Peach

Fort Valley, Ga. -- Food Depot is slower this summer. A hot, frazzled mother lingers in front of a tower of banana Moon Pies; a man in overalls counts change for a 77-cent bag of ice. Cashiers gossip, then sigh. They miss the Hispanics who loaded the checkout belts with flour tortillas, thick golden cornhusks and tamarind sodas. Nearly 80 percent of Georgia's peach crop was destroyed when a severe frost spread across the Southeast at Easter. Without peaches, the orchards clustered around this railroad town 80 miles south of Atlanta have little work for migrant laborers.

A trailer that escaped from a Howard County Parks and Recreation truck after chains snapped crashed into a northbound vehicle on U.S. 29 yesterday morning causing a traffic backup for about three hours.John Peach, 40, of the 3400 block of Church Road in Ellicott City was driving south on U.S. 29 between Routes 108 and 175 when the 14-foot trailer came loose.The trailer was carrying a garden tractor used to mow fields and baseball parks."He felt the trailer moving, [and] it appears he tried to slow down," said Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna, who supervises the department's traffic enforcement section.

John Hergenroeder, founder of Woodlea Bakery in Baltimore and patriarch of a German-American family that has been baking cakes and confections in the city for more than a century, died of a heart attack Sunday in an apartment above his bakery. He was 90.Mr. Hergenroeder and his wife, Dorothy Sporrer Hergenroeder, raised 12 children amid the sweet smells of baking bread in their home above their business at 4906 Belair Road in Northeast Baltimore.The bakery is best known for its peach cake, made with fresh peaches cooked with their skins.

1997 Boordy Sur Lie Reserve ($9).This seyval blanc from Maryland's oldest winery has long been a great white-wine bargain. It slumped in the rain-plagued 1996 vintage, but has bounced back with a sterling 1997 in a racy new style. It's still a concentrated, intensely flavored wine, but Boordy has lightened the exposure to oak and let the fruit come through more strongly. While the wine is fully dry, it manages to give a sweet impression with flavors of honey and peach - seasoned with notes of mulling spices, fresh-baked bread and white pepper.

YOU CAN GET your peaches baked in pie, cobbler or cake, or served fresh over ice cream, or just plain at Galilee Lutheran Church's annual peach festival and craft fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 8 at the church, 4652 Mountain Road.But because neither man nor woman lives by fruit alone, the Lutheran men will be at the grills cooking pit beef and chicken. Meals are $6 for choice of meat, salad, roll and a beverage. A child's hot dog platter is $1.50.Local artisans will display their wares in the craft area, and face painters will brighten children's cheeks, noses and foreheads with colorful designs.

For 50 years, baker Erwin Zirkler filled the air around his bakery with the tantalizing aromas of fresh-baked bread, cakes and doughnuts, seriously tempting the caloric intake of his Union Square customers.Mr. Zirkler, a Pasadena resident since 1978, died Saturday of a cardiac arrest at North Arundel Hospital. He was 88.Until retiring in 1978 because of a bad hip, Mr. Zirkler dutifully rose in the wee hours in his rowhouse-bakery at Hollins Street and Carrollton Avenue, and put on his white pants, shirt and baker's cap.Down to the basement ovens of the bakery, with the awning out front and the swinging neon sign that advertised "Zirkler's Bakery," he began the daily cycle that put fresh rolls, buns and bread on the dining room and kitchen tables of several generations of West Baltimore customers.

WE ALL love fresh, juicy peaches this time of the year.What's better than sliced peaches on top of vanilla ice cream or a thick slice of peach pie?How about an old-fashioned festival to celebrate peaches? Krider's United Church of Christ will hold its annual peach festival, a fund-raiser that begins at 4 p.m. Aug. 23 at the church on Krider's Church Road in Westminster.Pat Miller, a church representative, said the event evolved from an old-fashioned festival held during the church's 230th anniversary celebration a few years ago.The church sold sodas for 5 cents and hot dogs for 25 cents, and a band entertained with traditional German music.

IT WAS a subject I had avoided discussing with my teen-age daughter since May.Our talk back then was blessedly quiet and brief for a change, and I couldn't see risking a confrontation. But when the school newsletter arrived in the mail this week, I knew I was in for it. There was the newly adopted school dress code, all spelled out.No clothing, hats, jewelry, book bags, or other personal items that promote or mention drugs, alcohol or tobacco. No "Big Johnson" or "Coed Naked" whatever T-shirts.

The developers of Peach Tree East and King's Ransom in Odenton built improper storm-water runoff systems, drains and holding ponds that led to flooding in townhouses in King's Ransom in July 1994, two insurance companies have charged.Nationwide Insurance Co. and State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. are suing the developers to repay damage claims they paid to homeowners in King's Ransom.The lawsuits were filed last week in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.King's Ransom townhouses were flooded twice after heavy rains in July 1994, according to the Nationwide suit.

Early each morning during peach season, Alton Gallahan plucks a ripe fruit from one of the hundreds of peach trees at Cherry Hill Farm & Orchard in Clinton and takes a bite."

John C. Peach Sr., a retired Baltimore police captain who enjoyed model railroading, died of heart failure and cancer Thursday at Gilchrist Hospice Care. He was 79 and lived in Columbia. Captain Peach was born in Baltimore and raised on Chestnut Hill Avenue. He was a 1948 graduate of City College. During the Korean War, he was drafted into the Marine Corps and served in Marine aviation from 1951 until 1955, when he was discharged with the rank of staff sergeant. He worked for a year at the old General Motors plant on Broening Highway, joining the city Police Department in 1956.

3 p.m. [Golf Channel] I'm not sure how much we'll see him, but Bill Murray (left) is a fixture in this tournament. And that's the Saturday Night Live, goofball Bill Murray, not the Lost in Translation, doleful-faced Bill Murray.

Robert S. Pardoe, a retired Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. manager of customer accounts and a Korean War veteran, died of cancer Jan. 9 at Montgomery County General Hospital. The Woodbine resident was 77. Mr. Pardoe was born in Baltimore and raised on Wilkens Avenue. He was a 1947 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and during the Korean War served in Army intelligence from 1951 to 1955. Mr. Pardoe went to work for BGE in 1948. At the time of his 1992 retirement, he was manager of customer accounts.

2007 Martin Codax Albarino From : Rias Baixas, Spain Price: $15 Serve with : Shellfish, Asian cuisine Albarino is one of the world's great "unknown" white-wine grapes, and this version from Martin Codax demonstrates why. It combines the full body of a chardonnay or white Rhone with the liveliness and acidity of a chenin blanc or riesling. Though it's a dry wine, there is so much fruit - pear, lime, cherry, melon, peach - that it conveys an impression of sweetness. While one of its points of appeal is its liveliness and freshness, this is not a mere "fun" beverage but a serious, complex white wine that is fit to grace any table.

What is the best month to chow down in Maryland? I have spent too much time thinking about this question. Lately, for example, while folks with bigger brains have been busy analyzing the nation's economy or deciphering our relationship with Russia, I have been worrying about what is happening with the local peach crop. I am happy to report the peach crop will linger into September. The likelihood of having peach juice running down my chin next month is just one reason I concluded September was our best eating month.

On the opening day of school in Baltimore this week, Anthony Geraci, the new head of food services for the city schools, watched with delight as a first-grader at Calvin Rodwell Elementary School bit into a fresh peach from a Maryland farm. "There was peach juice dribbling down his chin and this big smile on his face," Mr. Geraci said. "It was the first time he ever tasted a peach that wasn't from a can." With food prices rising nationally, school districts across the country are charging more for school lunches to keep up with costs.

From: Dundee Hills, Ore. Price: $18 Serve with: Roast turkey and all the trimmings This zaftig white wine is entirely too much to serve with seafood, but it could be just the right choice for a family Thanksgiving gathering. It's full-bodied and intense enough to stand up to the multiple palate assaults of a turkey dinner. The texture is rich and creamy, and it offers a complex array of flavors including peach, apricot, citrus, nuts, herbs and warm winter spices. Not for every occasion, but great for this one.

A CHANCE TO SHOW OFF Sorry guys, "Manly Arts Day" isn't just for you. This event, taking place at Hampton National Historic Site on Sunday, is open to everyone. It just happens to be all about the martial-defense actions and combative sports that men engaged in to show their bravery and to defend their honor during the 19th century. Visitors will learn about the early-American art of swordsmanship, fencing, stick-fighting, wrestling, boxing and cudgeling, and they'll have a chance to watch demonstrations and practice some "manly arts" themselves.

Fort Valley, Ga. -- Food Depot is slower this summer. A hot, frazzled mother lingers in front of a tower of banana Moon Pies; a man in overalls counts change for a 77-cent bag of ice. Cashiers gossip, then sigh. They miss the Hispanics who loaded the checkout belts with flour tortillas, thick golden cornhusks and tamarind sodas. Nearly 80 percent of Georgia's peach crop was destroyed when a severe frost spread across the Southeast at Easter. Without peaches, the orchards clustered around this railroad town 80 miles south of Atlanta have little work for migrant laborers.

Peacefully on March 28, 2007, DORIS V. PEACH beloved wife of the late Robert Peach, Sr., loving mother of Nancy Peach, Edward Peach and the late Woody Peach; cherished grandmother of seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Relatives and friends may call at the family owned AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 1328 Sulphur Spring Road, Arbutus, on Sunday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Mark's Roman Catholic Church, 30 Melvin Avenue, Catonsville, on Monday at the Funeral Hour of 10 A.M. Interment follow at Loudon Park Cemetery.