Grand Opening

Bright Spot Wellness Community — Hosting its grand opening. Featuring owner, lead kettlebell trainer and acupuncturist David Beares, who will speak about "Building Your Health Portfolio"; group acupuncture demonstrations, small group personal training using Kettlebells, pilates, massages and nutrition information. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 19, 9160 Rumsey Road, Suite B-4, Columbia. Business Succession Planning — Offered by Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf and Hendler LLC and RCM&D. Designed for business owners and entrepreneurs.

The new Sofi's Crepes in Fells Point has its grand opening on Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. So, grab the children and the family dog and stroll on down for some crepe specials and stilt walkers. There will be live music from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The new shop,  1627 Thames St. , is in the Brown's Wharf complex, in the walkway next to Fells Point Surf Shop. Miss Shirley's is out with a new menu for spring and summer that sharpens its Southern focus. New menu items include a chicken-fried pork chop, a Big Easy muffuletta chef salad and a crabby deviled egg salad.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake attended the grand opening of Lenny’s Deli in the Pratt Street Pavilion at Harborplace today. This was the happy pavilion. The announcement today that original tenant Phillip Seafood was leaving this Fall made the Light Street Pavilion made that the sad pavilion. The mayor, according to the an account in the Daily Record, learned of Phillips' closing while attending the grand opening at Lenny's. Lenny's opened in April into what used to be the bottom half of La Tasca , which still occupies the upper level.

Kirkland's, a home décor and gifts store, will hold a grand opening in Bel Air Plaza in Bel Air on Feb. 9, the retailer announced. The store at 567 Baltimore Pike, one of 324 nationwide, will employ up to 18 people and offer decorative items, gifts and seasonal goods, including mirrors, candles, lamps and rugs. Shoppers who stop in on either Feb. 9 or Feb. 10 can register to enter a $500 gift card drawing, to be selected on the 10 th . The grand opening event will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m on Feb. 9 and noon to 6 p.m. on Feb. 10. lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com

Most of the boys and girls scattered across the turf Saturday for the grand opening of Blandair Park weren't born at its inception. The children, with their lacrosse sticks and football helmets, waited to try out the fields and playground as the politicians congratulated one another on the completion of the first phase of the 300-acre park that has been 14 years in the making. The playground, 278-space parking lot and three multi-use turf fields, which can be used for soccer, lacrosse or football, are the highlights of the latest evolution of the land that was once a Colonial-era farm.

In February, Gallery G at the Beveled Edge moved to the Rotunda. To celebrate, the gallery will host a grand opening gala Saturday. There will be live music by Trio Novo, OHO Duo, New Wave Singers, Ray Jozwiak and Cunniff-Thurston. The Grand Opening Exhibit, which features paintings by Gina Falcone Skelton and vessels by Brian Kakas, will open in conjunction with the gala. Gallery G at the Beveled Edge is now at 711 W. 40th St. The Grand Opening Exhibit opens Saturday and runs through May 31. The Grand Opening Gala is 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday.

"For ye have the poor always with you," Matthew states in the New Testament."The poor shall never cease out of the land," it says in Deuteronomy.On Sunday, Dec. 1, we affirm the bleak notions of the wise men of Scripture.That's the day Baltimore's best-known soup kitchen for the poor becomes Baltimore's "permanent" soup kitchen for the poor. That's the day Our Daily Bread becomes a fixture at Cathedral and Franklin streets. It becomes physically what it already is spiritually -- the brick-and-mortar anchor in the city's charity-delivery system.

Learning Inc. didn't need spotlights or brass bands to let people know they were coming to an exceptional grand opening. The sunny smiles on faces of some of the school's "guides" - at-risk Baltimore City teenagers attending the school - were better than any highfalutin' folderol could have been, when it came to showing off the organization's brand new Hampden home. "I've been [showing] everybody around, letting them see how the next school year is going to be looking like. ... It looks beautiful," said 18-year-old Tanequa Harris with a big smile.

Harvest House Cafe, a Christian coffeehouse sponsored by Maryland's Church on the Rock, will celebrate its grand opening at 7 p.m. tomorrow. The celebration at the cafe, at 100 E. Patapsco Ave. in Brooklyn, will include a contemporary band, free refreshments and activities such as pool and Foosball.The cafe has a large-screen television and 15-foot-long snack bar.There is no cover charge.Information: 355-5922.

The grand opening of the Anne Arundel County Court House, which has been open for two months, will be held at 4 p.m. Dec. 12, followed by a small reception and open house that will allow area court and elected officials to tour the Annapolis building.There will probably be other grand openings. An additional 110,000 square feet of space, mostly for administrative offices of the Circuit Court, is to be built.Also, the restoration of the tiny original 1824 courthouse to its 1890s appearance began recently.

The new Gino's Burgers & Chicken in Glen Burnie will have its official ribbon-cutting on Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Gino Marchetti himself is expected to attend, along with other Baltimore Colts legends Stan White, Tom Matte, Art Donovan and Lenny Moore. The Glen Burnie Gino's Burgers & Chicken  is located in the same building used by Gino's in the 1950s.  The location, 7958 Ritchie Highway, is the first in Anne Arundel County for the revived franchise. Established under the name Gino's in 1959 and named for its co-founder, Baltimore Colt Hall of Fame defensive end Gino Marchetti, the restaurant franchise moved its headquarters to King of Prussia, Pa., before being purchased by the Marriott Corp.

Chick-fil-A will celebrate the opening of its new restaurant in Forest Hill on July 26 by giving away a free year's supply of Chick-fil-A to the first 100 adults in line grand opening morning. Chick-fil-A's "First 100 Celebration" has become a hallmark of each grand opening since the chain first held the event in Arizona in 2003. The latest Chick-fil-A First 100 celebration will be at 1980 Rock Spring Road, where the chain will award a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A Meals (52 certificates)

Werner's luncheonette, the downtown fixture that closed in April 2011, was set to reopen this week, according to its new owner, John Smoudianis. The Redwood Street luncheonette was a gathering spot for politicians and lawyers and a favorite of movie and television location scouts. At the beginning, Werner's (231 E. Redwood St., 443-842-7430) will be open for breakfast and lunch on weekdays but may expand its operations, said Smoudianis, who said he'll have a grand opening for the lunchroom after a few weeks of working out the kinks.

Haverty Furniture Cos. Inc.is expanding in Maryland and opening a new furniture showroom in Towson next week. Havertys will open Thursday, June 28 at Towson Place in the former Filene's Basementspot. It is the fourth in Maryland and the seventh in the larger Baltimore/Washington region, with stores in Columbia, Rockville and Bowie. The more than 100-year-old Atlanta-based chain now runs more than 100 furniture stores in 17 states, featuring its own brand of Havertys Collections.

When is this newspaper going to end its love affair with Wegmans? If Patuxent Publishing is being paid for its front page Wegmans story and its up-to-the-minute updates on the anticipation for the grand opening, good. But don't dress it up as a news story. The lines between advertisement, opinions, and news are blurry. If Patuxent Publishing is not getting a chunk of the Wegmans annual marketing budget then you are missing out. How about running a free front page story on my family business, or my wife's interior design business, or my neighbor the architect?

Ripley's Believe It or Not, one of the first of several new tenants opening for the summer tourist season at Harborplace in downtown Baltimore, will open Saturday in the Light Street Pavilion. Ripley Entertainment Inc. said exhibits at the Inner Harbor "odditorium" will include Harry Potter's Hogwarts Castle made out of 600,000 matchsticks, a Mini Cooper car covered with one million Swarovski crystals, a one ton U.S. Lincoln penny made from 10,000 copper pennies and an art gallery with displays such as a portrait of Justin Bieber, made out of licorice and gummy bears.

Purkey's Toy Trains will hold its grand opening from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at 7604 Main St., Sykesville. The store is believed to be the first of its kind in the historic town. Owner Wiley Purkey, 47, opened the store Oct. 1. His train shop offers new train sets from Lionel, MTH, Marx, K-line and soon LGB. The shop also has wind-up toys, O-Scale cars and trucks, Plasticville buildings and used trains. The train shop adjoins Purkey's other business, Craftsman Art Co., the framing shop he has operated since 1988.

Wondering where you can find Harry Potter's Hogwarts Castle made out of 600,000 matchsticks, or a Mini Cooper car covered with one million Swarovski crystals, or a one ton U.S. Lincoln penny made from 10,000 copper pennies? Where else but the new "odditorium" attraction at Baltimore's Harborplace. Ripley's Believe It or Not, one of the first of several new tenants opening for the summer tourist season at the Light Street Pavilion, is welcoming the public for a "soft" opening starting Saturday.

Update:  In an email Friday, drama teacher Maura Morrison said Thursday night's show was standing room only with people turned away from the 900-seat auditorium. “Wegmans' executives were there and were wildly supportive of our show,” Morrison wrote. She added that the local Wegmans provided shirts, hats, signs and a paper towel display for the zero-budget class project. “They never asked to see the script. They had a real sense of humor about it all.” Wegmanshas built a loyal following with mega supermarkets known for gourmet cheeses, French patisseries, European-style cafes and attentive service.