Historic Savage Mill

Howard County Tourism Inc. has launched its second season of the "Ghost Walks in Historic Savage Mill" tour during which historic characters haunt shops at the mill at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights this month and next. A tour guide tells the stories of four or five ghosts, including Rebecca King, who worked at the mill attending to workers' children and fell to her death from the mill's bell tower, said Deborah Ing, assistant director at Howard County Tourism. More than 1,000 people attended the inaugural tour season last year.

Grace Maynard, a retired Howard County antiques dealer, died Saturday from complications of a stroke at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Columbia. She was 91. She was born in Baltimore and raised in Windsor Hills. Her father, William Hard Maynard, who had been a Baltimore deputy state's attorney, had rewritten Maryland's penal code. Her mother, Helen Vail Maynard, was a homemaker. After graduating in 1939 from Forest Park High School and Eaton and Burnett Business College, she went to work for the Army at Fort Meade, and later held jobs at The Baltimore Sun and the Social Security Administration, when it was downtown in the Candler Building before it relocated in 1960 to Woodlawn.

After a visit to Historic Savage Mill's Classy Glass Weekend, a look in the kitchen cupboard for an ordinary drinking vessel may never be the same.This weekend's event will spotlight the mill's glass artisans, as well as artists and experts from outside Savage.The display will feature glass that is flame-worked, etched, stained and leaded, fused, engraved and blown. The exhibit will include a creative collaboration between artists from Maryland and Texas.R. Foster Holcombe, of the Art of Fire at the mill, has blown glass into bronze cages created by Bill and Deborah Jizzard of Plantersville, Texas, featured artists this weekend.

What better honor than to be voted the best of the best by your customers and colleagues? In August, we asked Howard Magazine readers to tell us the most notable businesses, people and places from Marriottsville to Savage and from Elkridge to Clarksville. Here are the results of how our readers voted. Annual Festival Event Winner: Wine in the Woods Honorable mention: Columbia Festival of the Arts Howard County Fair Highland Days Symphony of Lights   Place to Buy Antiques Winner: Historic Savage Mill Honorable mention: Westwood Antiques Historic Ellicott City Abode   Art Gallery Winner: Gallery 44 Honorable mention: Artists' Gallery Bernice Kish Gallery at Slayton House Howard County Center for the Arts   Place for Auto Repair Winner: Hillmuth Certified Automotive Honorable mention: British American Auto Care O'Donnell Honda Ken's Service Center   Bakery Winner: Touche Touchet Bakery & Pastry Shoppe Honorable mention: Great Harvest Bread Co. Panera Bread Oh, What A Cake!

Less than two weeks after its grand opening, there's already a buzz about the Ram's Head Tavern at Savage Mill.Amid the Mill's antiques stalls and boutiques, the weekday lunch crowd at the 260-seat restaurant spends as much time enjoying the eatery's homey decor as they do its double-decker sandwiches, steaming plates of juicy calamari and micro-brewed ale.The Ram's Head Tavern, the first full-service restaurant to open at Historic Savage Mill, is owned...

Three hundred members of the Red Hat Society are expected to attend a fashion show and fund-raiser today at Historic Savage Mill. "Red Hat Day At the Mill" will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The daylong event is dedicated to members of the Red Hat Society. The international organization has few rules apart from its dress code. Its appeal is to women who have raised their families and now want to focus on themselves. Society members, who must be older than 50 to join, are urged to wear red hats and purple dresses.

For years, merchants and staff at Savage Mill have believed the place is haunted. Now Howard County Tourism Inc. is turning that into an asset for the 19th-century mill turned boutique shopping center. On Friday and Saturday nights through next month, the new Ghost Walks in Historic Savage Mill combines local history with tales of ghostly apparitions, unseen tricksters and unexplained occurrences. They also encourage visitors to shop and dine at the mill. It is a combination that has worked well in Ellicott City, where the tourism group's ghost tours have drawn approximately 4,000 people in the past year and where merchants saw ticket holders come in to redeem the discounts on the back of the passes.

Not too long ago, historic Savage Mill was a dilapidated and ramshackle ruin of a building, a sprawling expanse of empty space and light. Not much fun to look at, but it was heaven to a number of local artists -- a perfect place to paint, sculpt and be creative. These days, the newly gentrified Savage Mill has emerged as one of the region's most popular tourist attractions. It also houses far fewer struggling artists. In the early 1980s, the mill was used by dozens of local artists who used the Carding Building's open floor as studio space.

On Sept. 1, doctors told Herbert S. Long -- a 53-year-old Savage resident known by his first initial, H -- that a cancerous tumor had spread to his liver and he had six months to live.Despite the tragic news, Long wanted a chance to fulfill a dream he has had for years: The self-taught watercolorist wanted his little-known art collection to be shown in a gallery.With help from a former neighbor, state Del. Shane Pendergrass, and Historic Savage Mill, Long got his wish. His colorful paintings of old houses and commercial buildings with unusual architecture or appeal were moved from the walls of his Savage home and are on display in the mill's gallery.

What better honor than to be voted the best of the best by your customers and colleagues? In August, we asked Howard Magazine readers to tell us the most notable businesses, people and places from Marriottsville to Savage and from Elkridge to Clarksville. Here are the results of how our readers voted. Annual Festival Event Winner: Wine in the Woods Honorable mention: Columbia Festival of the Arts Howard County Fair Highland Days Symphony of Lights   Place to Buy Antiques Winner: Historic Savage Mill Honorable mention: Westwood Antiques Historic Ellicott City Abode   Art Gallery Winner: Gallery 44 Honorable mention: Artists' Gallery Bernice Kish Gallery at Slayton House Howard County Center for the Arts   Place for Auto Repair Winner: Hillmuth Certified Automotive Honorable mention: British American Auto Care O'Donnell Honda Ken's Service Center   Bakery Winner: Touche Touchet Bakery & Pastry Shoppe Honorable mention: Great Harvest Bread Co. Panera Bread Oh, What A Cake!

Historic Savage Mill will hold its second annual "Art Jam at the Mill" noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 22 to Sept. 23. Artists will talk to visitors about their work. Live musicians, a caricaturist, stilt walkers and clowns, art and craft workshops, face-painting and other activities are also scheduled. Admission is free. The 19th century textile mill houses antique and home furnishing stores, galleries, artists' studios, the Rams Head Tavern, banquet facilities and a French bakery. Information: www.savagemill .com.

Magic at the Mill The lowdown -- Take a stroll through Historic Savage Mill this weekend for the center's annual Holiday Magic at the Mill. Visitors can enjoy free wine and beer tastings, magic shows, family activities, holiday carolers, live jazz and more. The event also features the "Parade of Trees" fundraiser, in which visitors can vote for their favorite decorative tree by making a donation to the sponsoring organization's charity. Trees will remain on display, with donations being accepted through December.

Sandy's Repeat Performance, a consignment men's and women's clothing resale shop in Historic Savage Mill, is holding a fundraiser this weekend for Success in Style, a nonprofit organization that provides free business attire and fashion advice to disadvantaged women looking to enter or re-enter the work force. Money raised during the Holiday Magic at the Mill weekend is expected to be matched by Historic Savage Mill. Contributions will be accepted through Dec. 31. The goal is to raise $1,000.

Historic Savage Mill will present its "Holiday Magic at the Mill" on Nov. 19 and 20. The event will include the "Parade of Trees" to benefit 15 local charities and nonprofit organizations. Customers will be invited to vote for their favorite decorated tree. Strolling carolers, silent auctions, a holiday jazz brunch, wine and beer tasting, live music, and an antiques appraisal are planned. Information and for a schedule of events: www.savagemill. com. Reservoir High to do the musical `Grease' Reservoir High School in Fulton will present its production of Grease, the musical about romance and fast cars, from Nov. 17 to 20. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17, 18 and 19 and 2 p.m. Nov. 19 and 20. Tickets will be available at the door.

Yolanda Voss Studio International, a fashion design studio in Historic Savage Mill, will sponsor a fashion show, "Designers Premier," with participation from area designers, for the benefit of victims of the recent hurricanes. Money raised will be donated to the Salvation Army. The show will be held at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18. Models will show the work of several designers; the clothing will range from casual to formal. The cost is $30; $50 a couple. Students pay $10. Information: Liz Coady, 301-317-4007.

Howard County Tourism Inc. has launched its second season of the "Ghost Walks in Historic Savage Mill" tour during which historic characters haunt shops at the mill at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights this month and next. A tour guide tells the stories of four or five ghosts, including Rebecca King, who worked at the mill attending to workers' children and fell to her death from the mill's bell tower, said Deborah Ing, assistant director at Howard County Tourism. More than 1,000 people attended the inaugural tour season last year.

"Brush Work" at the ARTmatters gallery in Historic Savage Mill offers a look at oil paintings and drawings by Ann Aves Martin and Linda Leonard.Martin's studies have taken her from Illinois to Paris, and she has exhibited her oil paintings widely since the early '80s. Leonard's works combine torn paper with washes of synthetic polymer on canvas, and her colorful approach is reflected in her print designs for clients in film, sports and politics.The exhibit is showing through Aug. 11 at ARTmatters gallery in Historic Savage Mill, Carding Building, Suites 109-110, at 8600 Foundry St. in Savage.

The air outside Historic Savage Mill simmered with summer warmth. Inside the Mill's great room, it crackled with anticipation at the Columbia Festival of the Arts gala. An audience of 250 savored cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and dinner before the evening's big event -- "A Glittering Evening of Cabaret" starring Broadway and TV star Tom Wopat. At one of the front tables, a group of Tom Wopat fans from Texas, Ohio, Michigan and Brazil -- organized by New Jerseyite Donna Roberts -- was so excited they could barely keep their seats.

Three hundred members of the Red Hat Society are expected to attend a fashion show and fund-raiser today at Historic Savage Mill. "Red Hat Day At the Mill" will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The daylong event is dedicated to members of the Red Hat Society. The international organization has few rules apart from its dress code. Its appeal is to women who have raised their families and now want to focus on themselves. Society members, who must be older than 50 to join, are urged to wear red hats and purple dresses.

The Savage 14 and under Mid Maryland Travel Association travel baseball team has announced tryouts for the spring season. Prospective players must have been born after July 31, 1990. Tryouts are being held at 9 a.m. tomorrow and Sunday at Field No. 5 in Savage Park. Information: Dan Franklin, 202-276-7887, or franklin.family@ comcast.net. Savage Historical Society is to meet Monday night The Savage Historical Society will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Faith and Ministry Center, 9032 Baltimore St., Savage.