Column

Sorry, Dan Rodricks , but I feel no sympathy whatsoever for your so-called "victim," Francesco Grasso, who state police say was observed to be driving like a nut endangering others. Should the retired officer have gotten out of his car? No. But maybe the good doctor will start driving more cautiously and not endanger the lives of others and turning them into victims of his own carelessness and reckless driving. He is only a victim of his own actions. John Sinclair

Wave it proudly, dear readers, Thursday, June 14 is Flag Day. "Flag Birthday" was originally observed June 14, 1885, by school teacher B.J. Cigrand and the students in the Fredonia, Wis., Public School District 6. The year 1885 was the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of the Stars and Stripes by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777. By June 14, 1894, Cigrand and Leroy Van Horn organized, in Illinois, the American Flag Day Association, which encouraged 300,000 Chicago school children to participate in patriotic observances.

What is summer without the free summer concerts? At Aberdeen's Festival Park another summer season will begin on June 19 at 7 p.m. These concerts will be held every Tuesday evening through Aug. 21. They are sponsored by the Aberdeen Board of Parks and Recreation, and conveniently located downtown, at the park off Howard Street. Starting off on June 19 will be the Mudbugs, an acoustic Folk and Roots Rock group with New Orleans Zydeco and blues influences. Kraig Greff and Chris Huntington, core members of the East Coast band, The Crawdaddies.

Welcome to Chris Zinser as a new reader to my column. Chris works over at the Bayou in Havre de Grace. Over the years he has helped with a banquet, a rehearsal dinner and a baby shower. Thanks Chris and enjoy! St. Paul's Lutheran Church held the Affirmation of Baptism Sunday. Those confirmed were Madelyn Brainard, Shannan Curry, Sarah Frick, Sierra Johnson, Nathaniel Miller and Alexandra Savin. Sierra and Alexandra are Perryville Middle School students. Joyful Noiz, the contemporary group at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, will perform at "Heavenly Waters Coffee House" on June 8. The music and fellowship starts at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

Last week we talked about the binder of Aberdeen police history donated by retired First Sgt. James Testerman to be included in the Aberdeen Room Archives and Museum. The history is long and illustrious, so we will continue this week. As we said previously, the police department moved to the building that housed the Aberdeen Fire Department in the 1960s. When Aberdeen Fire House 1 was completed in 1974, and the fire department moved from the corner of North Parke Street and West Bel Air Avenue, the police department was able to expand, and was renovated.

It's Armed Forces Day dear readers. Saturday is also the running of the 137th Preakness, part of the Triple Crown. After the Kentucky Derby, now Maryland gets to shine. Lots of hoopla and black-eyed Susans will be the fare at the Pimlico Racetrack. Regretfully, Havre de Grace lost out of this and many other races, when the famous Havre de Grace Racetrack, nicknamed "The Graw" on Old Bay Lane, closed in 1950, and its races were transferred to Pimlico. Much of our ol' racetrack still stands on the grounds of the Maryland National Guard.

Unless you want a fight to break out at a cocktail party or a family reunion, conventional wisdom has it, don't talk religion or politics. I did both in this space last Monday, and then I crawled in a bunker and waited for the fireworks to begin. "Be prepared," my editor warned. "The long knives will come out. " "There's going to be a cross burning in your front yard," a friend warned; another asked if I had hired bodyguards. In that column, I talked of how difficult it was to be a Catholic woman these days, what with the church fathers taking up the cudgel against American nuns, not to mention the odd teacher struggling to get pregnant or the heartbroken teenage girl dumped by a guy on the eve of her prom.

When the Maryland Court of Appeals issued its disheartening ruling declaring pit bulls "inherently dangerous," I was pleased to see that there were those who thought the issue wasn't that simple. So you can imagine my consternation, disappointment and anger when I read Dan Rodricks ' column on the subject ("Pit bulls: Own them at your own risk," May 1). Mr. Rodricks' column is not only misguided and reductive but clearly shows a lack of good journalism in its failure to investigate the claims he makes.

We'll say this much: Trevor Pryce is an interesting fellow. The former Ravens defensive lineman penned a column for The New York Times this weekend , the point of which was to say that being retired at age 37 is boring. This is no doubt a fascinating piece of work. No less than Jason Whitlock, the Fox columnist who revels in his belief that he tells all of the most difficult truths, gave it a shout out on Twitter. And it's true that Pryce gives us a very vivid idea of what happens when the games are gone.

Saturday, April 21 is one of those days where there is almost too much going on. Only almost, because in reality, I don't think it's possible for too much to be going on. All day long is Record Store Day, when a bunch of new, special release records (y'know, that stuff made out of vinyl) will go on sale in limited quantities. And Celebrated Summer Records, 3620 Falls Road, will be participating, carrying new Record Store Day records by Flaming Lips, Mastodon, Deerhoof, RunDMC, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Arcade Fire, Feist, Animal Collective, Otis Redding, Afrika Bambaataa, Of Montreal, Aretha Franklin, Rainer Maria, Tegan & Sara, The Misfits, Poison Idea, Integrity and many, many more.