Meals On Wheels

If it's Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland's annual "Culinary Extravaganza," then it's time -- once again -- to play find-your-favorite-dish. Some 350 guests jammed into the Harbor Court Hotel ballroom eager to sample the gourmet creations of 16 local chefs and decide which ones warranted seconds. "I like the sweet-and-sour scallops," declared Peter Bartels, an interior designer with Rita St. Clair Associates. (Actually, Peter, those were "coriander scented sea scallops and sweet corn white truffle coulis," courtesy of Renaissance Harborplace Hotel's Tim Mullen.

"Cirque de la Cuisine" is the theme of the 21st Annual Culinary Extravaganza to benefit the clients of Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. on April 29 at the Grand Lodge Hunt Valley , 304 International Circle, Hunt Valley. Tickets are $150. For information call 443-573-0929 or go to mealsonwheelsmd.org . Jerry Edwards of Chef's Expressions Catering and Consulting will head up the slate of top chefs in the area who will be participating in the event including Nancy Longo (Pierpoint)

Gourmands were in their glory at the seventh annual Meals on Wheels Culinary Extravaganza. Some 350 foodies filled a Harbor Court Hotel ballroom to graze and praise the creations of 17 chefs from Baltimore-area restaurants.Among the hobnobbing noshers: Meals on Wheels board president Jan Guben; event co-chairs Liselotte Karoalis and Greg Martin; silent-auction chair Kathy Townsend; board members Martin L. Wake and Nancy Allchin; Jon Danzig, VP of Impact Innovations Group Inc.; James Breiner, president of the Baltimore Business Journal; and Jackie Jackson, investment adviser with Harbor Financial Services Inc.The food lovers lauded the lobster mashed potatoes, risotto crab cakes and toffee apples.

Elizabeth T. Littleton, a homemaker and volunteer, died March 6 of complications from a stroke at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. She was 86. Elizabeth Margaret Taylor was born in Camden, N.J., and raised in Collingswood, N.J., where she was a graduate of Collingswood High School. Mrs. Littleton attended Drexel University and Houghton College and the medical technology program at Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She worked in physicians' offices in Collingswood and Cherry Hill, N.J. In 1949, she married H. Richard Littleton, a mechanical engineer.

Anne Arundel County has awarded a $50,000 emergency grant to Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland to help the growing needs of homebound seniors strapped by rising prices. The additional funds, announced Monday, will provide regular meals for 40 additional clients. Terry A. Lehr, program supervisor in the county, said many of the 217 current recipients will also receive more need-based aid. Meals on Wheels clients, who are mentally or physically unable to shop or prepare their own food, receive two meals a day and are charged on a sliding scale based on their dispensable income.

"Meals on Wheels," a vital service in our community, is in critical need of volunteers to deliver nutritious meals to TC homebound people, enabling them to maintain their independence and continue to live in their own homes. Meals are delivered to people of any age or economic status who are unable to shop or prepare meals for themselves. Visits by volunteers also provide an important social interaction for the homebound and a link to the community. Young or old are encouraged to participate.

For those who go out to eat and have trouble deciding what to order, the 15th annual Culinary Extravaganza was the perfect solution. Some 30 chefs offered all sorts of specialties at this fundraiser for Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland. And several hundred people took full advantage, going from food station to food station as they strolled a ballroom in the Marriott Waterfront Hotel. "This is a wonderful thing to do. There's everything from lobster bisque to sushi," said Henry A. Rosenberg Jr. He and his wife, Dot, co-chaired the party, playing host to guests including Ken and Diane Trout, Leroy Merritt, George and Jennifer Reynolds, Rita St. Clair, Carole and Bean Sibel and Stanley and Celia Levinson.

Carol P. Miller, a volunteer who helped establish a Meals on Wheels kitchen in downtown Baltimore, died of lung cancer Oct. 18 at Oak Crest Village. The longtime Roland Park resident was 75. Born Carol Posten in Morgantown, W.Va., she earned her bachelor's degree in English from Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., and belonged to Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. A member for more than 40 years and former trustee of First and Franklin Street Presbyterian Church, where services were held Saturday, Mrs. Miller worked on the Holly Tours of Mount Vernon homes and city churches in the 1960s and 1970s.

Ann Conyers Semans, a community volunteer who was active in her church, died of pneumonia Sunday at the Blakehurst retirement community in Towson. She was 82. Born Ann Rosemary Conyers in Hamilton, Bermuda, she married a Baltimorean, William Ritchie Semans, in 1944 while he was serving in the Army. They lived in Bolton Hill and Roland Park. Mrs. Semans was a volunteer with Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland for many years. She enjoyed gardening and played tennis. She was an Elkridge Club member.

To Meals on Wheels in Carroll County, James and Ruby Bollinger are pretty much a package deal -- she oversees the packaging and he delivers the packages to clients.And it's their double devotion to helping people that has made them a valuable asset to the program."Jim and Ruby are a team," said Gail F. Burton of the county's Meals on Wheels chapter. "What they are doing is to help the community, and in that they are exemplary. They give that extra 150 percent. I can really count on them."The Bollingers, both 71, of New Windsor are employees of the program but have performed services far above staff duties throughout their years of participation, Ms. Burton said.

Edward V.C. Nicol, a retired Social Security Administration public affairs representative who earned the name of "Mr. Meals on Wheels" for his more than three decades of volunteer work, died Jan. 13 of pneumonia at the Presbyterian Home of Maryland in Towson. The longtime Rodgers Forge resident was 96. The son of Presbyterian missionaries, Edward Van Cleve Nicol was born in Minneapolis while his parents were on furlough from their mission work in Beirut. In 1918, Mr. Nicol and his family returned to Beirut, where he graduated from the American Community School in 1934.

Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland needs volunteers to deliver meals to individuals throughout Baltimore County. Volunteers pick up prepacked meals at one of several distribution sites, then return the empty cooler and hotbox containers to the same location after they have delivered the meals to clients. On average, delivery routes take 60 minutes or less, and both individuals and businesses as well as parents with children may volunteer to "adopt" a route. To volunteer or learn more about Meals on Wheels, contact Liz Galea, 443-573-0940 or mail galea@mowcm.org ; or go to http://www.mealsonwheelsmd.org.

Alice J. Gordon, a film abd television extra who was also a volunteer, died Friday of renal failure at her home in Morgantown, W. Va. The longtime Rodgers Forge resident was 80. The daughter of a movie theater owner and a homemaker, Alice Jean Kamber was born in Winthrop, Mass., and raised in Manchester Depot, Vt., where she attended public schools. In 1956, she married Raymond Jay Gordon, a salesman, and settled in a rowhouse on Old Trail Road in Rodgers Forge. Since 2009, she had lived in Morgantown.

Agnes E. May, a homemaker and volunteer, died Saturday of congestive heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. She was 88. A daughter of a Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. grocery store manager and a homemaker, Agnes Edith Ripple was born in Baltimore and raised on 36th Street in Govans. She was a 1940 graduate of Seton High School. In her youth, she enjoyed ice skating and was a semiprofessional bowler at the old North Avenue Sports Center, where she won a Triangle Sports Trophy in 1944.

Ann E. Heptinstall, a longtime volunteer and homemaker, died Sunday of Parkinson's disease at Gilchrist Hospice Care. She was 82. Ann Enraght Porter, the daughter of a lawyer and a homemaker, was born in Chesham Boise, England, and with the outbreak of World War II, moved with her family to St. Albans, Herefordshire, England. After graduating in 1946 from St. Albans School for Girls, she attended Berridge House in London. While in London, she met her future husband, Dr. Robert Hodgson Heptinstall, who was a physician completing postgraduate training at St. Mary's Hospital.

Harford offices closed Friday for furlough 1 Harford County employees will be off Friday, government offices will be closed and only essential services will be provided in the first of five furlough days. The unpaid leave will help offset local government funding cuts imposed by the state of Maryland, officials said. County offices will also be closed on Sept. 4, Oct. 12, Dec. 24, 2009 and April 5, 2010. Employees who work around the clock at water and waste water operations and Emergency Operations Center personnel will not follow the same furlough schedule.

Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland will be the beneficiary when nearly two dozen area chefs serve up a Culinary Extravaganza May 3 at the Harbor Court Hotel. It's the third annual appearance for this buffet-style supper, which lasts from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Among chefs participating are:* Holly Forbes, Harbor Court executive chef* Karim Lakhani of Citronelle at the Latham Hotel* G. Patrick Campbell of Turf Valley Hotel and Country Club* Spike Gjerde of Spike and Charlie's* Billy Himmelrich of Stone Mill Bakery* J. Ashley Sharpe of Piccolo's of Fells Point* Rudy Speckamp of Rudys' 2900* Jayne Irvin Vieth of Henninger's TavernAlso appearing will be Michael Rork, former Harbor Court executive chef, now at the Town Dock restaurant in St. Michaels.

GRACE T. Miller The family will receive friends on Thursday, July 2 from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M. at Broadmead, 13801 York Road, Cockeysville, MD. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the South County Hospital, Wakefield RI or Meals on Wheels.

Mayer center marking 10 years with fundraiser The Claudia Mayer Cancer Center will celebrate its 10 years of support for cancer patients, their families and caregivers with a fundraiser from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the Fretz Corp., 9204 Berger Road, Suite H, Columbia. The event will include cocktails and cuisine provided by businesses and contributors, entertainment, and cooking demonstrations in a kitchen showroom. The Fretz Corp. is a wholesaler of kitchen products Dinner will be provided by Jesse Wong's Asian Bistro.