Susquehanna

On Thanksgiving morning, Havre de Grace-area residents can burn off some calories before the big feast and raise money for a public safety cause by participating in the fourth annual Bulle Rock Turkey Trot benefiting the Susquehanna Hose Company. Open to all age groups and fitness levels, the 5K walk/run will be Nov. 25 at the Residents' Club at The Residences at Bulle Rock (1200 Bulle Rock Parkway). Registration will begin at 8 a.m., a warm- up will be at 8:45 and the race will kick off at 9 a.m. A combination of road and trail, the route will travel from the Residents' Club down Bulle Rock Parkway across the Zachman Way pedestrian bridge, down Blenheim Road to the five-star Bulle Rock Golf Course and back to the Residents' Club.

The UCBAC golf teams that make up the Susquehanna Division battled in a division event Oct. 6 on the back nine at Furnace Bay Golf Course in Perryville. Host Perryville followed up its solid play from the district event to win the division crown. The Panthers shot 217 to beat Bo Manor's 229 and Aberdeen's 267. The other four teams failed to field five players, making their scores incomplete. Perryville was led by Corey Hahn and Danny Geiger, both shooting 40, while Ali Jones shot 43 and Tyler Pollitt added a 45. Nikki Leonard and Jonathan Eldreth both shot 49. Aberdeen's best score was Bryan Ensor's 42, while Hunter Bachman and Zack Litsch each shot 50. Alex Will-Cole added a 60 and Peter Sheu shot 65. Havre de Grace had three players, led by Sam Werner's 53. Kanyon Wainwright shot 63 and Tommy Butler shot 65.

The Maryland Transportation Authority has begun work on a $43 million project to shore up the foundation of the nearly 50-year-old Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge on Interstate 95, where the flow of the Susquehanna River has eroded some of the piers that support the span. The construction work on the bridge, part of the toll stretch of I-95 called the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway, is not expected to seriously disturb bridge and boat traffic, and no lane closings are anticipated.

The Edgewood Rams boys soccer team earned an UCBAC Susquehanna Division victory Wednesday afternoon, beating visiting Joppatowne 4-1. Edgewood goals were tallied by Tyler Rizzola, Robert Heinlein, Nate Duncan and Xavier Dado. Assisting on the scores were Keenan Kros, Eric Glover, Avni Veseli and Dado. Rams goalie Glover made 13 saves. HdG tops Tech Ton Tuesday afternoon, he Havre de Grace boys soccer team topped Harford Tech, 2-0, at Tech. Bobby Smith netted both the Warriors' goals.

The Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra opens its 35th season on Saturday, Oct. 8, featuring works by Schubert, Haydn, Strauss and Copland, along with what SSO founder and music director Sheldon Bair describes as "two Russian barnburners" by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Bel Air High School, 100 Heighe St. in Bel Air. A pre-concert lecture will be given by SSO musician and local music teacher, Donald McClure, at 6:30. Tickets are available in advance at MusicLand and Preston's Stationery in Bel Air for $20 for adults, $15 for seniors age 60 and above, and $10 for students with I.D. Season tickets are available in advance or at the door of the first concert for $75, $55 and $40. For more information, visit http://www.ssorchestra.org . SSO music director and founder, Sheldon Bair, commented, "The concert will not have a soloist, but will include music from three centuries.

Did you ever wonder just how 19th-century farmers made stew over the open hearth or decorated their houses for the holidays? Each year, the Steppingstone Museum in Susquehanna State Park opens its doors for two special holiday events to showcase life on the farm at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Steppingstone's mission is to preserve Harford County's farming heritage and artifacts from the 1880s to the 1920s.  From May to September, visitors can tour  the furnished farmhouse and outbuildings on weekends and watch a blacksmith, wheelwright, potter and weaver demonstrate their crafts just as they were done 100 years ago.  “I don't think there's a place like ours nearby where you can step back in time,” says executive director Linda Noll.

Two weeks after Tropical Storm Lee flushed millions of tons of mud into the Chesapeake Bay, state and federal officials announced Tuesday they are launching a study of how to protect the estuary from sediment and other pollutants building up behind dams on the Susquehanna River. Experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland departments of environment and natural resources and the Nature Conservancy, a Washington-based conservation group, will team up for the $1.4 million, three-year evaluation of how to deal with sediment accumulating upriver from the Conowingo Dam and three other hydroelectric facilities on the Susquehanna.

Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna, the ecumenical non-profit housing organization devoted to building, renovating and repairing homes in partnership with low-income families, has the appointment of Katie York and Sarah Colenda to its board of directors. Katie York, of Aberdeen, is program specialist in Health Care Careers at Cecil College in North East. She is also a member of both the Committee on Nursing and Allied Health and the Administrative Professional Organization. York says of her appointment to the board, "As someone who lives in Harford County and works in Cecil County, I feel it is imperative to increase awareness of Habitat in my local community, both in regards to fundraising efforts and potential homeowners.

Maryland has been allocated $22 million in stimulus funds to begin work on replacing the Susquehanna River Railroad Bridge, the states' senators announced Friday. The current bridge is more than 100 years old and about 100 Amtrak and MARC trains cross it on weekdays, according to a statement by U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. The bridge, she said, is a "serious bottleneck" for passenger trains. A new bridge will be able to accommodate high-speed trains along the busy Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Mikulski said.

The Chesapeake Bay looks like a dirty bathtub, its waters turned brown with mud and awash in pollution and floating debris, including uprooted trees, propane tanks, even a battered dining-room chair. Braving boat-damaging hazards, scientists are swarming over the bay to see if the massive stormwater runoff from Tropical Storm Lee last week is going to knock the troubled estuary for another loop, just as it was recovering from an especially rough summer. "It just doesn't look right," Jamie Strong, a biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said of the malted-milk hue of the water as he and state biologist Zofia Noe cruised north from the Bay Bridge on Wednesday to sample water conditions.