Ceremony

THE ROLAND PARK Second Presbyterian Church looked absolutely stunning last Saturday for the wedding of Natalia Pia Melanie Sommer and Richard Matthew Dohler. Thousands of wildflowers, miles of lace ribbons and tulle, and window sills decorated with Singapore orchids set the stage for the nuptials of the daughter of pop music star Donna Summer and her first husband, Helmut Sommer,and the son of Dick and Bonna Dohler, he's an Ellicott City builder.The church was filled with the music of German trumpeteer Langston Fitzgerald and selections of Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi, played by the church's music director Margaret Budd on the organ.

PABU , the second restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore, is scheduled to open this week. The dinner-only restaurant is the first collaboration between Michael Mina, whose San Francisco-based restaurant group also developed the concept for Wit & Wisdom , the Four Seasons' three-meal restaurant, and Ken Tominaga, owner and chef of Hana Japanese Restaurant in Sonoma County, Calif. PABU is being described as a modern "izakaya," a term that translates, very loosely, as a drinking establishment that serves food.

I was perplexed to see The Sun carry a wire service photo about the Passover "Burning of Leaven" in Israel but no coverage of the exact same ceremony on a much larger scale right here in Baltimore. Every year on the day before Passover, there is a huge leaven burning ceremony at Pimlico Race Course attended by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Your coverage (or rather the lack thereof) gives the impression that this ceremony is conducted only in Israel when, in fact, it is observed all over the world wherever Jews live.

I was perplexed to see The Sun carry a wire service photo about the Passover "Burning of Leaven" in Israel but no coverage of the exact same ceremony on a much larger scale right here in Baltimore. Every year on the day before Passover, there is a huge leaven burning ceremony at Pimlico Race Course attended by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Your coverage (or rather the lack thereof) gives the impression that this ceremony is conducted only in Israel when, in fact, it is observed all over the world wherever Jews live.

Tickets remain for the Greater Baltimore chapter of US Lacrosse's Hall of Fame induction ceremony Jan. 23 at the Grand Lodge of Maryland in Hunt Valley. The 2010 class consists of: Shelley Klaes Bawcombe (Loch Raven player and James Madison player, coach); Theresa Ingram Kuhar (Maryland player and Brown coach); Laura Biggs Moan (Garrison Forest and Boston College player, coach at four colleges); Cathy Reese (Mount Hebron and Maryland player and Denver, Maryland coach)

Dewey Lowman American Legion Post 109 will hold its annual observance of Memorial Day Monday morning in downtown Arbutus. The ceremony to honor the service, past and present, of all members of the armed forces will begin at 10:30 a.m. May 30 at the flag pole near the intersection of Oregon Avenue and Sulphur Spring Road. The post's 27 Flag Unit will be featured during the ceremony, which will also include state and local political representatives, police officers from the Wilkens Station and firefighters from the Halethorpe Fire Station and Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department.

The general officer who became the face of BRAC at Aberdeen Proving Ground and around Harford County over the past two and a half years relinquished command of theU.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command during a change of responsibility ceremony on post Friday morning. Maj. General Nick Justice turned over leadership of RDECOM to a civilian, Dale E. Ormond, who will have the title of RDECOM director. All the seats in the APG Post Theater were full for the ceremony which marked a milestone in the history of APG and in the career of Justice, who is retiring after 42 years of service in the Army.

  Allison and Stephen DeVito   Andrew and Cheryl Maimona, of Hudson, Ohio, announce the marriage of their daughter, Allison Anne Maimona, to Stephen Roy DeVito, son on Richard and Judith DeVito, of Columbia, on May 14, 2011. The bride is a 1999 graduate of Hudson High School, in Hudson; a 2003 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind.; and a 2006 graduate of Fordham University Law School, in Bronx, N.Y. She is currently employed as a captain in the Air Force, serving as the deputy state judge advocate at Rome Laboratory, in New York.

Birthday celebrations for President James Madison will be held on Saturday at his home, Montpelier, in Montpelier Station, Va. Madison lived here all his life and he and his wife, Dolley, are buried in the family cemetery on the property.A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at Madison's grave at 2 p.m. An honor guard and band from the Quantico Marine Corps base will take part.A reception with complimentary refreshments will follow at the mansion.The ceremony is free, but regular admission will be charged for the house tour: adults, $6; seniors,$5; children 6 to 12, $1; under 6 free.

Arundel High School is planning a recognition ceremony tomorrow for baseball coach and athletic director Bernie Walter, who was a finalist in the American Teacher Awards, an annual program sponsored by the Walt Disney Co. and McDonald's.The ceremony starts at 7 p.m., before the boy's basketball game against Old Mill. Members of teams Walter has coached are encouraged to attend.Walter, 54, who also is chairman of the health and physical education department at Arundel, is one of 36 teachers selected from 1,500 applicants for honors in 12 categories, including coaching, English and mathematics.

The Edgewood High School Hall of Fame's five 2012 inductees were announced earlier this week. Those joining the Hall of Fame include retired Army Maj. Gen. George H. Harmeyer (Class of 1961); retired FBI special agent Geoffrey A. Glover (Class of 1962); current Mountain Christian School Principal Nadine Haas Wellington (Class of 1972); former Navy nurse and current cancer patient advocate/Jazzercise franchisee Mary Porterfield Johnson (Class of 1975); and bank vice president and former EHS baseball star M. Scott Elliott (Class of 1983)

A historic Baltimore Catholic school will name its community center in honor of Bill and Camille Cosby, the biggest donors in the school's 184-year history and fierce champions of education, the school announced Friday. St. Frances Academy, which serves 162 primarily low-income high school students, will host the comedian, his wife and their relatives in a ceremony at the St. Frances Community Center on April 20. In addition to giving $2 million to St. Frances in 2005 to support its scholarship program, Camille Cosby also has a strong connection to the founders of the Baltimore school, having been educated by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the oldest order of African-American nuns in the country, for seven years.

Abused and neglected children often wind up in foster care, and while they're given love and comfort by their foster families, they also often need someone to watch over facets of their lives. In a swearing-in ceremony at Towson's Historic Courthouse March 12, several local residents were among the seven who volunteered to take on that role as newly-appointed Court Appointed Special Advocates. Christy Valeri of Timonium knows the challenges of the job. As one of the newest CASAs, Valeri realizes the children she'll be working with haven't had the advantages of her four grown kids.

People packed the pews and filled the balconies of Baltimore's historic Bethel A.M.E. church Sunday morning to honor a man they credit with reviving the house of worship — one of the city's most influential — and bringing unabashed passion back to the black church. The daylong ceremony recognized the Rev. John Richard Bryant's 50 years of service, which began in the steepled church at the corner of Druid Hill Avenue and Lanvale Street and took him to Africa and Massachusetts, then back to his hometown and, most recently, to the Midwest, where today he presides over the 4th Episcopal District as a senior bishop.

Yes, please Let Billy Crystal do his thing Sure, he may not be the hippiest host, but Crystal's an Oscar-host pro. He knows what he's doing and he's funny doing it. We're hoping for a classic Crystal opening monologue, hopefully one of those song medleys that humorously mentions the major nominees. Or a montage where he's inserted into films Crystal pierced and tattooed in a "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" shout-out? Totally would work. More Muppets We hear Kermit and Miss Piggy are presenters, but why stop there?

When the country's largest museum devoted to African-American history and culture opens in Washington, Maryland people and places will get a healthy share of the limelight. A two-story log house built by freed slaves from Montgomery County, dubbed the Freedom House, is one of the largest single objects planned for display inside the $500 million museum, for which ground was broken Wednesday. Other Maryland-related objects include a silk shawl given to abolitionist Harriet Tubman by Britain's Queen Victoria, a hymn book used by Tubman and a first edition of abolitionist Frederick Douglass' autobiography.

FINALLY, SHE came down the stairs, and you had to say this much: She was worth the wait. Slim and pretty in a metallic blue dress, her smile somehow bashful and incandescent at the same time. You'd have sworn it was 1995 and Princess Di had just walked in. Photographers jockeyed for position, cameras flashed from every angle. Then she moved into the next room, where my son, in his white tuxedo, struggled to affix her corsage, after which she tried to pin his boutonniere without drawing blood.

Three members of the Howard County police were promoted during a ceremony Wednesday.Cpl. John Newnan was named a sergeant; Pfc. Randall Courson and Pfc. Michele Denton were both promoted to corporal.Pub Date: 6/04/99

The general officer who became the face of BRAC at Aberdeen Proving Ground and around Harford County over the past two and a half years relinquished command of theU.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command during a change of responsibility ceremony on post Friday morning. Maj. General Nick Justice turned over leadership of RDECOM to a civilian, Dale E. Ormond, who will have the title of RDECOM director. All the seats in the APG Post Theater were full for the ceremony which marked a milestone in the history of APG and in the career of Justice, who is retiring after 42 years of service in the Army.

The Baltimore Catholic League will hold its 2nd Hall of Fame Banquet May 3 at 6 p.m. at Rolling Road Country Club in Catonsville. This year's inductees include six players: Tim Coles (Cardinal Gibbons, 1982), Leon Dickerson (Cardinal Gibbons, 1988), Darryle Edwards (Calvert Hall, 1981), Darnell Harris (St. Frances, 2004), Phil Lane (St. Maria Goretti, 1996) and Robbie O'Conor (Loyola, 1975). The class will also include one coach, Mark Amatucci (Calvert Hall), and one contributor, Larry Callahan (former Cardinal Gibbons athletic director)