Junior League

Sophomore Earl Eppard enters this weekend's Class 2A-1A state tournament looking to become Lansdowne's first state champion wrestler. A B-average student, Eppard, who wrestles at 112 pounds, has won the Baltimore County and 2A-1A North regional tournaments this season after being a runner-up in both last year. Eppard's 33-1 record includes 10 pins and four technical falls. He has beaten three-time Baltimore City champion Lamone Wilson (Mervo), Howard County champion Tyler Bulger (Howard)

Port Discovery is designed to be more than a place to climb a tower or build a wind-driven machine. It is also aspiring to be a place where disadvantaged children will have opportunities for learning and cultural enrichment, where exhibits will be tied to school curricula and where visitors can learn where to pursue their interests beyond the museum.In defining its role as a community resource, Port Discovery follows in the path of children's museums across the country."It's been that way from the beginning - children's museums have been committed to serving all families from the get-go," says Andrew Ackerman, director of the Children's Museum of Manhattan and president of the Association of Youth Museums board.

When Westminster won its third straight county wrestling championship in February, five of the eight champions between 112-152 pounds were Owls. Three are now seniors and team leaders.Together, Kyle Burger, John Muse, and Chris Reiter have five county titles, two regional titles, and three state placings.Burger, with the least experience, has the largest haul -- county and regional titles at 125 pounds and 130 pounds, plus a sixth and a fourth in the state meet.Reiter and Muse began wrestling when they were 5, but Burger did not get interested until wrestling in a middle-school gym class.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, Ajax Eastman; also to Emily, your granddaughter, almost a year old.My desk, as I prepare a tribute to your life in service to the Maryland environment, is awash with clippings and documents attesting to your decades of accomplishment.From Assateague's beaches, to the legislative swamps of Annapolis, to the whitewater of Garrett County's Youghiogheny River, I've watched you in action for 25 years.A few weeks ago it was my pleasure to see Maryland's government bestow upon you a singular award, the finest any environmentalist could hope for.But what I may remember longest is this: arriving a couple weeks ago at the big, old, welcoming white house on Lake Avenue, finding you intensely occupied by your latest project -- 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. day care, three days a week, for Emily.

A QUARTER-CENTURY after his death, one realizes how sorely missed and badly needed today are the unique leadership qualities of the Baltimore social activist, industrialist and philanthropist, Sidney Hollander Sr.He had the ability to inspire and arouse people to become participants instead of spectators in the struggle for social justice. He once stated as a guiding principle, ''I don't want any privilege for myself or my family that other people do not have.''Today, Sidney Hollander would cry out that we are preoccupied with material goods and political inanities, while ignoring and denying the sufferings, despair and rage of millions of children and adolescents suffering hunger, sickness and homelessness.

I RECENTLY received a note from a gentleman in Chapel Hill, N.C., who was responding to my tale of saying "rabbit" on the first of each month.He learned the tradition from his mother, a Maryland native who picked it up as a girl in St. Mary's City in 1925. Five years ago she heard it mentioned by a radio announcer in Orlando, Fla., who had learned it growing up in Georgia."For such an old and widespread custom, it seems strange that not much is written of it, and its origins are not known by those who practice it," wrote Preston Angell.

Rob Johns has an affinity for Tom Clancy novels, such as "The Hunt for Red October," and often delights in tales imparted by an uncle who fought in World War II.But scarcely one month into the wrestling season, the Calvert Hall junior has some war stories of his own.Johns already has battled and beaten several of the state's best. He pinned Damascus' No. 2 Joey Garvin, who went 29-4 last season and who placed third in the Class 3A-4A state meet. He also owns 9-6 and 4-1 decisions over Archbishop Curley's Paul Boettcher (21-2 with 16 pins last season)

THE CURMUDGEON IN me, who knows beyond a doubt that television and overpriced toys have ruined our children and turned them into lumps who can neither think nor play, got a wonderful comeuppance during the storms this winter. I had the delight of seeing, and particularly hearing, kids on sleds and slides and cardboard taking the hill behind our house again and again and again.The hill is perhaps as tall as our house, steep down to our fence, longer and gentler toward the back of the neighbors' lots.

I WAS a couple of months short of 9 years old when I was pronounced old enough to go on the bus by myself to "the stationery store next to Bohaks" to buy my own school supplies.Freedom! Honor! Responsibility! and a passing thought to what I might be able to squeeze into the $5 total that might not be a school supply.I truly loved the ritual restocking each fall. I remember the smell of new pencils and the challenge of a bottle of Scripto ink with its little lip-side well, and the dignified satisfaction of setting up a three-ring binder with index tabs for each course.

It's a classic moment in the renaissance of working-class Hampden: A woman plays Mozart on a silver flute to a group of hushed children in a former department store, converted into a center geared toward troubled families.Hampden Family Center has been up and running on 36th Street in the heart of the North Baltimore neighborhood for a little more than a year.It has become a hub of activity for the community, offering programs to strengthen families and educate many of its high school dropouts.

On September 6, 2009, MARTHA SPEICHER OGDEN, 91, of Siesta Key, Sarasota and formerly of Gibson Island, MD died. Mrs. Ogden was born in Chestertown, MD on May 15, 1918. She attended Bucknell University and because of an illness, had to move back to Chestertown where she graduated from Washington college. She was married to Harry Ford Ogden, a prominent Baltimore attorney and President of the Fidelity and Guarantee Insurance Corporation. Mrs. Ogden was a member of the Field Club and Junior League of Sarasota.

Jill Hettinger, retired from a private practice in social work, always gets teased by friends because she prefers rummaging through the racks at thrift shops to shopping somewhere pricier like a department store. "It's not like you don't have money," she said they always tell her. But because of the weak economy, more people are discovering the secret that Hettinger, raised by a frugal father who lived through the Great Depression, has known for years. The resale business, which includes thrift and consignment shops, is booming as consumers, who have lost their jobs or watched the values of their investments portfolio or homes plummet, look for ways to pinch pennies.

For some, there's nothing better than finding the latest fashion at a bargain. Combine that with a cocktail and a few hors d'oeuvres, and you've got a party. That is exactly why droves of (mostly) women could be seen entering a vacant storefront at Hunt Valley Towne Centre on a recent Friday night. The Junior League of Baltimore was throwing a Preview Party for its annual Boutique Warehouse Sale. As guests sipped their glasses of wine, they could try on shoes and a cute little dress, or maybe nab a darling little outfit for a child or grandchild from many of Baltimore's best boutiques - at prices that were reduced up to 70 percent off their original cost.

Sophomore Earl Eppard enters this weekend's Class 2A-1A state tournament looking to become Lansdowne's first state champion wrestler. A B-average student, Eppard, who wrestles at 112 pounds, has won the Baltimore County and 2A-1A North regional tournaments this season after being a runner-up in both last year. Eppard's 33-1 record includes 10 pins and four technical falls. He has beaten three-time Baltimore City champion Lamone Wilson (Mervo), Howard County champion Tyler Bulger (Howard)

Glen Burnie junior Zach Jankiewicz has never shied away from hard work, particularly when it comes to wrestling. In early spring of his freshman year, he broke the L4 and L5 vertebrae in his lower back and suffered a herniated disk during a weightlifting session. With successful therapy and rehabilitation, his doctor said Jankiewicz could possibly resume playing sports in a year. Jankiewicz ended up cleared to play football in the fall and was back on the mat for his sophomore wrestling season.

River Hill's Scott Mantua appears to be a typical 15-year-old sophomore finding his way in high school. He's on the quiet side, gets A's and B's in the classroom and enjoys hanging out with friends. Find him on his dirt bike, and he's happy. Snowboarding and fishing are fun, too. But when Mantua gets on the wrestling mat, that all changes. "You wouldn't think he has the personality of a wrestler. And then he gets on the mat and just tears it up. It's fun to watch," said fellow River Hill sophomore Nathan White, who wrestles at 119 pounds and was a regional champion and state qualifier last season.

A couple of weeks after becoming a two-time state champion, Hereford's Josh Asper was beaten by the opponent he might face again if he reaches the 160-pound, Class 2A-1A state final in March. "Tyler Mullen beat me in an offseason tournament right after states, but I was able to come back and beat him later on in the summer," said Asper, who had faced the South Carroll junior before they reached high school. "I think that was the first time I had beaten him, and he's always kind of been ahead of me. In eighth grade, Tyler beat me once.

McDonogh's Nick Schenk won his fifth bout of the weekend, 3-1, in overtime over Pat Owens of Germantown Academy of Pennsylvania to earn the 103-pound title of yesterday's Beast of the East Invitational at the University of Delaware. Schenk improved his record to 14-0, became Maryland's first freshman winner of the two-day event and the tournament's third champion from McDonogh. "I've won national tournaments before, but obviously this one is different," said Schenk, 15, who won his first bout by a 16-1 technical fall, his second, 13-2, and his third, 2-0, over Austin Damico of Kellam of Virginia Beach, Va. "It's not going to change my mind-set at all, though, because I'm still going to think of myself as the underdog."

At age 7, Eren Civan struggled with reading and writing before his father, Ibrahim, enrolled him in the Gaithersburg Eagles' youth wrestling program "to channel his energy" and "turn him around." Vince Taweel, a rough-and-tumble 10-year-old, often was called for fouling in youth soccer games before his father, Ramsey, signed him up for youth wrestling's Howard County Vipers. The slender boys took their lumps for years before winning junior league state titles as eighth-graders. Still, entering high school, neither was as highly touted as predecessors Danny April (Eagles)

The Anne Arundel County junior wrestlers hosted the Maryland/Virginia Junior League state championships last weekend at the Naval Academy. When the tournament ended, the Anne Arundel wrestlers wished they weren't such gracious hosts. Anne Arundel finished with 12 wrestlers who scored points by ending up among the top six places in their respective weight classes. Everyone enjoyed the tournament, but Anne Arundel coaches hoped for a little more success given that there were 16 competitors in each of the 19 weight classes.