Fundraiser

Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, who has shifted his focus away from Maryland politics in recent months, will jump into the state's most high profile race of 2012 by headlining a fundraiser for Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett next week. The event will take place on Monday at a restaurant in Buckeystown, where Bartlett owns a farm, and tickets will run from $100 to $2,500. The fundraiser appears to be among the first overt signs of support the state Republican apparatus has offered Bartlett, who faces the toughest reelection of his political career in November.

After seven years as director of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Jeffrey Sharkey is stepping down. He will remain with the conservatory until a successor is named. "So much of what I hoped to accomplish I feel I have accomplished," Sharkey, 48, said Friday. "But there's an arc to a leadership position. I think that fresh eyes are always a good thing. A new burst of energy will be good for Peabody, and for me, too. " Peabody, the nation's oldest conservatory, opened in 1866.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman's fundraiser at Mother's in Federal Hill Monday night included an appearance by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. All signs have, up to now, have suggested that the big city mayor will be lining up with Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown in the 2014 gubernatorial race ... if he decides to get in. After all, she shares a fundraiser with Brown; Gov. Martin O'Malley stood by her in her most recent campaign; and the governor's brother, Peter is her chief of staff.

When it comes to Erika Brannock, a Cockeysville resident who lost her lower left leg in the Boston Marathon bombing, and Brannock's mother, Carol Downing, the staff at Graul's Market in Hereford consider them part of the family. Brannock, a preschool teacher at Trinity Episcopal Children's Center, in Towson, worked in the store's deli department while she was in college and grad school, and she still keeps in close touch with her former co-workers. "Erika worked here for six and a half years before she became a teacher," said store manager Ken Bullen.

Albert J. A. "Jay" Young, and Orsia F. Young, have received the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Maryland - Harford County Chapter's second "Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser" award, presented at seventh annual Harford County Celebration of Philanthropy, held April 11, at the Maryland Golf & Country Clubs in Bel Air. The event was established to bestow recognition upon members of the community "whose exceptional generosity demonstrates outstanding...

Scotchtown Hills Elementary School will host a family dinner night on Nov. 10, 5-7 p.m., at the school 15950 Dorset Road, Laurel. Join the students and staff at Scotchtown Hills Elementary School as they host a fundraiser in support of the school's healthy kids club. For more information, call 301-497-3994. —Lauren Budik

President Obama's campaign won't be the only one looking for political donations in Baltimore this month. Turns out Ann Romney will be in the area raising money on the same day as the president. Former Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. will host Mitt Romney's wife at the BWI Marriott on June 12. Tickets start at $1,000 for a general reception and will cost $15,000 for dinner. Romney will be in town on the same day that Obama plans to swing through for a pair of fundraisers , including one at the Inner Harbor and another in Owings Mills.

The seventh annual Anderson-Snyder Memorial Fund Bull and Oyster Roast will be held March 17 from 7 p.m. to midnight at Oregon Ridge Park. The fundraiser was established in the memory of Norman Anderson and Josh Snyder, Marines and 2002 Hereford High School graduates who died within six weeks of each other while fighting in Iraq in 2005. The evening features all-you-can-eat buffet, beer and soda, silent auction items, wheels, raffles and a disk jockey. Proceeds will provide scholarships to Hereford High School seniors and helps pay some expenses incurred by military service members on a case-by-case basis.

Hours before President Barack Obama was expected to appear in Maryland for a handful of fundraisers today, state Republicans cast his visit as an attempt to rally a base that they argued has been diminished by Democratic policies. "If this was four years ago, he'd be filling the convention center," said David Ferguson, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, noting that Obama's second and larger fundraiser of the day will take place instead in an Inner Harbor hotel. The event is a fundraiser, not a rally.

On July 11, at 9 a.m., 40 women joined together with three instructors to participate in (what we think is) the first Zumbathon held in Catonsville to benefit the Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60-Mile Walk for the Cure. With these participants, our team raised over $600 towards our walk. Zumba is a Latin-style dance/workout. We would like to thank the following people for their contributions to door prizes: Opie's, Six Mile Coffee and Catonsville Hair Co. We would also like to thank Maggie Schorr and her bootcamp for hosting our event and our Zumba instructors Katie Banta, of the Catonsville Y, and Marlene Scott and Sue Hays, who donated their time for the fundraiser.

Richard E. "Dick" Hug, a prominent businessman and prolific fundraiser for Republican candidates, died Saturday. He was 78. Mr. Hug was the finance chairman for three Maryland gubernatorial campaigns - Ellen R. Sauerbrey in 1998 and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in 2002 and 2006 - becoming known as the $6 million man after he raised that amount for Mrs. Sauerbrey's unsuccessful attempt to unseat Gov. Parris N. Glendening. He belonged to numerous civic boards and associations, including the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, and he served a stint as chairman of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Albert J. A. "Jay" Young, and Orsia F. Young, have received the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Maryland - Harford County Chapter's second "Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser" award, presented at seventh annual Harford County Celebration of Philanthropy, held April 11, at the Maryland Golf & Country Clubs in Bel Air. The event was established to bestow recognition upon members of the community "whose exceptional generosity demonstrates outstanding...

The friends and family of Erika Brannock are hosting a fundraiser at Mothers Federal Hill for Erika Brannock , the 29-year-old teacher at a Towson preschool who was injured at the Boston Marathon. The fundraiser for Brannock is 1 p.m to 5 p.m. this Saturday, May 4, at Mothers Federal Hill Grille, 1113 S. Charles St. Tickets are $40, but organizers of the event expect to raise most of their funds through raffle sales and donations at the event. For information call 410-244-8686 or go to the event's Facebook page , where there is a link to ticket information and a place to make online donations.

In his article on Sen. Barbara Mikulski and how her assignment as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee has helped her campaign fundraising, reporter John Fritze wrote that "For Mikulski ... the windfall underscores her transition from a lawmaker who has typically engaged more on local issues to someone who now chairs a committee that wields tremendous power on the national level. Mikulski benefited from a number of first-time donations from political action committees, including an association that represents assisted living facilities, one of the nation's largest energy companies and a leading supplier of cement.

As a physician at the April 11 public hearing on proposed changes in the HCPSS Wellness Policy, I left with an appreciation for the articulate students who expressed concern about the nutrition value of some foods offered in school during and after classes. A Centennial High student thanked Booster Club efforts to fund uniforms and trips for athletic teams.    Clearly we have in Howard County extraordinarily committed students, adults and...

Sitting at the kitchen counter, playing a game on his mother's cellphone, Nick Brooks looked like any other 13-year-old, except for an occasional hand clap and the burbles that his brothers affectionately call "Nicky noises. " Soon, he got bored with the cellphone and motioned for the laptop on his mother's lap. Jean Brooks was willing to give it to him, but with one caveat. "I'd like a sentence from you," she said. "Mom's computer, please," Nick said. That's a long sentence for the Roland Park youth.

In "The Wire,"Lester Freamon famously said, "You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don't know where the [bleep] it's gonna take you. " Well, it's apparently taking folks to Martha's Vineyard for a chichi Obama campaign fundraiser. To raise some cheddar for Obama, National Journal reports via the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time blog that his campaign is throwing a little street party, Baltimore-style. Except that it's on the beach, in one of the country's most elite zip codes and at the private home of not junkies or cops or even dock workers -- but socialites.

Welcome, first day of fall. Much sympathy is extended to the family and friends of Mary Ann Dabravalskas, who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer recently. Her funeral Mass was held at Good Shepherd Church Saturday. Mary Ann raised her family in Conowingo, moving to a smaller home in Port Deposit after her husband, John, passed away. She eventually downsized even further, moving to the Greenway senior complex in Perryville a few years ago. The Wellwood did a bang-up job at Good Shepherd School in Perryville Sunday by supplying hard crabs, fried chicken, pit beef and crab bisque for almost 200 Ravens/Eagles fans.

Thank you to all of Catonsville for helping make the 12th annual Catonsville Middle School fundraiser a success. It was a success, thanks to support from the community and a core group of dedicated volunteers, some who have children in the school but many who do not. Local businesses donating manpower and equipment is the backbone of this operation. The volunteers would not have moved 14 tractor-trailers worth of mulch without their support. We would like to thank the following businesses: John Giles of Knockorp, ABC Rentals, Wall to Wall construction/remodeling, 21st Century Solar and Electricity, Build Source, Woodland Landscaping, NDX and Enterprise Rentals.

Community United Methodist Church is holding a spaghetti dinner and variety show, Friday, April 12, at 300 Brock Bridge Road. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30 p.m., All proceeds go to support church's Youth Mission trip in July. For information, call 301-725-4918.