Poplar Ridge - A Peninsula With Community Pride

By Judy Tacyn

Residents of Poplar Ridge in Pasadena can boast about the amount of waterfront because the neighborhood is a peninsula situated on Bodkin Creek. The community is part of an oyster restoration project for the Chesapeake Bay and has been for more than 10 years. There is a great mix of waterfront and residential homes. The Cheshire Crab restaurant is in the neighborhood, as is Pleasure Cove Marina, Bodkin Yacht Club and two fishing charter boats that run out of Bodkin Creek.

The social community hosts holiday parties, a white elephant gift exchange, Toys for Tots donation box, coat drive, and Earth Day party, paint nights, Coast Guard Auxiliary training, a chili cook-off, community yard sale, a craft and vendor fair, kayak parties, CPR classes, movie nights and a book club.

Nathan Foster
Resident for Two Years

Nathan Foster has lived in Pasadena since he was 2 years old, and his wife is from Glen Burnie. A friend recommended that he look at a house that was for sale in Poplar Ridge in the summer of 2017, and the rest is history.

“The house we found met the requirements we were looking for,” Foster said. “Poplar Ridge feels like we have our own small town and people are beyond friendly.”

The family also found a great school, Fort Smallwood Elementary. “And no we don’t like it, we love it,” Foster exclaimed.

Foster loves Pasadena for its small-town feel, abundant waterfront, the YMCA and friendly people.

“I have the best neighbors I ever have had,” Foster continued. “They are friendly and giving. In just a year and a half, I have been able to develop some very real friendships.”

Foster added that the Poplar Ridge Improvement Association sponsored children in need this past Christmas season.

He and his wife are members of the community association, their children are involved in local sport programs, and his wife is a volunteer at Fort Smallwood Elementary.

Sue Chiasson
Resident for Two Years

Sue Chiasson’s family moved to Pasadena in 1997 because they were looking for a community with an easy commute to both Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.

“I had been looking for several years to move to a home on the water. When I saw this listing, I knew I found my special place,” Chiasson said. “It’s a quiet neighborhood, but it comes alive in the summer. Boating and water sports are very popular. You can get out to the Chesapeake Bay in minutes.”

Chiasson said Pasadena feels a little bit like the fictional bar Cheers, where everyone knows your name. “I find it a very welcoming community. I have made lifelong friendships here. I have never been happier.”

Jeff Hughes
Resident for Nine Years

Jeff Hughes and his family were living in Severna Park when they felt the pull to the water, specifically the Magothy River.

“We loved the drive into the community with the mature trees, nice houses and proximity to the water,” Hughes said. “We drove all the way down where the road ends at the water. Great views and it seemed very quiet and peaceful, which it is.”

Hughes appreciates the diversity of neighbors in Poplar Creek. “It’s a community of diverse people: doctors, lawyers, crabbers, contractors, artists, construction workers, mechanics, IT professionals,” he said. “Just a great mix of people who come together in support of the community.”

He feels there is diversity, too, in the many locally owned restaurants, neighborhood bars, fruit and vegetable stands, horse ranches, and many waterways and parks on the water.

“Our neighbors are very sociable and friendly. We frequently trade dinner invites to eat at each other’s home,” Hughes said. “We go out together to restaurants and clubs. There are many last-minute, spur-of-the-moment pop-up get-togethers.”

Hughes is the past president of the Poplar Ridge Improvement Association. His wife, Tricia, is part of the community book club.

Ed Barnhouser
Lifelong Resident

Ed Barnhouser’s parents bought a vacant lot on Poplar Ridge Road near the end of the peninsula in 1956 when Ed was an infant. Though his family lived in Brooklyn Park, they traveled every summer weekend to Poplar Ridge to fish, crab and swim.

“I purchased my first home on Poplar Ridge Road in 1985,” Ed said. “My two children spent their childhood here also enjoying playing, swimming, fishing and crabbing.”

In 2003, Ed and his wife, Teresa, built their dream home with a view looking out at the Chesapeake Bay. Recently, his son and wife purchased Ed’s parents’ home. Their two children are now the fourth generation of Barnhousers to live in Poplar Ridge.

Ed likes living on a peninsula, with one way in and one way out. Because the land is narrow, there are water views in multiple directions. “It is off the beaten track, yet still close to civilization,” Ed said. “The deep water makes it a haven for boaters. Living here is like a perpetual vacation.”

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