Family Members

Pernell McPhee shared a sack of Jacksonville Jaguars rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert with inside linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, but the rookie defensive end was thrilled to make a play before about 25 family members in attendance at Everbank Field Monday night. “It was real special,” recalled McPhee, who played before, among others, his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. “It was an enjoyable moment because that's what I wanted. I wanted to get a full sack, but it is what it is. I was really happy and enjoyed the moment.” McPhee, who ranks third on the team with 2½ sacks this season, said he got a chance to spend some time with his family on Monday morning and share an early dinner with them before returning to his room at the team hotel to prepare for the game.

Monday night's contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars is a road game for the Ravens, but EverBank Field will feel a little bit like home for rookie defensive end Pernell McPhee. The club's second of two fifth-round picks in April, McPhee will have about 25 family members in attendance. McPhee's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother are expected to be part of a contingent making the 289-mile trip by car (according to Mapquest.com) from Pahokee, Fla. “I know they're going to be real excited,” McPhee said after the team's practice Saturday.

The fall theater season is just beginning, but the Everyman Theatre production of "A Raisin in the Sun" surely will qualify as one of its highlights. African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 classic is a period piece with timeless appeal. It is really brought alive by an excellent cast that makes you feel as if you are witnessing social conditions in segregation-era Chicago in the 1950s. You feel grounded even before the first word of dialogue. Set designer James Fouchard is quite a carpenter, because his construction of a faded but well-maintained apartment is so persuasive that it's not surprising when one of the characters actually makes scrambled eggs on the kitchen stove.

Irene Logan's death leaves nearly 30 people without their family's matriarch. For three children, eight grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren, Logan was the family's bedrock. "She loved taking care of people," said Irene Ushry, Logan's daughter. Ushry found her 91-year-old mother, stabbed to death, on the floor of their small kitchen upon returning from work about 4:30 Wednesday afternoon. Family members gathered outside the house as police investigated into the evening.

When Tyler Badie thinks about New Orleans, he doesn't remember much. He was only 6 years old when his family left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "I remember playing with my friends," Badie, now 11, said. "I remember the good food. And the Saints. " Now an athlete himself, Badie has earned a spot in the track and field AAU Junior Olympics, which will be held this week in, of all places, New Orleans. "It's going to be really, really nice," Badie's father, Shaun, said.

Laurel's 9/10 All-Star Little League team advanced to the District Four championship, where they came in second place. Though they lost the game to the defending champs, the young athletes represented their hometown well. Old Town resident Caleb Collins and his teammates vow to return to the playoffs next year and will work in the off season to make themselves a better team. Team mom Eileen Collins said in an email that the success of the team is a testament to the dedication of the players, coaches and parents.

OK, this isn't a Howard County thing, per se, but it's close. If you take Route 108 west into Montgomery County, you'll soon encounter the Olney Theatre Center, where my wife and daughters and several family members enjoyed a production of Michael Hollinger's "Opus" on Saturday. I have to give you another disclaimer here, though: The ensemble cast includes Benjamin Evett, a professional actor (all the players are in Actors Equity) who also happens to be my wife's cousin. He and some of the other cast members came down from Boston, where they also performed the play, a fascinating study of the interpersonal dynamics in a fictional string quartet.

Barclay Haskins Trippe Jr., a retired Easton businessman and preservationist, died June 2 of cancer at the Talbot County farm where he had lived his entire life. He was 87. Mr. Haskins, the son of a businessman and a homemaker, was born and raised on the family farm near Easton. He was a 1941 graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., and enlisted in the Navy the next year. He served aboard destroyer escorts in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters, and was discharged in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant.

June 20 through 24 Hosanna School Museum Offers American Girls Summer Camp. Have fun with the American Girls! From the past to the present learn and create like the American Girl does. Make crafts, toys, decorations, recipes, cultural projects and other activities like those done by Kristen, Josephina, Addy and others. This is a fun and creative American history and culture. The community wishes to extend sincerest sympathies to the family and friends of Tim Dudeck. Tim who grew up in the Dublin area and attended both Dublin Elementary and North Harford Middle and High School was well liked by all who new him. He surely will be missed . Cornerstone Baptist will be holding Bible School on June 20 through 24. Classes for ages from 4 and up. Grace Memorial Episcopal Church and the Wilson Ministry Center invite you to Wednesday night pizza dinner and the showing of a family friendly movie.

Margaret DeB. "Peg" McAllen, a homemaker and volunteer who enjoyed writing, died May 28 of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. She was 84. Margaret DeBrodt was born in Baltimore and raised in Waverly. She was a 1943 graduate of Eastern High School. She was married in 1946 to Willis "Mac" McAllen, a Chrysler Corp. sales representative, who died in 2000. The couple lived for many years in Wiltondale. Mrs. McAllen moved in 2003 to Aigburth Manor, a Towson retirement home. Throughout her life, Mrs. McAllen enjoyed writing and was a frequent contributor of letters to the editor on a variety of subjects, which were published in The Baltimore Sun. She was also a longtime member of the Wednesday Writers Group.