Essay Contest

Last month at the Port Deposit VFW Post 8185, members from the four posts in District 10 gathered to present awards to the students who placed in the two VFW-sponsored essay contests, "Patriots Pen" for middle schoolers and "Voice of Democracy" for high schoolers. Initiated by VFWs across Maryland and across the nation, the local winners in the "Voice of Democracy" were: first place was awarded to Philip Chaffee, sponsored by Elkton Post 8175; second place was won by Eric Barton, sponsored by Port Deposit Post 8185; and third place was earned by Jessica Handy, sponsored by Chesapeake City Post 7687.

Last month at the Port Deposit VFW Post 8185, members from the four posts in District 10 gathered to present awards to the students who placed in the two VFW-sponsored essay contests, "Patriots Pen" for middle schoolers and "Voice of Democracy" for high schoolers. Initiated by VFWs across Maryland and across the nation, the local winners in the "Voice of Democracy" were: first place was awarded to Philip Chaffee, sponsored by Elkton Post 8175; second place was won by Eric Barton, sponsored by Port Deposit Post 8185; and third place was earned by Jessica Handy, sponsored by Chesapeake City Post 7687.

The Maryland Municipal League will offer its annual essay contest to all public and private school students currently in the fourth-grade. This year's "If I Were Mayor, I Would... " essay theme is "Meeting the Challenge. " Entry forms and study guides were made available to schools and can be downloaded at Entries should be mailed to Mayors' Contest, Maryland Municipal League, 1212 West St., Annapolis, MD 21401. Eleven winners will be chosen and each will receive $100 and be invited to participate in the contest awards ceremony.

The Maryland Municipal League will offer its annual essay contest to all public and private school students currently in the fourth-grade. This year's "If I Were Mayor, I Would... " essay theme is "Meeting the Challenge. " Entry forms and study guides were made available to schools and can be downloaded at Entries should be mailed to Mayors' Contest, Maryland Municipal League, 1212 West St., Annapolis, MD 21401. Eleven winners will be chosen and each will receive $100 and be invited to participate in the contest awards ceremony.

Benjamin Daniel Cefaratti of Arnold Christian Academy and Kathleen Teresa Blair of St. Jane Frances School, both residents of Anne Arundel County, were honored recently for their winning entries in the Cardin 21st Century Health Award Essay Contest.The contest was sponsored by Representive Benjamin L. Cardin as part of a recent celebration to recognize The Caring Program's third anniversary.The event took place at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland's Owings Mills headquarters.BCBSM Chairman and CEO Carl J. Sardegnawas host.

"A Welcome to Columbia" is the theme of a Columbia Association essay contest for elementary and middle school pupils.Entries -- in the form of a letter welcoming a 10-year-old to Columbia -- should be 50 to 100 words long, typed or printed neatly on one page.The entry should include name, address and phone number, along with age and grade.Entries should be sent to the Columbia Association, 10221 Wincopin Circle, Suite 100, by June 25. Information: 410-715-3161.Pub Date: 5/02/99

The Kiwanis Club of Mountain Road recently announced the winners of the John Wilson Sr. Essay Contest for fifth-graders, and awarded scholarships to four county high school graduates.The essays were written on the topic "Ways I Can Help Protect the Chesapeake Bay," and one fifth-grader was selected from each participating school.The following essayists won a $50 U.S. Savings Bond: Erinn Sawyer, Jacobsville Elementary; Tessa Locklear, Solley Elementary; Katie Lyn Franz, Sunset Elementary; Jennifer Maguire, St. Jane Frances; Thomas Harold Jr., High Point Elementary; Debra Weinstein, Bodkin Elementary; Gary L. Raymond, Lake Shore Elementary; and Amanda Schuler, Freetown Elementary.

Local members of Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City, a Sherlock Holmes literary society, will introduce Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's intrepid fictional detective and talk about his world, his adventures and why people around the world continue to read and write about him. Characters from the stories will make an appearance. The program, to be held at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the east Columbia library, is to mark the start of a Sherlock Holmes essay contest for seventh-graders. Contestants will be asked to read The Speckled Band, a Holmes story, and write a five-paragraph analytical essay about it. Contest rules are available at www.hclibrary.

The Mid-Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Inc. and Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. are offering $10,000 scholarships to the winners of a Black History Month Essay Contest.Students in Baltimore and in Washington, D.C., will be asked to address the topic, "The Value of an Education -- Within the Context of Black History Month."Febaruary is Black History Month.The contest is open to both minority and non-minority high school students in grades 9 through 12. The winner in each city is to be awarded a $10,000 scholarship.

A Baltimore grand jury charged with examining youth gun violence is sponsoring an essay contest for all city public school students, in an effort to raise awareness of the problem. The contest was one of several recommendations made by the grand jury after a circuit judge directed the panel to develop a plan for law enforcement officials and residents to curb gun violence. The jury announced its "Save Our City" contest last week. Grand juries in Baltimore are given assignments beyond hearing evidence in criminal cases, and past panels have examined topics ranging from vocational training for prisoners to mental illness among inmates.

Listings are accepted on a space-available basis. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday prior to date of publication at the latest. To submit contest items, mail to Contests, Patuxent Publishing Co. Editorial, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278; email hccalendar@patuxent.com ; fax 410-332-6336; or call 410-332-6497. Howard County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Commission Annual Student Essay Contest - Students must be a Howard County resident and in either middle or high school.

Glenelg Country School junior Tala Ahmadi visited Spain with family last year while that county's national soccer team played in the FIFA World Cup championship — and to the surprise of many locals, she could hold a conversation about the team with its most ardent fans. "They were like, 'Oh, these Americans do not just know football and drink beer. They actually know something about soccer,'" said Ahmadi, 16, an avid soccer player who knows perhaps more than most Americans about the sport's ability to unite people of different racial and cultural backgrounds.

Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union has announced the local prize winners of its "Spotlight a Soldier" essay contest. The contest invited APG Federal Credit Union members to nominate local military servicemen or women whom they feel have distinguished themselves with exceptional courage, kindness, compassion, unselfish character or acts of heroism. The winners were selected by a panel of APGFCU judges and awarded a total of $1,000. One $500 Visa gift card and five $100 Visa gift cards were awarded to: George Ashe, of White Marsh, $500; Eric Blake, of Churchville,$100; Brent Moore, of Elkton, $100; Randy Letschin, of Forest Hill, $100; Michael Kelly Sr., of Aberdeen, $100; and Peter Rollins, of Aberdeen, $100.

Parenting workshops The Howard County Office of Children's Services presents a series of workshops for parents and guardians raising children from birth to age 8 on one Thursday of each month through April at Howard County Library's East Columbia branch, 6600 Cradlerock Way. Topics include child development, encouraging self-esteem and good behavior, positive guidance and discipline, and how to keep children safe and healthy. Classes meet from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5 per class.

The Howard County Bird Club announces its annual Youth Birding Essay Contest. Applicants must be Howard County residents between the ages of 9 and 13. Topic of the essay is "My Favorite Bird Watching Experience." Length should be no longer than 250 words. Prize for the best essay is a backpack containing a pair of Eagle Optics Triumph 8x42 binoculars, a field guide and a one-year membership in the Howard County Bird Club. Essays should be sent to Tom Miller, 6404 Glasgow Circle, Sykesville 21784 or e-mail to birderTWM@verizon.

Memorial breakfast Tickets are on sale for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast being held Jan. 18 in Anne Arundel Community College's David S. Jenkins Gymnasium on the campus, 101 College Parkway in Arnold. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger will be the keynote speaker. The event honors local residents and civic leaders who best emulate the spirit of King and salutes the winners of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest. Tickets are $35, $350 for a table of 10. For tickets or information, call 443-871-5656.

EASTON -- When Dorothy W. Munro bought a Victorian mansion in a staid neighborhood here, she attracted attention by painting the house bright pink and maroon.Now that she wants to move, she is putting herself in the public eye once again by choosing a novel method to sell her Eastern Shore home.With no luck after two years in the conventional real estate market, Mrs. Munro is following a Maine couple's example by offering the 15-room house as a prize in an essay contest.By charging a $100 fee for each essay entered, she hopes to raise between $400,000 and $450,000, the amount she believes the house on a fashionable corner near downtown Easton is worth.

A 25-year-old Boston philanthropist is teaming up with Baltimore's Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies to launch a $100,000 student essay contest designed to improve Christian-Jewish relations in the wake of Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ. The contest, Reaching Common Ground, will solicit religious-themed essays that illuminate the common origins and spiritual bonds of the two faiths. The $25,000 grand prize makes it one of the most lucrative student writing competitions in the nation.

Tickets are on sale for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast being held Jan. 18 in Anne Arundel Community College's David S. Jenkins Gymnasium on the campus, 101 College Parkway in Arnold. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger will be the keynote speaker. The event honors local residents and civic leaders who best emulate the spirit of King and salutes the winners of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest. Tickets are $35, $350 for a table of 10. For tickets or information, call 443-871-5656.