Hadassah

Hadassah to hold pool party Aug. 26 Howard County Hadassah will hold an end-of-summer pool party 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 26 in Clarksville. Reservations are requested by Aug. 15. The cost is $10 a family. Checks should be sent to Hadassah of Howard County, P.O. Box 238, Simpsonville, 21150-0238. The nonprofit organization is open to women of all ages. The organization promotes health awareness programs and community-based educational, Zionist and youth programs. Information: 410-531-6476 or www.hocohadassah.

Walter A. Pilachowski, 72, Coast Guard employeeWalter A. "Scotty" Pilachowski, who spent more than three decades with the Coast Guard at Curtis Bay, with tours in two other branches of the military, died of lung cancer Wednesday at Franklin Square Hospital. He was 72.Born in Baltimore and a lifelong resident of the Canton area, he served in the Navy in the latter years of World War II, including a stint in the South Pacific on the destroyer USS Nicholas. He was discharged in 1946 and went to work for the Coast Guard in Baltimore.

A Westminster man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty yesterday in Carroll County Circuit Court to theft in seven burglaries and to one attempted burglary.Prosecutors said John W. Hopwood, 27, robbed businesses mostly in the Westminster area last spring, including stealing football jerseys belonging to the Baltimore Ravens from a dry cleaners.According to the plea agreement worked out in the eight cases involving 81 counts, Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. sentenced Hopwood to 30 years in prison before suspending all but 15 years and placing him on five years of probation after his release.

Rebecca Shulman,100, a leader of the women's Zionist group Hadassah who helped bring medical services to Israel, died March 30 at her home in New York. She was national president of Hadassah from 1953 to 1956.Robert Wentorf Jr.,70, a retired inventor who helped create the man-made diamond, died of a heart attack Thursday at his home in Easton, N.Y. In the early 1950s, he was a member of a General Electric team that worked on the conversion of graphite to diamond by subjecting it to high pressures and temperatures.

JERUSALEM -- Dressed in a prim cotton dress and a wide-brimmed straw hat, Henrietta Szold left her native Baltimore in 1909 on a difficult journey to Palestine.What the 48-year-old unmarried teacher found when she arrived -- severe poverty, rampant disease and poor medical care -- inspired her to find a way to combat the problems in the future Jewish homeland.Two years later, with the help of 14 like-minded women, Szold founded the Hadassah Women's Organization in Baltimore in 1911. Today, Hadassah is the largest women's volunteer organization in the world with more than 300,000 members.

Frieda Sandberg Lewis,85, a champion of Jewish causes and past national resident of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, died Feb. 29 in Deerfield Beach, Fla. She was a former resident of Great Neck, N.Y., and Manhattan. Her association with Hadassah went back four decades. She served as national vice president and treasurer and headed its Nassau and Suffolk region as well as a number of its divisions. She was national president from 1980 to 1984. During her tenure, she presided over the launching of Hadassah International, which now has branches in some 30 countries.

Lillian KoganReal estate executiveLillian Kogan, a retired real estate executive and connoisseur of the arts, died Friday of complications from a stroke at the North Oaks Retirement Community in Pikesville. She was 91.Mrs. Kogan, who was known as "Lilly," was a voracious reader who also enjoyed going to the ballet and symphony, relatives said.A regular theatergoer, she often took her sons to the old Ford's Theater on Fayette Street in Baltimore.She also liked to travel, and she visited many museums in Israel and Europe.

For at least eight to 12 hours a week Florence Solonche forgets about herself.Instead, the 37-year-old Columbia woman focuses on the free accounting services she offers to the Parent Teacher Associations at Dunloggin Middle and Northfield Elementary schools; she helps sponsor seminars to address women's concerns such as breast cancer; and she donates her time to local civic organizations.The volunteer work the self-employed accountant, wife and mother of five has done won her one of the Seventh Annual Hadassah National Leadership Awards.

A new study has tentatively answered a century-old question: does poverty cause mental illness, or does mental illness cause people to drift down the economic ladder?Depression appears to be a consequence, not a cause of poverty, according to a researcher at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.The stress of fighting discrimination as they battle their way up from poverty leaves formerly poor people more depressed and anti-social than their middle-class neighbors, said Bruce P. Dohrenwend, chief of the department of social psychiatry at the psychiatric institute.

* Bertha Levin, a longtime supporter of Jewish causes, died Thursday at her home in Jerusalem at age 98. In New York, Mrs. Levin was a founding member of the Young Israel Movement and a pioneer member of Hadassah who worked with its founder, Henrietta Szold, during World War I. She moved to Israel in 1961.

The Hadassah 2008 Check It Out Challenge will be held Sunday at Hunt Valley Towne Centre, 118 Shawan Road. The challenge is a 5-kilometer run/walk starting at 8 a.m., and a 1-mile fun run at 8:15 a.m. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. The 5K run/walk will take place on roads near the mall, and the fun run will take place around the mall. Registration fee is $30 in advance at www.active.com, and $35 the day of the event. Proceeds benefit Hadassah's health programs in the Baltimore region.

Towson Rally to honor Phelps and Hoff A rally will be held at 7:15 p.m. Friday in downtown Towson to honor Baltimore County residents Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, who are in Beijing to compete on the U.S. Olympic swim team. Family members, cheerleading squads and sportscasters will be on hand at the Towson Chamber of Commerce's weekly Feet on the Street festival on Allegheny Avenue between York Road and Washington Avenue. The rally is sponsored by County Executive James T. Smith Jr. Allegheny Avenue will be closed to traffic at 6:30 p.m. for the rally and festival.

KAYE B. SRAGOW, of Rockville Centre, New York, on March 19, 2008. Beloved wife of her late husband, Jack, she was a Navy nurse during World War II, then a registered nurse after the war. After graduating from Trenton State College, she became a school nurse in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and in Rockville Centre, New York, and pursued an interest in nutrition after she retired. An ardent Zionist and supporter of Jewish groups and charities, she was Chairman of the Education Committee for Hadassah in Nassau County.

Hadassah to hold pool party Aug. 26 Howard County Hadassah will hold an end-of-summer pool party 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 26 in Clarksville. Reservations are requested by Aug. 15. The cost is $10 a family. Checks should be sent to Hadassah of Howard County, P.O. Box 238, Simpsonville, 21150-0238. The nonprofit organization is open to women of all ages. The organization promotes health awareness programs and community-based educational, Zionist and youth programs. Information: 410-531-6476 or www.hocohadassah.

Christian aerobics sessions starting Body & Soul Christian Aerobics, cardio and strength training to contemporary Christian music, will begin its winter sessions Jan. 5 and 7. There is a fee. A Tuesday and Friday class is to meet at 9:15 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, at U.S. 29 and Route 108. Information: 410-985-7102. A Monday-Wednesday-Friday class is to meet at 9:30 a.m. at South Columbia Baptist Church, 8814 Guilford Road, Columbia. 410-381-4668. Linden-Linthicum plans blood drive Linden-Linthicum United Methodist Church, 12101 Linden Linthicum Lane, Clarksville, will hold a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 7. Donors are encouraged to make an appointment.

Martin's contributions will be recognized St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church will recognize the contributions made by George Martin, who died last month, to the faith and other communities in Howard County. The brief ceremony will be held after the noon Mass on Sunday at the church, where Martin served almost 30 years as a deacon. Remembered for his love for Columbia and his dedication to community, Martin was a founder of the Columbia Co- operative Ministry and participated in many other organizations and charitable projects.

Esther M. Goodman, former owner of a Baltimore real estate and development company and longtime volunteer, died of respiratory failure March 1 at Heart Homes in Annapolis. She was 96. She was born Esther Mae Newman and raised in Danville, Pa. In 1932, she married Irving Edward Cohen, owner of Realty Trader and the Hanor Development Co. After his death in 1935, she operated the businesses for two decades. She was married in 1946 to Alexander Goodman, an attorney and member of the House of Delegates who died in 1956.

On January 22, 2006, H. LILLIAN BINDER. She was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1912 and raised in Danvers, MA prior to her marriage to Harry B. Binder(deceased). She spent her adult life in Wilmington until 1998 when she moved to Baltimore, MD. Active as a volunteer at Riverside Hospital and the Wilmington Chapter of Hadassah, she enjoyed Community Dinners at Arden. She retired from Hercules, Inc. in 1977. Lillian enjoyed bowling, reading and traveling with her husband. She is survived by her children: Judith Binder and her husband Milton Bock (Albuquerque, NM)

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was hospitalized last night after suffering a minor stroke, hospital officials said, adding a fresh element of uncertainty to a tumultuous political season in Israel. Officials at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem said the 77-year-old prime minister was awake and speaking with family members and aides after undergoing tests. Officials said that, contrary to initial reports on Israeli television, he did not lose consciousness. Sharon remained in control of the government and had received a military briefing at his bedside, said his spokesman, Raanan Gissin.

Cookout with a kick Pack a volleyball and a blanket and drive the family over to Berrywine Plantations and Linganore Winecellars for its family cookout this weekend. Buy fresh-grilled burgers and franks at the vineyard and kick back in the scenic country surroundings. Wine lovers can sample the plantation's grape, fruit and honey wine stock and tour the grounds at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Berrywine Plantations and Linganore Wine Cellars, at 13601 Glissans Mill Road in Mount Airy, hosts its family cookout 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.