Margueritte Mills Volunteer of the Month: Henry Schmidt

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Henry Schmidt Harvests Funds For Hancock’s Resolution

By Zach Sparks

A 10th generation Hancock who grew up on a farm, Henry Schmidt remembers routinely picking strawberries when he was 4 years old in 1934. He also reflects on the hardships that families endured.

“I grew up in a house that had no central heat, no central plumbing, no electricity,” he said. “I would wake up sometimes and it would be 20 degrees inside.”

As president of the Hancock’s Resolution Foundation, Schmidt wants to preserve that way of life through the historical landmark of Hancock’s Resolution on Bayside Beach Road.

“If you look at Kinder, it’s a farm of the 1930s and 1940s,” he said of the Millersville site. “Hancock’s was before you had tractors; it was all hand and manual labor.”

Not to be confused with the Friends of Hancock’s Resolution (FOHR), which maintains the historic property and plans programming, the foundation is a fundraising arm of Hancock’s Resolution.

Schmidt and Jim Morrison, FOHR president, saw the need for a foundation to supplement the financial contributions from Anne Arundel County government, so they formed the foundation in 2002. The nonprofit is saving money for a barn to be used as a visitor center, and members also want to staff one full-time employee who would live on the property.

“It solves a lot of problems,” Schmidt said of having an employee. “It keeps people from vandalizing the property and also gives us someone to keep deer and geese from destroying the farm. We want to get Hancock’s back to being a working farm and we can’t do that with deer and geese.”

For Schmidt, the key to fundraising is multifaceted. “We send solicitation letters, but you have to do more than send letters,” he said. “It’s about meeting people, forming relationships and creating interest.”

Schmidt did plenty of networking after joining the Lake Shore Rotary Club when he was 23 years old, later becoming president. His favorite memory was when they loaned wheelchairs and crutches to people in need.

He also showed a collaborative mindset as one of 16 members who served on the Lake Shore Small Area Plan Committee in the early 2000s, recommending to Anne Arundel County ways to oversee land-use changes, environmental enhancements, road improvements and community services.

Schmidt also served on the Maryland Agriculture Commission and other committees, and he was recognized as grand marshal in the Pasadena Business Association’s Caring & Sharing Parade in 2017.

Above all, his proudest accomplishments are raising two kids, providing guidance to his three grandkids, and, of course, preserving the Hancock’s Resolution farmstead that his family worked so hard to maintain. Judging by the number of people who visit on Sundays during the farm’s season from April to October, he’s not the only one who has that interest.

“Some people are interested in participation in the wars,” Schmidt said. “Some people are interested in the graveyard. Some people are interested in the house.

“Most people don’t know the history of their family or they never met their grandfather or grandmother,” he added. “You’re missing a big part of your life if you didn’t know your ancestors.”

READ MORE ABOUT VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTH:

Connie Raynor
Chuck Yocum
Brian Conrad

READ MORE ABOUT HISTORIC HANCOCK'S RESOLUTION:

Historic Hancock’s Resolution Opens For The Season
Chesapeake High School Revisits Historic Hancock’s Resolution
Historic Hancock's Resolution Looks To Build On The Past

Volunteer of the Month

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