Havre De Grace

She's never missed an oyster dredging season in almost 40 years, but for this winter her future seemed uncertain.With parasitic diseases wiping out the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay, it looked as if the skipjack Martha Lewis was doomed to follow the fate of others in her fleet -- lying on the muddy banks of a cove, slowly rotting away.Instead, she's being restored to her original grandeur when she was known as one of the best working boats on the bay.And when she is returned to the water next month, the Martha Lewis will not only work the bay, trying to do her part catching a few bushels of oysters, but she'll also be a goodwill ambassador for the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum.

Edward Gera cut 17 wooden arches out of slabs of basswood and placed them into a row of slots on a thick wooden base. He placed toothpicks in tiny holes drilled into the bottom of a wooden frame, and snapped clothespins at the bottom of the arches to hold the structure together until the glue dried. Ever so slowly, the model of a shallop used by Capt. John Smith in the 17th century began to take shape. "This is the most unusual boat I've ever made," said Gera, a 77-year-old model boat-building instructor.

On Sunday, April 15, 2007, MICHAEL KENNETH DENK, 55 years, of Port Deposit, MD, died at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, MD. Survivors include his wife, Nancy Nichols, mother, Margaret Rupple Denk of Westminster, MD; son, Michael Denk of Bel Air, MD; daughter and husband, Christine and Eric Reeves of Elkton, MD; grandchildren, Ethan and Megan Reeves of Elkton, MD; brothers, William Denk of Canton, Baltimore City, MD; Gary Denk of Owings Mills, MD, and Dennis...

Elizabeth M. Crassweller and Kristopher A. Weaver were married in Havre de Grace on June 2, 2007. Nitin Jagdish officiated. The bride is the daughter of Maj. USA Ret. Mark and Elizabeth Crassweller of Elkridge, Maryland. The parents of the groom are Shirley and Jim Grattan of Knoxville, Maryland, and Allen and Jennifer Weaver of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The bride was escorted by her mother and father. Gina Fidazzo, friend of the bride, was the best woman and Young Hwang, friend of the groom, was best man. The ceremony and the reception were held at the Vandiver Inn in Havre de Grace.

Kids and nature The lowdown -- Search through Leight Park on Saturday for souvenirs from nature as part of the program "Journaling in January." The items you find will become part of your own nature journal. The event is sponsored by the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center. If you go -- The 5-and-older event is 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. There is a fee of $3. The center is at 700 Otter Point Road in Abingdon. Reservations are required. Call 410-612-1688. or 410-879-2000 ext. 1688 or go to otterpointcreek.

Everyday scenes of Havre de Grace will be the subject of the plein air paintings created by artists selected to compete in the second annual Havre de Grace Plein Air Painting Competition from Wednesday through Saturday. The competition is sponsored by Soroptimist International of Havre de Grace. En plein air is a French expression meaning "in the open air," used to describe painting in an outside environment rather than in a studio. Artists were selected to compete by juror Jacqueline Baldini of Niagara Falls, Ontario, director and founder of the International Plein Air Painting Organization.

Fundraiser planned for scholarship A fundraiser has been scheduled for St. Patrick's Day eve for the Eamonn J. Gordon Scholarship Fund, established in memory of a Bel Air attorney. Proceeds will help pay for the education of aspiring lawyers, a cause Gordon supported throughout his lifetime. The event is set for 4:30 p.m. Friday at Liriodendron, 502 W. Gordon St., Bel Air. Tickets are $100 and include cocktails, light fare and music. Reservations and information: 410-893-4255. Fire company to raffle decoys Members of Susquehanna Hose Company Division 2 are sponsoring a decoy raffle, with proceeds going toward the purchase of equipment for the Havre de Grace firefighters.

At first, Jeff and Kathy Lawson complained about the dozens of noisy trucks that began rumbling down their quiet country road in northern Harford County one day last month. They and their neighbors grew more irked upon discovering that the trucks contained treated sewage sludge to spread on an 80-acre field in Susquehanna State Park, less than a quarter-mile from their homes on Quaker Bottom Road near Havre de Grace. The Lawsons and others complained about the odor and raised concerns about the potential impact on property values and the environment.

Robert L. Johnson can readily recall the famous horses that ran at the Havre de Grace track in Harford County more than a half century ago. He is certain that the town's rich history is reason enough to build a new horse park and revive the state's equine industry. The Harford County Council decided Johnson was the ideal candidate to lead a horse park task force that will ultimately decide the project's fate. Johnson envisions a 21st-century facility that will highlight the county's equestrian heritage, enhance local tourism and boost equine commerce.

Jimmy Turner needed a little direction, but he easily managed a garden hose and watered newly planted flowers at the Havre de Grace Community Center. "I have watered flowers before," said the 37-year-old Bel Air resident, who is one of 32 community partners at The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region, an organization for people with developmental disabilities. "I know how much to give them." Turner and 11 other Arc volunteers spruced up the center's gardens Thursday as part of their community service project.

The consensus among experts is that the biggest polluter of the Chesapeake Bay is the nitrogen, phosphorus and contaminated sediments that move from the land into the bay's tributaries and ultimately the bay itself. Runoff from agricultural lands remains the largest source. However, estimates suggest that 16 percent to 19 percent comes from stormwater runoff from manmade surfaces, and while agriculture's share is decreasing, the pollution contributed by urban and suburban stormwater is increasing.

The huge gray metal object stands 27 feet tall on an oversize flatbed with 144 wheels, weighs 431,000 pounds and is hauled by a lumbering beast of a truck that looks like something out of a Stephen King novel. All this week it's been roaming the darkened roads of Harford County, drawing crowds of gawkers for its nocturnal procession to the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania. Last evening, it made the delicate crossing of Deer Creek on Route 136, which was reinforced in advance to bear the crushing weight.

One of Florida's endangered manatees paid a social call on Havre de Grace over the weekend, swimming close enough to the dock to be filmed and even touched, officials at the National Aquarium said yesterday. Video shot by a town police officer of the visitor was clear enough to allow federal biologists in Florida to identify the manatee as a teenager named Ilya, last sighted near Miami three years ago, said Jennifer Dittmar, coordinator of the Baltimore aquarium's marine animal rescue program.

Man found fatally shot in Aberdeen 2 A man was found shot dead in an apartment in Aberdeen early Saturday morning, city police said. Detective David Swain said the unidentified man was found in the kitchen area of an apartment on Pritchard Avenue on the city's east side about 3 a.m. The man had been shot once, but Swain could provide no further details. He said witnesses reported seeing two men leaving the scene in a black Audi with New York license plate number ERV 5831. - Arthur Hirsch Baltimore Co. to add license plate reader 3 A $23,075 state grant will add another mobile license plate reader to the fleet of Baltimore County police vehicles.

In a deal designed to address doctor shortages and bring new medical services to Harford County, the University of Maryland Medical System announced Wednesday that it will acquire Upper Chesapeake Health System, which owns hospitals in Bel Air and Havre de Grace. Upper Chesapeake, the county's largest private employer, would be the latest example of hospital consolidation in Maryland, as large medical systems scoop up smaller hospitals that face competitive pressures. Also on Wednesday, executives marked the official takeover of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda by the Johns Hopkins Health System.

An Ellicott City tavern that has long blended into the scenery along rural Frederick Road has recently morphed into an eye-catching piece of public art. And like anything new in a stable community, the vibrant mural that now enlivens the exterior of the recently renovated Friendly Inn has become a conversation-starter. Over a rainy two-month period this spring, Ezra Berger managed to eke out 30 dry days to transform the outside of "The Friendly," as regular patrons like to call it. "Tons and tons of people stopped or honked while I was working," said Berger, who has an art studio in Havre de Grace.

Reaction to audit very disturbing I am outraged by the complete lack of leadership evident in Annie Linskey's article "Auditors unearth millions for city" (April 16). I'd like readers to consider what the administration's response to the discovery says about its ability to lead Baltimore. Specifically, I'd note that the article reported "there wasn't much finger-pointing or anguish at Wednesday's Board of Estimates meeting, where the audit was presented." The City Council president just "shook her head back and forth."

On April 3, 2009, TAYLOR (Ted) MILLER, 88, of Havre de Grace, proceed in death by his beloved wife of 55 years, Ruth Armstrong Miller; loving father to Councilman James Patrick Miller and Joseph Armstrong Miller and wife Belinda Jane Miller, and the late John Taylor Miller; and grandfather of Terran Michael Miller and Taylor Joseph Miller and devoted brother to Francis Barnes and the late Mabel Miller Bailey. Friends may call on Monday, April 6, 2009 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 at Zellman Funeral Home, P.A., 123 S. Washington St., Havre de Grace, MD 21078.

Margaret H. James, a homemaker who enjoyed maintaining her 17th-century farm in Havre de Grace, died March 11 of heart failure at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. She was 88. Margaret Higinbothom was born in Ellicott City and moved to Bel Air with her family in 1921. After graduating from Bel Air High School in 1936, she enrolled at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1940. During World War II, she worked as an executive medical secretary for a general at Edgewood Arsenal.

Catherine Healy Brown, who had been active in Harford County schools and charity groups, died of congestive heart failure March 6 at Stella Maris Hospice. She was 89 and had recently lived at Mercy Ridge in Timonium. Born Catherine Healy in Baltimore and raised in Forest Park and Guilford, she was a 1937 Mount St. Agnes High School graduate and earned a sociology degree at St. Mary of the Woods in Terre Haute, Ind. During the 1940s, she was a case worker at Baltimore's old Department of Public Welfare.