Sales Associates

More than 60 sales associates from Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage (CBRB) offices were recognized recently by the Carroll County Association of Realtors at its 14th annual CCAR awards banquet. Vernon Smith, a Westminster sales associate, received Rookie of the Year and the Shining Star award. Judy Tyree, a 23-year real estate veteran and branch vice president of the Westminster office, was awarded the 2003 Outstanding Real Estate Educator award. Charlie Condon, a veteran associate broker with the Mount Airy office, received the Outstanding Realtor Service Award.

Genevieve B. "Gen" Miller, a retired sales associate and homemaker, died Wednesday of heart failure at St. Joseph's Nursing Home in Catonsville. She was 95. Genevieve Beatrice Scriba was born in Baltimore and raised on Hollins Street. She was a parochial school graduate, family members said. She was married in 1943 to Grant W. Miller Sr., a career Army officer, who died in 1988. Mrs. Miller, who lived briefly in France during her husband's Army days, spent most of her life in Catonsville.

Let's go shopping! Michael J. Lisicky, a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra oboist and noted chronicler of departed East Coast department stores, had a local hit three years ago with his book, "Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops. " Now he is taking us on another nostalgic shopping tour to several of the city's sorely missed stores with the recent publication of his "Baltimore's Bygone Department Stores: Many Happy Returns. " He takes us back to that now-vanished and magical world of perfumed department stores with their tinkling, chiming, paging bells, and elegantly dressed and convivial floorwalkers and sales associates who were willing to help customers find what they were looking for. Lisicky generates memories here of goods beautifully displayed, the slight whooshing sound that the pneumatic tube made as it whisked a charge to the business office for approval and of stores gaily decorated not only for holidays but for various seasons.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has welcomed Tom Hammen to its Harford County Regional office sales force. Hammen, who began his real estate career in 2005, served in the Air Force for 36 years and retired as a Colonel in May 2006. "We are very excited to welcome Tom Hammen to the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Harford County Regional team," said Marianne Ferguson, branch vice president, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Harford County. "Tom brings a rich background in superior customer service and his experience is a great match to our exceptional team of sales associates.

* Best Properties Inc. of Lanham reported that Gloria Raimond has been awarded the Certified Residential Specialist Designation by the Residential Sales Council of the Realtors National Marketing Institute.* Coldwell Banker Home Realty Professionals announced that Bonnie Wolfe has been named to the International President's Circle, which honors the top 2 percent of the 52,000 sales associates of Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates Inc.

Program gives mobility to real estate agents O'Conor, Piper and Flynn ERA has made it easier for sales associates to work from anywhere through a new Internet-based program they install on their home computers or laptops. Called "work@nywhere," the program enables associates to write contracts, negotiate with other agents and close deals for clients at any time of day or from any location. It also gives associates access to e-mail and a listings database. The software and materials cost $19.95.

Miscavich gets award from Md. RealtorsThe 1994 Distinguished Sales Associate of the Year award was recently presented to Charlotte Miscavich of Davidsonville by the Maryland Association of Realtors at their annual convention.According to the association, the award recognizes outstanding achievement in the real estate industry by sales associates who demonstrate "the highest degree of professionalism and provided dedicated service to the community."Ms. Miscavich is associated with REMAX-100 in Bowie and holds a Graduate, Realtor Institute designation (GRI)

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has welcomed Tom Hammen to its Harford County Regional office sales force. Hammen, who began his real estate career in 2005, served in the Air Force for 36 years and retired as a Colonel in May 2006. "We are very excited to welcome Tom Hammen to the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Harford County Regional team," said Marianne Ferguson, branch vice president, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Harford County. "Tom brings a rich background in superior customer service and his experience is a great match to our exceptional team of sales associates.

Champion Realty Inc., based in Anne Arundel County, said it has signed an agreement to merge with HomeServices.Com Inc. of Minneapolis.Under the agreement, Champion's president and chief executive, Chris Coile, will continue to head the company under the Champion Realty name.The firm has 289 sales associates and 81 employees in 14 offices.News in briefChapel Valley Landscape Co. won four national awards from the Associated Landscape Contractors of America in its 30th Annual Environmental Improvement Awards Program.

O'Conor, Piper & Flynn ERA announced that it will handle all new-home sales for Masonry Homes Inc., It will mark the first time that Masonry Homes has entered into a direct sales management relationship with a residential real estate broker, according to a spokeswoman for Masonry. Masonry Homes is the 12th-largest builder in the Baltimore metropolitan area. OPF will manage Masonry Homes' existing sales associates and staff - a total of 11 employees - in nine single-family and townhouse communities in Carroll and Frederick counties.

Let's go shopping! Michael J. Lisicky, a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra oboist and noted chronicler of departed East Coast department stores, had a local hit three years ago with his book, "Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops. " Now he is taking us on another nostalgic shopping tour to several of the city's sorely missed stores with the recent publication of his "Baltimore's Bygone Department Stores: Many Happy Returns. " He takes us back to that now-vanished and magical world of perfumed department stores with their tinkling, chiming, paging bells, and elegantly dressed and convivial floorwalkers and sales associates who were willing to help customers find what they were looking for. Lisicky generates memories here of goods beautifully displayed, the slight whooshing sound that the pneumatic tube made as it whisked a charge to the business office for approval and of stores gaily decorated not only for holidays but for various seasons.

Anna G. "Ann" Reppert, a former Peck & Peck sales associate who later established a catering business, died Sept. 13 from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Oak Park Nursing Home in Auburn, Ala. The former Timonium resident was 88. Anna Lee Garton was born in Jane Lew, W.Va., and was raised in Buckhannon, W.Va., where she graduated from high school. In 1944, she married her high school sweetheart, Joseph S. Reppert, who had moved to Baltimore in 1941 when he took a job at the Calvert Distillery in Relay.

Louise V. Muhlbauer, a retired Hutzler's department store sales associate who enjoyed cooking and entertaining, died Wednesday of a stroke at Augsburg Lutheran Home and Village in Lochearn. The former longtime Parkville resident was 90. The daughter of German-Hungarian immigrant parents, the former Louise Victoria Weibe was born and raised in Lansdowne. During World War II, Mrs. Muhlbauer held a variety of secretarial jobs at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., the Seaman's Branch of the YMCA, and Telephone Answering Service, where she coordinated a city-wide scrap drive for the war effort.

Lois L. Hughes, a retired department store sales associate and longtime Randallstown resident, died Monday of cancer at Dove House Hospice in Westminster. She was 84. Lois Louise Rutter was born in Halifax, Pa., and graduated in 1945 from a high school in Presque Isle, Maine, where her stepfather was stationed as a United Airlines mechanic. In 1946, she married Richard Kenneth Hughes and moved with her husband to Coronado Road in Halethorpe after he took a job as a maintenance worker for Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.

OPF acquires firm that specializes in vacation rentals O'Conor, Piper & Flynn ERA announced that it has acquired an independent real estate firm in Bethany Beach, Del., that specializes in vacation rentals and sales. The firm, Hickman Real Estate, has 10 sales associates and five employees and focuses on Bethany Beach and areas of Sussex County. Jane H. Tribbitt and C.E. Rupert Smith III, co-owners of the company, ware to continue to manage the operation for OPF. The company rented 340 units to more than 3,000 vacationers last year.

Local sales associate honored at conventionWilma Brown of Taneytown was among the nation's top achievers honored on-stage by the Longaberger Co. at its national convention in August in Columbus, Ohio. The convention was attended by more than 6,000 people.Mrs. Brown was recognized as a member of Longaberger's 1992-1993 VIP Club, which consists of sales associates who sold more than $30,000 in Longaberger products during the fiscal sales year. In addition, she was recognized as having one of the highest levels of sales achievement, selling more than $45,000 for the year.