Catering

Consultants group elects Morgan presidentJames G. Morgan, chief executive officer of Morgan Financial Group in Lutherville, has been elected president of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters & Chartered Financial Consultants.A Glen Arm resident, Mr. Morgan previously served as secretary-treasurer, vice president and president-elect of the local arm of the national society of insurance professionals. He has more than 35 years of experience in the industry.

Elkton caterer wins state award Florence Webster, owner of Flo's Catering in Elkton, has been selected to receive one of Maryland's Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise Awards for 2006 from the Governor's Office of Minority Affairs. The program honors Maryland's best minority and women business owners, and highlights their achievements. Flo's Catering, a family business, specializes in home-cooked food for weddings, business lunches and dinners. A panel of judges chose Webster as an entrepreneur who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in business development, client satisfaction, professional affiliations and community outreach.

Armed with a crepe stove, Cinzano umbrellas, blue-and-white checkered tablecloths and "a whole lot of nerve," Sascha Wolhandler decided to open an outdoor cafe in Baltimore during the 1970s, after being inspired by her European travels. In the 1980s, she expanded by starting Sascha's Catering and Sascha's Silver Sacs, a lunchtime delivery service. Wolhandler, a native of upstate New York, no longer owns an outdoor cafe. But she does own Sascha's 527 Cafe - a popular Mount Vernon eatery that offers global cuisine - in addition to her catering and lunchtime delivery businesses.

Not even the threat of freezing rain could keep more than 3,000 Maryland- ers from beginning the new year at the Baltimore Rotary Club's 79th annual oyster roast. That's how many showed up for the event in the Cow Palace at the Timonium State Fairgrounds.John Rausch, sales manager for Sonitrol, and Walter Riemann, catering director of the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, were co-chairs of this year's event. I was told that they had a great committee to work with: Rotary members Dick Holland, Dick Tillman, Jerry Wheeler, John Balfour, Jim Beese, Herb Grymes, Bryan Koerber, Harry Montague and Carl Silex.

Local businesspeople Kathryn B. Freeland, founder and chief executive officer of RGII, a high-tech company, and Ann M. and John W. Jacobs of Rendez-Vous caterers were honored with "Small Business of the Year" awards for their companies from the local chapter of SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives.Ralph S. Blakeney, chairman of the Southern Maryland SCORE Chapter, said "the awards are in recognition of the outstanding success of both businesses."Freeland started RGII in the basement of her home.

If you happen to be having lunch at the Center Club today, be sure to wish two of the club's mainstays a fond farewell. After six years, the club's official greeter, a.k.a. the receptionist Carol Purcell, is leaving to fill the position of manager/assistant manager at the "all new" Hillendale Country Club, which recently reopened after being closed for more than a year after a devastating fire.The other person who will be missed is the assistant general manager and event planner, Dave Lynch, who's been there 10 years.

Marriott International Inc. has been in talks with a French company about combining their North American food service and facilities management businesses, Marriott said yesterday.The hospitality giant, based in Bethesda, would do little more than acknowledge contact with Sodexho Alliance S.A. International Inc. of France. It only made the announcement because of a recent report in the Financial Times of London, a Marriott spokesman said.Marriott runs one of the nation's leading food service management operations, and Sodexho is a major French catering firm.

The buzz in restaurant circles these days is that Lenny an Gail Kaplan have bought -- or are going to buy -- the Harvey House, the Charles Street institution that closed its doors two weeks ago.Barry Baumel, one of the owners, says the restaurant has been bought by a local group but can't divulge its identity because of the terms of the sales contract. Based on the number of workmen there lately, the restaurant looks as if it will be given a new look. Settlement isn't until July 1, says Mr. Baumel, so we'll have to wait and see.For his part, Mr. Kaplan says, "We have not bought it . . . It's ## premature to even discuss it."

Harold Greenwald's stage presenceSo just how important is theater to Harold Greenwald?"I would almost rather do theater than eat -- almost," says Mr. Greenwald, who turns 83 this week.For about 35 years, Mr. Greenwald's "real" job was a high school history teacher at Baltimore City College. In his spare time, though, he wrote articles and sold ads for playbills, the informational pamphlets distributed at theaters.Mr. Greenwald retired in 1971. He retired from teaching, that is. He still contributes to playbills for the Morris A. Mechanic and Lyric theaters, including writing the "Curtain Going Up" column.

A 31-year-old Columbia woman who used fake invoices to steal more than $350,000 from a Maryland temporary staffing company over a 2 1/2 -year period pleaded guilty yesterday to felony theft by scheme. Howard County prosecutors said they will seek a significant prison term - 15 years with all but eight years suspended - for Tiffany F. Powers as a result of the thefts, which continued after she was laid off from Allegis Group last year, according to court documents. Powers' sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 31 before Howard Circuit Judge James B. Dudley.