Kiwanis

THE MARYLAND Rail Commuter service (MARC), the West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce and the Odenton Kiwanis Club are collaborating to conduct a five-mile foot race in Odenton July 20.Trophies will be awarded to winners in each age group, Kiwanis and Kiwanis Key Club winners, chamber member or employee winner and MARC employee winner.The race will start and finish at the Odenton MARC station. The fee for entries postmarked by July 13 is $12. On race day, the fee will be $15.Information: (410)

The Bel Air Kiwanis Club held its first Decoy Dunk March 3 at Flying Point Park in Edgewood. In all, 40 dunkers and at least 100 spectators participated. The water felt a little chilly but the air temperature was a warm 60 degrees. The event raised approximately $3,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs and other charitable organizations in Harford County. The dunkers were individuals and teams, from young to old and all excited about raising funds for great causes. Organizers said the day could not have been a success without the help of Harford County Parks and Recreation, WAMD Radio Station, Abingdon Fire Company, Patterson Mill High School Key Club and Conway Management (and especially Carl Conway)

LET THE FIREWORKS soar in the night sky above Lake Kittamaqundi tomorrow to celebrate America's birthday. Let the bursts from the sparkles above mix with the "oohs" and "aahs" from the thousands below. Fortunately, Columbia's Fourth of July celebration will go on -- after all.Over the years, the show has brought fun, patriotic zeal and tradition to Howard County -- a changing suburb where tradition can be hard to come by. Thousands flock to the lakefront, line pTC U.S. 29 and Md. 175 and other favorite locations to watch the show.

Grand Prize Winners in the 2011 Baltimore Science Fair These high school students will represent the Greater Baltimore region in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair, May 8-13 in Los Angeles. Students win a $200 cash prize and all-expenses paid trip to the competition. Physical Science: Michael Tontchev, Ingenuity Project, Polytechnic Institute. "Subject identification in a sentence using plain context-free grammars. " Biological Science: Jai Thakor, River Hill High School.

After the great weekend we just had, everyone is in the mood for summer and a good old barbecue -- music to the ears of the Crofton CivicAssociation and Crofton Kiwanis, who are starting to plan their Fourth of July celebration.This will be the second year in a row Crofton has a celebration of its own, one that is sure to bring back memories to any longtime resident. I grew up here in Crofton and can remember when we celebrated with a big midway and street dance. What fun we all had -- not just the kids, but the adults too.Area service organizations or groups that wish to participate should send a representative to the initial planning meeting, set for 7:30 p.m., March 5, in the Crofton Town Hall.

The Salvation Army of Annapolis has set a goal of $125,000 for its 1996 Christmas Kettle Campaign and has added five kettle locations to the usual 15.The goal is nearly double the $63,000 volunteers collected last year.To help achieve the goal, the Salvation Army is pursuing local service organizations to adopt kettle locations and have volunteers at the kettles six days a week from Nov. 22 through early Christmas Eve.Several local groups, including Kiwanis of the Severn, Annapolis Civitan Club, Annapolis Rotary Club, Kiwanis of Crofton and Kiwanis of Mayo, have agreed to become "Kettle Keepers."

More than 150 student musicians from Arundel High School will present their winter holiday concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 22 in the school auditorium.The chorus, under the direction of Richard Porter, will present carols including "Mary Had a Baby," featuring soloist Maryn Ferguson. Music Director Phillip Butts will conduct the band and orchestra. The color guard also will perform.Three trumpeters will continue a band tradition, performing Leroy Anderson's "Bugler's Holiday." The 1998 holiday buglers are Shannon Argy, Shaun Daguval and James Mulherin.

The computers at Crofton Middle School have seen better days.Dolly Webster is hoping to rally other parents, community groups and businesses to donate 30 modern computers and software to the school's computer lab.For more information, call Webster at 410-721-7921.*The Bowie-Crofton Camera Club will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday at All Saints Lutheran Church, on Route 301 South and Mount Oak Road in Bowie.For more information, call 301-577-0824.*The Crofton Chamber of Commerce will have a breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. Friday, at the Crofton Country Club.

IF YOU thought October was a busy month, look out for November. Events are piling up on the calendar faster than leaves on the lawn. The Severna Park High School Stage Company presents Into the Woods, a musical retelling of fairy tales by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. Performances are at 7 p.m. Nov. 14, 15 and 16, with a 1 p.m. matinee Saturday. All shows are in the school auditorium. Student directors are seniors Kristen Kushner and Eileen Keck and junior Jamie Boyle. Spanish instructor Barb Markey and choral director Kathy Gabrielle direct the music, while French instructor Angela Germanos directs the play.

25 years ago (week of Dec. 5-11, 1971):Howard County Councilman William S. Hanna was voted in as chairman by a 3-2 margin, replacing Dr. Edward L. Cochran.The Ellicott City and Savage volunteer fire companies each received a new 1972 model ambulance. The vehicles cost $11,023.28 each, and were paid for by the county transfer tax.50 years ago (week of Dec. 1-7, 1946):Superintendent of Schools Herbert C. Brown addressed a meeting of the Ellicott City Kiwanis on the subject of the county's proposed new senior high.

Holliday H. Obrecht Jr., a retired executive of his family's wholesale tobacco and candy business who was active in service organizations, died Aug. 29 at the Levindale Center of complications of a fall he suffered in April outside his home. The Timonium resident was 83. Born in Baltimore and raised on Kentucky Avenue and in Guilford, he attended McDonogh School. He and fellow students talked its headmaster into letting them complete their final graduation studies early so they could enlist in the Army's Air Forces before they were drafted.

The Kiwanis Club of Ellicott City will hold its seventh pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at Kiwanis-Wallas Park in Ellicott City. The cost is $6 and includes pancakes, sausage, sausage gravy, eggs, fruit and beverages. Children ages 8 and younger eat free. Entertainment Books for 2009 will be for sale and craft tables will offer seasonal gifts. Proceeds will help fund the club's local and international public service projects. Information: Gus Katsampis, 410-465-1891. Library happenings The Miller branch library, 9421 Frederick Road, Ellicott City, will offer a fall cookie decorating class for ages 11 to 17 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 3. Participants can design and decorate cookies with seasonal colors and themes; then eat their creations.

As co-presidents of the Kiwanis Club of Columbia, we wish to express our appreciation and that of the club members to County Executive Ken Ulman and the leadership of Recreation and Parks for their initiative and resolve to continue the July 4th Independence Day Festival that we have reluctantly had to forgo. Our club agonized over the decision to end our 20-year sponsorship and production of the festival, but realized we had no other choice. Continuance of sponsorship had simply become beyond the scope and ability of our declining active membership.

The State Highway Administration, representatives from the Howard County Commission on Disability Issues, community organizations, businesses and residents will meet between 5 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. tomorrow in the first-floor lobby of the Gateway Building to discuss ways to enhance mobility and to hear comments on challenges facing those with disabilities. The meeting is one of several being held in the state to encourage public involvement in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The highway administration is conducting a self-evaluation to identify features that do not meet the guidelines of the ADA. The Gateway Building is at 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia.

The Kiwanis Club of Ellicott City has awarded a $14,000 scholarship to Elizabeth Marie Liem, a senior at Long Reach High School. The award money, spread over four years, will be placed in Liem's college account at Salisbury University for tuition, books, room and board. Liem, who will be 18 next month, plans to study nursing. Liem's application was selected from 12 others that were received. The Kiwanis Club of Ellicott City has awarded scholarships totaling more than $158,000 since 1994.

SOME OF the stuff people in the Howard County amateur sports scene are talking about as spring seasons blur into summertime: HCYP: The growing, four-sport Howard County Youth Program, centered in Ellicott City, is getting its first office. The office is small, about 10 by 12, but has been needed for years, and its location makes sense for anyone who has been involved with this active club. The new space is at Kiwanis-Wallas Park, on Route 144 just off U.S. 40 in western Ellicott City, where the club has its primary baseball and softball fields.

After the Fourth of July's Lakefront fireworks have splashed their last wave of color across Howard County's sky, after the oohs and aahs die down, members of the Kiwanis Clubs of Columbia, Ellicott City and Elkridge do not hop back into their cars to brave the traffic.They stay at Columbia's lakefront to close out the work that began months before. When snow was still on the ground in January, Kiwanis of Columbia began the planning that culminated in the beautiful display this Fourth of July.

Susan Liu won the door prize last week in a program called "Timeless Beauty" at the Kiwanis-Wallas Recreation Center. She received a makeover. The makeup artist was Baltimore resident Karim Orange, who likes to call herself a celebrity "makeup activist." "It was nice," said Liu, a resident of east Columbia. "I really don't know what to tell you because I was the one who got the makeup. I didn't see anything. It was on my face." Liu, who is retired, takes ballroom dancing classes. She doesn't often go to the Kiwanis-Wallas center in Ellicott City.

When she saw her 8-year-old son, Nicholas, pedaling down a sidewalk Friday, Catherine Thomas burst into tears. Nicholas has cerebral palsy, which limits the strength of his legs and one arm. Thanks to a donation by the Kiwanis Club of Severna Park, he and other children at Jones Elementary School in Severna Park now can experience this rite of passage. "I really thought it would take months," Thomas said. Kiwanis members contributed $2,000 to purchase a therapeutic tricycle so kids with physical disabilities can pedal and ride.

The Kiwanis Club of Ellicott City is offering an annual $1,000 college scholarship, to be awarded in the spring to a graduating Howard County high school senior. The grant will be spread over four years. The application deadline is March 15. A panel of club members will review the applications and announce the winner May 15. Applications are available in high school guidance departments.