Habitat

Who said Baltimore Beer Week was only about craft brews and getting drunk off samples? On Oct. 7, Flying Dog Brewery - through Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake - will build a house in the Jefferson Street neighborhood. If you're not in the mood to pitch in with hammers and nails, you can head over to Langermann's that night (6-10 p.m.). The Canton restaurant will donate $1 from all Flying Dog pints to Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake. Added bonus: the first beer is on Flying Dog for any Red Hat volunteer, AmeriCorps or person who donates/signs up to volunteer with Habitat that night.

Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna, the ecumenical non-profit housing organization devoted to building, renovating and repairing homes in partnership with low-income families, has the appointment of Katie York and Sarah Colenda to its board of directors. Katie York, of Aberdeen, is program specialist in Health Care Careers at Cecil College in North East. She is also a member of both the Committee on Nursing and Allied Health and the Administrative Professional Organization. York says of her appointment to the board, "As someone who lives in Harford County and works in Cecil County, I feel it is imperative to increase awareness of Habitat in my local community, both in regards to fundraising efforts and potential homeowners.

Russell Gordon "Buz" Meyer Sr., a conservationist who converted his Woodwardville farm into a habitat for animals and plants that he opened to Scouting groups, 4-H clubs, church camps, schoolchildren and the Audubon Society, died there Sept. 1 of pancreatic cancer. He was 80. The son of farmers, Mr. Meyer, who dropped his given name and called himself "Buz" with one "z," was raised on his parents' farm, which his Swiss immigrant grandparents had established in 1899. After graduating from Arundel High School in 1948, Mr. Meyer worked as an auto body repairman for Hill & Tibbits Ford in Washington, and then at Bauserman's Chrysler-Plymouth in Arlington, Va. In the early 1960s, he opened Buz's Body Shop behind his Woodwardville home, which he operated until 1989.

Eight Calvert Hall College High School students and nine students from Notre Dame Preparatory School — along with three chaperones — took part in a trip to the eastern shore of Virginia last month, where they spent five days helping build a house. Much of the house's framework had been built and siding was in place, but during the week students tackled jobs including assembling framework for walls, guiding electrical wiring, mounting trim around the outside of the house, installing a roof on a front porch and assembling railings and spindles around the porch.

Norma Thompson spent much of Monday dusting, polishing and sprucing up items that will fill a soon-to-open home improvement store in Halethorpe. The hours she volunteers with Habitat for Humanity's newest ReStore will help this Baltimore grandmother, who works as a housekeeper at a downtown hotel, earn a home of her own. Each prospective homeowner must provide Habitat volunteer hours, and Thompson is doing just that at the nonprofit organization's third...

Editor: The recent merger of two Habitat for Humanity affiliates - Harford and Cecil - into one has created more opportunities for eager volunteers to participate. While our name may have changed, the mission of Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna remains the same. We seek to eliminate substandard housing and create homeownership opportunities by building, renovating and repairing homes. This is not a giveaway program. Habitat partners with low-income families to builds simple, decent houses.

My husband and I have not cancelled The Sun yet because we like the crossword puzzles. However, each morning my husband leafs through the front section of the paper and reads the headlines of the articles there. It has become a joke in our family, as each one he reads is worse than the one before it . I do not mean the writing style or wording of the articles. We are just sick and tired of reading all about the maiming, murder, thievery, rapes and other awful acts that happen in Baltimore.

WESTMINSTER — Carroll County's Department of Public Works, Bureau of Solid Waste, announced this week that Habitat for Humanity will open a ReStore unit at the Northern Landfill Recycling Center in Westminster. ReStore is a nonprofit retail organization that resells new and used building materials, home furnishings and appliances to the public. ReStore sells donated goods to raise funds to build or renovate affordable housing for families in need. Donations gathered at the landfill will be taken to the ReStore Home Improvement Center in Frederick.

Share your good news and events with the community. Contact Laurel Leader editorial assistant Pat Farmer, paf1@patuxent.com , or phone and fax 410-332-6653. 'Twelfth Night' — Summer Youth Shakespeare Theatre opens Fri., June 24, 8 p.m., Laurel Mill Playhouse, 508 Main St. Shakespearean comedy directed by Michael Hartsfield and produced by Maureen Rogers. Runs through July 17, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays July 10 and 17 at 2 p.m. General admission $13. Students, 18 and under; and seniors, 65 and over, $10. Reservations 301-617-9906 and press 2. http://www.laurelmillplayhouse.org.