Cockeysville

If you love greyhounds, you'll want to stop by the Greyhound Reunion Picnic, taking place Sunday at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville. Greyhounds, their owners and admirers of the breed are invited to attend the 17th annual event. Presented by Greyhound Pets of America/Maryland Inc., the event features games, music, food, caricatures, items for sale, a silent auction, nail-clippings, contests, a talk by a vet, raffles, door prizes and more. The picnic takes place 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday at Oregon Ridge Park, 13401 Beaver Dam Road, Cockeysville.

Shirley L. Bellis, a retired bookkeeper and enthusiastic rail traveler, died of a heart attack Jan. 30 at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Cockeysville resident was 82. Shirley Lynch Bellis was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved with her family to Baltimore in 1930 and settled on Wolfe Street. She was a 1942 graduate of Eastern High School and worked for more than 60 years as a bookkeeper until retiring in 2004. During her career, Miss Bellis worked as a bookkeeper for Brooks Robinson's sporting goods business but spent most of her career with the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Elaine Guice's third-graders at Cockeysville Elementary School loved her class so much that they kept her as a teacher in the fourth and fifth grades, too. That was nearly 70 years ago, and the students never forgot her. In recent years, about two dozen of them and their spouses continued to meet her for lunch every month for reunions. They were supposed to have one such reunion yesterday, but Guice died at age 87 last month after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis for nearly 20 years.

Ella M. Human, a retired secretary who enjoyed playing the cello and painting, died Monday of Alzheimer's disease at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Cockeysville resident was 83. Ella M. Uelsmann was born and reared in Cape Girardeau, Mo. An accomplished cellist in her youth, she earned part of her college tuition at what is now Southeast Missouri State University playing at faculty functions with a string quartet. In 1944, she moved to St. Louis and continued her education at Washington University.

Elizabeth P. Grove, a musician and homemaker who formerly worked in real estate sales, died of heart failure Friday at Top Gallant, her Cockeysville home. She was 71. Elizabeth Patterson Martien was born in Baltimore and raised in the Hampton section of Baltimore County. She was a 1953 graduate of Roland Park Country School, where she was president of the Athletic Association and played field hockey. She attended Hollins College and the Sorbonne. She was married in 1955 to Alain Khoundadze and lived in Paris until her divorce in 1968, when she returned to Baltimore.

A major road in Cockeysville was closed for several hours yesterday, and 20 homes were evacuated after construction equipment punctured a natural gas main, Baltimore County fire officials said. The leak in a 2-inch gas line near Cranbrook and Sorley roads was reported shortly after 10 a.m., officials said. Cranbrook Road was closed for several hours in both directions between Sorley Road and Greenside Drive, police said. Representatives of the county's Office of Emergency Management were at the scene to assist residents.

Antique car showAsk any auto buff at the Antique Car Show in Cockeysville Saturday, and they'll assure you they don't make them like they used to make them. Indeed, older is often better when it comes to cars. See an array of oldies but goodies at the car show at the House and Farm Museum in Cockeysville. Members of the Antique Automobile Club of America, Chesapeake region, will show off their many antique vehicles.The car show runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the House and Farm Museum, 9811 Van Buren Lane in Cockeysville.

In Baltimore CountyBeltway sinkhole slows outer loop traffic near TowsonTOWSON -- A sinkhole in the emergency lane of westbound Interstate 695 led highway officials to close one lane, slowing traffic to a crawl along the outer loop yesterday afternoon.The sinkhole, 8 to 10 feet in diameter and 4 to 5 feet deep, was reported about 1: 30 p.m., said State Highway Administration spokeswoman Valerie Burnette Edgar. Repair crews and a geologist were called to the scene, between the north and south exits for Interstate 83, she said.

In Baltimore CityFugitive task force arrests Lochearn man in June fatal stabbingA man charged in a warrant with first-degree murder in a stabbing in June in Northwest Baltimore was arrested yesterday at his Baltimore County home, police said.Daryl Dennis, 40, of the 3400 block of Redman Road in Lochearn was arrested about 7: 30 a.m. by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, said Detective Donald Steinhice. Dennis is being held without bail at the Central Booking and Intake Center.

In Baltimore CountyWitnesses are sought to vandalism of cars in Kenwood ParkROSEDALE -- Eighteen cars were vandalized early yesterday, police said, with windows smashed and tires slashed.The damage occurred on five streets in and around the Kenwood Park complex, police said -- Talc Drive, Manger Court, Clementine Court, Dutrow Court and Havenoak Road. "There is no pattern other than geography," said Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey.Police are asking anyone who might have seen or heard something that could help in the investigation to call the White Marsh Precinct at 410-887-5000.

Francis A. "Frank" Conlon, a retired credit manager and history buff, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer at his Cockeysville home. He was 63. Born in Baltimore, Mr. Conlon was raised on Beech Avenue in Wyman Park and Homeland. He was a 1964 graduate of the now-closed Baltimore Institute and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1968 from the University of Baltimore. He had worked for nearly a decade as credit manager for Belair Road Supply Co. Inc. before retiring earlier this year because of failing health.

Baltimore County's busiest library will become its smallest this week as the Cockeysville branch undergoes a $2.2 million renovation that will add space, materials and equipment. The library, in a 23,000-square-foot building on Greenside Drive since 1982, will close Monday through Friday and reopen as a mini-branch Saturday in what had been its meeting room. The condensed space will offer basic services, allowing patrons to borrow, return and reserve items. Eight computer stations will be available, and patrons will have use of two self-serve check-outs.

Miriam R. Clise, who had been an administrative assistant and a former longtime Cockeysville resident, died of congestive heart failure Sept. 2 at a Newport Richey, Fla., hospice. She was 83. Miriam Roberts was born in Baltimore and raised in Northwood. She was a graduate of Seton High School and Strayer's Business College. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, she had done office work for her parents who owned and operated Robert's Restaurant near Goucher College when it was located in Charles Village, and at a second Parkville location.

Mrs. Louise H. Brown A memorial service will be held at 2 P.M. Monday, August 17, 2009 at Broadmead, 13801 York Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030. Memorial contributions may be made to the Broadmead Residents' Assistance Fund at the following address: Broadmead, 13801 York Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030.

Memorial Service notice for NORMAN TRAVERS NELSON A service in remembrance and celebration for the life of Travers Nelson will be held on Saturday, August 15 at 4 P.M. at the Broadmead Center, 13801 York Road, Cockeysville, Maryland.

John R. Miller, retired director of Maryland's Department of General Services and longtime recreational soccer coach, died Wednesday of cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Timonium resident was 64. Mr. Miller was born in Miami and was raised in Switzerland and Bangor, Maine. He was a 1962 graduate of Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Mass. He earned a master's degree in education in 1969 from the Johns Hopkins University and a second master's, also from Hopkins, in administration in 1974.

On July 6, 2009, DOROTHY GREER ZEUN BENBOW of Cockeysville, MD. Beloved wife of the late Robert Paul Benbow. Devoted mother of Jean Z. Gadziola of Muncie, IN, and Nancy L. Dennis of Berwick, PA.; dear stepmother of Polly A. Roberts, George T. Benbow and Robert C. Benbow. Also survived by loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Friends may call at the family owned MITCHELL-WIEDEFELD FUNERAL HOME INC., 6500 York Road (at Overbrook) on Thursday 9 to 10 A.M. A funeral service will follow at 10 A.M. Interment private.

Baltimore County Fire Department officials continue to investigate a four-alarm fire that extensively damaged a Cockeysville apartment building late Thursday. No injuries were reported in the blaze, which caused about $900,000 worth of damage and forced the evacuation of 33 families, according to fire officials and the American Red Cross of Central Maryland. The fire, reported at 11:40 p.m. at the Hampton Manor Apartments in the 200 block of St. David Court, went to four alarms in a matter of minutes and brought firefighters from at least a dozen stations, fire officials said.

Daniel Walsh Wilson, who grew up working in his family's New Jersey dairy and later established a career in insurance sales, died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Cockeysville resident was 75. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1955, he worked in the family business until it was sold. Mr. Wilson moved to Cockeysville in 1968 and took a job with Metropolitan Life Insurance before joining the John Hancock Insurance Company. He retired in 1997.

The Cockeysville Freight Station still stands near the tracks that once carried goods from the surrounding quarries, mills and farms. The wood-frame building, a weather-beaten shadow of its once bustling self, needs repairs and possibly a new tenant to revive it. The long-unused tracks are overgrown with grass and weeds. All the traffic today moves along York Road, separated from the nearly 1-acre property on Old Cockeysville Road by a row of stores and restaurants. The vacant building, which dates to 1892, suffers from decades of neglect, its gray paint flaking from the splintered wood siding.