Family Farm

Imagine living in Carroll County 100 years ago - no electricity, no cars or tractors, few indoor bathrooms, no grocery stores with ready-to-cook meats and vegetables, no refrigerators, no computers, no TV. That lifestyle is detailed in a new book by George Grier. "I started noticing as I got older that the older people who remember something about farming back a hundred years ago were sort of fading out of the picture, and that we were going to lose a lot of what we know about what went on at the old family farm," said Grier, 82. So he talked to farmers around the state and searched archives, museums and libraries and asked former farm families for photos of a long-gone way of life.

On Aug. 20, Dene' Kathleen Bruce wed Christopher Carl Flack. The ceremony and reception were Deer Creek Overlook in Rocks State Park. The maid of honor was Danielle Priestianni and the best man was Clifford Finneyfrock. Bridesmaids were: Sara Edwards, Heather Masters, Stacy Flack, Rachael Leiss and Abigail Soul. Groomsmen were: Matthew Flack, Ryan Flack, Jonathon Magness, Sean Howearth and James Soul. Flower girls were: Kylie Becker, Hannah Hill and Grace Magness. A reception followed featuring Bee Happy Wedding Planners, Paul's Pork & Prime Caterers, Sandy Magness Cake Decorator, Rachael Priestianni hors de ourves & more, Bayline Studios Photography and Greg Brunner the Disc Jockey.

Allison Dulin, Hereford SPORT TENNIS GIRLS STATS -- In her second season of tennis, Dulin was 8-2 as part of the Bulls' mixed doubles team. Also an all-state and All-Metro field hockey midfielder, she helped the Bulls to the state semifinals last fall. The senior plans to play hockey in the fall at Davidson College. SIDELINES -- Dulin, a National Honor Society member with a 4.77 weighted grade point average, completed an internship this spring with Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred magazine.

On Sunday, October 26, 2003, NAOMI DAPHINE GIZZI age 55, of Conowingo, MD. Mrs. Gizzi enjoyed working on her family farm (Conowingo Orchards) and working with the people at the farm market in Baltimore. She is survived by her husband Leo Gizzi, mother Kate Perry Deitrich, a son Richard Bedard, three daughters Cynthia Bartlebaugh and Christine Nesbitt all of Conowingo, MD, and Jennifer Shank, two brothers Scott Perry and C. A. Perry all of Rising Sun, MD, and eleven grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her father Claude Allen Perry and a sister Elizabeth Perry.

Janie Alice James Elliott, an auditor and Harford County civic activist, died of leukemia Oct. 8 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Forest Hill resident was 72. Born Janie Alice James in the tenant house on her family's Harford County dairy farm, she lived most of her life there on Boggs Road. Family members said that she grew up in the Depression and worked on the family farm, where, as she said, "every little hand could contribute something." She was a 1949 graduate of Bel Air High School and earned a business administration degree from the University of Baltimore.

Within the past few weeks, Anne Arundel County has lost two citizens who have contributed greatly to the quality of life that we enjoy.Robert Miller was my physics teacher at Glen Burnie High School in 1961. Mr. Miller was a wonderful and gifted teacher, and his life will live on in the hearts of many of his students.Our physics class was immediately after lunch, which he often referred to as the "sleepy hours," but his good humor and excellent teaching skills managed to keep us awake, and make us enjoy learning.

Martha Viola Langenfelder, who owned and managed a Perry Hall trailer park, died of unknown causes in her sleep Tuesday at the Heron Point Retirement Community in Chestertown. The former Baltimore County resident was 96. Born in Raspeburg in Baltimore County, she was the daughter of farmers Henry and Anuska Ann Langenfelder. She attended Rosedale Elementary School and began working on the family farm after graduating from the eighth grade. In 1936, she married a distant cousin, Conrad John Langenfelder, whom she met at a church event.

Baltimore County has an impressive number of farms, 781 to be exact. The larger ones function as breadbaskets for the metropolitan Baltimore area, supplying the region's increasing hunger for locally grown goods. Lately, as consumers have gotten more and more interested in establishing direct relationships with the people who grow their food — and as farmers have seen the movement as a way to stay afloat in increasingly challenging economic times — agriculture has become less wholesale and more retail.

The Howard County Ethics Commission has concluded that County Councilman Charles C. Feaga did not violate the county's conflict of interest laws when he voted on a zoning amendment earlier this year that helped two developers who have a contract to buy his family farm.In an advisory opinion released yesterday, the five-member panel stated that Mr. Feaga never received "direct financial impact" from his Jan. 2 vote."It's the only conclusion they could have made," Mr. Feaga said yesterday, praising the ethics commission for what he said was an in-depth investigation.

Bar scenes and farm scenes Two more Baltimore Playwrights Festival offerings open this weekend, beginning tonight with PS Lorio's "Four Scenes: A Hungarian Trilogy," produced by Mobtown Players. Directed by Noel Schively, the play concerns a woman who runs a Chicago bar, where an eclectic group gathers in a blizzard. Sherrionne Brown heads a cast that features Katherine Jaeger and Tammara J. Wright. And the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre hosts the opening of Rosemary Frisino Toohey's "Animal Instincts" tomorrow.