Junior League

If the Black Eyed Susan were a race horse, it would be a sprinter. It makes one strong move, then fades quickly. The strong move occurs this weekend when the cocktail will be in demand at Pamlico Race Track, during both the running of the Black Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Over these two days, about 25,000 servings of the libation, poured into commemorative glasses, will be sold at $8 apiece, track officials say. But as soon as Preakness weekend ends, so does the does the local thirst for the Susan.

Jeanne T. Welsh, a homemaker who enjoyed painting, died of congestive heart failure March 31 at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Pinehurst resident was 84. Born Jeanne Tribull in Baltimore and raised in Govans, she was a 1944 Eastern High School graduate. She became a secretary at a brokerage, Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane, where she met her future husband, Joseph Francis Welsh Jr. A watercolor artist, she studied under Fritz Briggs at the Schuler School of Fine Arts.

The Junior League of Baltimore will host its Better Dressed Sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 9 featuring used designer clothes at The Wise Penny thrift shop, 5902 York Road. Items include shoes and accessories as well as clothing for men, women and children.  

One day recently, Hilltop Elementary School Principal Louise DeJesu noticed that a student's shoes were coming apart. She summoned her secretary to measure the child's feet, then provided the money for a new pair. Before sending a suspended student home, she will check to see whether he or she has eaten. In fact, students who come to her hungry — no matter what time of day — leave fed. Ultimately, she'll find out whether the students' parents are hungry, too, and send a few grocery store gift cards their way. The 63-year-old Arnold resident has been a balm for what ails a Glen Burnie community that she says is known for its "working poor.

Ladies in gowns of sequins and taffeta, with dapper men at their sides, swept onto the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall mezzanine for a sophisticated soiree before the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's 19th annual Holiday Pops concert. The 110 guests enjoyed cocktails, crab dip and holiday cookies at a VIP reception held by the Junior League of Baltimore. Quiet conversation and the occasional clink of ice cubes added just the right ambience to the get-together, as folks looked forward to the evening's concert of seasonal favorites.

There were two ways to warm up for the Junior League of Baltimore's annual Holiday Pops Concert -- in the auditorium of the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, tuning an instrument, or out front at a pre-concert reception for Junior League supporters. The 115 folks mingling in the mezzanine enjoyed cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and holiday cheer. Making spirits bright: Mary Ann Masur, Junior League board president; Liz Whelan, board president-elect; Mary Stansbury, Betsy Rutherford, Alice Smith, Mia Walsh and Mary Kay Boler, board members; Jennifer Hitt and Jennifer Schwartz, event co-chairs; Vicki Oberleitner, Kathleen Watts and Peggy Wolfe, event committee members; Nathan Weinberg, vice president of Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation; Tom Brady, vice president of Constellation Energy Group; Peggy Posner, editor of Home & Design Magazine; Steve Giles, general manager of Seagram Americas; and Deb Chambliss, vice president of Mercantile Safe Deposit & Trust.

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.

Non-profit organizations in Anne Arundel County are encouraged to apply for grants from the Junior League of Annapolis.The deadline is Oct. 15 to apply in writing for up to $5,000 in donations, which become available next March. The request should include information on the specific project or organization.Grants will be available for activities in such areas as voluntarism, the arts, the hospice movement, substance abuse, domestic violence, the environment, and the needs of women children, the disabled, the elderly, the homeless, and multicultural programs.

A good place for women to get the skills and experience necessary to move ahead professionally is the Junior League, says its new national president, Mary B. Babson, a certified public accountant, vice president of communications and principal at Arthur Andersen & Co.'s world headquarters in Chicago."

Elizabeth E. Seiler, 95, Junior League president Elizabeth E. Seiler, a homemaker and former Junior League president, died of heart failure Wednesday at Blakehurst Retirement Community in Towson, where she had lived for the past seven years. She was 95. Born Elizabeth Hinsdale Engelhard in Owensboro, Ky., and raised in Louisville, she attended the Collegiate School there. In 1930, she married Lewis P. Seiler. Her husband, president of the old Stewart & Co. department store in downtown Baltimore from 1944 to 1956 and later president of Associated Dry Goods in New York City, died in 1980.

The Junior League of Baltimore will hold its annual Boutique Warehouse Sale Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 18, at the Hunt Valley Towne Center, Next to DSW, at 118 Shawan Road. For this event, a bunch of popular local boutiques gather under one roof to raise money for charity. Hours are Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Visitors can shop before the crowds for $20 Friday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m. Go to http://www.jlbalt.org. RVs roll in The yearly Fall Maryland RV Show and Sale will roll into town Thursday through Sunday, Sept.

The Junior League of Baltimore will hold its annual Boutique Warehouse Sale this weekend at Hunt Valley Towne Center, in the space next to DSW that used to be a Filene's Basement. Doors open at 7 p.m. Friday night for the "Cupcakes and Cocktails" Happy Hour. For the $20 ticket price, shoppers get early access to fashions from boutiques in the baltimore area, including Jones & Jones , La Papillon and the Lil Lamb Shop . Admission is free from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat., Sept.

Send sports notices a minimum of two weeks before the requested publication date to Patuxent Publishing/OMT Sports Notices, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278; email tworgo@patuxent.com . Include date, time, location, contact information and subsection. Competitive Owings Mills Rec offers junior league wrestling Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays this fall, ages 4-15. Register Oct. 3 and 4, Owings Mills High, 7-8:30 pm. 410-356-0248. Baltimore Tennis Patrons forming fall and winter indoor instructional and team tennis programs and girls in grades four to 12. Program runs October to March.410-296-2100 or http://www.tennispatrons.org.

By the time he entered high school, Darian Kess was already a legend in the making. Though he weighed less than 100 pounds and was only 14 years old, Kess carried with him a large reputation, thanks to his four junior league state wrestling championships and the smooth, almost effortless style with which he dispatched opponents. He did not disappoint. He shattered Archbishop Curley's four-year takedown record in little more than one year. He captured two state titles in two seasons.

Owings Mills junior Taran Carr comes from a wrestling family. Two of his uncles, Jimmy Carr and Nate Carr, made it as far as the Olympics, with Nate earning a bronze medal in 1984. His dad, Solomon Carr, was a high school wrestler in Pennsylvania, where he set state records, and is assistant wrestling coach at Owings Mills. It seems only natural that Taran should follow in their footsteps. But the senior, while wrestling with great success — he's 16-0 in Maryland this season and 16-1 overall, losing only to the then-No.

I read the item about the Junior League's "diaper drive" ("'Baby Pantry' gets 11,000 diapers," Jan. 10), and my first thought was, "What a misguided effort!" While the effort to provide diapers to the needy is commendable, the Junior League of Annapolis would be better served to provide cloth diapers to the needy. Cloth diapers are $12 per dozen at one of our local major retailers. Cloth diapers are reusable, free after the initial investment, and do not clog our landfills. Why would anyone consider encouraging the poor to use expensive disposable diapers when such an inexpensive alternative is available?