Riderwood

Richard Aitken, a pianist whose mellow music graced Baltimore cocktail lounges for nearly four decades, died Wednesday of cancer at his Riderwood home. He was 68.He played at some of the city's finest restaurants and clubs, including the Prime Rib, the 13th Floor at the Belvedere, the Chesapeake Restaurant, the Eager House and Danny's.His last night at the piano was five weeks ago at McCafferty's Restaurant in Mount Washington."Was he ever popular," said Don McCafferty, owner of the restaurant.

Spring is a time when all gardeners finally get to get their hands back into the dirt. It was no exception for a band of volunteers, including students, parents and teachers who dug, mulched and prepared plots at Riderwood Elementary School on Sunday, April 14. The two new garden spaces, a native garden named Kinder Garden and a Monarch Butterfly Waystation, are part of the Towson school's efforts to become a Green School, with the assistance of...

An early-morning three-alarm fire that heavily damaged Holland Manor, a Riderwood assisted-living facility, early Saturday morning resulted in more than a dozen staff and residents being evacuated from the building. Twelve residents and staffers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to WJZ-TV. The historic home in the 800 block of Landrake Road had been known as Bush Manor for years. During the 1920s, it had been part of the estate of Baltimore-born silent movie star Francis X. Bushman, who starred in the 1926 classic "Ben Hur. " The fire is under investigation.

Vernon B. Morris Jr., a retired Westinghouse Electric Corp. engineer, died Monday of renal failure at the Genesis HealthCare Cromwell Center. He was 88. Vernon Byron Morris Jr. was born in Baltimore and raised on Lanvale Street. He was a 1941 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and served in Baltimore with the Coast Guard Auxiliary during World War II. Mr. Morris earned an engineering degree from the Johns Hopkins University in the early 1950s and subsequently worked for Bendix Corp.

Only a modest banner over the front doors of Riderwood Elementary School gives a clue that the school is the first in Baltimore County to win a prestigious national award.The red and white banner that reads "Riderwood 1994 Blue Ribbon School" means it is one of only 220 public and 56 private schools across the country to be selected a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. It is the first county school to be chosen in the 12 years of the award.Blue Ribbon Schools are chosen for leadership, an encouraging climate for students and teachers, a stimulating curriculum, a safe and drug-free environment, strong parental and community involvement, and student achievement.

Things are missing from the library at Riderwood Elementary. Things like a tornado in a container and a clock with backward numbers. Things like marble mazes, windup toys and a weird eyeball that seems to elude description. But for parents, students and teachers at the Towson school, the most important thing missing is their witty media specialist and unofficial in-house musician, Bob Hallett. Hallett, who has worked in the county for more than three decades and at Riderwood for much of that time, was recently diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and has been at the University of Maryland Medical Center since July, for surgery and treatment.

Sally B. Willse, former treasurer of a Riderwood interior decorating firm and a volunteer, died Dec. 24 of complications from dementia at the Symphony Manor assisted-living facility in Roland Park. The longtime Ruxton resident was 89. The daughter of the founder and president of Barton Gillet Co. and a homemaker, Sally Barton was born in Baltimore and raised in Ruxton. She attended Bryn Mawr School and Ashley Hall in Charleston, S.C., and in 1940 graduated from Stuart Hall School in Staunton, Va. She was married in 1943 to R. Gerard Willse Jr. and settled in Ruxton, where she raised her four children.

The former Riderwood station sits just north of Joppa Road, obscured from view by trees and houses that have grown up around it over the years, concealing a structure with more than a century of rich railroad and community history. However, with the sale of the property in May, the first change in ownership in 40 years, and the decision last month by the Baltimore County Council to name the building a historic landmark, the station is back in the spotlight. Other railroad stations in the county have been razed, such as the Ruxton station in 1961.

THORNTON ROAD IN Riderwood is a suburban juxtaposition: It's home to split-level heaven, while also a strategic -- yet dangerous -- commuter shortcut between Joppa and Seminary roads.The extra-wide, two-lane road, designed and built in the late 1940s, is traveled by close to 900 vehicles at peak rush hours, many of which race along the street at speeds close to 50 mph. A horrific fatal accident last year led neighbors to declare, "Enough."And some of those neighbors have connections in high places.

Arline Theofiles Memorial Talk Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 2 P.M. Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1518 Riderwood Lutherville Drive, Lutherville, MD 21093

Riderwood Elementary School is one of 10 Baltimore County Public School slated to receive $1,000 in a grant from Patient First, a health care company that operates centers around the county. Through the donation, 10 BCPS elementary schools located near Patient First facilities will each receive $1,000. The company has announced that an additional contribution will be made in the spring when it opens a new facility in Towson. Currently, Patient First operates a facility in Lutherville, and Riderwood Elementary School will use the donation to purchase books for the school's library, according to school officials.

A beautiful fall afternoon provides youngsters with many options. Last week, more than 100 area schoolchildren chose to steer clear of video games and stay outside instead after they got out of class. Riderwood Elementary School was awash in runners on Oct. 23, as students from that school were joined by runners from eight other schools for the last scheduled elementary-school cross country event of the season. Cromwell Valley, Stoneleigh, Hampton, Rodgers Forge, Pinewood, West Towson and Kingsville elementary school students also participated in the program, where youngsters from grades three to five competed in six separate races in boys' and girls' divisions.

Sally B. Willse, former treasurer of a Riderwood interior decorating firm and a volunteer, died Dec. 24 of complications from dementia at the Symphony Manor assisted-living facility in Roland Park. The longtime Ruxton resident was 89. The daughter of the founder and president of Barton Gillet Co. and a homemaker, Sally Barton was born in Baltimore and raised in Ruxton. She attended Bryn Mawr School and Ashley Hall in Charleston, S.C., and in 1940 graduated from Stuart Hall School in Staunton, Va. She was married in 1943 to R. Gerard Willse Jr. and settled in Ruxton, where she raised her four children.

Dr. Margaret P. "Peg" Brian, a retired Baltimore obstetrician-gynecologist, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at her home in Sacramento, Calif. The longtime Riderwood resident was 98. A daughter of a businessman and an artist, Margaret Paxson was born and raised in Philadelphia, where she graduated from Simon Gratz High School in 1931. After graduating from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., in 1935, she earned her medical degree in 1939 from Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia.

On behalf of the Riderwood Hills Community Association, I would like to thank Councilman David Marks for his close consultation with our neighborhood during the recent County Council redistricting. Much has been written in the Towson Times about the removal of part of east Towson from the 5th District. For the 5th District to retain this area, it would have required splitting off another part of the district. Riderwood Hills was on the chopping block. Our association is grateful that Councilman Marks and his colleagues did not impulsively make this unfair, last-minute change.

Kate N. Boone, a businesswoman and avid sailor, died Aug. 16 of breast cancer at Women & Infants Hospice in Providence, R.I. The former Riderwood and Annapolis resident was 47. Kate Nash was born in Baltimore and raised in Riderwood. She was a 1982 graduate of Garrison Forest School and made her debut that year at the Bachelors Cotillon. She later attended New England College in Henniker, N.H. Mrs. Boone was a crew member aboard the original Pride of Baltimore's maiden voyage in 1979 to Bermuda, New York and Nova Scotia.

When you read "Rover," we asked you to identify the "family box" that carries the family to the beach. Megan Lowman of Hampstead Elementary and Lucy Reener of Riderwood Elementary know it better as that incredible 20th-century invention, the car.