National Association

President Fred Archer, Harford County Association of REALTORS® recently announced the 2011 REALTOR® of Year is Arletha (Candy) Myers associated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Bel Air.  The REALTOR® of the Year Award is bestowed upon the REALTOR® in the local association who exemplifies the model member through Real Estate Service to the Community, and the Local, State and National Associations. The purpose of the award is not to honor individuals as "super achievers"; rather it is intended to spotlight those individuals who exemplify the values and ethics of REALTORS®.

Harford County recently announced it received two Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties for initiatives undertaken in the past year. One program honored was the "Innovation in Harford County" online idea forum, which was fully launched in July 2010. The first of its kind in Maryland, the innovation site allows users to self-register and submit ideas to the community for review, comment and voting. The project was initiated at the request of Harford County Executive David Craig in keeping with his commitment to transparency and efficiency in government.

Morgan State University Alumni Association's Harford County Chapter held a meet and greet in Havre de Grace recently where the featured guest was the university's new president, David T. Wilson. Held at La Banque De Fleuve on May 29, the event was hosted by Morgan alumni County Executive David Craig and Bruce and Theresa Lewis of Total Urgent Care. Leaders of the local chapter and the national association are both hoping to increase enrollment and donations among the extensive network of Morgan alumni in Harford and Cecil counties, and having the opportunity to hear from and meet the new president certainly enhanced that effort, organizers said.

Howard County Times Community Editor Mary T. Robbins Phelan has earned an honorable mention in the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' 2011 column-writing contest. Phelan was honored for a package of three entries of her weekly "Any Given Day" columns. She earned an honorable mention in the general interest category for all newspapers, including dailies and weeklies, under 50,000 circulation. The award will be announced June 25 at the NSNC's 35th annual conference in Detroit, where she will receive a certificate and copies of the judges' comments.

As the National Steeplechase Association prepares to begin its 2010 racing season March 20 with the traditional kickoff in Aiken, S.C., chief executive officer Lou Raffetto said Wednesday night that he will be leaving the organization June 30 or sooner. Raffetto, who served as the Maryland Jockey Club's racing secretary from 1978 through 1984 and then as its chief operating officer and president from 2001 to 2007, said that while he does not have a job lined up at the moment, he is hoping to find a new opportunity in the thoroughbred industry.

Feb. 12 1809 President Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. 1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded.

Certifications David R. Bogus of the accounting and consulting firm Ellin & Tucker has been certified as an accredited senior appraiser by the American Society of Appraisers. Contracts Vericom Technologies Inc., a Columbia-based firm, has been selected by Guardian Cos. of Delaware to provide mobile resource management solutions. New clients Warschawski has been named as the national agency of record for W.L. Gore & Associates, makers of Gore-Tex and Windstopper products. New name I4 Commerce, a Timonium-based alternative payment service, changed its name to Bill Me Later Inc. The service lets shoppers make purchases without using a credit card and be billed at a later date.

Claude J. Mascari, a retired mortgage broker and longtime Lutherville resident, died Sunday of a massive hemorrhage and stroke at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 66. Mr. Mascari was born in Baltimore and raised in Canton and Highlandtown. In his youth, he worked for his father, who owned and operated a wholesale fruit and vegetable business in what is today the Inner Harbor area. He was a 1959 graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington and earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Baltimore in 1965.

After two decades in Baltimore, the NAACP is set to relocate to the nation's capital. Bruce S. Gordon, president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said last night that the organization is in final negotiations with Washington officials and a developer to move its headquarters from Northwest Baltimore to an office and retail site under construction in Southeast Washington's historic Anacostia district.