Needlework

Reina G. Wagner, who had been a bookkeeper for many years for Riverside Savings and Loan Association, died Thursday of heart failure at her home on Old Harford Road in Parkville. She was 98.Services for Miss Wagner were being held today at the Johnson Funeral Home, 8521 Loch Raven Blvd.She retired about 30 years ago. She also had worked for Overlea Bank and Baltimore Bargain House.The Baltimore native enjoyed needlework and gardening. She had planted gardens at a family summer home in Mago Vista.

Graveside funeral services will take place for Arnold resident EdithEmma Oelkers at 1 p.m. today at Woodlawn Cemetery.Mrs. Oelkers, 77, died of a heart attack Feb. 9 at Anne Arundel Medical Center.She worked as a secretary for Metropolitan New York Synod of Lutheran Churches of America until her retirement at 65.Other interests included needlework and puzzles.Her husband of 39 years, Carroll Oelkers, died in 1982.She is survived by two sons, Robert Oelkers of Tulsa, Okla., and Richard Oelkers of Burke, Va.; two daughters, Elizabeth King of Yonkers, N.Y., and Phyllis Samples of Arnold; a sister, Dorothy Eberhard of Jamesburg, N.J.; and eight grandchildren.

Sitting is way overrated, according to Felicity Merriman. The 9-year-old would much rather run around her hometown of Williamsburg, getting dirty and saving animals, than practice the sitting-down things her mother wants her to learn - like needlework. The Westminster Branch Library honors the spunky, fictional mischief-maker with a party Wednesday. Featured will be crafts, music, snacks and even a dance lesson based on the experiences of Felicity and her family, who live during the pre-Revolutionary time of 1774 and are the stars of six novels in the American Girls collection.

On March 4, 2005 JOYCE C. BAGWELL, (nee Clark), formerly of Edgewater, FL., passed at the Hospice Gilchrist Center in Towson. Predeceased by her husband Edward B. Bagwell; she is survived by 2 daughters, Jacquelyn A. Handley of Cockeysville, and Rosemary B. Newton of Stanley, Virginia; 3 grandsons and 5 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Linda J. Mathews of Arlington, Virginia in 2004. Ms. Bagwell was an avid needle-work artisan whose creations received many awards.

The National Folk Festival brought over 100,000 people to Johnstown, Pa., over the Labor Day weekend last year.BNow in its second year, the festival will be held Friday to Sunday in the 10-block section known as Cambria City. The Polish art of straw painting, needlework of women from Laos, Mexican pinatas, Afro-American carvings and Pennsylvania German hooked rugs are among the many craft displays and demonstrations. Four stages of entertainment offer everything from an Appalachian guitarist to a Yugoslavian band to the mariachi tradition of Mexico.

From sales to sailing and writing about it; About books: 0) Former marketing manager for a publisher is co-author of a book about sailingDi Goodman isn't the type of person who quits a good job to go sailing every day.Yet the 32-year old Annapolis woman, a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, quit her job as a marketing manager for a textbook publishing company in 1993.For a year, Ms. Goodman rode her bike every day to the Annapolis Sailing School where she's given weekend lessons for the past 15 years.

Around town Exercise program A stroke exercise program will be held from 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Road. Information: 410-313-1425. Table tennis Play pingpong from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Fridays at the Ellicott City Senior Center. Free. Cards Play pinochle from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays at the Ellicott City Senior Center. Free. Billiards Play pool from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays at the Ellicott City Senior Center.