Salute

Two years ago, Billy Woodward was just another young guy channeling Elvis - in a place that featured more Elvises per square foot than perhaps anywhere else in the world. But among the scores of singers who made the 2010 Night of 100 Elvises possible, Woodward alone would be taking his act to Broadway in the coming months. "It just so happened that there was a talent scout in the audience," says Woodward, who has spent the past year as the understudy to star and world-renowned Elvis tribute artist Cody Slaughter in "Million Dollar Quartet," which opens Tuesday at the Hippodrome . "They liked me, liked what I did, and contacted me within a week.

It is said that if you want really good Italian food, you should go to a restaurant where the chef is from Casablanca, Morocco. Nah, I made that up. But it could be a truism. The kitchen of Salute Ristorante Italiano, just over the Howard County line, in downtown Laurel, turns out some very, very good Italian fare indeed. The 53-seat storefront eatery at 504 Main St. has a theater as a neighbor, and a little bit beyond is a liquor store. This is important information, because although Salute doesn't have a liquor license, owners Abdellah and Meriem Kass invite you to bring whatever spirits you wish to accompany the dinner he prepares for you and she serves to you. My party of four recently visited Salute for dinner, since the restaurant is only open for the evening meal, except if you're planning a large private party at lunchtime.

More than 100 years ago, "bicycle riders and racers, were filled with excitement over an event to take place at the Pleasure Park, a newly built horseracing track with grandstand one mile north of Westminster on the road to Littlestown. " That property is now know as Carroll County Regional Airport. Thanks to research for the Historical Society of Carroll County by historian Mary Ann Ashcraft, we know that on June 25, 1898, the now-defunct American Sentinel wrote that "Thursday, the 30th day of June, will be the greatest day among cyclists in Carroll County that has ever occurred in its history.

Only in minor league baseball could you find an event titled “Salute to Bacon Night.” On July 13, the Norfolk Tides -  the Orioles' Triple-A team - are attempting to set the record for largest BLT ever created as part of this bacon-themed night. The sandwich is going to be more than 300 feet in length, topping the record of 224 feet and 3 inches that was set last year in Missouri. The sandwich won't go to waste, though. Slices of it will be for sale throughout the game, with all proceeds going towards the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia.

Jane Kirkendall, one half of "Dick & Jane Productions," addressed an audience of 325 people who came to honor and salute armed forces personnel, past and present during the re-creation of a USO show on June 15 at the Havre de Grace Activity Center. The show featured 18 acts with a historical narrative linking song, dance and comedy to illustrate the journey into World War II and the efforts to maintains morale at home and abroad. The production concluded with the entire cast and the audience singing "American the Beautiful" and adjourning to a "canteen" (created for the evening)

A nice crowd gathered under sunny skies at the William Humbert Amphitheater in Bel Air's Shamrock Park Saturday morning for the town's annual Flag Day ceremony. Traditionally, Flag Day is recognized on June 14; however, the town coordinates the scheduling of this ceremony with Bel Air High School's band and chorus to ensure the event does not interfere with their end-of-year studies and final exams. The band and chorus once again played and sang patriotic songs. The Flag Day Ceremony featured the poem "Our Flag" recited by poet Samuel B. Fielder of Forest Hill, a former Army sergeant who is a veteran of the Korean War. Retired Army Col. John F. Kutcher was the featured speaker and County Councilman Jim McMahan was master of ceremonies.

Stanley F. Stearns, the photographer who captured the image of a young John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his late father, a picture that instantly evokes memories of the Camelot era, died of lung cancer Friday at Hospice of the Chesapeake in Harwood, his family said. He was 76. A former United Press International photographer who later ran a studio for 40 years in his native Annapolis, Mr. Stearns snapped the president's son outside a Washington cathedral as the family left the funeral Mass on Nov. 25, 1963.

Ocean City Nautical & Wildlife Art Festival The 27th annual Nautical & Wildlife Art Festival brings together artists, including painters, carvers, sculptors and model ship builders, to showcase their work. The festival takes places alongside the North American Craft Show at the Ocean City Convention Center on 40th Street. The festival is Jan. 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Jan. 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for students ages 13-17 and free for children age 12 and younger with a paying adult.

Another pops program devoted to George Gershwin? Why not? This weekend's Gershwin feast being presented on the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's SuperPops series will hardly be the last. Nearly 75 years after his death at the age of 39, the composer's hold on the public has never loosened. He was the epitome of Jazz Age creativity and sophistication, with an unfailing gift for melody and rhythmic vitality. "It's a challenge to choose a program," said BSO principal pops conductor Jack Everly, "because the repertoire, for all the brief time Gershwin had on this Earth, is of such high quality.

Remember that awkward silence that fell across the nation back in '94 when Bill Clinton's surgeon general used the M-word? Jocelyn Elders, speaking at an AIDS conference at the U.N. about reducing the risk of sexually transmitted disease, said that masturbation "is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught. " Mr. Clinton, rather than defend frank, honest talk about sexuality at the national level and condemn its opposite, caved under the weight of the gasps and titters and fired Dr. Elders, explaining that the outspoken surgeon general's comments reflected "differences with administration policy and my own convictions.