Madison Avenue

Pauline Brooks, now 78, remembers joining the YWCA in the 1930s because "I was interested in doing some kind of work in the community with children.""I became more active after my daughter joined," Mrs. Brooks says. "Paula was in a dance group when she was 2."Paula Brooks, now 41, recalls the smallest details."I remember my first ballet class and my first tutu," she says. "It was a stiff pink. I was 3 or 4 and thrilled to be on the Madison Avenue stage."Now her daughters, Naeemah Leftwich, 9, and Sade Leftwich, 6, are building their own YWCA memories.

From The Sun June 23-29, 1841zTC June 25: Samuel Canaby, Esq., of Woodside, near Wilmington, Del., has a short horned Durham cow, which yields on an average 253 quarts of milk weekly -- an average of over 36 quarts a day -- yielding over 17 pounds of good butter.June 29: The number of Christians in China is estimated at 300,000.From The Sun June 23-29, 1891June 28: A syndicate of American and English capitalists have just concluded negotiations for the purchase of 800 acres of land adjoining the northern city limits of Baltimore, with the view of developing it into a suburban town.

On December 13, 2006, CLOURIE R. BENTON (nee Stanton) beloved wife of Ralph Benton Jr, she is also survived by 4 brothers, Rev. Clifton A., Ralph W., Robert P. Sr., and Melvin H. Stanton Sr., 3 sisters, Edith B. Simms, Shirley V. and Hilda M. Stanton, 2 brothers-in-law, 6 sisters-in-law, other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the family owned HOWELL FUNERAL HOME, 4600 Liberty Heights Avenue, on Monday 3 to 7 P.M. and Tuesday 10 to 7 P.M. Family will receive friends at Payne Memorial AME Church, Madison Avenue & Laurens St, on Wednesday 11 to 11:30 A.M. with funeral services immediately following.

On April 21, 2006, VICTORIA ELLANOR LEWIS (nee Pritchett) age 93, of the 2800 block of Clifton Ave., beloved wife of the late James B. Lewis, loving mother of Lester H. Wallace, Sr., devoted sister of Ralph Pritchett and the late Lucy Nelson, Susie Dennis, Albert Pritchett, Jr. and Alberta Westberry. She is also survived by 2 grandchildren, Twamenia Wallace-Jones (Eric) and Lester H. Wallace, Jr., 6 great grandchildren, Joshua, Genesis, Micah, Jaylan, Brielle and Taylor and a host of nieces and nephews.

FOR YEARS, the former apartment building at 2100 Eutaw Place sat vacant and derelict, an eyesore for Baltimore's Upper Eutaw-Madison historic district.But this fall it is being redeveloped as a day care and community outreach center that will serve several neighborhoods, including Bolton Hill and Reservoir Hill.The Madison Avenue Development Corp., a nonprofit community group, this month began a $1.2 million conversion of the four-story building and an adjoining chapel to the Madison Avenue Outreach Center.

It was a perfect day for a wedding. The sun shone in a clear blue sky as the bride's white dress danced in a gentle breeze.There was just one little hitch.The bride and groom didn't end up marrying each other.Instead, Sandra Ashe and the Rev. Curtis Jones pledged to "love, honor and respect" the institution the other represents.Ashe is principal of John Eager Howard Elementary School, and Jones is the pastor of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. Both facilities are in West Baltimore.The creative pairing came with all the trimmings of traditional American and African weddings: a nuptial jump over a broom, a white cake and a vigorous rendition of the "electric slide."

NEW YORK -- A Maryland couple helping their daughter pick out a wedding gown at a swanky Madison Avenue boutique were seriously wounded yesterday by two bandits as the bride-to-be watched in horror.The bandits shot Edith Schaeffer, 47, of Potomac in the chest after she refused to give up her $60,000 diamond ring -- and then broke her finger as they ripped the ring from her hand.Her husband, Gerald, 48, was wounded twice in the torso after lunging to his wife's aid. The couple were in serious but stable condition last night after several hours of surgery.

It would not be unusual to find 41-year-old designer Nicole Miller personally waiting on clients in her Madison Avenue Boutique.She likes to keep in touch with the public. She finds out which styles are in demand by frequenting the Manhattan nightclub scene."Her styles are always up-to-date," says Mary Carroll, owner of Panache of Greenspring Station, where a trunk show of Nicole Miller designs was presented Tuesday to benefit the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center.Ms. Carroll says the line is all style without the eccentricity.

ANNAPOLIS -- The state's latest swipe at the gun traffickers was on its way to law yesterday, but Del. Elijah Cummings had his mind slightly elsewhere. He remembered a night on Madison Avenue, in Baltimore, where there will always be two sawed-off shotguns pointed at his head.Most of those pondering Maryland's new limits on gun buying have distance on their side. They argue the arithmetic of homicide without having faced it. Cummings, the Democratic nominee for the 7th Congressional District, faced death outside his office.

THE WAVE of patriotism lifting the country to a height unseen since the 1940s has American consumers turning to the flag as brand - the chosen symbol and badge of honor. Americans have wrapped themselves in it, as if it were a red-white-and-blue blanket. Taken it out of the attic trunk where it was kept folded, suppressed deep down under their worn 1970s Earth shoes. There it rested, buried ever since Abbie Hoffman wore it as a sign of rebellion on his sleeve. Hidden, the flag lost its brand appeal.