Raffle

Fundraiser planned for scholarship A fundraiser has been scheduled for St. Patrick's Day eve for the Eamonn J. Gordon Scholarship Fund, established in memory of a Bel Air attorney. Proceeds will help pay for the education of aspiring lawyers, a cause Gordon supported throughout his lifetime. The event is set for 4:30 p.m. Friday at Liriodendron, 502 W. Gordon St., Bel Air. Tickets are $100 and include cocktails, light fare and music. Reservations and information: 410-893-4255. Fire company to raffle decoys Members of Susquehanna Hose Company Division 2 are sponsoring a decoy raffle, with proceeds going toward the purchase of equipment for the Havre de Grace firefighters.

ISN'T IT a little late for spring cleaning?" my friend asked, as she tried to find elbow room on a counter top laden with an eclectic assortment of glassware.Ignoring her, I began to fill the dishwasher for the third time that morning."Let's see, there's a Class of '95 coffee mug from a nondescript school, three ashtrays for a family where no one smokes and," she paused as she counted, "six shot glasses. Looks like someone's been to the dime pitch at the carnival."Yes, in what eventually became a crusade, night after night my sons and their friends returned to the noise and the fun of the Big Glen Burnie Carnival to toss dimes in hopes some would land on"Six more water glasses emblazoned with the logo from the 1993 Florida Marlins' inaugural season to complete your set of eight," she suggested.

LIKE MANY OF us, I start out the New Year with some good intentions. I usually do not make resolutions because I know I am unlikely to keep them.I try to start each year with a clean slate. I spent a good part of Sunday afternoon cleaning the work space where I write this column each week. I was pretty surprised to find a growing collection of photos that readers and column contributors have sent me over the past three years or so.The Sun employs a good number of excellent photographers who provide almost all of the photos that appear daily in the newspaper.

PRETEND YOU'RE living about 200 years ago this weekend at an event at Bear Branch Nature Center. The Revolutionary War Living History Muster will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.Visitors can experience the tastes and smells, games and songs, and daily life of the soldiers and their families in the past. The soldiers will be portrayed by Maryland Royalist Battalion Inc.Author Cathy Johnson will give a seminar on unusual women's occupations of the Revolutionary War period.

NORTH CARROLL'S largest dance event, which puts 300 performers ages 3 through adult on stage in glittering costumes to dance to popular music, is scheduled for 7: 30 p.m. June 20 and 2 p.m. and 7: 30 p.m. June 21 at North Carroll High School.Due to the overwhelming size of the audience in previous years, a limited number of tickets will be sold for each show. General admission is $3; children 6 and under are admitted free.Tickets are available from 4: 30 p.m. to 7: 30 p.m. weekdays at the dance studio in the North Carroll Shopping Plaza next to Valu Food.

Charlie Frock of Sykesville was the winner of a 1996 Geo Tracker in a raffle that raised $5,000 for Action for the Homeless.The vehicle was donated by Heritage Automotive Group, whose owner, Jerry Fader, selected Action for the Homeless as the beneficiary of the raffle proceeds.Frock gave the vehicle to his 16-year-old daughter.Pub Date: 4/11/97

SHOPPERS AT Glen Burnie Mall will note that the stores are busy, the parking lots full and the trains are running on time. The mall is the next to the last stop for a train garden that will be raffled to benefit the North County Emergency Outreach Network.A coalition of churches and community groups, NCEON provides year-round assistance to needy people living in the North County area. The winning ticket will be drawn at 8 p.m. Tuesday. This is the sixth year for the train raffle.The 4-foot-by-6-foot design, which includes scenery, transformers and five separate train sets, is the result of months of planning and building by members of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Pasadena.

A FOUR-BEDROOM house with three baths for $10? It's possible!A $10 ticket gives the buyer the chance to win a new home on Painted Yellow Gate in Long Reach Village. The American Dream Home raffle is sponsored by the nonprofit Affordable Housing Alliance Inc., led by Bill Ross.Valued at $185,000 to $250,000, the home is available because of a group effort. The Rouse Co. sold the land at a reduced rate, Patriot Homes President Rick Kunkle reports that his company is selling the home to Affordable Housing at cost, and many subcontractors donated their services as well.

Lucille Sutton is $361 wealthier, thanks to a winning 50/50 raffle ticket, purchased from the Sykesville Post 9952 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.The Westminster resident held ticket 0773, drawn Monday by post officers. She shares the $722 prize with the post, which will use the proceeds for its community service fund.The 60-member post donates to many local charitable projects, including Carroll Food Sunday.FireSykesville: Firefighters responded at 5: 35 p.m. Monday to a propane gas leak in the 7200 block of Pommel Drive.

The Affordable Housing Alliance Inc., a nonprofit group that helps first-time homebuyers or economically disadvantage families, will break ground at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a $195,000 home it will raffle this fall.The house is a 2,000-square-foot, four bedroom detached home on Painted Yellow Gate in Kendall Ridge in Columbia's Long Reach village.Raffle tickets are $10, with proceeds helping provide grants and low-interest loans for homebuyers throughout the Washington-Baltimore region.Information: 995-5815 or (800)

Sixth-graders at Mayfield Woods Middle School will be vying for the opportunity to dine with Ravens players at ESPN Zone in the spring and for tickets to a game in November as a reward for improving their physical fitness. The reward is part of Play 60 Challenge, a four-week contest where students are encouraged to engage in physical activity for 60 minutes during the day. Organizers hope the added incentive of meeting professional athletes will increase motivation for the students. "They are pretty pumped about it," said Danielle L. King, a physical education teacher at the school and organizer of the activity.

Phoenix house raffle drawing date pushed back A $100-per-ticket raffle fundraiser with a $1.6 million Baltimore County house as the prize has been extended to early next year, with the Oct. 15 drawing rescheduled for Feb. 26. Organizers of the raffle, Upperco-based nonprofit Universal Peacemakers Foundation, which helps financially troubled homeowners, said they extended the raffle to sell the 20,000 minimum number of tickets required before they can...

Forget selling books of restaurant coupons or chances on fruit baskets. One county charity has a little more appealing prize to raffle off this fall - a four-bedroom house on a spacious yard overlooking a creek. Foodlink, a nonprofit organization that provides other charities with donated food from grocery stores, caterers and restaurants, is raffling off a $550,000 home in northern Charles County. "It's a win-win situation," said Foodlink's director, Cathy Holstrom. "On the one hand, someone is going to be able to win this fabulous house.

A Prince Frederick house valued at more than $800,000 will be raffled this fall with net proceeds benefiting a volunteer organization that aids U.S. troops stationed overseas. Any Soldier Inc., started by an Army sergeant from LaPlata and his family, will raffle the privately owned five-bedroom brick Colonial-style house on 8 acres that include horse facilities. Each entry costs $100, and a minimum of 9,000 tickets must be sold for the raffle to take place with a drawing on Nov. 11. Information about the organization: anysoldier .com.

There are no such things in life as a free lunch, or a $100 house. Yet there seems to be a growing number of ever-so-tantalizing home raffles popping up, as more homeowners embrace innovative ways to beat the housing slump. Two are running in Maryland right now. For $100 a pop, you can try your luck at scoring a $550,000 home in Dunkirk or a $186,000 home in Owings Mills. It sounds like a win-win for all involved. Ticket buyers get a chance at a realty gold mine, homeowners unload property in a down market and a charity gets a slice of the pie. But be warned that this little adventure is not for the faint of heart or the ill-prepared.

ACS conference registration due The Association of Community Services will hold an all-day conference, "Tapping Potential," from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 2 at Grace Community Church in Fulton. Consultant Alan Gregerman, author of Surrounded by Geniuses, will speak at breakfast; economic development specialist Anirban Basu will discuss "Generational Differences and the Workplace" at lunch. Registration, which is available for the breakfast "Coffee & Keynote" talk, the "Lunch & Lecture" or the daylong conference, is due tomorrow.

Enterprising Women magazine has named Hollis Thomases its Enterprising Woman of the Year in the $1 million to $5 million category. Thomases is president and chief executive officer of WebAdvantage.net, a search marketing and online advertising agency in Havre de Grace. She will be honored at the magazine's tribute to North America's top women entrepreneurs Feb. 28 to March 1 at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. She founded WebAdvantage.net in 1998. The company is largely operated by women.

The Commission on the Future of Howard Community College, a group of community and business leaders, has been given the task of providing recommendations to guide academic planning at the college. Mary Ann Scully, president and CEO of Howard Bank, will chair the commission. The group will begin meeting Sept. 19 to identify innovative ideas, emerging issues and alternatives for the college's future. The commission will be organized into six task forces: They will examine environmental sustainability, work force development, education of health care professionals, creation of new programs, global education and establishment of an innovative, creative organization.

Women for Women benefit Wednesday Singer-songwriter Laura Dause will host and perform at Women for Women International's benefit coffeehouse concert Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Oliver's Carriage House, 5410 Leaf Treader Way, Columbia. Women for Women International provides financial, educational and emotional support, job-skills training and assistance with small business development to women in war-torn regions of the world. Admission is $10. Reservations are suggested. Beer, wine, coffee and desserts will be available to purchase.

Fundraiser planned for scholarship A fundraiser has been scheduled for St. Patrick's Day eve for the Eamonn J. Gordon Scholarship Fund, established in memory of a Bel Air attorney. Proceeds will help pay for the education of aspiring lawyers, a cause Gordon supported throughout his lifetime. The event is set for 4:30 p.m. Friday at Liriodendron, 502 W. Gordon St., Bel Air. Tickets are $100 and include cocktails, light fare and music. Reservations and information: 410-893-4255. Fire company to raffle decoys Members of Susquehanna Hose Company Division 2 are sponsoring a decoy raffle, with proceeds going toward the purchase of equipment for the Havre de Grace firefighters.