Stoneleigh

TOWSON -- Children at Stoneleigh Elementary School could be forced to congregate in a cramped and noisy cafeteria for yet another year while Baltimore County officials figure out how to pay for a proposed addition.The 70-year-old school's experience is symbolic of the problems facing many older county schools awaiting money for renovations."It certainly has some strong competition," said Valerie A. Roddy, public schools senior fiscal analyst. "There are some big-ticket items coming up in 2002, including a new high school in [Owings Mills]

Houses in a neighborhood such as Stoneleigh are like snowflakes, say the residents: No two are exactly alike.Perhaps that's why taking a walk down Stoneleigh's tree-lined streets can be a bit overwhelming."

TOWSON -- Children at Stoneleigh Elementary School could be forced to congregate in a cramped and noisy cafeteria for yet another year while Baltimore County officials figure out how to pay for a proposed addition.The 70-year-old school's experience is symbolic of the problems facing many older county schools awaiting money for renovations."It certainly has some strong competition," said Valerie A. Roddy, public schools senior fiscal analyst. "There are some big-ticket items coming up in 2002, including a new high school in [Owings Mills]

Life in Towson seems to go a whole lot faster these days.Every morning and evening, cars zip through Ronald Schneider's neighborhood, racing down narrow, tree-lined streets. Some of the speeders are his neighbors, but far more are simply dodging busy York Road.That's not happening just in Schneider's Stoneleigh community. Throughout the region, impatient drivers -- fed up with congested thoroughfares and looking for detours -- are a growing problem for otherwise quiet neighborhoods."The biggest issue in my district is not crime, not education, not taxes," said Baltimore County Councilman Wayne M. Skinner, a Towson Republican.

Parents at 68-year-old Stoneleigh Elementary School want a larger cafeteria, a larger library and more classrooms.Randallstown Elementary School parents want the 90-year-old building razed and replaced.Those were the two biggest requests before the Baltimore County school board last night during a public hearing on the $74.2 million capital budget proposal it is considering for 1999-2000.The capital budget plan proposed last month by school officials calls for $62 million to be spent on major maintenance and roof-repair projects.

Minnie Susan Rickrode, a centenarian and homemaker who had been a founder of Ascension Lutheran Church in Stoneleigh, died Tuesday of renal failure at the Lutheran Retirement Village in Shrewsbury, Pa.She was 105 and had lived in Stoneleigh.Mrs. Rickrode, a diminutive woman with deep blue eyes, fair skin and white hair, was born in Emmitsburg in 1892.The former Minnie Bowers was the daughter of a butcher and was raised in Littlestown, Pa., where she attended school until the fifth grade.She then went to work in a cannery until 1909, when she married Clayton Rickrode and moved to Baltimore.

Baltimore County's battle against crime grew by two buildings yesterday with the official opening of a $1.2 million Police Athletic League Recreation Center in Hillendale and a $17,000 structure in Stoneleigh constructed by that community's Citizens On Patrol.The PAL center, built with federal, state and county funds, is a 6,700-square-foot brick building at 1111 Halstead Road, on the campus of Halstead Academy. It has five activity rooms and three offices for police, park personnel and a substance-abuse worker.

After weeks of practicing pinwheel dolphins, shout strokes and alligator kicks, the moment of truth arrived yesterday for 60 Towson synchronized swimmers.Ponytails bobbed, sequins sparkled and chiffon scarves flowed as the young people dove, jumped and kicked to songs from the '50s and '60s during the 43rd annual water ballet at the Stoneleigh community pool.The performance -- in many respects a quaint anachronism in these days of competitive freestyle swimming -- has never been more popular in the close-knit community.

Towson's newest park could have a picnic area, soccer fields, tot lots or nature trails. But something several neighbors don't want are basketball courts.They fear that unsupervised basketball could lead to trouble, they told John F. Weber, director of the county Recreation and Parks Department, at a meeting to discuss uses for the 12-acre tract off Regester Avenue."Parks turned over to youth with no supervision do turn into those problems," Mr. Weber conceded. But he added, "The record of problems in Towson parks is nonexistent."

A word of warning to Channel 13 news junkies who opt to ride out late-ending Orioles games for your daily does of Denise, Al, John and Bob: If the game runs too long, you're going to be out of luck.That's what happened Tuesday night, as the longest nine-inning game in major league history didn't end until after midnight and WJZ went right from the game to "The Late Show with David Letterman.""After a certain time, we know that the news audience just isn't there," says program director Mike Easterling, guessing that most viewers have decided not to watch the news at all or have tuned to other stations ("We hope that doesn't happen," he says)

At Stoneleigh Elementary School in Baltimore County, so many of the 624 students walk to school these days that by the end of one year, the PTA calculated, its kids had trekked a combined 14,000 miles - the equivalent of a trip halfway around the world. But at Mills-Parole School in Annapolis, where sidewalks were recently installed to encourage walking, most students still arrive on wheels. Trying to make kids fitter and more independent while saving the environment, advocates and some parents are promoting a return to the days when walking to school was the norm.

Suzanne D. Vinyard, a homemaker and former mortgage banker, died of breast cancer Monday at her Stoneleigh home. She was 45. Suzanne Desmarais was born in Baltimore and raised in Northwood. She was a 1981 graduate of the Institute of Notre Dame and attended Western Maryland College - now McDaniel College - and Towson University. Mrs. Vinyard had been a mortgage underwriter and loan officer for the old Signet Bank and later worked as an underwriter for the Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. until 2002.

Anne H. Blair, who after raising a family became a hospital volunteer and headed a state hospital auxiliary organization, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at the Oak Crest Village Care Center. The former Stoneleigh resident was 89. Born Anne Horner on Calvert Street in Charles Village, she was raised in Cedarcroft and attended Notre Dame Preparatory School before graduating from Seton High School. She attended the old Towson State Teachers College. She became a medical secretary.

Elizabeth Duckham Jones, a British World War II veteran who helped patrol harbors for downed pilots, died Wednesday of breast cancer at her home in Parkton. She was 81. Described as both tough and gracious, Mrs. Jones served in the Women's Royal Naval Service, the first women's branch of the Royal Navy, from 1943 until the end of the war. During that time, she married Lt. Edward G. Jones Jr., an American soldier who took part in the D-Day landing at Normandy. The couple settled in Baltimore County after the war and raised three daughters, primarily in Stoneleigh.

Jane S. Salter, a homemaker who enjoyed ballroom dancing, died of cancer Oct. 28 at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Stoneleigh resident was 78. Born in Manchester, Tenn., she earned a teaching certificate from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She taught in elementary schools in Mississippi and Tennessee before moving to Washington and becoming an FBI secretary. In Washington, she met Justin Salter. They married in 1953 and moved to Baltimore, where she taught briefly in the city school system.

Ervin J. Cerveny, an engineer, lawyer and homebuilder, died of complications from diabetes Aug. 19 at St. Joseph Medical Center. The longtime Stoneleigh resident was 88. Mr. Cerveny was born in Baltimore and then went with his mother to Czechoslovakia. During the 1920s, the family returned to Baltimore and Mr. Cerveny graduated from Polytechnic Institute. While in high school, Mr. Cerveny began working at the old Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River building clipper seaplanes. During World War II, he was the assistant to the factory manager and worked on the design and construction of bombers and PBM and Mariner seaplanes.

Ruth H. Roebber, a homemaker and avid gardener, died of ovarian cancer Sunday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was 74. Ruth How- land was born in Medford, Mass., and raised in Malden, Mass. She was a descendant of the Howland family that came to Massachusetts in 1620 aboard the Mayflower. A singer and dancer, she entertained wounded soldiers and sailors during World War II in Boston-area military hospitals. "She chose not to become a professional because she didn't want that lifestyle," said her husband of 49 years, Dr. H. Joseph Roebber, a retired Baltimore anesthesiologist.

Almore Jackson "Jack" Emery, a retired insurance company executive and neighborhood activist, died of heart failure Thursday at Union Memorial Hospital. The Stoneleigh resident was 79. Mr. Emery was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in Yonkers, N.Y. At 17, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1944 and trained as a B-29 tail-gunner, but did not go overseas for combat duty. After World War II, he enrolled in Hunter College and earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1950. He sold insurance in New York City before moving to Rodgers Forge in 1957.

Irma V. Wells, a homemaker and volunteer, died in her sleep Thursday at her home in Rehoboth Beach, Del. She was 85. She was born Irma V. Crouse in Baltimore and spent several years in Bayside, N.Y., before moving to Stoneleigh with her family. She was a 1934 graduate of Towson High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Hood College in 1938. She worked for the Social Security Administration for several years before her 1941 marriage to Donald J. Wells, who became a co-owner with his brother of Wells Liquors in the 6300 block of York Road.

Scott and Sue McGovern's Canton rowhouse once suited their "fun, just-married, pre-kids adventure in the city" just fine. When they decided to start a family, however, "we wanted some grass under our feet," said Scott McGovern, 37, an architect. "But we still didn't want to feel isolated from downtown and those restaurants in Canton that we like." Conventional suburbs struck them as "sterile." So, in 2000, the McGoverns found the right fit in Anneslie, a tree-canopied Towson-area neighborhood.