Breast Cancer

On Saturday, Oct. 6, TownMall of Westminster will host Paint TownMall Pink, an event aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer treatment and prevention. The event will take place at Center Court from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The organizations sponsoring and participating include Advanced Radiology, American Cancer Society, Beautiful Faces Permanent Makeup Salon, Carroll Homecare and Hospice, The Women's Place at Carroll Hospital Center, Carroll County Health Department and Carroll Regional Cancer Center.

How many children have you had, and did you wait until after 30 to have the first one? Do you have more than one drink a day? Did you get your period before you were 12? Do you exercise? Have a low-fat, high-fiber diet? Did you breast-feed? Do you work nights, wear a bra, have breast implants, use the Pill or wear antiperspirant? Do you smoke? Did your mother, your aunts or your sisters have breast cancer ? Do you have the breast cancer gene? Do you want to know if you have the breast cancer gene?

When the 2012 Westminster Fallfest celebration kicks off on Thursday night, Sept. 27, with the annual parade, Woody Higgs will be right at the front. Higgs, along with five other residents representing Special Olympics-Maryland, Carroll County, will carry the Fallfest banner. "We're really excited," said Donna McGuire, assistant volunteer coordinator for Special Olympics, and Higgs' mother. "This is our first time in Fallfest. " Special Olympics, along with Carroll Hospice, the Taneytown Lions Club and the Stacey Davis Breast Cancer Fund, was selected to be the partners for this year's annual Fallfest.

As October Breast Cancer Awareness Month approaches, a new study has been gaining big attention today. Researchers doing what The New York Times calls the "first comprehensive genetic analysis of breast cancer" have named four genetically distinct types of breast cancer. While the new treatments expected to come from the research are years off, the study published Sunday in the journal Nature is considered a breakthrough, the newspaper reported. "This is the road map for how we might cure breast cancer in the future,"  Dr. Matthew Ellis of Washington University, a researcher for the study, told The New York Times.

Blood drive Baltimore Washington Medical Center will host an American Red Cross blood drive from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 20 at 301 Hospital Drive in Glen Burnie. The bloodmobile will be located near the BW Federal Credit Union. For information, call the American Red Cross at 866-236-3276. To schedule an appointment, call the BWMC marketing and communications department at 410-787-4367. Weight and wellness The University of Maryland Center for Weight Management and Wellness will offer a free seminar from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Leo and Lysbeth Courtney Conference Center at BWMC, 305 Hospital Drive in Glen Burnie.

Judy Blume, the chronicler of youth angst in such books as " Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," is writing now about a much more personal battle against breast cancer. In a blog post titled !@#$% Happens, Blume writes of a summer that began with plans for a trip to Italy and soon moved on to surgery. As you might expect, she blends plenty of  self-deprecating humor into her tale. She's healing now, a month after surgery, and looking forward to writing again.

Gospel music lovers missed their chances to purchase tickets for this year's "Afternoon of Musical Praise" featuring Grammy-winning artist Yolanda Adams, slated for Aug. 18 at Aberdeen Proving Ground's Post Theater. The concert sold out almost two weeks ago. Community response coupled with major sponsorship support spiked the concert as "a must attend" event in Harford County, event organizers said. "Ames United Methodist Church tapped into some of the area's finest talent in music and dance to share the stage with a national recording artist," said Renee L. Johnson, event chair.

A daughter of Cuban president Raúl Castro says the United States should release five imprisoned Cuban intelligence officers in exchange for the Maryland aid worker held for more than two years in Havana. "I think that the six must be released - both the five Cubans and Alan Gross," Mariela Castro Espin told CNN'sChristiane Amanpour in an interview to be aired Tuesday. Gross, who grew up in Baltimore and lived in Potomac, was detained in December 2009 after taking communications equipment to the communist nation.

The big day is here! The annual Rodgers Forge Community Picnic is set for Saturday, June 9, and will offer four hours of fun, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dave Crockett and his committee have searched long and hard for a new venue for the 2012 picnic. They chose a central location near the tot lot for this year's extravaganza. (See your newsletter for more details.) The picnic will be alive with fantastic food, music, games and other attractions. It's a great opportunity to catch up with your neighbors and meet new ones.