Greater Towson Committee Welcomes New Director

It's a changing of the guard at the Greater Towson Committee.

At the group's annual membership meeting on Thursday night at the Towson City Center, Pauline Harris was officially introduced as the development group's new executive director, .

Harris, a Baltimore public relations expert, is owner and principal of SPIN, a public relations, marketing and branding firm. For the last 12 years, she's also been the district council coordinator for the Baltimore chapter of the Urban Land Institute.

"I've made a huge difference with the council and I think I could do the same here. Cindy's set up some groundwork and a platform and a foundation that I could build on," Harris said. "I'm honored to take on this position and I can't wait to see the difference in a few months from now."

Harris said she's looking forward in particular to examining walkability issues in downtown Towson. She starts on the job next week.

Bledsoe, the group's director for the last seven years, has known Harris for years through Harris' work with the ULI and said the GTC's board made a great call.

"I literally did emotional cartwheels. I thought she is the perfect fit for Towson," Bledsoe said. "I love her effervescence and people personality, so I feel she'll be very well received here."

Bledsoe's stable outlook

After wrapping up with the GTC, Bledsoe has big plans in an unlikely arena, but one that allows her to combine her passions of entertainment and horses. She is currently pitching a potential new television series, featuring equine psychologist Kerry Thomas, to production studios.

A chance encounter with Thomas led to a two-hour meeting, after which they decided to shoot a pilot. In their first filming session, Thomas conducted an equine therapy session with a girl who suffered from attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and other problems. She had never spoken a complete sentence in her life.

"So we're shooting at this farm in Kentucky, and the girl's kicking and screaming with the helmet on, we put her on the horse," Bledsoe said. "And the moment she sits on the horse, she just sits up really straight and it gets very quiet. The horse takes three steps and she turns and says, 'Look at me, Mommy, I'm a big girl!' And that's the first sentence she's ever spoken in her life, and we captured it."

Word of Thomas' work made it all the way to Jordan. Princess Alia bint Al Hussein invited Thomas to the royal stables there and offered her support to the television project.

But no matter what happens next, Bledsoe, a White Hall resident, plans to stay in the Baltimore area, and follow development issues in Towson. Asked what she wished she could have seen done during her tenure, she said she  wants to see Chesapeake and Pennsylvania avenues become two-way streets, and she wants to help push for a .

"Those are two places I could easily see myself coming back as a volunteer to support," she said. "I think (Towson) is a real special place. I think people need to see it as Baltimore County's urban destination."