Walking the Solar System
By Chuck MacDonald

On Saturday, April 9 people traveled the breadth of the solar system in a single day. No, the starship Enterprise was not involved. But it was made possible through the efforts of visionary engineer Stan Lebar. Move over Mr. Spock!

Local residents made the journey on Saturday without even leaving Anne Arundel County. This surprising feat was accomplished by the third annual "Planet Walk" organized by Friends of AA Trails. The highlight of the event was the dedication of the Stan Lebar Plaza, located on the west side of the B&A Trail, just south of Aquahart Rd., behind the Harundale Plaza shopping center. Lebar founded Friends of AA Trails some 16 years ago. He was the guiding force behind the creation of a planet walk along a 4.7 mile segment of the B&A Trail. The plaza is the location of a sculpture of the sun, representing the center of the solar system; Pluto, the furthermost planet from the sun, is represented by a sculpture located at the Earleigh Heights Road Ranger Station. In between are 10 informational stations representing the planets of the solar system, each spaced a proportional distance from the sun.

Elizabeth Wyble, president of the Friends of AA Trails presided at the dedication, welcoming representatives of Anne Arundel Community College Astronomy Club, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and AA Parks and Recreation. "In addition to serving as president of Friends of AA Trails, Stan became the Planet Walk Chairman and oversaw the construction and completion of the sun site. We dedicate this site to the memory of our beloved friend Stan Lebar; may this plaza serve to help stimulate interest in the subject of space and our solar system."

Elaine Lebar, who was married to Stan for 61 years before he passed away, shared some comments about her husband. "Stan was the consummate visionary; but he also was a man who made dreams happen." Her husband was an engineer for Westinghouse who spearheaded the development of a hand held video camera that astronauts took with them to film the first moon landing in 1969. Elaine quipped about her inventive husband, "He was the classic right brain, left handed engineer, and I was a left brain, right-handed musician. We were completely different, so we got along fine."

Unity Gardens was recognized for its $1,000 donation to the Friends to install a native garden adjacent to the plaza.

Following the dedication, park rangers and docents from NASA, Anne Arundel Community College and several astronomy clubs were on hand to provide information at the various stations along the Planet Walk about the solar system in general. Anne Arundel Community College hosted multimedia presentations and hosted an evening star gazing party at the ACC observatory. NASA/Goddard Space Flight lecturers presented information that evening at the college.

The B&A Trail, the location of the Planet Walk, was completed in 1990. An estimated 1.5 million people visit the Anne Arundel County Trails each year.

For more information about the Friends of AA County Trails, visit the web site at www.friendsofaatrails.org, or call Elizabeth Wyble at 410-695-1137. The group will hold its annual meeting at 7pm, April 26 at Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park.