25th Anniversary

The Carroll County Chamber of Commerce recently honored 21 local businesses, organizations and individuals at its annual Hats Off Awards Breakfast. The Hats Off program recognizes major milestones or events that affect the county's business community. Those honored were: National Award: Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge; Kirsten Sauter, Manpower. State Award: JoAnn Goldberger, Carroll Child Care Centers Inc. 15th Anniversary: Vince Campanella, Campanella and Associates; Barry Willen, Sylvan Learning Centers.

Q: Enclosed is a picture of a walnut, cane-seat chair. It was my great-grandmother's parlor chair when she got married in 1857.How much it is worth?A: I think she bought this for her 25th anniversary (1882). It might sell for $175 to $200 in good condition.Q: I've found a mark -- crossed vines looping around the letters "R" and "S" and at the top, a star, with "Prussia" underneath -- on the bottom of a hand-painted porcelain teapot. It is pale green with white-and-red floral decoration and gold trim.

50th wedding anniversary Donald and LaVonne Hanlon (Don and Bonnie) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June with 20 family members in Williamsburg, Va. Family traveled from Oklahoma, North Carolina and Maryland, and spent the week getting acquainted and reacquainted. The couple married at the bride's hometown church, the First Evangelical United Brethren Church, in Scottdale, Pa., on Father's Day, June 18, 1961. To commemorate this golden anniversary, Don and Bonnie renewed their vows at the Community United Methodist Church of Maryland City on Father's Day, as they did on Father's Day in 1986 to celebrate their 25th anniversary.

Isn't it about time we all stopped wallowing in the death of John F. Kennedy?The media can dress up all their specials this week as "celebrations" or "investigations," but to me they are just exploitations and titillations.They are just an excuse to drag out old clips of Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" and the Zapruder film and John-John saluting.Monday will be the 30th anniversary of John Kennedy's death, and to that I say: So what? What is so special about a 30th anniversary?A 25th anniversary, OK, I will grant you a certain significance to a quarter of a century.

Sheena Richardson raised her hands, kicked and yelled along Little Patuxent Parkway on Friday evening.Excitement took control as the 8-year-old Columbia resident watched participants march in Columbia's silver anniversary parade.Sheena was among scores of people who lined the parkway to enjoy the parade Friday at 7 p.m. in balmy temperatures under clear skies.The parade marked the kickoff of the town's 25th birthday festivities."Hi, clowns," greeted Sheena, as two colorful jokers walked by, and gave their hellos.

Every Tuesday heralds the arrival of special or collector's DVD editions of movies, and this week is no exception with four anniversary editions of vintage films. The Blues Brothers - 25th Anniversary Edition (Universal, $23) includes the original theatrical and extended versions of the musical comedy starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as the "legendary" Chicago brothers Jake and Elwood Blues - characters they introduced on Saturday Night Live. The musical numbers, which feature singers such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and James Brown, are spectacular, but the comedy is overblown.

NOW THAT the 50th anniversary of D-Day is behind us, the only event to celebrate still is the 25th anniversary of Woodstock -- the rock concert that changed the world.Many people of my generation who can't remember where they were on Dec. 7 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, know exactly where they were when the rock bands bombed upstate New York with their music.I asked Joe Smoak if he recalled what he was doing."My daughter had gone there and I had my face pressed to the television screen hoping to find her in the crowd.

The problem with the good old days is that they're gone -- unless you happen to be living in 1994, in which case the good old days are still here and better than ever, really.You watched Lassie and the Flintstones 25 years ago? Hey, we '' watch Lassie and the Flintstones, too!You listened to stuff like Ben E. King's "Stand By Me"? Cool! We just heard that on a Citibank commercial!You went to Woodstock? Hey, we're going to Woodstock, too! And our Woodstock is better than your Woodstock. Your Woodstock had music, dope and free sex. Our Woodstock has giant video screens, low-fat yogurt stands and no sex (it's icky and dangerous now)

If you're a member of the baby boom generation, you can probably relate to that ESPN commercial for the Classic Sports Network.The one that shows glimpses of such legends as Vince Lombardi, Gayle Sayers, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and Bjorn Borg with the message, "All those stories you hear about how good it was, how much fun we had, how young we all used to be, how much it all mattered, how much we all cared, how no one has ever done it higher or faster or...

Remember the E-ticket?Twenty-five years ago, before Walt Disney World went to a one-price admission, tickets labeled from A to E were required for each ride. An A-ticket, the least expensive, was good only for wimpy little rides. E-tickets were the most sought after, because they admitted you to the most sophisticated attractions, among them the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Everyone wanted E-tickets.To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Disney World is staging an "E-ticket" celebration starting Oct. 1. You won't really need the once-coveted coupon to attend, but Disney is tagging the event as one of E-ticket caliber.