02-25-2024 Harford Mag - Flipbook - Page 82
3 THINGS
BY MIKE KLINGAMAN Harford Magazine
Peg Lucas
Bel Air Citizen of the Year
Peg Lucas has always shunned the spotlight. So when her hometown named the
longtime volunteer as Bel Air Citizen of the
Year in 2023, she tried to talk them out of it.
“I mentioned six other people who’d be
good candidates,” said Lucas, 80. “I never
wanted to be a big shot. I like knowing I
did a good job, but the world doesn’t need
to know.”
For four decades, she has worked behind
the scenes to help preserve Bel Air’s past
and to shape its future. A charter member of
the town’s Historic Preservation Commission, Lucas is part of Bel Air’s Cultural Arts
Commission, its Appearance and Beautification Committee and the Downtown Alliance
Design Committee.
Here are three things you may not know
about Lucas:
The Chesapeake Bay is her oyster.
“For years, my husband and I had a 34foot sailboat; we met at a sailing club. Being
out on the bay is exhilarating — you’re not
fixed on your destination as much as you’re
enjoying the experience of just being on the
boat. I’ll be a great-grandmother in March,
but I still have a small kayak, which I can
fit in the back of my car, if I want to go to
Rock Hall.”
The garden is her Eden.
“I grow many [ornamental] plants that I
share with garden club members. They may
have botanical names but, for me, the plants
are constant reminders of those who gave
them to me. The Black-eyed Susans are
from Marta; the elephant ears, from Valerie.
They are physical manifestations of my
relationships with others.”
Cooking puts her in the limelight.
“I cook so much that I don’t get taken out
to dinner very often. I do a [New England]
clam chowder to kill for, and my Eastern
Shore corn pudding has to go to picnics.
Everything is made from scratch. There’s a
sense of accomplishment when a meal turns
out great, and frustration when it doesn’t.
It’s a lot like volunteering.”
PHOTO BY BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLOR
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| Spring 2024 | harfordmagazine.com
