50th Anniversary

HEY, MOM, WANT to hear something funny? My French teacher wanted to know if we would host a foreign exchange student. Isn't that hysterical?" my youngest son said.My indignant reply was muted by the laughter from the rest of the family."I told him after four weeks of living with our family, a French guy would go home with a new understanding of our nation's dependency on Prozac," my son continued.Carefully choosing my words, I tried to explain that he was perhaps exaggerating. Granted our family discussions can be lively, but with three teen-age boys in the house I'm usually pleased we don't end up on a "Cops" episode."

25 years ago: Farmer-members of Southern States cooperative will observe the 50th anniversary of the organization at a meeting Aug. 14 at Big Pipe Creek Park. Service was first extended into Maryland in 1934. Southern States, Taneytown, which offers local service on Southern States supplies, was organized in 1942. During the past fiscal year (1972-1973), it had a dollar volume of more than $1.1 million. The local cooperative serves approximately 700 farmer-members. The Carroll Record, July 19, 1973.

About to be jobless, Edie Sodowsky is dismantling the regional office of Heifer Project International in New Windsor, but still promoting her employer as "the most effective development organization in the world."Since 1944, the nonprofit ecumenical agency has donated livestock to the world's hungry, helping them to feed themselves with "sustainable agriculture at its best," said Sodowsky, associate director.But HPI can no longer sustain the office at the Brethren Service Center on the town's Main Street.

Jimsey Marcoux can't swim a stroke, but she didn't need any convincing when her husband suggested celebrating their 50th anniversary at sea with their entire family."

UFOs. Aliens. Crash test dummies falling from the sky. Area 51. Government cover-ups and explanations. And now, Martians?By now you know the U.S. Air Force tried to debunk, once and for all, the tale of a wrecked spacecraft and dead aliens near Roswell, N.M., on July 7, 1947. "Case Closed," the Air Force titled the 231-page report this week.There was a big-time Washington press conference. Very serious.At the Fund for UFO Research, actually a phone and fax in the Alexandria home of Don Berliner, the report only furthered suspicions.

By the time Rex Barney signed off with his trademark "thank you" before last night's game at Camden Yards, he had spoken volumes about the man the Orioles, and all of baseball, were honoring.Barney, the Orioles' public-address announcer, was on the field as part of the ceremonies that commemorated the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking major-league baseball's color barrier. Also present were Vincent Lee, the last surviving member of the 1931 Baltimore Black Sox, and Ernest Burke and Bert Simmons of the 1949 Baltimore Elite Giants.

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the color line in baseball, and The Sun will commemorate the event with a four-page section wrapping around the sports section that day. Coverage will include Robinson's impact on the civil rights movement and how today's players view Robinson's legacy.Pub Date: 4/14/97

FIFTY YEARS have passed since the end of World War II, and many people still talk as though Japan is still the worst enemy.Growing up in Japan, the history of World War II hurt me deeply. I felt sad for my countrymen knowing many were killed and the nation was destroyed. At the same time, I felt guilty about the way the Japanese treated others. Even though Japanese textbooks didn't cover these issues, I learned early what really happened during those years.Coming to the United States in 1987 at age 23 and meeting the non-Japanese people who were also victims was an affirmation of the tragedy of the war. And it was real.

"The youngsters are the reason we produce the Howard County Fair each year," says Fair Board President Rob Moxley of West Friendship.The fair's organizers work year-round to give young and old a chance to show their projects, which range from livestock to farm crops to food, arts, clothing, crafts and flowers.The extensive 4-H department has special categories this year to commemorate this 50th Howard County Fair. Contestants from the 4-H will submit cakes decorated for the 50th anniversary, arts projects with a Howard County Fair theme, photographs of previous Howard County fairs and Howard County Fair 50th anniversary flower arrangements.

Rosa Lee Cunningham, 58, the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by the Washington Post on her life of poverty, drug abuse and petty crime, died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome Friday in Washington. The Post won the Pulitzer for the eight-part series last year in which Ms. Cunningham revealed herself as a thief who introduced her grandson to shoplifting, sold and used drugs and worked as a prostitute. Her story also was the focus of an hourlong TV documentary on the PBS "Frontline" series in May.Bernard F. Riess, 87, a prominent psychologist whose dismissal from the Hunter College faculty in 1952 for refusal to answer Senate questions in the heyday of McCarthyism was redressed by New York City 30 years later, died of heart failure Monday in New Preston, Conn.