2.9 billion mass-transit project in June. Hogan had said all along that he didn’t support the decade-in-the-making, 14-mile, east-west Red Line effort. When he hired Pete Rahn, a road builder from New Mexico, as his transportation secretary, the die was cast. Still, Hogan’s official rejection of $900 million in approved federal funding for the light rail system seemed to catch Baltimore’s elected leaders off guard, while delivering a crushing blow to a city in need of good news and economic development. When the Hogan administration later released its state road and highway improvement plans–in large part funded from Red Line savings–and Baltimore was left off the map, it seemed a telling slip that revealed the governor’s political agenda.

“Every other county shows investments being made, and Baltimore is literally and figuratively a gaping hole.”State Senator Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, to The Sun, 6/25

6. Orioles Play to an Empty Stadium

–Meredith Herzing

Baseball has been played professionally in this country since the 1800s, so it’s rare to hear about any unprecedented event in the sport. But 2015 was a year of firsts for Baltimore. After canceling two previous Orioles games, the league announced that the April 29 game against the Chicago White Sox would be played in a closed stadium–a first in MLB history. This was, of course, days after protests and riots damaged businesses surrounding Camden Yards, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “these decisions are in the best interests of fan safety and the deployment of city resources.” Closed to the public, the only people inside the stadium were players, staff, and media (more national media than we’ve ever seen at Camden Yards, including during a playoff series). The entire experience was surreal, but the strangest thing was what you suddenly could hear: players cheering from the dugouts, outfielders calling for balls, umps making third-strike calls, and balls smacking into fielders’ gloves. Not surprisingly, Birdland couldn’t be tamed completely that day, as fans–just outside the left-center field gates–chanted “O-R-I-O-L-E-S” and steadily cheered their team to an 8 to 2 win.

“It’s not an easy time for anybody right now. It doesn’t matter what race you are. We need this game to be played, but we need this city to heal first.”Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, 8/29

7. Gov. Hogan Diagnosed with Cancer

Only months after his upset victory over then-sitting Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Gov. Larry Hogan announced he had been diagnosed with a “very aggressive” cancer. In a June press conference, Hogan said he was told by doctors that the B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma had spread quickly to his neck, chest, groin, and abdomen. He also had been told, however, that he had a “strong chance of survival,” and he vowed to continue his duties while undergoing treatment. And he has, winning the admiration of the public: A Goucher College poll released in October found 54 percent of those surveyed felt favorably about Hogan, a 21 point increase from the college’s previous poll in February. Those are pretty good numbers in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. The former real-estate executive, 59, who was elected on a promise to curb spending and roll back tax increases, recently completed his last round of chemotherapy, and now hopes to regain his strength–and his hair.

“All of the experts tell me that they believe that I’ll come out of that completely clear. They also tell me it’s gonna beat the hell out of me.” Gov. Larry Hogan at a press conference, 6/22

8. Senator Barbara Mikulski Retires

In a move that shocked many Marylanders, long-serving Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski announced on March 2 that she would not be seeking a sixth term. The Highlandtown native, a social worker-turned-U.S.-Representative-turned-Senator, has served in Congress longer than any other woman in history, and is beloved for her unpretentious, dogged, and feisty ways. Known as the Dean of the Women, she serves as a mentor to other women in the Senate and was also the first woman to chair the prestigious Senate Appropriations Committee, where she is now the ranking member. Her announcement left local politicos scrambling and, so far, only two candidates–U.S. Representatives Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen–have thrown their hats into the ring. (U.S. Representative Elijah Cumming also hasn’t ruled it out.) In a way, this makes sense. The diminutive Mikulski may have small feet, but she has enormous shoes to fill.

“Do I spend my time raising money, or do I spend my time raising hell? Remember, for the next two years I will be here, working the way that I do.” Senator Barbara Mikulski, at the press conference announcing her retirement, 3/2

9. American Pharoah Wins Preakness En Route to Triple Crown

–Meredith Herzing

The rain streaked down that mid-May afternoon–and then, so did American Pharoah. Baltimore watched with baited breath as the Kentucky Derby-winning colt took an almost immediate lead and barreled down a swampy Pimlico track toward the 140th Preakness Stakes’ winner’s circle–and eventually the Belmont Stakes and the elusive Triple Crown. Forgetting the weather, the record-setting crowd went wild and jockey Victor Espinoza beamed as he slowed to a canter, thrusting his crop triumphantly in the air. In a time of speculation that the race might move to Laurel Park and just a few weeks after the social upheaval that followed the death of Freddie Gray, it was, despite the torrents, a bright moment in an otherwise gloomy spring.

“What a day for Baltimore. They really needed this after all they’ve been through.”American Pharoah trainer Bob Baffert, The Sun, 5/16

10. Kevin Plank Buys Port Covington

–Courtesy of Under Armour

The days of easy parking in Port Covington are numbered. Sagamore Development, the real-estate investment firm controlled by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, purchased the 128-acre industrial area in early 2015 and has announced big plans for the under-utilized commercial/industrial hub. These include a new campus for Plank’s booming sportswear company, which last year earned revenues in excess of $3 billion and is outgrowing its Tide Point headquarters. Eventually, the project will include mixed-use development as well, such as an Under Armour retail store and residential units, but first Plank will be mixing up some good hooch: A whiskey distillery slated to open in late 2016 will produce Sagamore Spirit whiskey brand. The distillery complex also will include a 10,000-square-foot restaurant and a barn that will house the city’s mounted police unit. Public records say Plank paid about $90 million for the tract, which is off Interstate 95 on the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. Currently, it is the site of a Walmart. We call this an upgrade.

“People said, ‘You should look at the county or Pennsylvania.' That’s not really our bag. We’re of this city, from this city, and we’re going to build something great in this city.” Kevin Plank in the Baltimore Business Journal , 3/2

11. Gov. Hogan Closes Jail

–Office of the Governor

“Today, I have instructed Secretary [of Public Safety & Correctional Services, Stephen T.] Moyer to immediately shut down the Baltimore City Men’s Detention Center,” Gov. Hogan said in a July 30 press conference outside the turreted jail that towers ominously over East Baltimore. And with that, a corruption-plagued, vermin-infested chapter in Baltimore’s history came to an abrupt end. By late August, the remaining inmates at the state-run jail had been moved to other facilities. Though Hogan’s announcement ruffled a few feathers–Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was caught unaware and Hogan wasn’t shy about blaming the jail’s failures on previous administrations–few quibbled with the act. Some parts of the jail pre-date the Civil War, and it showed. Plus, it was a hive of corruption. Most recently, the leader of the Black Guerilla Family gang had impregnated guards and run a drug-smuggling operation while incarcerated. For most, closing the jail wasn’t a matter of good-bye so much as it was good riddance.

“I could barely stomach it.” Stephen T. Moyer in The Sun, 8/27

12. Washington Monument Renovation Unearths Two Time Capsules

–Mount Vernon Place Conservancy

The past was very much present during the renovation of Baltimore’s Washington Monument. The 18-month, $5.5 million project involved painstaking restoration work on the 200-year-old column and culminated in a grand reopening celebration on the Fourth of July. But the journey to that point was equally momentous. In October 2014, workers discovered a time capsule dating to 1915. Then, in February of this year, crews found a second capsule that had been laid in the monument’s cornerstone in 1815. Naturally, the public was fascinated. And while the contents of the capsules proved prosaic–coins, newspaper clippings, likenesses of historical figures such as Francis Scott Key and, naturally, George Washington–the discoveries provided a link to our collective past and prompted reflection on what we can leave for future generations.

“You just felt these people in 1815 taking those [newspapers] and putting them in this container and burying them.Lance Humphries of Mount Vernon Place Conservancy to WBAL, 2/18

13. Martin O’Malley and Dr. Ben Carson Mount Presidential Campaigns

– Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, Joe Raedle/Getty Images

To us, they’re just Marty and Ben, a city councilman-turned-mayor-turned-governor and a world-famous Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon, respectively. For decades, their blandly handsome mugs have been staring out at us from billboards, TV commercials, and the covers of countless magazines (including this one). But now the rest of the country is meeting them as presidential candidates–and responding with varying degrees of interest. Carson, who is vying for the Republican nomination, is, as of this writing, surging in the polls in Iowa in advance of that state’s influential January caucuses. O’Malley, on the other hand, seems stuck in the back of the Democratic pack, overshadowed by the fame of Hillary Clinton and the populist momentum of Bernie Sanders. But that hasn’t stopped him from using every weapon in his political arsenal–including his, um, guitar. He covered Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” on The View in October, and yet his poll numbers remain in the single digits. Maybe try “Shake It Off” next time, Marty!

“Whatever the polling is today never reflects what they ultimately decide.”Martin O’Malley, Bloomberg Politics, 10/27

14. Molly Shattuck sentenced

–Algerina Perna/The Baltimore Sun/AP

Even before the news broke late last year, it was the worst-kept secret in Baltimore: Forty-eight-year-old Molly Shattuck, the ex-wife of former Constellation Energy CEO Mayo Shattuck, had performed oral sex on a 15-year-old boy, a schoolmate of her son’s at an exclusive private school in Baltimore County. The ugly truth was confirmed in June when she pleaded guilty to fourth-degree rape. Then in August, a judge sentenced the former Ravens cheerleader to 15 years in prison, with all but two years suspended. She was ordered to spend 48 alternating weekends in a detention facility in Delaware, the state in which the rape occurred. Many saw the sentence as a mere slap on her tiny wrist, but by September, Shattuck was dividing her days between a no-frills cell in jail and her well-heeled home in Baltimore. “I take full responsibility for what I did,” Shattuck sobbed in court. “I was the adult.”

“Miss Shattuck is a criminal. She admits to being a rapist. . . . She must be held responsible.”The victim’s mother, The Sun, 8/21

15. Doreen Bolger Bids Farewell to the BMA

–David Colwell

She was known throughout Baltimore for attending fancy galas and Station North warehouse shows alike. She championed free admission at The Baltimore Museum of Art, and it was under her direction that the museum re-opened its historic doors to the public–both literally and figuratively. Bolger oversaw an unprecedented $28 million renovation that aimed, in part, to make art more accessible to everyone. When she announced she was retiring after 17 years, there was plenty of sadness in the arts community. But she went out with a bang at a party at the BMA in June, seated on a flaming throne as members of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society performed and revelers helped paint a mural designed by renowned street artist Gaia. Better still, Bolger assures us she intends to remain here and continue to advise the BMA as it attempts to find her successor.

“Doreen has transformed The Baltimore Museum of Art into one of the most dynamic and innovating cultural institutions in the country. . . . Her wisdom and experience will be missed.” Christine Anagnos, executive director of the Association for Art Museum Directors, 4/8

16. Spike Gjerde wins James Beard Award

–Galdones Photography/James Beard Foundation

For Woodberry Kitchen owner Spike Gjerde, who in May won the coveted James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mid Atlantic, the third time was the charm. Going toque-to-toque against Charleston’s Cindy Wolf, this was the farm-to-table chef’s third consecutive year as a finalist. And his win was the first James Beard Award ever given to a Baltimore chef. Speaking by phone from Chicago, where the awards were doled out, he told us that when his category was called, “I just closed my eyes–it was a magical moment.” The ensuing months have been a little less magical, however. In June, two Woodberry Kitchen pastry chefs slapped a suit against Watershed LLC (the parent company of Woodberry Kitchen, Artifact, and Parts & Labor) over unfair wages. Turns out, most medals tarnish with time.

“I just felt it was really great validation for Woodberry and for Baltimore as a city.”Spike Gjerde, The Sun, 5/6

17. Millennial Media Acquired by AOL

Millennial Media, one of Baltimore’s better-known homegrown tech startups, got swallowed up by AOL in September in a $238 million deal that could turn around the mobile advertising firm’s plummeting profitability. AOL, which itself was acquired by Verizon in June for $4.4 billion, could also benefit from the deal by being better able to compete with other big media companies, such as Google and Facebook, on mobile platforms. Notably, the $238 million was about one-eighth of Millennial’s market value on the day of its IPO in 2012. Since then, the stock price has slid downward with the company losing $149 million last year and $35 million in the first half of this year. It also remains to be seen what the acquisition means for the combined 450 staffers in the local AOL and Millennial Media offices.

“I think the deal was great for AOL/Verizon and probably viewed [as] so-so for Millennial.”John Ferber, co-founder of Advertising.com, the former Baltimore startup also acquired by AOL, The Sun, 9/3

18. Veep Vacates Maryland

– Pat Gavin

No more Julia Louis-Dreyfus sightings at Whole Foods. No more trying to suss out when Baltimore is standing in for D.C. No more moments of “Hey, that’s my favorite bar on TV!” On June 18, HBO announced that it would be moving production of Veep, the Emmy-award-winning political comedy, from Maryland to Los Angeles for the show’s fifth season. As is so often the case, money was the deciding factor. Veep was granted $6.5 million in tax credits by the California Film Commission. After the show won Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2015 Emmys, Veep cast member Timothy Simons tweeted: “Love to our Baltimore crew. We love and miss you. This is impossible without you. Thanks for everything.” No Veep, thank you.

“The producers and HBO would like to thank Maryland for making the last four seasons of Veep such a success. We look forward to returning with another production in the future.”statement from HBO announcing Veep was leaving Maryland, 6/18

19. CLUB Hippo Closes

–Mike Morgan

In what was arguably one of the best years for the LGBTQ community, Baltimore suffered a loss when the news broke in May that Club Hippo would close. After more than four decades as an anchor of Baltimore’s gay scene, owner Chuck Bowers decided it was time to retire, and, in early October, he shut the iconic nightclub’s doors for good. Opened in 1972, the Hippo served as a safe haven for all walks of life through times of adversity, including the AIDS epidemic. It was a comfort zone, where people could be themselves without fear or judgment. And sometimes that meant howling “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes with a bunch of your closest friends in its beloved karaoke room, or catching the latest drag show on the dance floor. Of course, the Hippo couldn’t go out without one last big party, which it held on September 26 as a packed dance floor boogied to one last song (“It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls, of course). After 43 years of acceptance, enlightenment, and pure entertainment, the Hippo is now gone, but not forgotten.

“Chuck Bowers, the staff and management of the Hippo want to thank everyone who supported us over the past 43 years! Just remember, ‘The enchantment has ended but the SPELL remains.’”Club Hippo Facebook page, 10/5

20. Episcopal Bishop Kills Cyclist

On New Year’s Day, more than 1,000 cyclists gathered for a silent memorial ride up Roland Avenue in honor of popular Baltimore bike builder Tom Palermo, who had been killed in a drunken hit-and-run accident just days prior. Per cycling community tradition, a white-painted “ghost bike” was chained to a pole near the crash location, with flowers and candles placed around the makeshift memorial. The driver of the car that killed Palermo, Episcopal Bishop Heather Elizabeth Cook, pleaded guilty to automobile manslaughter in September and was sentenced to seven years in prison in October. Meanwhile, organizations such as Bikemore, the city’s nonprofit bicycling advocacy organization, and Bike Maryland continue to press for tougher penalties for negligent drivers and safer roads for cyclists.

“Last Saturday was a beautiful day and Rachel [Palermo’s wife], realizing how busy they had been, suggested to Tom that he do what he loved and go out for a ride.”Jeff Hulting, at brother-in-law Tom Palermo’s memorial ride, talking about the day Palermo died, Baltimoremagazine.net , 1/2

Honorable Mentions: More Moments That Mattered

In January, President Obama used Charmington’s coffeehouse in Remington as the backdrop for an appearance promoting paid sick leave. His appearance thrilled onlookers and staff, especially when a presidential aide left a $30 tip on a $60 bill.

West Baltimore photographer Devin Allen landed the cover of Time magazine in April with his snap of a young black man fleeing a horde of police officers during the unrest following the death of Freddie Gray.

Buck hated it, but everyone else recognized the brilliance of the O’s promotional Buck Showalter garden gnome. #SHOWtheGnome, indeed.

In July, several cast members from The Wire reconvened at Artscape to discuss the Freddie Gray unrest and honor community leaders. It was great to see that Omar, Kima, Bubbles, Dukie, Snoop et al. hadn’t forgotten from whence they came.

One Direction minus one (fare thee well, Zayn!) rolled into M&T Bank Stadium in August for the teenybopper concert of the year.

A man in a crowd outside the Republican presidential debate in Cleveland in August waved a sign asking, “Is Joe Flacco A Elite Quarterback?” for MSNBC cameras. The image went viral and inspired a new round of earnest philosophizing on Flacco’s eliteness.

In July, 8-year-old Zion Harvey of Owings Mills became the first pediatric patient to receive a double hand transplant.

Baltimore’s fecund indie-rock scene—including Future Islands, Beach House, and Dan Deacon—proved its drawing power with a sold-out concert at Pier Six Pavilion in August.

In October, one of two blimp-like surveillance crafts floating above Aberdeen Proving Ground came unmoored and drifted into Pennsylvania. The absurd, slow-motion chase—and the memes it spawned—had the Internet ROFLMAOing.

Union Memorial orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lew Schon got to live out his rock star fantasy this July when he joined the Foo Fighters on stage in Boston to perform The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” He got the gig through his patient—Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.

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Weekend Lineup: August 21-23

Lydia Woolever — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 17:17:00 +0000

Five things to eat, drink, see, hear, and do with your Charm City weekend.

EAT

August 22: Illuminate Love + Light for Melissa

Clipper Mill Pool, 2010 Clipper Park Rd. 7-10 p.m. $60-200. illuminateloveandlightformelissa.bpt.me.

This Saturday is going to be a beautiful night. The weather will be warm, the moon will shine bright, and flocks of friends and family will gather for a young woman in need of their love. Last year, Melissa Kirby, a wife, mother of two, and partner at Shine Creative, suffered a severe set of strokes, losing the ability to speak or move. She’s slowing gaining strength and on Saturday some of the city’s best restaurants are joining forces to raise money for her recovery, including Woodberry Kitchen, Cunningham’s, Encantada, Tapas Teatro, The Charmery, The Local Oyster, Flying Dog Brewery, and Waterfront Kitchen. Dine on the local dishes, dig on tunes by DJ Impulse, and dabble in the silent auction, with all proceeds going towards Kirby’s medical care. For those who can’t make it, you can donate through their Crowdrise website and checks can be mailed to Matt Kirby, Trustee, 2010 Clipper Park Rd. Ste. 105, Baltimore, MD 21211.

DRINK

August 22: Flying Dog Summer Sessions with Of Montreal

Flying Dog Brewery, 4607 Wedgewood Blvd., Frederick. 5-10 p.m. $25. 301-694-7899. flyingdogbrewery.com.

Catch the local brewery’s last outdoor concert of the summer season with weird and wonderful rock band Of Montreal. They’re not actually Canadians—they’re from Athens, GA—but their funky, dance-worthy, Sgt. Pepper-esque sound is a trip. On the front lawn, lean back with their groovy tunes and sip on a wacky whirlwind of beers, including casks like Gourd Standard Pumpkin IPA (it’s almost that time of year again), Dogtoberfest Marzen, and Pale Ale with Sriracha, as well as drafts like Bloodline Blood Orange, Dead Rise Old Bay, and Numero Uno Summer Cerveza, and cans of IPA. Don’t miss the opening bands, with fellow Peach State natives Mothers and local skateboard rockers Old Indian.

SEE

August 20-22: Mondo Festo

M&T Bank Stadium, 1101 Russell St. 7 p.m. $46-1,325. baltimoreravens.com.

Stroll down historic Howard Street and you might not realize that the Westside neighborhood was once home to packed vaudeville houses and glitzy marquees. Now designated as the Bromo Arts District, the neighborhood is breathing new life, thanks to a handful of movers, shakers, and spaces like EMP Collective, Current Gallery, and the Annex Theater. Among those champions is Le Mondo, a group whose goal is to create a hub for Baltimore’s dynamic, vibrant art and performance community and to launch them onto the national and international stage. Celebrate some of their best during a three-night festival, with theater, performance, art installations, and music. On Thursday and Friday, see a 10-Minute Play Festival curated by Sarah Jacklin of Annex, with six original works about hunger and extinction, many written by fellow Howard Street thespians. Also on Friday, get down at the opening night dance party and delve into “Eminent Domain,” a performance art event curated by EMP’s Carly J. Bales featuring six artists. On Saturday night, Psychic Readings Company presents “The Maids,” which spins the classic French drama with a touch of fake death and S&M. Afterwards, local artists explore the seemingly obvious but multitudinous question: “What is dance?”

HEAR

August 21: Gladys Knight & The O’Jays

Pier Six Pavilion, 731 Eastern Ave. 410-783-4189. 6 p.m. $37-85. piersixpavilion.com.

“Midnight Train to Georgia.” That is all.

Okay, if that’s not enough, Gladys is one of the greats. Over the last 50-odd years, the Motown maven has spanned popular culture from the doo-wop heyday of The Pips, through pop hits, soul standards, and R&B ballads, to Dancing with the Stars. They never quite piqued like the other golden groups—The Supremes, The Temptations—but her powerful pipes live on with “Neither One of Us,” “Every Beat of My Heart,” and one timeless cover of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” Hear her break it down at Pier Six with The O’Jays. You might know them from a few little known songs: “Love Train,” “Now That We Found Love,” and “Backstabbers.”

DO

August 22: Club Hippo’s Last Dance Party

Club Hippo, 1 W. Eager
St. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. $15 tickets available at the door. cluphippo.com.

After 43 years, 40 pride festivals, two owners, and
countless spins on the dance floor, the iconic gay landmark that is the Club
Hippo is closingits doors this fall. While the official close date is still up in the air,
this Saturday you can say goodbye with one last trip down its stairs and dance
across that light-up tile floor. Don your finest, tip back some ’tinis, and
spend this warm summer Saturday night celebrating this cornerstone of the gay,
lesbian, and entire Baltimore community. There might be a line, but it’ll be
well worth the wait. And don’t worry, this isn’t actually the last dance party—there will be more before
the lights go on and they make their last
last call. (Expected in October.)

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The Evolution of Baltimore’s Pride Festival

Jess Mayhugh — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 16:00:00 +0000

On the heels of the 5-4 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage across the nation, the local LGBT community is gearing up for the 40th anniversary of Baltimore Pride.

This year’s festivities—July 25-26—will feature thousands of attendees at the Pride parade, live performances at Saturday’s Block Party in Mt. Vernon, and spectators perusing local vendors at Sunday’s festival in Druid Hill Park.

But long before organizers were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and bringing in the likes of Grammy-nominated R&B artist Martha Wash (“It’s Raining Men”) to perform at the two-day event, Pride started out as a small rally at Charles Plaza in 1975.

“It was more of a political thing back then, because it was during those times that you could have gotten fired for being gay,” says Gilbert Morrisette, longtime director of operations for Mt. Vernon’s stalwart gay bar, Club Hippo. “It was really nothing, just a little gathering with a few people handing out pamphlets and hot dogs.”

With Morrisette and his close friend Dennis Arnold at the helm during the early ’90s, Pride expanded into a weekend-long bash with a block party boasting a beer garden, a Bingo tent, drinking games, and two main stages. The festival saw a major increase in revenue the first year the duo took charge—raking in approximately $12,000.

“In previous years, they probably made like 100 bucks, so, of course, they came back to us and said, ‘Do you want to do it again?’” Morrisette says.

Over the years, Baltimore Pride had found a permanent home in Mt. Vernon and Druid Hill Park, until last summer when a new wave of committee members moved the festivities to Station North as a result of residential complaints.

“[Pride] doesn’t serve the purpose that it once did because we’ve won these battles,” Morrisette says. “In a way, we’re a victim of our own success, and over the years as it’s gotten bigger and bigger, people who had nothing to do with the event would just park their cars in the neighborhood and drink, and the block party began to get too big.”

Nevertheless, Pride has moved back to its emblematic venue this year after complaints that spaces in Station North were too crowded and that Mt. Vernon, the city’s “Gayborhood,” felt more like a natural fit.

Upwards of 25,000 people are estimated to participate in the festivities at the end of July, generating close to $1 million for the community. Events will include everything from rainbow-colored parade floats to high heel races, and feature live performances by rapper Cazwell, YouTube sensation T.S. Madison, and the legendary soul singer Wash.

This time around, organizers decided to hold the events the last weekend of July (instead of in June) to decrease sponsorship competition with celebrations in neighboring cities, like New York and Washington D.C.

“Sponsorships are where you really make your money, you don’t make it selling beer,” Morrisette says. “That’s your handout, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Speaking of saying goodbye, Mt. Vernon is bidding a fond farewell to Club Hippo, the iconic mainstay that has been around since Pride began. In May, owner Chuck Bowers made the announcement that the Hippo would be closing its doors in the fall to become a CVS Pharmacy.

“It’s not like the business isn’t there, it’s not like we can’t afford to stay open. It’s just that Chuck is 70 years old and he’s had to work for 37 years. I don’t blame him,” says Morrisette. “The outpouring of support has been overwhelming.”

Looking back, Morrisette says some of his fondest memories of managing the space include hosting iconic performers like Debbie Jacobs and Gloria Gaynor, and, of course, being a part of the annual Pride festival.

“It’s always surprised me, with Baltimore being so blue collar, how advanced our LGBT community has been,” he says. “And Pride is such a neat touch for the city.”

For more information on Club Hippo’s closure, pick up a copy of our July issue on newsstands now.

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