Brownie Troop

Girls in Brownie Troop 1910 are learning that computers are not just for boys.With the help of troop leaders who use computers at home and at work, the 13 girls have come to like CD ROM programs just as much as Barbie dolls."

Movies and crepes go together. The original Sofi's Crepes is still running next to The Charles, now a new Sofi's has opened directly across from The Senator. The new address is 5911 York Road, and the phone number is 410-727-5737. Tentative hours at the new location are Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. The Belvedere Square location is planning a Nov. 18 grand opening featuring live music and celebrity crepe-makers. Sofi's is donating 50 percent of its profits from the opening to Our Daily Bread for Thanksgiving dinners.  Across the street from Sofi's, on the same side of the block as the Senator, Jerry's Belvedere Tavern is going to town on Girl Scout Cookies.

BROWNIE TROOP 1526 proved the meaning of being a good scout last month. Lauren Barbour, Amanda Beene, Kelly Earles, Kimberly Goodman, Ashley Jackson, Amy Kirby, Mallory Moyer, Rachel Nesbitt, Karsa Passarelli, Keri Plasse, Sahara Primas, Lizzie Seipel, Shanelle Tatum, Karianne VanNostrand and Stephanie Wiseman collected 225 food items, which were donated to FISH.Troop leaders Terry Nesbitt, Kathy Passarelli and Kathleen VanNostrand coordinated the girls' collection with FISH President Joan Chiarenza.

Thin Mints are my favorite Girl Scout cookie, especially if they come right out of the freezer. They're my husband's favorite, too, but he also likes Tagalongs. We're trying not to eat that stuff anymore, so no Girl Scout cookies in our house this year. We still bought a couple boxes, but rather than eat them ourselves, we donated them back to the troop selling them. My friend, Erin Nelson, is the leader of both her daughters' troops. Sarah, 9, is in Brownie Troop 208, and Emily, 6, is in Daisies Troop 1118.

Seven little girls, dressed in their Brownie best, circled the recreation room at Sykesville Eldercare Center, chatting with the patients and showing them pictures."

When you're an 8-year-old girl, fireflies are magical, s'mores are the height of culinary achievement, and a 19-acre Girl Scout camp in the Baltimore suburbs seems like a wilderness.Over the weekend, Brownie Troop 580 from Columbia left behind Nickelodeon television, McDonald's french fries and Beanie Babies and learned to live in cabins without plumbing or electricity and cook their dinner over a campfire.The 11 girls arrived at Camp Whippoorwill Friday clean and giggling and excited by the adventures that lay ahead.

GIRL SCOUT Troop 921 was host of the annual Triadelphia Ridge/Clarksville Cluster's Bridging ceremony, held May 30 at Clarksville Elementary School. Seventy-seven girls in the cluster moved up to the next level of Girl Scouting. Led by Faith Dillman of Highland and Kathy Deibler of Clarksville, the sixth-grade girls bridged from Juniors to Cadettes. Some of the girls, who attend different middle schools, have been in Scouting together since they were in kindergarten. The ceremony opened with the traditional flag ceremony, followed by entertainment.

Joseph Julius "Joe" Kaufman, a retired real estate executive who with his wife established a nonprofit foundation that furnishes books to inner-city public schools, died July 31 of heart failure at his Pikesville home. He was 81. Born in Minneapolis, Mr. Kaufman spent his early years in Omaha, Neb., and Colorado before settling in 1931 in Forest Park with his father and stepmother. After graduating in 1948 from Forest Park High School, he attended the University of Maryland, College Park and St. John's College in Annapolis.

The 19 girls of Brownie Troop 299 have learned that good deeds do pay off.Nearly a month ago, the girls planted 14 day lilies in front of Swann Park in Crofton. But two days later, the yellow flowers were plucked from their beds.Yesterday, the girls replaced the original plants with 14 new ones, also with yellow blooms, thanks to representatives of a Davidsonville nursery who heard about the girls' plight and decided to help."It seemed like a nice gesture," said Michael Fountain, advertising manager at Homestead Gardens.

The annual Westminster Halloween Parade, sponsored by the Westminster Post of the American Legion, was held Tuesday night.Prizes ranging from $10 to $50 were awarded by the American Legion. Winners who have not claimed their prize money can call the Westminster American Legion at 857-7953.The winners, judged by the Junior Woman's Club of Westminster, were:Cutest child: first place, a birthday present, Ali Globus; second place, Tin Man robot, Joe Senseney.Most Comical Individual: first place, birthday cake, Jordan Neville; second place, Barbie, Amanda Gonder.

Joseph Julius "Joe" Kaufman, a retired real estate executive who with his wife established a nonprofit foundation that furnishes books to inner-city public schools, died July 31 of heart failure at his Pikesville home. He was 81. Born in Minneapolis, Mr. Kaufman spent his early years in Omaha, Neb., and Colorado before settling in 1931 in Forest Park with his father and stepmother. After graduating in 1948 from Forest Park High School, he attended the University of Maryland, College Park and St. John's College in Annapolis.

Enjoying Easter parade weather, tourists and Baltimoreans lined Pratt Street yesterday, swaying their hips and clapping their hands for the annual pilgrimage of dancers and marching bands that signals Thanksgiving is coming. The parade has become a Baltimore tradition like the Preakness or Opening Day at Camden Yards, with groups as diverse as a Harley motorcycle club and a Brownie troop participating. "What I like is the people on the sidelines who think we're the entertainment when they are really the ones who are fun to watch," said Katie Fox, 20, a dancer with the Kevin Broesler School of Irish Dance.

GIRL SCOUT Troop 921 was host of the annual Triadelphia Ridge/Clarksville Cluster's Bridging ceremony, held May 30 at Clarksville Elementary School. Seventy-seven girls in the cluster moved up to the next level of Girl Scouting. Led by Faith Dillman of Highland and Kathy Deibler of Clarksville, the sixth-grade girls bridged from Juniors to Cadettes. Some of the girls, who attend different middle schools, have been in Scouting together since they were in kindergarten. The ceremony opened with the traditional flag ceremony, followed by entertainment.

OAKLAND MILLS resident Frosty, a 2-year-old Border collie, won the "Stupid Pet Tricks" competition at the Blue Cow Cafe last week. The dog's owners, Danny Sayre, 12, and his sister Jessica, 10, said it took no training at all to get Frosty to chase a broom while it was waved upside down in the air. The competition was part of "Dog Day Afternoon," held at the cafe as a "stuff" raiser - no money was collected - for the Howard County Animal Welfare Society....

NOW THAT we're in the holiday season in which it's better to give than to receive, many east Columbia residents and businesses are living up to that credo. Cub Scout Packs and Brownie Troops "adopted" needy families and brought all the fixings for Christmas dinners and brightly wrapped gifts to their homes. Target stores at Columbia Crossing and Long Gate shopping centers joined with United Way of Howard County to donate decorated Christmas trees to organizations and people in the community.

BROWNIE TROOPS are required to perform community service work every year. Troop 1345 of Bollman Bridge Elementary in Jessup recently earned a community service badge for its efforts to help three area families. Assistant Principal Kimberlyn Pratesi learned that three local families needed help with groceries and asked the troop to help. Under the organization of Sue Marino, a Brownie mother, the girls gathered two baskets of pantry items and one basket of cleaning supplies. On March 23, they met with Brownie parents Bob Dodson, Betsy Diehl and Clara Hendrick to assemble the goods.

NOW THAT we're in the holiday season in which it's better to give than to receive, many east Columbia residents and businesses are living up to that credo. Cub Scout Packs and Brownie Troops "adopted" needy families and brought all the fixings for Christmas dinners and brightly wrapped gifts to their homes. Target stores at Columbia Crossing and Long Gate shopping centers joined with United Way of Howard County to donate decorated Christmas trees to organizations and people in the community.

NOW THAT the holidays are over, it's fun to look back at the good times and the giving.Philomena DeVito, leader of Girl Scout Cadet Troop 1617, says it was a busy season for her troop on both counts.Recently, the girls spent the night at Savage United Methodist Church.The event was a sleep-over, with two adult leaders -- DeVito and Toni Vollmerhausen.The seven girls did all the planning and shopping, DeVito said."They're at the age where they require no real help; just an adult around, in case," she said.